Chicken

Chicken / Oil on black canvas / 5x7 / $68 including shipping

sold

LENT STARTED WEDNESDAY, and for the first time in my life, I am participating. The particulars of my journey aren't important, but in general, I am giving up my obsessions for the next 40 days.

My initial idea was to give up candy. That sounded sensible and like something that I could do. Difficult but not impossible, and good for me. I have a very addictive personality, and my craving for candy was getting a little out of control. 

Then I began thinking about Lent, faith, spirituality, the sense of and opportunity for renewal, here in the depths of winter, and I began to see a different path, a more sweeping one that could have more resonance. 

This morning, as I contemplated the next 40 days, as I thought about what obsesses me, and how to leave those things behind - or at least leave them alone - for the next days and weeks, I began to see the amount of time and energy they take in my life, and I was sort of stunned. So even in contemplating all of this, even before starting, I have received a gift - of vision and understanding and, honestly, of time. 

And so the other side of this is to figure out what to do with the extra time and space in my life. During Lent, one is supposed to give more, and give more of oneself in service, and so I am thinking about that, too. 

Are you on a Lenten journey? What are you finding out about yourself, your faith, your spiritual state of being? 

***

Coda

"The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves, too. All sorts of things occur to help that would never otherwise have occurred. A stream of events issues from the decision, raising unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, 
which no man could have dreamt would have come his way." 

-William Murray

Mr. Chicken

Mr. Chicken / oil on black canvas / 5x7 unframed / $68 includes shipping

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CHICKENS ARE PART OF THE FAMILY in quite a few homes around here. By now, I'm familiar with the ones I drive by regularly, and I make sure I slow down, not only to keep from hitting the chickens, but mostly, so I can see them. 

I like the way they walk, and the indignation I imagine I see on their little faces as I drive near their territory. I like their front-heavy bodies, and their often brilliant feathers. Peter collected all sorts of feathers for his fly-tying, and introduced me to many types of brightly colored chickens. I've also learned that people sometimes collect chickens just for the color of the shells of the eggs the birds lay. 

My friend Diana Davis (https://www.facebook.com/dianadaviswatercolor/) is a wizard at painting chickens, and I've learned a lot from looking at her paintings. Hope you take a look! 

***

For Today

"Those who do not want to imitate anything produce nothing." 

- Salvador Dali

Henpecked

Henpecked /Oil on black canvas / 11x14 unframed /  $185 includes shipping

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I'M SITTING IN THE KITCHEN this morning, and the back door is open. That means the dogs can run in and out at will - and they love it. They think they are big deals, since they don't have to get me to open the door for them. Masters of their destiny. 

There aren't many days in the year when I can do this - when the temperature is not too hot or too cold, and there aren't too many bugs. Right now, Doc is standing in the open doorway, looking out, and Lulu is sitting on the top step, and they are quiet and happy. 

Those spring and fall stretches when I can leave the door open are also the stretches whenthe time and the temperature are most likely to show up as the same numbers on my little digital thermometer/clock on the kitchen windowsill. So at 5:40, if it is 54.0 degrees, the numbers are the same. At 6:10, it might be 61.0 degrees.

There's only a small window for this silliness, and I always looked forward to it and laughed, and then found that Peter also always looked for it and laughed at it. It's still a special, silly thrill, and it still always makes me smile and think of him. 

***

For Today

Spring Reign

Thank you whoever tuned the radio

to rain, thank you who spilled

the strong-willed wine for not

being me so I'm not to blame. I'm glad

I'm not that broken tree although

it looks sublime. And glad I'm not

taking a test and running out of time.

What's a tetrahedron anyway? What's

the sublime, 3,483 divided by 9,

the tenth amendment, the ferryman's name

on the River Styx? We're all missing

more and more tricks, losing our grips, 

guilty of crimes we didn't commit.

The horse rears and races then moves no more,

the sports coupe grinds to a stop, beginning

a new life as rot, beaten to shit, Whitman

grass stain, consciousness swamp gas,

the bones and brain, protoplasm and liver,

ground down like stones in a river. Or does

the heart's cinder wash up as delta froth

out of which hops frog spawn, dog song,

the next rhyming grind, next kid literati?

Maybe the world's just a bubble, all

philosophy ants in a muddle,

an engine inside an elk's skull on a pole.

Maybe an angel's long overdue and we're

all in trouble. Meanwhile thanks whoever

for the dial turned to green downpour, thanks

for feathery conniptions at the seashore

and moth-minded, match-flash breath.

Thank you for whatever's left.

- Dean Young

Looking for Lunch

Looking for Lunch

Oil on canvas, 16x16

sold

Richmond welcomed me this past weekend with arms that might not have been completely open, but at least were part-way there. I came away from this show with some profit, unlike most of the shows I've participated in so far this year. So, yay! 

In addition, the people were very nice, the park where the show was held was beautiful, and the neighborhood was gentle and pretty, brightened by azaleas and warmed by lovely brick homes. 

Carol and Bill from Wachapreague showed up, along with their grandchildren Richmond and Keagan, and that was a great treat. My friend Cynthia Battista, a marvelous jeweler from Connecticut (check out her work here)  did the show with me, and friends Alison Thomas, who makes wonderful photographs and digital art, and John Maurer, one of my favorite painters, also attended.  It was a big show, the weather was beautiful, and it was fun. 

***

MY NEXT SHOW is this weekend in Crozet, Virginia, about four hours west of here. I've never done this show, and it seems that it will be interesting. Click here for more information! 

A happy buyer with "Looking for Lunch." 

Clockwise from upper right, it's Carol, Richmond, Keagan and Bill. 

My booth in Richmond

I really like the arrangement of paintings on this wall. 

***

Dog of the Day

This French bulldog puppy was pooped! 

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A final thought

"Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures." 

- Henry Ward Beecher

Three Chickens, Two Fancies and One DOD

Three Chickens

Oil on canvas, 36x36

Please email me for price and availability

Had to look it up, but I've found out that roosters are chickens, but chickens are not necessarily roosters. And, according to Wikipedia, a male chicken who is less than a year old is called a cockerel. 

At a show a couple weeks ago, I learned that a bull is an intact male cow, used for breeding purposes. A steer is a bull who has been cut (I have young readers, so I am being a little vague here) before reaching maturity. A heifer is a female cow who has never given birth. Who knew?

This last discussion came up around a painting I will post soon, a 15x60-inch painting of a longhorn, that I made specially for my upcoming Texas shows. The artist in the booth next to me had spent his summers working as a ranch hand, and he knew his bovine terminology! 

I had a blast making this painting of the three chickens. The two on the sides are wyandotte chickens, and have amazing rounded feathers, with different colors on the edges than in the middle.  Here's a photo of a gold-laced wyandotte: 

And you can click here to see a Pinterest page showing a whole bunch of cool chicken breeds. 

***

I'D LOVE YOUR opinions about my website, jacobson-arts.com. The homepage background is black. The next page (new!) has a yellow background. The rest have an orangish background. Do you have a preference? Please let me know. 

And any of you who are friends with me on Facebook, I'm going to close my personal FB page by the end of the year, and do all my posting on my artist FB page. If you haven't already, would you all please click here to go to my Carrie Jacobson, Artist Facebook page, and "Follow" me? Thanks! 

***

MY HUSBAND PETER has adopted a new way of dressing since moving to Virginia. I happen to love it - and I also think it's a scream. I sent a photo of Peter in all his sartorial splendor to my friend Kevin, and while he liked the outfit, he said it reminded him of something his mother used to tell him: There's plain, and there's fancy; you want wear one of each, or two plains, but never two fancies! 

I cheer my husband on for wearing two, three or even four fancies!  

***

Dog of the Day

Think it's Jojo? (Click here and scroll down to see Jojo) It's NOT!

 It's Maggie, who lives down the street, and who we like to call "the fake Jojo."