Beach Ball - and My First Award!

Beach Ball

Oil on canvas, 10x10

Commission

Here's the next installment of the very fun series I made for my youngest collector. I'll show you the whole grouping together soon! Whether it's me, or some other artist, if you ever have the chance to commission a group of paintings - or even a single painting! - you will find out how very wonderful it is to be in on the process from the start. It's great for the artist, too. 

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I'm out in Arizona, on the Origins Painting Trip, and I am just starting the real painting phase of it, in and around my first hometown, Fort Defiance. 

I spent a couple weeks in Tubac, AZ, south of Tucson, visiting with my dad and Paula, and participating in the Tubac Arts Festival. There, sales were slow, but I won my first award! It was a general award, inviting me back for the 2016 show. Yay!  

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Dog of the Day

This wolf hybrid was on a leash, with her people, at the Tubac show. A photographer near me thought that maybe it was a German shepherd, but I could tell, even at a distance, that she was at least part wolf. Those amazing yellow eyes are a real giveaway, and her behavior - looking left, looking straight ahead, looking right - again and again and again - that was another giveaway. She was beautiful, but spooky, and clearly a wild animal at heart. I would not have brought her to a show.

Carrot

Carrot

Oil on canvas, 12x12

Commission

Another beautiful dog! I absolutely love that in doing all this painting, I have the chance to make portraits of people's beloved pets.

Carrot, whom I've had the great fortune to meet, was a rescue, and it showed, in the early photos of her. She is a serious dog, still, and probably always will be, but she's come miles from how she looked when she arrived at her forever home.

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I THINK THAT maybe, in another life, I was a dog.

I'm pretty happy most of the time, and pretty trusting. I love to eat and sleep. I protect my home and family and friends fiercely.

And I have that dog thing that George Carlin described as believing that whatever is happening at the moment is going to go on... forever! Sad? Gonna be sad forever. Hungry? Gonna be hungry forever. Joyous? Yup - forever.

And I DO love to stick my head out the window when I drive.

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I DROVE TO Virginia Beach today - the Big City! Here are a couple scenes I saw on my way...

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Dog of the Day

Here are Gypsy and Shadow, Heather and Joe's beautiful dog and cat. 

They have special people in their hearts today - and every day. 

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

Tilghman Fall - and a Harrowing Show

Tilghman Fall

Oil on canvas, 16x20

Please contact me for price and delivery information

This is a painting I began years ago, on a wonderful painting trip to Maryland. I had gotten about 90 percent through the piece when absolute exhaustion overtook me, and I stopped, knowing where I was going, and figuring I could finish up when I got home. 

Well, I never did. 

A couple weeks ago, I found the painting and finished it. I added some stuff, changed the house, altered the sky, fooled with the light. 

There is a point at which, I realize, I stop trying to make the piece look like whatever it is - a dog, a tree, a landscape - and I shift to making it look like a good painting. This comes at different points in each piece. This time, it came a couple years later. 

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THE BOARDWALK ART SHOW has been good - but harrowing. 

Set-up was Wednesday, and it was brutally hot. I know there have been issues with vandalism, so I set up the tent, but didn't put any work in until Thursday morning.

Again, it was hot. Torrid. Blistering. Ninety-seven degrees - and with storms in the forecast. 

At about noon, the organizers sent word around that the show would close early because of the weather. I took all my paintings down, packed them away in the van, and added buckets of sand to my already heavily weighted tent. 

My tent held in the 60-plus-mph wind that tore through the Oceanfront - but 33 others did not. The storm ripped them apart, tumbled them into the ocean, tore them to pieces, and demolished work that artists had left inside. 

Friday, the blow continued, and the tent shook and strained while paintings flapped and slapped and slammed against the walls, and the rugs puffed up in unstoppable waves. 

But today, Saturday, was excellent, in terms of weather, and people and sales. So - yay! And Sunday is another day. 

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I DID NOT WIN a prize from the judges in the show, but I still have a chance. If you get this before noon on Sunday, please click here to vote for me for the People's Choice award. It's an honor, and it comes with $1,000, and YES I AM A SHAMELESS HUSSY!!! 

I am in Booth 2423.

Thanks! 

 Here's my booth at the show

And here's me, featured in the booklet that people walking the show use to find their way! 

Here's me in ANOTHER new hat

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Dog of the Day

For some reason, I seem to think that all the dogs I took photos of were named Oliver. Maybe I am just tired.

This little bichon, Oliver or whatever his name is, was sweet and happy and loving and full of joy and mischief!

Want your dog to be the Dog of the Day? Send me a jpg!

Reflections - and Reflections on Shows, Value and Prices

Reflections, Frederick MD

Oil on canvas, 24x24

sold

I'm pretty excited about the Boardwalk Art Show in Virginia Beach - and a little fearful, too. It's a huge show, the weather can be dramatic, and it's a four-day event, something I've never done. So I have my qualms, but I guess I wouldn't be me without them.

Most of all, I'm excited to have gotten in, and to be a part of such an enormous and well-known event.

If you're in the area, please say hello! I will be in Booth 2423, which is near 24th Street. The show runs from Thursday through Sunday. Thursday hours are noon to 8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday is 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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MY NEXT SHOW is the delightfully named Pooch-A-Palooza, a dog-related event at Prowse Farm in Canton, MA, June 22-23.

If you think you're going, you can get a $3 discount on tickets, by using the code FANDF at www.poochtickets.com.

To find out more about the show (it seems like it's going to be great fun!), click here to check out the website.

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AND NOW A WORD from our sponsors, i.e., me.

I'm raising my prices, especially on the larger paintings, but generally across the board. I've been told for years now that my prices are too low, and I am finally starting to believe that they are.

This is good news for all of you who already have my paintings! It is a big step on the path to those paintings being worth more than you paid, so yay.

And for those of you who have bought my paintings, those of you who are collectors, those of you who have been with me from the early days, you will still get price breaks when you want to buy paintings from me. You have been the foundation of this house I'm building, and I will be eternally grateful.

As always, if you want a painting, but you don't have the funds, please get in touch with me and we will work out a payment plan.

If anyone out there wants a painting at the current prices, please let me know today! Pet portraits and the 10x10s are staying at their current prices for now...

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Dog of the Day

The Dog of the Day is Gemma, who belongs to Ron DesJarlais's other daughter, Kelly. (Click here to check out Cora, who belongs to Ron's daughter Cait). How great that Ron has two daughters who both have dogs!

Want your pet to be Dog of the Day? Email me a jpg!