Always on My Mind

Always on My Mind

Oil on canvas, 20x20

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I had a charmed childhood, in all respects. I had great parents, who loved each other and made a happy, warm home for us. We had rules, we had freedoms, we had lessons, we had discoveries. I'm grateful for them every single day, and for my stepmother, too, who makes my dad happy in their lovely Arizona life.

Mom died 11 years ago, and I was thinking of her and celebrating her when I made this painting, on her birthday, Sept. 12. She'd have loved this field, which I believe is at Buttonwood Farm in Griswold, CT.  (My friend Margaret took this photo).

Buttonwood Farm is a great place to visit in the summer, and late July is the time to go. Sunflowers stretch on for acres and acres and acres. You can buy them in bunches - the money goes to the Make A Wish Foundation of CT - you can have sunflower ice cream, and mostly, you can gaze on fields of gold for as far as your eyes can see. There are also hayrides, a cow train and great ice cream. Check their website for info. And after the sunflowers have bloomed, the cows are let into the fields to munch to their hearts' content. I've never seen this, but have heard it's really fun.

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Yes or No?

The Neptune show is scheduled to take place Friday through Sunday, on the Boardwalk at Virginia Beach, with set-up Thursday afternoon. Hurricane Maria is scheduled to show up on Wednesday and blow through - though it could be Thursday, instead. If it looks clear and safe, I'll be on the Boardwalk in Booth 2610, between 26th and 27th streets. If it looks windy and dangerous, I'll be here in Wachapreague, painting in the studio. I'll put a posting on Facebook Thursday morning. Feel free to email me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com for my status! 

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Dog of the Day 

Met this cute Pekingese at the show in Durham, NC! 

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A Final Thought

"Dream delivers us to dream, and there is no end to illusion. Life is like a train of moods, 

like a string of beads, and, as we pass through them, they prove to be many-colored lenses which paint the world their own hue. "

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Passing Fancy

Passing Fancy

Oil on canvas, 12x48

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One of these very hot days, after the sunflower extravaganza was officially finished, I went back, and sure enough, the fields were still full (and might be, even today... I hope to get out there!)

Cows had been allowed in to one of the fields, and they'd done a number on the flowers. The weather was doing its work, too, August's tropical heat withering the leaves and forcing the flowers' heavy heads to droop, their crown of petals to curl.

But even then, they were lovely, and so I painted, hot and happy and pleased to be alive.

The Mystic Outdoor Art Festival is this weekend! If you haven't been, and you're in the area, it is really worth the trip. Yes, it's a madhouse. Yes, it's crowded. Yes, it's hard to park, and it's always hot - but there is wonderful art, and fine people, and chances are that you will see friends, maybe even friends you haven't seen for years. And whether you buy something or just look, you will come away filled with images and creativity and a renewed sense that this is a good and beautiful world.

jacobson arts's double secret world HQ is hidden deep in gales ferry, CT.

Sunflowers, Day 1

Sunflowers, Day 1

Oil on canvas, 11x14, sold

Clouds rolled in, my first day painting at Buttonwood Farm this year - and I really like the way they brought the colors down just a little. I like the way the clouds and the wall echo each other, and make the sunflowers just that much more intense - because they matter more, I think.

I mean, on a beautiful day, you already have the beautiful day. On a cloudy, humid, gray day, the sunflowers are a surprise, a contrast.

This painting sold before I finished it! A woman from Virginia bought it, and I will be shipping it to her as soon as it is dry enough.

The painting I made the next day sold before it dried - and I never even took a photo of it!

Don't forget about the Mystic Outdoor Art Festival this weekend! It's Saturday and Sunday, starting at 10 a.m. both days. The show closes at 6 p.m. on Saturday, and 5 on Sunday.

I'll be at the corner of Willow and Main, near the post office. If you're at the show, please stop in and say hello, and see my new work.

Here is this painting with the sunflowers behind.

Jacobson Arts world headquarters is in Gales Ferry, CT

More Sunflowers

Sunflowers

Oil on canvas, 18x24

Please contact me for price and delivery options

Jill Blanchette and I went out to paint Tuesday at Buttonwood Farm. The big sunflower extravaganza is over (they raised more than $100,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation!) but there were still plenty of sunflowers.

The heat and dryness is catching up with them, though, and they are starting to tip over, faces turning toward the ground.

I've had crazy success with my plein air Buttonwood Farm paintings! One sold before it was finished. The next sold before it was dry. The third, I still have, and this is the fourth.

I am so happy with this painting! Partly, I think, because I was so happy with the day. It was a joy to be with my old friend, and to laugh, and to know that this friendship has lasted, through thick and thin, joy and grief, over many years.

And partly, I am happy with this painting because it came without thought or effort on my part. It came through me, a gift from God, or the universe, or the muses, or whatever name you'd like. I was a vessel with this one, and it's a cool, fun painting - and the best of experiences.

jacobson arts world headquarters is in gales ferry, CT