Red Dirt Farm

 North Carolina Red Dirt Farm

Oil on black canvas, 20x60, $1200; shipping to be determined

I was one of 25 artists invited to the Piedmont Plein Air Paintout in High Point, NC, in September. It's in a beautiful part of the country, and I had time before the event to drive around and take it in. I'd hoped to paint on site before the event, but ditches and wind made that impossible, so I took lots of photos and have begun painting from them. 

In this piece, what pulled me most was the patchwork of red dirt, plowed for mowing, and crops ready and nearly ready to be harvested. I like the way the buildings sit on the land, too. And in my painting, I love the swirly sky.  

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SINCE I RETURNED from Texas with a van full of paintings, I've collected them in a store on my Jacobson Arts website. (Please click here to reach it). 

If you're a reader of this blog and you buy a painting, I will refund you 10 percent after your purchase. Shipping will be extra, but if I'm going to be near your area, I'm happy to deliver a painting in person, for free! 

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Saw this on the wall of a parking lot in Austin. Isn't it beautiful? 

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Dog of the Day

Yes, it's Koko. I am smitten, and Peter is, too. Abby (the big dog, above) is thrilled that we brought her a playmate. Smokey likes her well enough, and Woody is his usual grouchy self. So Koko is fitting in perfectly, and is helping me remember Zoe and especially Jojo with more joy than sadness, and far more gratitude than loss. Thank you, Koko!

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A Final Thought

"Life beats down and crushes the soul, and art reminds you that you have one." 

-Stella Adler

The Deep, Red Earth

The Deep, Red Earth

Oil on black canvas, 20x60

Please click here to contact me for price and availability

I left for Texas early, on Monday, so I could stop near Asheville, NC, to meet a dog. I don't know if she will be the right dog for me, but something about her face called to me, and so I will meet her.

It's early to be bringing another dog into my life. I am still crying for Jojo, and still missing her, and Zoe, too. Heck, I miss all the dogs who have passed from my life. But Jojo was the dog of my heart, and I am lost without her.

I don't know what it says about me that I need to be loved with the unmitigated and unembarrassed enthusiasm with which Jojo loved me. She adored me without boundary or hesitation. Her joy when I came home was huge, every time. She had no dignity. She would leap and bark and cry, lick me all over, race through the house, cavorting and bounding, jumping on the furniture, taken over with joy. And I was every bit as happy to see her. We started every day together with pure happiness to be in each other's company, and ended every day the same way.

I miss Jojo and I miss this sort of renewing, reassuring, simple relationship.

So I will meet this little dog today, and I'll see. We will both know if it's right.

It makes sense that she - unnamed and unknown - is the Dog of the Day. I'll let you all know what happens.

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A Final Thought

"Art is the stored honey of the human soul." 

- Theodore Dreiser

Afternoon, Grassy Knoll

Afternoon, Grassy Knoll

Oil on canvas, 12x12

sold

The Piedmont Plein Air Paintout ended with a wet-paint sale on Sunday, and it was a lovely and fascinating event. It's so cool to see the art that 25 painters make. We were all painting on the same days, in the same five areas, and yet, our paintings were all different in type, and color and focus and approach. That being said, my paintings were totally different from pretty much everyone else's. My colors are brighter, my paintings are rougher and faster, and I generally just paint differently from most painters, and especially most plein-air painters. There was another woman who painted with a palette knife - she would make the paintings first with molding paste, building up the texture, but using no color. Then she'd go back and put the color on top. Interesting! 

Here are five of my paintings from the event. All sold except the one in the bottom left.  

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One of the very fun parts of the Paintout was a visit from the Art Bus. It's a whole art-supply store in a short bus, and it's very cool. Bibbi doesn't have everything, but she has the right things, and a great idea, too. 

Here's Bibbi, above, who owns the bus. Below, oil paints hang from the bus ceiling. 

Slots on the left hold papers and other supports. Behind them is a rack of small bins holding pens, pencils, pastels, etc. 

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Dog of the Day

The Dog of the Day isn't always a dog. 

Want your pet to be the DOD? Send a jpg to me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com

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A Final Thought

"There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot, but there are others who, thanks to their art and intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun." 

- Pablo Picasso

Rouge Bouquet - and Patty's Fabulous Pet Portraits

Rouge Bouquet

Oil on canvas, 18x18

Available at Center Framing and Art, West Hartford Center, CT

I've always loved paintings that seem to outline their subjects in a dark color. Vincent Van Gogh did it sometimes. A whole group of contemporary artists take this approach, including Jessie Mackay, an artist I discovered during the Piedmont Plein Air Paintout.

It's not outlining, actually, but is the canvas showing through the gaps.  You get it either by buying black canvases, or by using black gesso on your canvases, or by toning your canvases with oil or acrylic paint.

Lots and lots of painters tone their canvases, and one of the reasons they do is to have a color show through the nearly inevitable gaps and skips in the paint. I used to tone my canvases, but have avoided tit for years, for lots of reasons.

For starters, it's more work, and it requires planning and waiting. That paint needs to be dry before you go painting on top of it. You can pick one color and tone all your canvases that color, but according to People Who Know, different colors work better under different paintings. So when I tried this the first time, I tried a variety of colors - and nearly inevitably, the canvas I wanted to use was toned in a color I didn't want to use.

Also, and most important, I believe that the bright white canvas makes the paint colors brighter. Whatever light gets through the paint bounces on white and illuminates the colors more clearly than it would, were the canvas toned.

But I decided to try it again, on black. I do like the black canvas for the depth it brings to shadows and to the dark places. And I have to admit, I really, really like the black outlines around these zinnias.

So I will try some toned canvases, and some more black ones - but my guess is that I will continue to prefer the plain, bright, white, untoned canvas. We shall see!

I'd love to hear any ideas or comments or experience from you! Painters, do you tone your canvases? If so, what color? Buyers and viewers, do you see any difference? Do the differences matter? Please let me know!

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MY FRIEND PATTY KIERSTEN lives in Warwick, NY, and is a dear person and a fabulous painter. She and her husband, a photographer, opened their studio to the public last weekend, and Patty put many of her pet portraits on display. Aren't they wonderful? You might have to click on the photo to see them more closely. 

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DONT' FORGET about An Occasion for the Arts, this weekend in Williamsburg. I'm in Booth A8, on the Duke of Gloucester Street. Yes, I know, it is supposed to rain on Saturday morning, and be freeeezing on Sunday - but it will add to the fun and adventure! The show takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. See you there! 

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Day's End for Days Inn

I SAW THEM hauling the sign away a couple days ago. I haven't been back to see what hotel chain bought the hotel. When we arrived here, it was a Quality Inn. Then it was a Days Inn. Now?

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Dog of the Day

I saw this guy in High Point, NC, last weekend. His human said he was part chow, part German shepherd. We had a dog of the same mix, Kaja, and she looked a lot like this, except that she was red with black markings, like a shepherd. 

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

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THANKS FOR READING! Your support, comments and friendship mean a great deal to me. I'd never be doing this if it weren't for YOU! 

Cloudy Day in the Park - and Homer!

Cloudy Day in the Park

Oil on canvas, 16x20

For sale at J. Gallery, High Point, NC

I started painting on Friday at the train depot in downtown High Point. I painted and painted and painted, and still hadn't captured the train station, at least not in a way that appealed to me. So I had lunch, and packed up and headed out to the park, where I found trees and clouds and water and a scene that comforted and excited me.

Today, I'm going to have another go at the depot painting, and then, perhaps, try it a completely different way. 

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HERE IS a cool building in downtown High Point. I might try painting this today! 

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Dog of the Day

It's Homer, a Weimaraner pup I met at the Brandywine Arts Festival earlier in the month. His human said he was about eight weeks old. He was interested in everything and everyone! 

St. Mary's - and the Paintout Is Underway

St. Mary's Episcopal, High Point, NC

Oil on canvas, framed, 12x16. 

sold

The Piedmont Plein Air Paintout, here in lovely High Point, NC, started on Thursday with a Quick-Draw event from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., on North Main Street, near the J. H. Adams Inn, where all the painters are staying. 

There we were, 30 of us, spread out along a couple blocks in the middle of downtown, painting. It was fun and convivial and challenging. I saw the paintings most of us did, and they were really great, ranging from a lovely painting of a sun-drenched yellow building, to a vivid painting of a Krispy Kreme donut shop, to a small painting of a half-eaten pink-frosted donut. 

I like my painting of St. Mary's Episcopal Church. I particularly love the threatening, shining sky, and the soft glow of the one side of the church. 

Architecture is not my strongest suit, but I am determined to improve, and so I plan to make more architecture-focused paintings during the next two days. 

The other painters here are amazingly talented, and very, very nice. It's an honor and a pleasure to be in their company.  

If you're in High Point and want to say hello and watch me paint, head to the train station on Friday. I plan to spend much of the day there! 

Here's my painting in the landscape. 

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Dog of the Day

Here's a great, older German shepherd I met at the vet's a couple weeks ago. 

She showed her age a little, when she got up - but who doesn't? 

Blue-Sky Sunflowers - and a Lovely Place to Stay

Blue-sky Sunflowers

Oil on canvas, 48x72

commission

One of my goals in all of this is to do fewer outdoor art shows, and earn the rest of our living from galleries and internet sales, painting trips, plein-air events and commissions. And paintings like this one are proof that that plan can become - and is becoming - a reality. 

I love love love this sunflower painting! It is intensely bright and sunny, and while I'd never have thought of doing the upper background blue, I really like the way it offsets the rich colors of the sunflowers. 

What you don't get from the photo is a sense of the depth of the bright colors, and an idea of the size of the painting - 4 feet by 6 feet. It's so heavy I have to take it off the easel in order to change the height of the easel. And the size is one of the things that makes it so intensely sunny and amazing. I am looking forward so very much to delivering it, and seeing it hang in the gorgeous kitchen where it will hang! 

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I MADE MY WAY to High Point, NC, on Wednesday, for the plein-air paintout that starts today. It was a beautiful drive, mostly west, through lovely, sunny farmland. High Point looks like an interesting city with some bright and well-polished spots, and some fairly large pockets of what look like economically depressed areas. 

The paintout starts today, with what's known as a "Quick Draw," a three-hour event on North Main Street, very close to the hotel. I imagine that part of the Quick Draw is to draw attention to the event, and I think that's very smart. 

The hotel where we are being put up is absolutely gorgeous. And the paintout is paying for our rooms, and for most of our meals. What a treat! 

Above, the front and back of the JH Adams Hotel, where we are staying. 

Here's my room! 

The back entry to the hotel. 

Here's the outdoor patio. 

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MY NEXT SHOW will be An Occasion for the Arts, in Williamsburg, VA, Oct. 4-5. It's my first time doing this show, and I'm excited about it! I'll be in Booth A-8 on Duke of Gloucester Street. If you're in the area, or planning to be in the area, please stop by and say hello, and see my new pieces! 

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Dog of the Day

Today's Dog of the Day is Samantha! She's the mother of Puffy, our other cat, and Kizzy, Puffy's late sister. Doesn't she look like Katharine Hepburn, the Dog of the Day from my most recent post? 

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

Rooster No. 5 - and Thoughts on Fear and Courage

Rooster No. 5

Oil on canvas, 10x10, $100

sold

I was emailing a friend who is also an artist and a collector of my paintings, and she wrote about how scary it is to make a painting for someone. For anyone, really. They might not like it, it might not look like the person/dog/scene that the buyer was picturing, the buyer might think you're a talentless hack.... and on and on.

I confessed to her that I'm scared pretty much all the time. As I drive up to a show, and especially to a new show, I am often literally shaking. I'm afraid that the people at the show, buyers and artists, are going to look at my paintings and see right off the bat that I am self-taught, that I don't know the rules, that I'm a messy painter, that I can't draw, and on and on and on.

But I told her that I just get a hold of myself, pull myself together, and go on and do it. Be scared, sure - but do it. We are all scared - or at least, I suspect we all are.

After I wrote this to her, I went to the home page of the Piedmont Plein Air Paintout, that I'm participating in this week. I started looking at the paintings by the participating artists  - and totally freaked out again. Sigh.

I left the site, got a handle on my fear and paranoia, and went back to the site later in the day. When I looked again, I could see clearly that my paintings do stand up next to everyone else's - and after all, I was chosen to participate! That should be enough to quiet the fears, right?

I'm sharing all of this not so you all will tell me that I'm a good painter, etc. I'm sharing it because so many people tell me all the time how frightened they are - of painting, of trying to paint, of applying to shows, of thinking of quitting their jobs to follow their dreams. People tell me how brave I am - and I just wanted to share that, really, I am not brave. I am scared and hesitant, but I go ahead and do it anyways. And anyone can do this. It doesn't take not being afraid. It takes not letting your fear paralyze you.

My faith; my belief in what I'm doing; my dear and supportive husband; my dear and supportive daughter, brother, sister, father and stepmother; and all the people who read this blog, go to the shows and buy my paintings, all of these people, all of you, help me find the courage that I need to go ahead, fear in hand, and do what needs to be done.

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JUST A NOTE, in passing. I've changed the title of "Fat Guy at the Diner" to "Room at the Counter." I gave the painting that title in part because it has the same rhythm as "Nighthawks at the Diner," one of my very favorite paintings. But several long-time readers of this blog said they loved the painting, but wouldn't want to buy it, because of the title. Being a person who has struggled with my weight for my entire life, I do understand their point of view, and agree. 

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Dog of the Day

It's Katharine Hepburn, who lives with Lynn Hoins, a faithful reader of this blog. 

Kate looks a lot like our cat Samantha, mother of Puffy and Kizzy, who appeared 

in my most recent blog entry.