Outside Gallup - and Happy to be Home!

Outside Gallup

Oil on canvas, 10x20

sold

I'm home again, in wonderful Wachapreague, and I could only be happier if winter were truly gone. I managed to miss nearly all of it, but since I got home late Friday, it's been sleeting, snowing and freezing-raining, all at about 33 degrees. Lovely! 

But no matter. I'm here with Peter, and the dogs and cats, here with my friends and neighbors, and with my studio and our pretty little house, here in our quiet little town, and all that has warmed me like springtime. And I had a great trip! I went from here to the Pacific Ocean and back, painted a lot, did three shows and got into a nice gallery in Tubac, Arizona, where my dad and stepmother live. The best part of the trip was spending time with them. It was great. 

Mostly, I was amazed and awed by how huge and spectacular our country is. I really had no idea that the Grand Canyon would take my breath away, that Monument Valley would call to everything in my soul, or that the mountains and plains and prairies would sparkle with such beauty and power and fragility, somehow all at once. 

All across the country, I met lovely and fascinating people. They talked to me, told me their stories, shared their lives with me, and I was touched and honored. I met a Navajo sign painter in Utah, who stopped and talked and showed me portraits he'd painted of John Wayne. I met another Navajo who fell in love with my dog paintings and confided in me about how much he wanted a husky dog, though the Navajo culture kept him from buying one. If he finds one, though, he will welcome it with open arms. 

I met Juanita and Bill Williams, both artists, from Norman, Oklahoma, and we became fast friends during the show in Albuquerque. I met a woman who makes paintings on feathers, a couple who makes jewelry from deer antlers they find in the woods, and another woman who lines the crevices in mesquite with turquoise chips, or river stones, then uses the wood to make tables and chairs and countertops. 

My friends Cynthia and Kevin came out from Connecticut, with their dogs George and Zack. Cynthia, who is a fabulous jeweler, did the show in Tubac (she and I were in booths right next to each other, which was a blessing) and we had a wonderful time checking out the area together. 

Throughout the trip, lovely people bought paintings from me, showed me their amazing art, let me pet their dogs, gave me delicious food, revived my spirit with smiles and laughter, and happily shared their days with me. 

So it truly was a fabulous trip, and an amazing experience. It was too long, though - and so the next one, wherever it is, and whenever it is, will be shorter. But my guess is, it will be no less fun, and no less full of adventure and discovery, and joy in the people and the landscapes of this great country. 

My painting in the landscape

***

Here's the river in Abiquiu, NM, near where Georgia O'Keeffe lived and painted. Aren't the colors wonderful? It looked like a sunset, right there on the ground. 

These mountains were on the way out, near Animas, NM.

The show in Indio, CA - which was a bust for me - took place in the Polo Grounds, spectacularly planted and kept up. And every morning, I saw people riding polo ponies! 

Sonoita, Arizona, near where my dad and Paula live, is one of my favorite places to paint. 

I got so tired of looking at myself with graying hair that I dyed it the color that it was when I was a kid. 

There were dinosaurs all over the place out west. This grouping is outside of Santa Fe, NM. 

 

Catherine Lenoci, a sponsor for the trip and a longtime follower of this blog, visited Monument Valley not so long after I did, and took this beautiful photo. 

***

 Dog of the Day

Here's Ollie, who was fostered by my friend Lori Rowe, who is a dog lover, a Red Sox fan and a fabulous painter. Check out her work by clicking here. Ollie is now in a new home, and while Lori misses him, it's a great new spot for him.

Indio Hills - and the Pacific!

 Indio Hills

Oil on canvas, 10x10

California Calling Extravaganza sponsor painting

I made it to California! Walked right into the Pacific! It was an experience I'd never thought I'd have during my lifetime. And it took the edge off the fact that no paintings - zero zero zero - sold at the show in Indio. 

It wasn't only me, so I guess that's good, though show-wide low or no sales do not make for the best of atmospheres. People were dithering over items that cost $20, and most of the time, not even buying them. I saw no wall art leave with buyers, though I heard that a couple artists did sell a couple pieces. So it was a big disappointment, and a crappy way to start the 2014 show season. 

But it's over and done with, and I did my best, so I have moved on, figuratively and literally. 

And I met some really nice people at the show. My neighbors were all fun, happy folks who laughed with me, bolstered me when I needed it, and shared some of the stories of their lives with me. 

My painting in the landscape

***

Here's Judy Smith, one of my neighbors at the show. She makes 

beautiful leather bags, belts, wallets and the like. You can see more of her stuff by clicking here.

Shawn Harris, below, was another of my neighbors. He puts on masks 

like the one he's wearing here, and then takes photos of himself in interesting poses and places. You can see more of his stuff by clicking here. 

 

In shows on the East Coast, my paintings are considered large - but not so in California! 

The painting above must have been 7 feet by 7 feet. Artist after artist had HUGE paintings. 

 

Here's my booth, with my new garnet-colored wall covers.

The sky over the artist parking lot in Indio. 

 ***

Above, my first glimpse of the Pacific, in Oceanside, California.  Below, the waves weren't big in Oceanside, but down the coast, they were large enough for some surfing. 

After driving through towns with wall-to-wall homes blocking my view of the Pacific, I arrived in Carlsbad, where I could not only see the ocean, but park, too, and watch people surfing, tanning, and exercising in the warm January sun. 

*** 

On the way from Indio to the coast, I saw this amazing sculpture on Highway 79. It was made by Ricardo Breceda, who was identified in a TV piece as the Accidental Artist!  You can see more of his amazing work by clicking here.

***

Dog of the Day

Here are Abby, left, who is almost 13, and Callie, who is 6. They live with 

Cindy and Eric Bennet, friends and collectors from Rhode Island. 

Callie took the basket away from Abby, who, Cindy says, usually lets her do things like that. 

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

Bringing 'Em Home - and Getting Ready to Leave Home

Bringing 'em Home

Oil on canvas, 20x60

Please email me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com for price and availability

I have to say that I am loving these cowboy paintings! It's fun to paint them, it's fun to watch them come to life, it's fun to think about them, too. 

I love this one, but am a little on the fence about the dust. There was dust in the photo I was working from, and the dust was in the places I've painted it here - but it looks a little strange to me. What do you think? 

***

THE COWBOY PAINTINGS are coming with me to California, yes! And as you can tell from the photos below, practically everything else in the studio is coming, too. Peter and I spent the entire day yesterday packing the van, and we're not done yet, though we are close. I'm hoping I'll have room for the cot, though I realize I might not be able to set it up until I unload some of this stuff at my dad's house. 

More sponsors signed up yesterday! How very exciting! There are still a few full-sponsor slots ($125), one Angel spot ($350) and so far, no one's taken me up on a hero sponsorship, at $750... To see the sponsor levels and the goodies and art you get, click here. 

***

Packing and Packing and Packing

  Here's Peter, helping me pack and load paintings. 

Here's the van, clean, newly carpeted, ready to be loaded. 

And so it begins! The first painting is loaded on. 

Here's the view from the side door at the end of the first day of loading. 

Here's the view from the back... Hardly looks like it could have taken the whole day, does it? 

At the request of one of my sponsors, I'm posting the route I'm planning on taking to Tubac. I trust the accidents noted on the map won't be there when I get there! It's five hours from Tubac to Indio, Calif., and I'll post that route as I head out to the Southwest Arts Festival. 

***

Dogs of the Day

Here's most of the gang, waiting for a treat from my beleaguered husband. 

Cutting In - and Heading Out (Soon!)

Cutting In

Oil on canvas, 30x30

please email me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com for price and availability

Five days until I leave for California! And I think I have seven days' worth of work to do between now and then. It will get done or it won't, and it will all shake out the right way, I'm sure. 

If you're considering sponsoring me, there is still time, and there are still slots left. And you know I'd love to have you along for the ride! Click here to go to the sponsor-me page on the Jacobson Arts website. 

I've built in some extra travel time, just in case the weather is bad - it's been pretty awful for most of the winter so far. This time, I'm driving straight out, and starting to paint once I get there. I am very excited! 

***

Can you see spring? It's not the field - that's winter wheat, I think, or clover... something they grow down here in the winter. But I'm seeing the small branches of trees starting to turn red.

 It's the first sign of spring! 

***

Here's my friend Catherine Lenoci with her dog, Georgia. They're standing in front of "Winter's First Snow." Catherine sent me a photo of the first snow of the year in Connecticut, and I made the painting, 

and she bought it. How's that for perfect? 

***

Dogs of the Day

Aren't these great-looking dogs? I love them! But I can't remember their names, or who sent them to me. If it's you, I do apologize! And if it IS you, would you please drop me an email 

so that I can correct my deficient memory? 

And while you're at it, please explain what that pink thing is that's framing the dogs' faces. Thank you! 

Archie - and Please Sponsor Me!

 Archie

Oil on canvas, 12x12

Sponsor me for $125, and you could win a $350 pet portrait

In just about a week, I leave for Indio, California, and the California Calling Painting Extravaganza! I am quite excited, and hoping that more of you will join the good folks who are already sponsoring me.

They are:

Sarah Scott

Pat Hart

Heather MacLeod

Kathryn Yamartino

Candy and Jeff Buebendorf
Judy Beisler

Sherry Svec

Nancy Russell

Paul Scott

Richard and Mari Hook

Don and Paula Cooper

Catherine Lenoci

Mike and Jill Knaack

Joe Skelly

Sara Harley

Sponsors get art from the trip - and more! Everyone will receive a calendar of paintings I make on the road. You'll get access to the sponsors-only blog, which, this year, will include a number of videos, if all goes well. Sponsors who pitch in $125 or more will receive original art. And everyone who sponsors me at any level gets a chance to win a painting of their choice - from the trip or not.

Here are some testimonials from sponsors of the Tubac and Back trip, which took place in March 2013:

Heather MacLeod: 
I loved the Tubac and Back road trip. My first real road trip was a painting trip to Canada with Carrie in 2010. It was a blast. My next road trip was a honeymoon cross country trip in 2011, through some of the very same places that Carrie painted. So the Tubac trip was a double pleasure for me. I loved looking at all of the paintings posted together at the end of the trip, and had a hard time selecting a favorite. I decided on the sweet Saguaro Cactus. I love it. I am excited to be a part of the California Calling trip as a sponsor, and hope to be an active painting partner in a future trip! 

Kathryn Yamartino:
Sponsoring Carrie's 2013 trip mad me a part of something, a small network of people supporting and following an artist whose work we love! Through the trip blog we learned about her on the road adventures and saw the paintings fresh on the easel! 

Selecting our paintings at the end of the trip was filled with anticipation and excitement and was way better than any of the other "reward" experiences in crowd funding. 

My only wish? That family and friends had given me the gift of a sponsorship too! Two sponsorships would have been twice the fun! Hint hint! 

Carrie's work moves and inspires me. The freedom and movement in her paintings draws me in and dares me to rediscover it again and again. And best of all, Carrie is as generous and passionate a person as she is an artist. 

Sherry Svec: 

I am happy to have progressed from an audience member to a participant of Carrie's road trips by becoming a sponsor. Last year's sponsorship got me an amazing painting of a downpour over Albuquerque. We have been to many of the same places in the country, and her paintings bring me back to each locale. They ring true in my heart. 

To read more about the different levels of sponsorship, and what each brings you, and to sign up, click here: http://jacobson-arts.com/Jacobson_Arts/sponsor_me%21.html

Thank you!

***

BRRRR!!!

Here's Cynthia, one of my friends, dressed for a happy day of surveying, in Arctic temperatures. 

 ***

Here's my friend and collector Nancy Russell, who stopped by beautiful

 downtown Wachapreague for a visit recently.

***

Dog of the Day

Tucker and Emmi, top, are visiting Cynthia and Kevin and George and Zack, bottom. Looks like everyone is having a rousingly exciting time!

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

Cowboy Up! - and Five Gifts to Give Yourself

Cowboy Up

Oil on canvas, 6x6

I hope you had a lovely holiday, no matter what you celebrated. And if you don't celebrate anything, I hope you had a peaceful day at home, or at work. 

We had a nice Christmas,  though our Christmas dinner was delayed until Boxing Day, as we ran out of propane, in spite of being on automatic delivery. Oh, well. There are plenty of worse things than Chinese food for Christmas. 

In the spirit of the season, and with inspiration from Marc and Angel  and, yes, I admit it, tags from my Yogi tea, I've come up with a list of five things you can give yourself, now that Christmas is over. These are all free, and when you're in the right place, they're easy.

1. Believe in yourself. What you feel, what attracts you, what inspires you, this is all legitimate. If you're drawn to a person, an idea, a pursuit, go with it. If you can't make time for it, if doing it seems difficult or insurmountable, whatever it is is probably not for you. Do what you're good at, and what feels good.

2. Tell the truth - or as my mother would say, tell your truth. Whenever you can, no matter how scary it is, you're better off telling the truth - especially to yourself. If telling the truth is going to hurt someone else, and you don't want to do that, then stay silent. Do anything but lie. 

3. Forgive yourself. Whatever you did or didn't do, said or didn't say, promised or didn't promise, it was then. It was in the past. You can't change it. What matters is this moment. What you can change is this moment. What you can participate in is this moment. 

4. Forgive the other guy. Forgiveness is liberation. It frees you from the bad feelings. It keeps you from living in the past. Forgiveness lets your forget, or at least minimize anger, hate, bad feelings. And without them, believe me, today looks much better. 

5. Accept who you are and where you are in life. You are perfect. It might not seem so, from time to time, but you are. The things you think of as failures, they are learning experiences. They are growing pains. The things you think of as shortcomings, they are motivating opportunities. The things you don't like about yourself, someone else loves. So today, take this moment to accept yourself. 

What would you add to the list? What gifts are you giving yourself today? Please use the comments below, or drop me an email at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com.

***

NOW THAT CHRISTMAS is over, I am turning my thoughts and energy to my upcoming California Calling Painting Extravaganza! 

There's still time to sponsor me, at any of four levels. Sponsoring me means you will get art by me, access to a sponsor-only blog/newsletter, postcards from the road and a chance to win any painting I make, or that you want commissioned. 

As I found with my Tubac and Back painting trip, sponsorships change the landscape for me. Not only do they help me defray my expenses up front, but they also mean that I paint for you. I'm not painting for random people who might come into my booth, but for people who trust me enough, believe enough in me, and like my work enough to pay for art before I even make it. It turns a fun trip into a magical one. 

Click here for info, and to find out how to become a sponsor. 

***

Our former neighbor, Dulcie, who is 92, has moved from Wachapreague to her family's farm/compound up the road in Quinby. We went to visit her in her new place a couple days before Christmas, and found her cooking dinner for eight people. Here she is in the kitchen of her new place. On the wall behind her is one of the paintings from my Tubac trip. 

***

Dog of the Day

This is Big Mama, a cat we met at the vet when we took Sam in the other day. She had sunburn so badly that her ears had to be amputated. But she can still hear, and in that marvelous way of animals, she clearly doesn't feel sorry for herself. She strutted right up to us, demanding attention and petting.

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

Thinking of Summer - and a Painting in Its New Home

Thinking of Summer

Oil on canvas, 10x10

As I am planning my trip to California to paint, give workshops and do shows, I have found myself thinking of summer, even though it's plenty cold here in Virginia. 

To me, summer is more than warmth. It's early dawns and late sunsets. It's the coolness of shady trees, the smell of freshly turned dirt, the brilliant colors of flowers. It's bare feet, and the sounds of people playing and doing things outdoors, and fireflies lighting the gentle nights. 

That's where my head was, in summer, when I made this little painting, a rare abstract, and one that I really like. 

***

AFTER SPENDING MOST of the day struggling to put together a not very complicated easel - and failing mightily - I just put it aside and started a cowscape. I really like it, especially on the black canvas. The cows are going to be standing in water, so chances are that this will not be a minimalist painting - but I might try some more cows on another black canvas, and leave it without much non-cow stuff. 

I think this painting has a little bit of the feeling of cave drawings, and I like that! 

***

 Late in the summer, a lovely woman from Delaware commissioned me to make the painting you see above. It's 24 by 72 - big! - and what you can't really see well is that there's a couple, a child and a dog walking along the beach.

Here's how it looks in their home. Nice!

 ***

Dog of the Day

In late October, a lovely old girl named Flossie was the dog of the day. 

She was aged and arthritic, but what a dear face. I am sure she was a sweet dog. But her aches and pains finally got the best of her, and her owners decided it was her time. 

No one will ever replace Flossie, but she's been followed into the family by Gonzo, 

pictured above. He's bound to bring love and joy and entertainment, 

and help Flossie's family put distance between themselves and their sadness. 

Max and Carrot - and Woody, Too

Max

Oil on canvas, 12x12

commission

So where does inspiration come from? I can't say that I know. But I do know I recognize it when it comes calling. 

And that's sort of the answer for me. 

Inspiration is not here with me 24 hours a day. The muses just aren't always singing. 

Luckily for me, I had a lifetime before this one that also brought me into contact with inspiration and the muses. And I learned, from my years of writing and editing, and writing headlines and captions, that the best way to greet the muses when they do show up, and entreat them to stay for a while, is to be prepared. 

When I was writing and editing a lot, I eventually began to think of those activities as muscles that needed to be exercised and strengthened every day. I wrote and wrote and wrote, and edited and edited and edited, and so, when inspiration showed up, I was tuned in enough to recognize it and lithe enough to capture it. 

The same goes with my painting. 

I paint and paint and paint. I paint every day. I try things, and try things again, and then try again. And when, for instance, Max goes from being a cardboardy face on a canvas to taking on the soul of the dog, I can recognize the moment of inspiration and grab hold and, if I am lucky, hear those muses singing. 

What about you? Do you think that inspiration deserves more respect, more of a princely welcome? How do you seek and find inspiration? 

Carrot

Oil on canvas, 12x12

commission

p.s., Carrot and Max live together, and their portraits are going to hang together. Fun! 

Want to give a pet portrait as a Christmas present? I'll send you a gift certificate to give to that special pet-loving someone. Email me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com

***

AS MOST OF YOU know, I think, I am embarking in mid-January on a painting trip to California, and I'm looking for sponsors. 

Sponsorships run from $50 to $750. For your hard-earned $$, you receive art that I paint on the way! You also receive goodies from the road, including a 2015 calendar of paintings to the trip; postcards from my travels; regular emails with paintings, stories and photos from the road; and a chance to win a big painting of your choice. 

Check out the details at at http://jacobson-arts.com/Jacobson_Arts/sponsor_me%21.html.

Sponsorships make great Christmas presents! If anyone wants me to suggest to a friend or significant other that you might like a sponsorship, please email me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com, and I'll drop the hint. 

***

Dog of the Day

Here's Woodreau. He's a bichon we rescued; he was so messed up, it was a year before we could pet him. He did make friends with the dogs right away.

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