Never Give Up

Never Give Up

Oil on canvas, 14x14

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Long ago, I decided that when the voice - or God or the universe, or my Higher Power, or Nature, whatever works for you - tells me to go down a path, I should go, and not resist.

That's what has happened with me now, with three abstract pieces. I did not set out to make these, and all I can say is that they more or less made themselves. There's a part of me that's hoping this is a short, strange phase, and there's a part of me that's hoping this is the start of a journey of exploration.

Tomorrow, I am making a floral, and when that's done, I have a photo of some cows that I'm yearning to make into a painting, so I doubt that the abstracts are going to exclude any of my regular work - but I am excited about them, in the way you're sometimes excited about meeting a strange, interesting, new person.

Please let me know what you think.

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Stuff I've Seen

Well, the Paradise City show in Marlborough, Mass., was not a great show for me in terms of sales, though commissions from supporters and patrons certainly helped!

One man bought a biggish cow painting (above), and that was great. A collector bought a small floral and I forgot to take a Happy Buyer photo. I also forgot to take a Happy Buyer photo of one of my strongest collectors, who bought a floral painting. If you buy something from me and I seem to be forgetting the Happy Buyer photo, please remind me!

But shows are not only about sales, and this one was about friends. In addition to the collectors who bought from me, I was visited by my friend Heather, from Maine (in the selfie above left) and my friends from college, Penny and Amy (below). Andy, a friend of my brother's who has become a friend of mine over the years, also came to the show. That's him at the top, pointing to a postcard of my stuff.

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Dog of the Day

This little guy thought he was the size of the van, apparently, as he placed himself in front of the van a couple days ago and refused to let me go by. I rolled the window down and yelled at him and got a mouthful of barking for my trouble. 

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A Final Thought

"Every morning when I wake up, I experience an exquisite joy - the joy 

of being Salvador Dali - and I ask myself in rapture: What wonderful things 

is this Salvador Dali going to accomplish today?" 

- Salvador Dali

Christmas Dreams - and Quick Cheese Layer Bake

Christmas Dreams

Oil on canvas, 10x10

I don't do many abstracts, and most of the ones that I do, I don't like much. I usually destroy them. But this one, I do like - at least in part because it arrived in my consciousness with the "Christmas Dreams" title.

And Christmas, of course, is coming - as is Hannukah, which starts on Thanksgiving Day. I'm hoping that this year, lots of you will give paintings as presents!

In addition to any of my available paintings, you can also give:

• a pet portrait (please let me know ASAP if that's what you're planning - there's still time, but we're cutting it close), 
• a gift certificate for a pet portrait
• a gift certificate for a painting from my upcoming trip to Arizona... more on that in my next post. 

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On the Easel

Nice, huh? What you don't get from this is how big this sunflower painting is - 48 inches by 48 inches! Whee! I'm painting it for my first 2014 show, the Southwest Arts Festival, in Indio, Calif. 

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Quick Cheese Layer Bake

The memory of this, a childhood treat, came to me Sunday morning as I was looking in the icebox and thinking about brunch. I called my brother and he found the recipe - in my grandmother's handwriting. 

Here it is: 

12 slices bread

1/2 lb Kraft Old English sliced cheese

4 eggs

2 1/2 cups milk

salt and pepper

mustard

minced onion

Arrange 6 slices of bread in a greased 12x8 baking dish

Cover with sliced cheese, then the rest of the bread, in another layer. 

Beat eggs, milk, seasoning, pour over bread and cheese. Let sit for one hour. Bake 50 mins in a 325-degree oven. 

I used a smaller pan, less bread, less milk, and whatever cheese I had in the house. Also, I used dried onions, and no mustard. It was fabulous! Not healthy, no, but delicious. And easy. 

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Dog of the Day

I was at the vet's office the other day, when a man came in with this little kitten in a crate. A few moments later, a mother and her little girl came in with another crate. The man gave the kitty to the little girl, who wasn't so sure, at first, that she wanted him. Then she decided that she did, but she was going to change the kitty's name from Friday to something else. I suggested "Saturday." 

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

Thursday Afternoon - and Running Out of White

Thursday Afternoon

Oil on canvas, 18x36

Please contact me for price and delivery info

Painting began for me with a random thought that I had the courage - or luck - to listen to, and follow.

That began a change in my life, and over these years, little by little, I've learned to listen and to trust. When a door seems to open for me, I take my courage in hand and walk through it. Maybe I end up in a small room that I leave quickly. Maybe I end up in a long, interesting corridor, with lots of corners and other doors. The important thing for me is to have the nerve to step through and see what's there.

Thus, this painting, which seems to me to be about freedom, and love, and the sky and, well, paint itself.

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I KNEW I WAS running out of white paint, so early in the week, I ordered a bunch. I go through a lot, a lot, a lot of white paint. The UPS guy showed up on Friday, and I was thrilled. He was there just in time.

"Yay!" I said. "I'm down to my last tube of white!"

"Hmm," he said. "I don't think there's any paint in this shipment."

And sure enough, there wasn't. Canvases, yes, but no paint.

I can fake it when I'm out of other colors... but not when I'm out of white. And there are a lot of situations like that. We can seem to be OK, making do, or even shining people on - but when you're out of white paint, when you're out of whatever it is at the very core of what you do, or who you are, you're just stuck.

Peter and I went to the Big City of Salisbury, MD, Saturday, and I got a couple tubes of white paint - so I can go on. If only it were so easy in other parts of life.

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Dog of the Day

This is a son of Tino, one of Kathryn Yamartino's fabulous labradoodles! 

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