Morning's Glory

Morning's Glory

Oil on black canvas, 12x36

sold

The snow in our driveway stood waist-high in a hard, wind-blown drift. Even if we could have gotten out of the driveway, we'd have been mired in a hard, knee-high drift covering the road. No cars drove by - or, as far as I could tell, drove anywhere in town - for four days. Finally, at 8:30 at night on the fourth day after the storm, the state sent a plow to Wachapreague.

The plow piled up a wall of snow in front of our already drifted driveway, and the single-digit temperatures froze everything solid. Eventually, in 19-degree sun, we went out and dug and dug and dug, and then a neighbor, watching from his house, went and got the town's small front-loader and got us and our neighbor out. Our hero!

Being blocked in did wonders for my painting, though. Honestly, there was pretty much nothing else to do, so I painted and painted and painted, and ended up with this piece (and since this, others), in a style I am calling "mosaic painting."

It's again along the lines of the abstract realism that's always intrigued and drawn me, and which I've always wanted to paint - and have painted, more or less. The deconstructed landscape. A mix of detail and not-detail, energized by color and stroke and the puzzle-piece feeling of a mosaic or a stained-glass piece. I really love this, and feel a whole new sense of expression and discovery and joy.

You can see more of these on my website! Go to jacobson-arts.com, and click on "available paintings." There aren't many - yet - but that will change.

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I'M HEADING TO ARIZONA in a week or so, and am delighted to be going to a warm, sunny place. My route and departure date are a bit up in the air, and they depend on the weather, which seems to be a mystery as of late. I'll be there for the month of February, and am doing three shows and a demo:    

•  Tubac Arts Festival, Feb. 7-11, Tubac, AZ. I don't know my booth number yet, but when I learn it, I will post it on the 2018 Shows page on the Jacobson Arts website.

• Tucson Museum Spring Artisans Market, Feb. 16-18, Tucson, AZ. Booth 29. 

• The Great Fair of Fine Arts and Crafts, Feb. 23-25, Fountain Hills, AZ. No booth number yet. 

• And my demonstration will be Feb. 14, starting at noon, at the San Pedro River Arts Council Gallery in Benson, AZ. 

All these events are free and open to everyone! 

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Dog of the Day

I found this photo while I was looking for something else. It is intriguingly entitled "John and New Dog." I don't see John, and can't think of a John I know who might have a new dog, but if you know this dog, or John, please do let me know. It's a great dog, isn't it? 

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A Final Thought

"The more you love, the more love you have to give. 

It's the only feeling we have which is infinite."

- Christina Westover

Arivaca Dawn

Arivaca Dawn

Oil on canvas, 20x20

Please click here to contact me for price and availability

In just a few hours, I'll leave Arizona and head east, toward home - and I can hardly wait.

I've had a great stay here, and I'm sorry to go. Dad and Paula and I have spent wonderful time together. The sun has warmed my bones and chased my winter blahs away. I had great fun with my friends Cynthia and Kevin, and their friends (and now mine, too), Ruth and Tim. I saw my Arizona friends, had lunch with Linda and Lois, visited my artist friend Brenda Peo and saw her home and studio. I had a somewhat lackluster but not terrible show, sold a painting afterwards (one of my favorites ever), and made this painting, which I absolutely adore.

I could stay another two weeks or more and still be deliriously happy here, but the pull of home is strong, and I can't wait to get there, to be with Peter and the dogs, hang out with my friends, spend time in Wachapreague, smell that Eastern Shore wind and see that beautiful Eastern Shore light.

So it's the perfect time to leave.

Above, my painting in the landscape. Below, the moment I painted.

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Stuff I've Seen

I suspect I've posted this before, but it makes me smile every time. 

Exit Zero, the last exit in Texas on I-10

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Dog of the Day

Saw this cutie in Florida. Adorable! 

Want your pet to be the Dog of the Day? Send a photo to me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com

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A Final Thought

"Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst." 

- Henri Cartier-Bresson

Arivaca, Arizona - and Painting with my dad

Arivaca, Arizona

Oil on canvas, 12x24

Dad is 84, and he's been painting for maybe 10 years, maybe more. For most of that time, he's done watercolors, but recently has moved into acrylics. 

Until Tuesday, he'd never painted in plein air! So I was thrilled - thrilled! - when he agreed to go out painting with me. 

We had a great time bouncing along a terrible road to a teeny town called Arivaca. Dad says it was settled in the 1960s and 1970s by people whose main pursuits were hiding from the law and selling drugs, maybe not in that order. 

These days, it's an eclectic, dusty little town, broken down in places, and kept up in places. 

While we didn't see any drug activity, it did seem that everyone in town smoked cigarettes. Haven't seen that in a while. 

A furniture designer and artist named Peter Saloom (check out his furniture by cicking here) rode by on a bike and stopped to see what we were doing. An awful lot of folks drove by and then sort of turned around and drove by again... I am sure they were wondering just what the HECK we were painting...

At any rate, I had a great idea: Dad and I should do a show together! What do you think? 

Here's Dad and his painting, which is at a midway point

Above is the building we both painted, and below is the building I added on the left-hand 

side of my painting. 

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Scenes from the day

Here is some of the scenery on the way to Arivaca

 An Arivaca vaca (isn't that Spanish for cow?) 

At the restaurant where we had lunch, the walls of the patio held several large mosaics 

made of bottle caps! 

 Sunrise Tuesday in Tubac

Anyone want to buy a restaurant? 

Why this burrito wagon has a sign saying "Virginia," I do not know. 

Yee Ha! Cow Palace! 

Casper, the Dog of the Day