Church in the Mountains

Church in the Mountains

Oil on black canvas, 10x10, $125

Please click here to email me if you'd like to buy this painting. 

The PayPal button keeps crashing this blogpost. 

I'm more than a little enchanted by the neo-Spanish architecture that dominates the landscape in and around Tubac. 

A painting I made last year shows some of the colors. But it's more than the colors. It's also the shapes, the square roofs, the rounded doorways and architectural projections. I like the way the sun hits these buildings, how the bright sides really capture the light, and the dark sides sink into deep, warm shadows. I like the way the deep colors of the mountains and of the earth show off the buildings, and how the subtle grays and greens of the winter trees and bushes softens and highlights everything.                                                                                                            I was happy, then, to find this Spanish-style church, with its cupola and tower sticking up above the brush, tall and bright in front of the mountains behind. The afternoon light was bright and rich and yellow, and warmed my winter bones while I painted. 

My painting in the landscape

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REALLY? GRAVES FUNERAL HOME? Turns out Tommy Graves III played one season for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and won a Super Bowl XIV ring. Now, he and his double-breasted brothers run a funeral home in Norfolk. This 10-second ad came on during a playoff game.

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Dog of the Day

Here's Ruth, whom I met while I was painting the church.

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A Final Thought

"Don't be an art critic, but paint. Therein lies salvation."

- Paul Cezanne

New Paintings in the Galleries!

Ducky

Oil on canvas, 16x16

Center Framing and Art, West Hartford Center CT

In the past month, I've distributed a bunch of my new paintings to my galleries. I thought you might like to see what's where. To track down more of my paintings in galleries, please check out the "Available" page on the Jacobson Arts website. 

Trio

Oil on black canvas, 20x20

J. Gallery, High Point, NC

Chillin'

Oil on black canvas, 30x30

JWV Artists, Charlotte, NC

Bonnie and Clyde

Oil on canvas, 20x20

Harbor Gallery, Norfolk, VA

Painter Farm

Oil on canvas, 12x48

Current Reflections Gallery, Wachapreague, VA

Here are addresses and links for my galleries: 

Center Framing and Art

 56 LaSalle Road, West Hartford Center, CT 

www.centerframingandart.com 

J. Gallery

J. H. Adams Inn, 1108 North Main St., High Point, NC

www.jgalleryhp.com

JWV Artists

By appointment, Charlotte, NC

www.jwvartists.com

Harbor Gallery

1508 Colley Ave., Norfolk, VA

www.harbor-gallery.com

Current Reflections Gallery

Main Street, Wachapreague, VA

www.facebook.com/CurrentReflectionsArt

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Dog of the Day

How could you not take these guys for a walk? 

Want your pet to be the Dog of the Day? 

Send a jpg to me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com

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A Final Thought 

"Great things are done by a series of small things brought together." 

- Vincent Van Gogh

Carrots - and Crozet

Carrots

Oil on canvas, 10x10, $100

Please click here to contact me if you're interested in this painting

The show this weekend in Crozet, VA, was interesting, took place in a lovely spot, and was a pretty good show for me in terms of sales, too. So that's a grand combination! 

The town is just west of Charlottesville, in the foothills of the Shenandoahs. When I arrived, I found that getting there from Wachapreague, about four hours away, does not involve "going over the mountain," a question that a number of people asked. 

This mountain figures prominently in Crozet. The town was named for Claudius Crozet, a French engineer who, among other achievements (helping found the Virginia Military Institute, for example), designed the tunnel through the mountain. When the first diggers reached each other, digging from either side, they were only 6 inches off alignment, after 4,273 feet of digging. At the time, the Crozet-engineered Blue Ridge Tunnel was the longest in the US, and one of the longest in the world. 

The show had a lot of beautiful art and craft items, and made me think of a small Paradise City, in terms of quality and diversity. We set up under a huge tent, and in small pole barns. Music and food vendors were in their own area, a little bit away from the art. I was one of 20 or more artists camping at the site. I stayed in my van, like about half of the campers. The others had RVs, pop-ups and tents, and the encampment made for a fun sense of community. 

The show attracted lots of folks, and especially lots of families. Moms like art! The fair-goers were fun and engaging, and many of them liked my paintings. Two cowscapes sold! And that's great - and unexpected. Both went home with really nice people, who will love them, I know. 

Above, my booth, in the big tent. Below, Dave and Susan, who bought "We Three Kings."

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THIS COMING WEEKEND, you can see "Carrots" and other new paintings at the Stockley Gardens Arts Festival in Norfolk, VA, Saturday (my birthday) and Sunday, 10-5 and noon-5, respectively. I don't know my booth number or location yet, but it's a small show - you'll be able to find me! 

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Dog of the Day 

I am always happy to go to the shows, and always happy to come home and see Peter and the dogs. Here are Jojo, left, and Abby, romping in the yard a few weeks ago. 

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A Final Thought

"I make myself rich by making my wants few." 

- Henry David Thoreau

Pier - and Paintings at the Harbor Gallery in Norfolk

Pier, 10x10

Commission

This is the final piece of the six-part commission I painted for my youngest collector. I know I've said it a bunch of times already, but I loved creating this project. 

Sure, I do projects on my own - and I have a great one coming up this year - trailers! - but I really enjoy bringing other people's ideas to life, too. 

Lots of artists hate commissions - I love them. Listening to people's ideas, helping them reach the heart of those ideas, and talk about color and design, pattern and rhythm,  truly understanding what they're seeing in their heart and mind, and what they love about what they're seeing - this is a process I enjoy. 

It's great, of course, when people simply buy my paintings - when they see, in my paintings, ideas and feelings that echo their own, or images that intrigue and invite them, or colors that make them happy, or make them feel something - that's great, too, and I love it.

But there's a different, and very special, joy that comes from sharing the process. It doesn't have to be my idea! I'm happy to paint your idea. 

So my collector arrayed the six beach pieces up the wall of her stairway. Another beach painting by me greets you at the top of the stairs. She also has a large cow painting, and a portrait of her dog. I'm all over her house! How great is that? 

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Dog of the Day

Here's me and Patsy, at the Harbor Gallery in Norfolk. I brought a bunch of new paintings there before I left for my current trip. It's a very cool gallery, at 1508 Colley Ave. Amy, who owns it, has excellent art, and lots of fun stuff, including glass items, wall hangings, jewelry, clothes and more. And two fun cats roam the store, which makes me very happy.