Success!

Chris Rose, curator of the Lighthouse Gallery, asked for 30 pieces and hung all 58 that I brought him. The gallery, an intimate and friendly place, is filled with small, brightly colored pieces by Laura Maiolo and myself. "Places You Know," continues through March 30.

From the outside of the Lighthouse Gallery, looking in.

A visitor to the opening of "Places You Know" looks at some of the teeny pieces I painted - 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches, on tiny easels, beneath some of my other small paintings.

Photographs by Peter Jacobson

Friday night's opening of "Places You Know/ small pieces" was, by my standards, wildly successful. For starters, Chris Rose, the gallery curator, did pretty much all the work. He made the postcards, sent them out, hung the art, bought the food and drink for the reception, and made the price list/bio sheets - and dreamed up the concept in the first place.

In my limited show experience, this was unusual. And while I have never minded the work or the control of setting everything up, Chris's participation and leadership made the opening reception feel more like a celebration to me. I actually had time and energy to paint, right up to the opening.

My other shows have been wonderful, and I've loved them. But by the time the doors opened and the reception started, I've been stressed out, spent and exhausted. Chris shouldered the burden for Laura and myself.

Of course, I was worried that my work wouldn't hold up beside Laura's. She's been to art school, after all. She has a degree, and her paintings are beautiful and careful and patient and wonderfully inviting. But my art looked just fine beside hers, and in so many ways, our paintings worked well together.

Many friends came to the opening. Peter was there, of course, offering all the help a husband can offer. My dear, close friends and supporters, Carden Holland and Anne Ilsen and Ann Stewart came, bringing enthusiasm and joy and friends of their own. My stepdaughter Erika came, with her beau and his daughter. Friends from the past showed up. Sculptors and clay artists and painters attended. And strangers came, too. Laura's friends spilled into my end of the gallery, and my friends spilled into her end, and everyone talked and smiled and met, and looked at the art and clearly felt joy. There was much happiness, many congratulations, and a healthy amount of buying.

I hope that it continues throughout the month!

The Gallery at Lighthouse is located at 744 Long Hill Road in Groton, in the Groton Shopping Plaza, beside Arrow Party & Paper. Chris Rose, the curator, may be reached at 860-445-7627, ext. 108, or chrisrose@lighthousevocedcenter.com. The gallery is open Monday-Friday, noon to 5 p.m., and Saturdays by chance or appointment. I'd love to go through the show with you. Email me at carriebjacobson@gmail.com, or give me a call.
The show is open through March 30.

Cownting down

Two small paintings of cows, each 2.5 x 3.5, on teeny easels

My show in the Lighthouse Gallery in Groton opens in an hour and a half, and so I have to skedaddle! But I wanted to post these two tiny impressionistic cow paintings first. I made these on the last warm day we had, a week and a half ago, in Clark's Falls. The cows all stared at me for a time, and then, once they figured out that I had no food, went about their bovine business.

Tomorrow should be warm and sunny, a fine painting day! I will post photos from the opening, for all who can't attend.

Unearthed

Autumn in Colchester. Oil on stretched canvas, 16x20
please contact me for price and shipping/delivery info 

Somehow, I lost this painting in the mix. I found it last week, stacked behind a couple other paintings, on top of one of the dog crates in the living room, and I took it down into the basement studio and finished it for the show in Groton.

This was an achingly beautiful day, a Sunday, I believe. I'd traveled down Route 82 from Route 395, never dreaming that I'd end up in Colchester. I set up in the driveway to a big, old working farm. Hay bales filled a couple of sheds. A barn looked to be nearly falling down, but still housed a herd of cows, and tractors and other farm equipment stood, rusting, in a muddy low spot. The sun shone as bright and clear as I've ever seen it, and the rush of autumn colors could have blinded me.

This painting makes me happy. And seeing it hanging in the gallery in Groton makes me even happier. It's a dynamite show , if I do say so myself. The work of my compadre, Laura Maolo, is lovely. It's primarily paintings of buildings and streets, mostly in watercolors, and mostly small. It's brightly colored - and there is our shared vision - and is careful, neat, thoughtful and enchanting. Our paintings work really well together!

You're all invited to the opening, which is tomorrow night - Friday - from 5-8 p.m. The gallery is in the Groton Shopping Plaza, on Route 12, next to Arrow Party & Paper.

Thanks for reading!

It's a beautiful world out there

Where Are the Horses? Oil on stretched canvas, 8x8
please contact me for price and shipping/delivery info

Two Internet friends, Sheila Tajima (http://sheilatajima.blogspot.com/) and r. garriott (http://rgarriott.blogspot.com/) left comments on yesterday's post about my energy, my production, and their comments got me thinking.

I spent 22 years working inside, hurrying, making deadlines, pushing all sorts of limits and urging others to do so, too. And for what? As one newspaper friend said recently, journalism is literally killing the people who love it the most.

So now, in what might be my own version of basket-weaving, painting outdoors sustains me. Yes, I paint in awful weather. I get cold, I get hot, I get sweaty and thirsty and hungry, cold and lonely and bug-bitten and sunburned. I paint quickly, happy to exchange thought and deliberation for passion and urgency.

Painting outdoors feels like life to me. It seems to supply me with much of what I need to live what feels like a meaningful existence. It's not that I live to paint. It feels, at least now, that I paint to live.

"Places You Know / small pieces" opens Friday at the Gallery at Lighthouse, 744 Long Hill Road (Route 12) Groton. That's the Groton Shopping Plaza. The gallery is right next to Arrow Party and Paper. The show opens with a reception Friday, from 5-8 p.m., and will be up for the month of March. Please come!

Just beneath the snow

Spring Field, North Stonington. Oil on stretched canvas, 8x10

This is what's beneath the snow. Fields yellow and green and wet, not ready for planting or even driving through. Last fall's leaves, sodden and solid in the treed spots, and at the edges of the fields and hillsides. This snow will melt soon enough, and bring us back to what we had last weekend.

Here are some calls for entry that looked intriguing:

Deadline: Tuesday, March 10
24th Chelsea International Fine Art Competition 2009 -- Agora Gallery (Chelsea, New York City) announces a call to artists for The 2009 Chelsea International Fine Art Competition, Aug. 14 to Sept. 2, 2009. Awards valued at $38,000 distributed as follows: exhibition at the Chelsea gallery, cash awards, Internet exposure and publicity in ARTisSpectrum magazine. Juror: Ira Goldberg. Open to all visual artists over 18 years of age. $35 entry fee. For more info, visit http://www.agora-gallery.com/competition/art_contest_main.aspx. Questions? Please contact Evelyn at Evelyn@Agora-Gallery.com or call 212-226-4151.

Deadline: Friday, March 13

Jasper Arts Center, Jasper, Indiana.

Public art gallery reviewing portfolios for solo and group shows, 2010. All media. No fees. Professional, non-student artists only. Artwork must be presented in a professional manner. Gallery provides invitations, press releases, honorarium, insurance coverage on-site, and reception where needed. Artist is responsible for framing, shipping and/or delivery. 30% commission. Send 10 slides minimum for solo show, more for group show, artist statement, curricula vitae, or digital images on CD(preferred), less than 1MB each. No online submissions. Paid opportunities for workshops/gallery talks in conjunction with exhibit. Deadline March 13, 2009. Mail materials along with SASE to: Amy Laakman, Visual Arts Coordinator, Jasper Arts Center, 951 College Ave., Jasper, IN 47546, www.jasperarts.org .
Contact: Amy Laakman, Visual Arts Coordinator | | www.jasperarts.org |

Deadline: Sunday, March 15

RAP Gallery, Central Wyoming College

Reviewing portfolios for Fall 2009 through Spring 2011. Open to all artists worldwide. Any media, except installation. Insurance. Work must fit through a standard door. Interested artists may send digital portfolio of 20 images, resume & artist statement via e-mail or USPS. RAP Gallery, Central Wyoming College, 2660 Peck, Riverton, WY 82501.

Contact: N. Kehoe, Gallery Director, email: nkehoe@cwc.edu

Deadline: Sunday, March 15
11th Annual Fields Project Residency Program (Posted: 7/22/08) -- Oregon, Illinois - nine-day residency program, 11th Aannual Fields Project in the heart of the Midwest, June 20-28, 2009. Plein-air painters, photographers, field sculptors, two/three-dimensional artists. Recipients will create artwork inspired by the scenic Rock River Valley landscapes while experiencing rural life residing with a working farm family, bringing art and agriculture together. Prospectus online at www.FieldsProject.com. Email: FieldsProject@yahoo.com

Remember when?

Shady Path. Oil on stretched canvas, 8x10

I was putting the finishing details on paintings for the "Places You Know" show when I realized that the bulk of the work I'm exhibiting is wintry and snowy. That makes sense, really, since the idea of the show - small pieces from this place where we live - came about a couple months ago, in the depths of winter.

Those of you who know me well know how I love big canvases - so I didn't have a bunch of small non-winter pieces hanging around.

As I stared out the window at the blizzard that's covered our finally ice-free yard, I caught a glimpse of this piece, hanging on my office wall. I painted it in August, and I always have liked it. It was a brilliant, sunny day. I was back from the West with a body of exciting work, and I'd made leaps and bounds in my painting. I painted with zest that morning, and a new-found sense of possibility.

The day was still and bright, and even in the shadows, the morning nearly crackled with heat. I can hear the bugs and the birds and I can summon the scents of hot grass and rising, sun-warmed dust.

Last night, a foot of snow fell, and more is on the way. But soon it will be summer. The grass will grow, the flowers will push up through the warming earth, and we will walk down shady paths and feel hopeful and free in the August heat.

Finishing the details

Reservoir No. 3. Oil on panel, 8x8. 

My show with Laura Maolo opens Friday at the Lighthouse Gallery in Groton, and Chris Rose, gallery curator, would like my work there on Tuesday. There's an awful lot to do between now and Tuesday, and some of it won't get done. Oh, well!

For reasons I do not understand, I seem to be incapable of signing a painting while I'm painting it. And then, of course, I forget. So tonight, one of my tasks is to sign a whole bunch of paintings and hope hard that those signatures will dry quickly!

I do wish I had a shorter name. I always envied my friend and fellow copy editor Ev Hu, who has the shortest name I've ever heard. Perfect for a painter! I tried initials, but the c and the j either end up looking like a lollipop or something rated X. I tried many capital Js, too, and they all just looked dumb. So I have settled on a lower-case "jacobson."

In the distant future, when I'm world-famous, collectors will fight over those capital "J" "Jacobson" signatures. Prices will double and triple for the few paintings with that big letter. Maybe I'll throw in a few capital-J signatures in the next five years, just to confound the universe.