Ricky and Lucy Go to Texas

Ricky and Lucy

Oil on black canvas, 36x60

Please click here to email me for price and availability

I'm excited to be heading to Texas early Tuesday for three shows, and of course, I'm bringing cowscapes with me.

The first show - Huffhines Art Trail -  is in Richardson, just outside of Dallas, and it takes place this weekend, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Then I head to Houston, for Paragon's Houston Fine Arts Festival, Oct. 31 (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and Nov. 1 (11 a.m. to 5 p.m.).  Hope it's a treat, not a trick.

My final show of the season is the Winnsboro Fine Art Market, in Winnsboro, Texas. This show takes place Friday, Nov. 6, from 1-7 p.m., and Saturday, Nov. 7, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

So if you live in Texas, or you're going to be in Texas - or, heck, if you just want to GO to Texas! - come and say hello to me, and Ricky and Lucy! 

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A friend just got chickens. Aren't they adorable? 

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Dog of the Day 

It's Phelps, and he's a fun cat. I've stayed at Phelps's home many times, a

and he's always been a little interested, and a little friendly. 

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

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A Final Thought

"An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision."

 - James McNeill Whistler

Autumn on the Eastern Shore - and How I Love Living Here

Autumn on the Eastern Shore

Oil on canvas, 10x10, $100

To buy this painting, please click here to email me! 

Texas treated me well, indeed. I had two good shows, met really nice, really friendly people, and saw beautiful sights all over the state. 

But when I drove across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel and onto the Eastern Shore, I found myself letting out a whoop and holler of sheer, unadulterated joy. It wasn't only that I was heading home, to my husband and our dogs and our house and our friends, but that all of that was in this place that so delights and moves me. 

Time and again, I drive onto the Eastern Shore and I am simply filled with gratitude that after living in all these places over all these years, Peter and I found our home. I've loved places where we've lived, but I have never felt so centered or so delightfully settled. 

I took the photo below as I was driving that last stretch on my way home from Texas. I thought about stopping to paint, but I really wanted just to get home, to hug Peter, pet the dogs, and stop driving. 

Much of the draw is our home, and our friends, the people, and Wachapreague itself. But I love the Eastern Shore as a painter, too. Partly, I think, I'm attracted to the simplicity of the landscape. Even more, though, is the light. With the Atlantic on one side, the Chesapeake Bay on the other, and virtually no air pollution at all, the light has a roundness, a golden color, and, often, a sort of brilliant, thin pink that warms everything it touches. 

Above, the photo of the sorghum field I painted. 

Below, three pix of the Eastern Shore I took on

Friday evening. 

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Dog of the Day

Abby, Smokey and Woody having a good howl. You can hear Jojo howling in the other room. 

Longhorn No. 5 - and Claude, I Feel Your Pain

 

Longhorn No. 5

Oil on canvas, 15x60

Please click here to email me for price and availability

Today (Friday) is the set-up day for the Winnsboro Fine Arts Market, here in Winnsboro, Texas. It looks like a cute little town, with some interesting shops and restaurants, some pretty houses and a surprising number of banks. 

I'm in eastern Texas, and it doesn't really look like my idea of Texas at all. All along my route, I saw lots of trees, lots of water, some hills, and lots of cows and horses. It was a lovely drive from Houston to Winnsboro. 

These horses were as interested in me as I was in them, I think! 

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THE HOUSTON MUSEUM of Fine Arts is showing an exhibit of some of Claude Monet's paintings of the Seine, and I was thrilled to be able to see it. 

It was not a big exhibit, but it was really wonderful. Monet painted the Seine again and again and again, in all sorts of weather and all sorts of light. I've seen many of these paintings before, but not since I began painting, so it was extra special to see them, and to understand, a little at least, what he was doing, what colors he was using, how he was making the paintings work. 

I've read biographical stuff about Monet, but got a book at the museum and I'm reading about his life again. Before his success, he struggled mightily, and was rejected again and again by the people who juried the major shows of Monet's day. That sure made me feel better! 

Above, one of the paintings from the exhibit. Below, me in a tunnel under the museum. I met a lovely woman there who looked at me and asked if I was a painter. We chatted for a while, and she told me to use the tunnel to get to the other building, and she was there, taking photos as I walked through this tunnel / light painting. Isn't it fun? It changes color every few moments. Very cool! 

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And here's me in a hat, at a big cowboy boot store!

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AND HERE IS... well, what the HECK is this? It is a little building with, what???? Monster arms coming out of each window? I drove by three time and STILL couldn't quite figure it out. But what a riot!  

 

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Dog of the Day

Met him and his brother at the Houston Fine Arts Festival. They were both rescues, and this one had scrapped with another dog at the shelter and lost part of his ear. And then, that gnawed ear began to stick up! This was one of the happiest, looniest dogs I've met. Always ready for action! 

Zinnias - and Patch (the Cat, Not the Website)

Zinnias

Oil on black canvas, 48x48

sold

I felt pretty good when, after the Paradise City Arts Festival, I left half a dozen paintings with Lori at Center Framing and Art in West Hartford Center, CT. Lori was so excited about my paintings, especially the new ones -  In the Barn, Poppies No. 1 and Rouge Bouquet - that I was excited to leave them with her. 

But then I got home and wondered what I had done. I pushed the wonder, worry and fear aside, and started to paint. And I love the paintings I've made. I can't wait to see them hanging all together in my tent.

This one, Zinnias, is the largest - 48x48 - and it is a true show-stopper. The painting is large, the flowers are large, the impact is large - doesn't it seem perfect for Texas?  

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Dog of the Day

It's Patch! And while it's a little hard to tell from this photo, Patch has one green eye and one blue eye. He is a funny, funny cat - and amusing to me, since I used to work for Patch. 

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

Poppies No. 5 - and Driving on the Shore

Poppies No. 5

Oil on canvas, 30x30

sold

While there's a part of me that does get tired of driving long distances to shows, most of me - I do admit! - kind of loves it. 

Every journey is an adventure, even if it involves going to a place I've been before. There's always something new to see, something interesting to ponder, something fresh that I might like to paint. And even though I've complained about driving through Texas, driving TO Texas seems different. 

I've never been to Houston, never seen Galveston and Padre Island and that whole south-coastal part of the state. I'm going to camp in the van at a state park down there for the week between the shows, and I'm really looking forward to it. 

And honestly, I'm looking forward to the whole experience, driving south, and then heading west. Who knows what I will see? It will be an adventure for sure. 

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ONE OF THE THINGS I enjoy, driving around the Eastern Shore, is seeing the HUGE pieces of farm equipment that are also driving around the Eastern Shore. They are really something, these machines. 

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Dog of the Day

He's a new dog in town, and I think his name is Sweetiepie. 

He's a very hairy poodle, who was absolutely frantic to say hello. 

October Morning - and Bonnie's Amazing Art

October Morning

Oil on canvas, 10x10

sold

Yes, I love autumn! And yes, I love the morning, too. The light is clear, the shadows long, the day just beginning and full of promise. 

But these mornings, the dawn seems to come soooo late. I know most folks hate the shorter days that we get when we set the clocks back. I have to say I love that sunrise is earlier. I'm usually up at 5 or 5:30, but these mornings, in Virginia, the sun doesn't come up until after 7. 

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MY NEXT SHOWS are in Texas, yee ha! I'm pretty excited. After the first one, in Houston, I will have most of a week to explore and paint. I'm going to camp at a state park outside of Galveston, and explore Padre Island and all that Texas coastal stuff that I've seen on maps, but never seen in real life. I'll post photos. 

The shows are the Houston Fine Arts Festival,  Nov. 1 and 2, and the Winnsboro Fine Arts Market, Nov. 8 and 9. Fun! 

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My friend Bonnielynn Brankey  makes gorgeous paintings (click here to see her Ocean Colors website), and beautiful, luscious hand-painted scarves. If you're starting your Christmas shopping, check out her website and her Etsy store, too!

Above, one of Bon's scarves. Below, one of her paintings! 

Is there an artist or a craftsperson you'd like me to feature on the blog? 

Please drop me a line at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com. 

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Dog of the Day

I've showed this photo of a Williamsburg, VA, bichon to our bichon, Woodreau, about 100 times. Woody is STILL scruffy and grimy. Guess he just doesn't know how to take a hint... 

In the Barn - and Abby Fits In

In the Barn

Oil on canvas, 30x30

Available at Center Framing and Art, 

56 LaSalle Road, West Hartford Center, CT

To all of you who came to the Paradise City show this past weekend, and stopped by my booth to say hello, thank you! It was great to see you, and you added greatly to my enjoyment of the show. 

I had a couple nice sales, some to new buyers and others to people who've bought my paintings in the past. The lovely couple below, who now have four of my pieces, said the greatest thing to me. Not only do they love my art, they said, but they're buying more also because they want me to be able to keep painting. How great is that?  

Still, this fall's Paradise City was only a break-even show for me, and so I am considering skipping it next fall, seeing if I can find a more profitable - or closer - way to spend my weekend. 

It wasn't just me, of course. The weather was rainy and cold, the stock market took a big tumble, and while folks were buying, they generally weren't buying two-dimensional art. Jewelry and three-dimensional art were the big sellers of the show. 

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I DID A GOOD but pretty frightening thing after the show at Paradise City. I left a big bulk of my supply of paintings at Center Framing and Art in West Hartford Center, CT. 

It was a good move, because Lori, who owns Center Framing and Art, sells lots of my paintings, and she loves them. But it was a frightening move because I have two shows in Texas coming up in early November, and I have to paint like a crazy woman to have enough art to fill my booth! 

But I'm excited about my new paintings, and I am eager to try new things with them - and so it's good, all good. And I do love a challenge. 

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SO, THOSE NEXT shows, in Texas. The first is the Houston Fine Arts Festival, Nov. 1-2, at 1500 McKinney St., downtown Houston. The second is the Winnsboro Fine Arts Market, Nov. 7-9, in Winnsboro, which is a couple hours from Dallas. 

I've never done a show in Texas, but I'd think that my big paintings, especially sunflowers and cowscapes, might do very well there. At the very least, it will be an experience! 

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Dog of the Day

The Dog of the Day is our new addition, Abby. She is getting along great with the other dogs, and injecting a nice dose of puppy high spirits into the lives of our aging pack. Woodreau, the not-so-white fluffy dog up on the back of the couch, would like to be mean to Abby, and boss her around - but she pretty much just refuses to take him seriously. He lunges and barks and she plays. Abby is proving to be a real gal pal for my dear JoJo, which makes me very happy. Below, Joey and Abbs take a break from a bout of very enthusiastic playing.