Today's Forecast

 Today's Forecast 

Oil on canvas, 15x60

sold

I was inspired to paint "Today's Forecast" from a photograph that a collector of my paintings posted on Facebook.

The photo was of her own cows, whom I've met - and painted, too! And she ended up buying the painting, so it feels like it has gone full circle.

I love the photograph so much, though, that I might make another somewhat like it, in a different format. We shall see.

***

Speaking of Cows

One of my paintings has been chosen as the art T-shirt for the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts! This is a huge show, one of the top shows in the country, and I am honored that a painting of mine has been selected. 

The festival takes place July 13-16 in State College, PA. I'll be in Booth O-20, on Fairmount Avenue. For more information, and to reach the store where you can buy a T-shirt, please click here. 

The weekend before the State College show, July 8-9, I'll be at the Wickford, RI, Fine Arts Festival. I'll be on Elam Street. 

This is a marvelous fine-art show, in one of the most charming villages in Rhode Island. I'm really looking forward to it! For more information on this show, please click here. 

And the final weekend in July, the 29th and 30th, I'll be at a show in Stamford, CT, a new show for me. For info on that one, please click here. 

***

Dog of the Day

It's Loki, a sweetie who lives with a dear friend of mine in Arivaca, Arizona. 

Bet he's staying inside this summer! It's been 110 and hotter out there. 

***

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

Farm Sunset

Farm Sunset

Oil on black canvas, 20x20

Please click here to email me for price and shipping/delivery info - or come 

to the Wickford, RI, Art Festival this weekend and see this piece in person! 

It's rare for me to have several weeks off in the summer, but circumstances conspired to make that happen, and it was so very good. I had a chance to unwind, to heal a little from Smokey's passing, to visit with family and friends, and to paint, for myself and the shows, and to finish some commissions, too. 

I'm happy with the paintings I made during this stretch, including this one of the sun just setting near a farm in Iowa. I painted this from a photograph I took at that moment when the sun just edges over the horizon, a white-hot ball inside a red-orange halo, hard to look at and impossible to ignore. I like the way the sun warms the front wall of the barn, and catches on the tips of the pieces of tall grass. It was a lovely rural scene, just outside of Adair, Iowa. 

***

THE WICKFORD ART Festival takes place this weekend in Wickford, RI. The show is Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. respectively. It's free and takes place on the streets of downtown Wickford, a picturesque New England village just south of Providence. For more info, click here. 

If you go to the show, please stop and say hello. My booth is No. 82, on Elam Street, the first fair street you encounter, if you drive in from the south. 

***

Dog of the Day 

It's Toby! He's all dressed up for the Fourth of July, and is looking dashing, indeed! 

If you'd like your pet to be the Dog of the Day, please send a jpg to me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com

***

A Final Thought

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."

- Pablo Picasso

Does the Night Forget?

I'm always happy, happy as can be, when a big sunflower painting sells.

I'm happy for the sale, and I am happy for the buyer, and most of all, I'm happy because I get to make another, and know it will have a home with me, at least until the next show.

This sunflower painting delighted me. I love that it is vertical, a change for me. I love that the background continues white with its hints of yellow and green and tan, nearly to the bottom, where it picks up earth tones. I've never had the courage to do this before, continue the white the entire way. I've never had the courage to add stems, either, and I think I like them, the stems and leaves.

So it was a welcome opportunity, painting this piece. I like the pink flowers in it, and the shading, and the many surprising colors hidden here and there. All these things bring the flowers to life for me - and, I hope, for you.

You can see this painting this weekend at the Wickford Art Show, in Wickford, RI. The show is on, 10-6 today and 10-5 on Sunday.  I'll be in Booth 79, on Elam Street (there's a map on the website). Hope to see you there!

***

FOR THE PAST few years, my friend Candy and I have been trading photos of the sky, nearly every day. She can be in Connecticut when I'm in Texas, or Morocco when I'm in New Jersey, and we are - of course - under the same sky. Sharing the photos has become a touchstone for me.

Sometimes, though, the sky is just blah. Think solid blue, or solid gray. So we take photos of other things. Here's one I call "Odd Man Out."

***

Dog of the Day

Cute! They were at the show in Richmond, back in May. 

***

A Final Thought 

THE TITLE OF this painting comes from a Carl Sandburg poem, "Nights Nothings Again." The poem is long, so I won't copy it all over, but you can click here to read it.
Here are a few short verses:

Is there a tired head
the night has not fed and rested
and kept on its neck and shoulders?

Is there a wish
of man to woman
and woman to man
the night has not written
and signed its name under?

Does the night forget
as a woman forgets?
and remember
as a woman remembers?

Jo,Meg, Beth, Amy - and the Best Parade

Jo, Meg, Beth, Amy

Oil on canvas, 36x60

sold

After a month on the road through the midwest, and two back-to-back weekend trips to New England, I stayed home in Wachapreague, and I mean stayed. When I drove up the Wachapreague Road on Thursday to head to Rhode Island for this weekend's show - the Wickford Art Festival, in Wickford, RI - I realized I hadn't left our tiny town for about 10 days. Wow.

During those 10 days, I painted like a fiend! I love this brand-new cowscape, a big one at 36x60! Love the expressions on the cows' faces, and I really like the little collection of buildings in the saddle of the hill. The texture is great, too - and you can see it in real life this weekend, from 10-6 on Saturday and 10-5 on Sunday.

Wickford is an adorable coastal village, and this show is probably the best in RI. It's all fine art, so don't expect to find jewelry or pottery or clothes - though there's plenty of all three in the excellent shops in town.

I'll be on Elam Street, Booth 79, so please stop by and say hello!

***

WHILE I WAS hanging around, painting in Wachapreague, I took a break to watch the July 4 parade (about 7 minutes long - perfect!) and the amazing fireworks (about 30 minutes long, and amazing!) Here are photos from both events:

*** 

Dog of the Day

The Dogs of the Day got to be in the parade! 

***

A Final Thought

"As practice makes perfect, I cannot but make progress; 

each drawing one makes, each study one paints, is a step forward." 

- Vincent Van Gogh

***

Thanks for reading!!

Painting People - Like You!

Kathryn

Oil on canvas, 6x6

At the start of the year, I set a number of goals and challenges for myself. One was to learn to paint people, here in 2014. 

That's one of the reasons I accepted an invitation from a delightful young couple to paint their wedding reception AT their wedding reception, in early September. They approached me during a show in Maryland in the spring, and have to tell you that I did ask them if they were really looking at my paintings... and they said yes. 

I had just started thinking of painting people's faces, and had in fact pulled some faces off of Facebook, when my friend Kathryn, who is also a collector of my paintings (look behind her in the photo below), and a very talented painter herself, suggested that I ask blog readers to sen me selfies, and then paint them. 

So I'm asking! Please send me a selfie - I'll paint the first 30 or so that I receive. You'll have to bear with me as I learn and struggle and grow - but I promise it will be fun, or at the very least, interesting! 

You can send your photos to me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com. Thank you in advance! 

***

THIS WEEKEND, remember, it's the Wickford Art Festival! The show is Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It's in the cute seaside town of Wickford, RI, and it's a fun show. Click here for more info. 

I'll be in Westport, CT, the following weekend, if you're closer to that end of New England... 

***

Dog of the Day

My friend Tiffany, who also collects my paintings, sent this photo of Lizzy, her new dog. Lizzy is 11, and a sweetie. Tiffany and her family adopted Lizzy about six months ago, after the death of Xena. 

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

And as always, thank you for reading, and for supporting me in this new life! 

Curly, Larry & Moe - and the Wickford Art Fest

Curly, Larry & Moe

Oil on canvas, 24x48

sold

As I was finishing my pair of long-horned steers last week, Peter sent me a photo of three African cattle, looming up out of a pitch-black background. I loved their eyes, their strange horns - and I loved the grouping, too. 

This painting has some of the qualities of the photo, and takes some liberties, too. I still love the eyes, the horns and the grouping - and I also love the fade into red at the side of the canvas. It was a fun one to paint, and a real challenge! 

***

THE WICKFORD ART FESTIVAL is this coming weekend, in Wickford, RI, and I'll be there. Far as I can tell, my booth is still on Elam Street, but up a little ways from where I usually am. I believe that I welcome this change, as the neighbors across the way from what's become my regular spot are difficult, to say the least. So I will be glad to be away from them, and I'm happy to try a slightly different location. 

The show is Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It's a fun show, and usually has excellent art. And Wickford is a cute little seaside town, definitely worth a visit. 

I hope to see you there! 

***

WACHAPREAGUE CELEBRATED the Fourth of July in style! We had a parade, a picnic in the park with a band and activities that included paragliders jumping out of a small plane, and fabulous fireworks! I'm working on a fireworks video, and I'll post it when I'm done, but in the meantime, you can click here to see the parade. 

***

Here's a funny sign I saw near the airport in Philadelphia: 

***

Dog of the Day

Here's Abby, one of Cindy and Eric's cats. Beautiful! Want your pet to be the Dog of the Day?  Send a photo to me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com

Turn Around

Turn-Around

Oil on canvas, 8x10, in (real) antique frame

Call 860-442-0246 or email me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com for price and shipping information

I stepped from newspapers into painting, and found myself in a new world. But I'd be foolish to think it was not connected to the old world.

On our way to Canada, Heather and I saw a huge field of lupines, massed along the edge of a dirt road. We stopped to paint (you can see that painting here). The field was gorgeous, the air sweet with lupine scent, and we painted happily. When I was done, I could see that I had some time left, and so I thought I'd do another painting.

I got out my canvas, and turned to look for something fresh - and saw, right behind me, the scene you see in the painting at the top of this post. It was far more interesting, far more engaging, far more arresting than the scene I'd painted first.

When John F. Kennedy's body was lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda, Jimmy Breslin went to Arlington National Cemetery and spoke to the old man who was digging the grave that would hold Kennedy's casket. That story (you can read it here) became famous for lots of reasons; as an editor, I always made sure that young journalists read that story. I made sure that they'd at least heard about looking beyond the obvious.

Apparently, it's a lesson I'm bound to learn again and again.

Here's another lesson I'm bound to learn again and again: Don't give up.

I fared abysmally at the show in Niantic. A friend bought one painting (this is a dear friend, who has bought far too many of my pieces) and then, as I was packing up, I let a stranger bring a painting home to try it out. She has ended up buying it, so I did sell two - but at the end of the show, I'd only sold the one piece, and it was depressing.

But I had looked at my tent, at my display, and I hadn't liked it. So when I recovered from the heat and exhaustion of that show, I set to work to redo things. I took away the sheets and the ribbons I'd been so happy with. I took away the yellow. I repainted the exhibition panels white, stripped down the display, got new, fresh ideas.

The first day of the Wickford festival, I liked the new look. Liked it a lot.

By afternoon, I was stumped and discouraged again. Many people had stopped in, and I'd had wonderful conversations with them - but no one had bought anything.

So I rose at 4 on Sunday morning, brought half of my paintings back up to the studio, brought a few different paintings down, loaded up the van and reworked the display. I priced some paintings higher than I'd priced them on Saturday, and priced some lower. I also made sure I was wearing my lucky earrings and my stack of silver bracelets, both of which I'd neglected to wear on Saturday.

And on Sunday, I sold six paintings! And the people who bought them were more excited about my work than anyone who's come into my booth all year.

Was it the earrings? The bracelets? The prices? The new arrangement?

I don't know. But here are the photos. I'm happy to hear from anyone with comments, insights or ideas.

Here's the booth in Niantic. I couldn't get far away enough to get the entire tent in the photo:

Here's Wickford on the first day: 

Here's Wickford on the second day: 

Here are the girls who sold cold drinks in the driveway across the street from me the first day in Wickford, and made more money than I did: 

OK, they're adorable.