Ready for the Handoff

Ready for the Handoff

Oil on black canvas, 30x40

Please click here to email me about price and availability

I'm so glad I changed my plans and spent time taking photographs of the Pony Express riders, back in January. I know I'm a little nutty about the whole event, but it transported me, brought me to the Old West, made me imagine - with a clarity I'd never experienced - what it must have been like to live back then. 

Also, I have kind of a thing for cowboys and horses. That's very much the 21st century me - but again, I think it's because they evoke a time and a way of life that call to me. I know I wouldn't REALLY want to live back then - with outhouses, woodstoves, gas lights at best, and exhausting days filled with the hardest kind of living and working. Of course, I don't want any of THAT... just the wide-open spaces, the clean air, the beautiful horses and the sense of adventure and discovery. 

***

REMEMBER, I'LL BE at Center Framing and Art, 968 Farmington Ave., West Hartford Center, CT, on Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. If the weather is nice, I'll be outside, painting. If the weather is yucky, I'll be inside, hanging around...

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Dog of the Day

Today, the Dog of the Day, AND the odd extra item I try to find regularly for you all, are one and the same. This is Abby, our plott hound, up on the bed while Peter is still sleeping. 

Abby has a strange habit of finding Peter's boots and bringing one or both of them to wherever she is. She doesn't chew them, or do anything to them. She just brings them. I think they're her comfort, her binkie. Funny, eh? 

The stuffed squirrel that you can see above is a different story. Abby takes all the toys away from the puppies, especially the new toys. The squirrel is the newest one, and just before I took this photo, she'd slunk up to the puppies and yanked the squirrel away from them. This, she will chew up, de-squeak and disembowel. 

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A Final Thought

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

- Pablo Picasso

Pony Express

Pony Express

Oil on black canvas, with gold leaf

At Priba Furniture, 210 Stage Coach Trail, Greensboro, NC

My beautiful gallery in the JH Adams Hotel in High Point, NC, has closed. But as my grandmother used to say, when one door closes, another opens. That's been the case with me - and with remarkable timing, too.                                                                                                                   I was in Arizona, nursing my injured knee, when I got a call from Gwenn Lance, who has run a gallery in Greensboro, NC, for 14 years. She was on the brink of moving to Priba, a large furniture store in Greensboro, and she wanted my work.                                                                                      On my way home from Arizona, I stopped in Greensboro, met Gwenn and saw the beautiful store and the amazing art she's collected and hung on the walls there. It's an exciting venture, and I'm thrilled to be a part of it. 

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ANOTHER FUN OPPORTUNITY came along last week, when artist Tamara Gonda asked me to participate in an artist-question series she's writing for her blog. I was her first guest artist, and am honored by the opportunity. 

To read the piece, click here - (http://www.tamaragonda.com/blog/march-art-talk-month-carrie-jacobson) and be sure to check out Tamara's work and her other blog posts, too. 

*** 

I've never seen self-checkout lanes in a convenience store/gas station, 

but I saw them at this Pilot outside of Knoxville, TN! 

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Dog of the Day 

Saw this cutie at the show in Tubac. Very serious... 

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A Final Thought 

"To be an artist is to believe in life." 

- Henry Moore

Looking Back - and Another Gallery Experience

Looking Back

Oil on canvas, 16x16, $450

This Pony Express rider (click here to find out what I'm talking about!) lives in the Arizona mountain town of Heber-Overgaard, and has been participating in the Pony Express rides for 18 years.

 He was dressed in wonderful period garb, with a big black hat, a red bandanna and a cowhide tossed around his shoulders.

I love this painting!  I love the rawness of it, the simplicity, the abstract quality. I love that the horse is looking back.

Here's the photo from which I was working.

***

IN MY MOST recent blog post, I told you about an excruciating, embarrassing, mortifying experience I had in Xanadu, a gallery in Scottsdale. I had a second experience at the K. Newby Gallery here in Tubac.

This experience was not excruciating, and in fact, I think it will help my painting. But in the moment, ouch, it hurt.

The Newby Gallery is an amazingly beautiful, glorious gallery that has a special place in my heart because it's where I first saw paintings by the late Louisa McElwain, who used a palette knife like no one else on Earth. I've wanted to be represented by this gallery since I walked in there.

This year, finally, I thought my paintings were good enough. I thought I could muster my courage and make a legitimate attempt.

In light of my recent experience at Xanadu, I first made sure that my paintings were clean, that the black backgrounds were solid and unmarked, and that the pieces were dry. Then I chose one - a big one, Fee, Fie, Fo, Fum - and headed to the gallery.

I walked in, scared, finding it hard to catch my breath, and in a moment, I found Leroy, who accepts or rejects work. I pulled the sheet off the painting and watched as he looked at it. My life held in the balance.

"I like it," he said, "but it lacks.... maturity."

My first reaction, "OK." My second, "ouch." I spoke neither aloud.

I shook his hand, got his approval for me to show him work in the future, and left. Sitting in my van, I momentarily sank low. Very low. There are many things someone can say about a painting. A lack of maturity is a pretty telling critique. It's not "your composition is off," "I don't like your palette," no. It's a much deeper comment, speaking to my heart, my progress, my future - and yet, it is a comment of details, as well.

As I sat in the van and pondered, my inner artist wailing a little, I felt myself begin to lift. While the critique hurt, it is valuable. This is a man with a great eye. He's filled the gallery with art that moves me, makes me dream and hope. And so his comments matter.

I thought more, and began to know what he meant, what he saw. The painting I showed him - which I love, and continue to love - has an exuberance, an optimism, a sunniness that is not mature. It has swirls and whirls that I love, and yet they imply tightness that speaks to a focus on detail and technique, instead of overall character - and there, I think, is at least part of the tension that spoke to Leroy. Combined with the rest, I understand the assessment, and will use it as a place from which to grow.

I love my bright, cheery, exuberant paintings, and I'm going to keep painting them. I am going to continue to reach for the things that make me happy, and that I know make others happy. But I'm going to do this now with the thought of "maturity," too.

Maybe I will have the honor of being represented by the Newby Gallery. Maybe I won't. Whatever happens, I am grateful that I had the courage to have this experience, to hear this man's insight, and to continue with the process.

***

Dog of the Day

Here's Nick! I met him while I was painting a couple afternoons ago. 

He was a nice dog, patient and kind to his much younger, much bigger dog pal. 

***

A Final Thought

"Life obliges me to do something, so I paint."

- Rene Magritte

Riding Through - And Getting to Tubac

Riding Through

Oil on canvas, 30x30

Please email me for price and availability

Yes, this painting is like another I did recently, but this one is on a white canvas, as opposed to a black canvas. I thought that what I loved about that first one was the black canvas, and so I was hesitant to try it on white, but I wanted to see how it would work. And I love it! What do you think? Which do you prefer? 

***

I MADE IT to Tubac, AZ, in a marathon four-day drive. I left Wednesday around 10 in the morning and got to my dad's place Saturday around 8 p.m. Texas was again the longest part of the drive, physically and spiritually. But overall, it was pretty easy. I'm here for a few days before heading to Indio, California, for the Southwest Arts Festival, which starts on Friday. 

The first show of the season! I'm pretty excited. 

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THE SPONSOR LIST for this trip has grown, and I couldn't be happier. It makes a huge difference to know that I already have a bunch of paintings sold - and gas money in my pocket. I love knowing that the paintings I am making already have homes. It makes the experience, which always is one of joy, even that much better. 

***

 Here's the van, all packed - with "Riding Through" still drying! 

Think I brought enough stuff? 

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Dogs of the Day

 

Yes, my dogs again. That's Woody at the top and Jojo at the bottom. I miss them! Peter titled these "no ambition," and I think that about says it all.

Bringing 'Em Home - and Getting Ready to Leave Home

Bringing 'em Home

Oil on canvas, 20x60

Please email me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com for price and availability

I have to say that I am loving these cowboy paintings! It's fun to paint them, it's fun to watch them come to life, it's fun to think about them, too. 

I love this one, but am a little on the fence about the dust. There was dust in the photo I was working from, and the dust was in the places I've painted it here - but it looks a little strange to me. What do you think? 

***

THE COWBOY PAINTINGS are coming with me to California, yes! And as you can tell from the photos below, practically everything else in the studio is coming, too. Peter and I spent the entire day yesterday packing the van, and we're not done yet, though we are close. I'm hoping I'll have room for the cot, though I realize I might not be able to set it up until I unload some of this stuff at my dad's house. 

More sponsors signed up yesterday! How very exciting! There are still a few full-sponsor slots ($125), one Angel spot ($350) and so far, no one's taken me up on a hero sponsorship, at $750... To see the sponsor levels and the goodies and art you get, click here. 

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Packing and Packing and Packing

  Here's Peter, helping me pack and load paintings. 

Here's the van, clean, newly carpeted, ready to be loaded. 

And so it begins! The first painting is loaded on. 

Here's the view from the side door at the end of the first day of loading. 

Here's the view from the back... Hardly looks like it could have taken the whole day, does it? 

At the request of one of my sponsors, I'm posting the route I'm planning on taking to Tubac. I trust the accidents noted on the map won't be there when I get there! It's five hours from Tubac to Indio, Calif., and I'll post that route as I head out to the Southwest Arts Festival. 

***

Dogs of the Day

Here's most of the gang, waiting for a treat from my beleaguered husband. 

Lonesome on the Trail - and Stormy on the Eastern Shore

Lonesome on the Trail

Oil on canvas, 20x20

Please email me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com for price and availability

I was in my studio yesterday afternoon, finishing my final cowboy painting before I start packing the van, when a Weather Channel alert popped up on the phone. 

"Severe thunderstorm warning" for Wachapreague, until 4:30. It was about 10 after 4. 

About a minute after the alert, the sky grew dark, and the wind picked up. And then the sky got darker and darker and darker, and the wind got stronger and stronger and bigger and louder - and the rain began absolutely pelting down. Pinecones banged explosively into the roof and sides of the studio. The wind flung branches down onto the roof. The day grew black, absolutely near-nighttime dark, and the power flickered off and then back on. 

Honestly, it was scary. I'm sure I should have gone into the house, and next time I will - though by the time I realized this, it would have been dangerous to cross the yard, the way those pinecones were smashing down. So I stayed in the studio, got as far away from the windows as possible, and waited for it to pass. And it did. 

Later that evening, I found out that there had been tornado watches and warnings, and sightings of what might have been tornados or waterspouts throughout the area! 

***

SATURDAY WAS A BIG DAY for sponsorships for my upcoming California Calling Painting Extravaganza, with three more coming in! Yay! 

Now, the sponsorship list looks like this:

Sarah Scott

Pat Hart

Heather MacLeod

Kathryn Yamartino

Candy and Jeff Buebendorf

Judy Beisler

Sherry Svec

Nancy Russell

Paul Scott

Richard and Mari Hook

Don and Paula Cooper

Catherine Lenoci

Mike and Jill Knaack

Joe Skelly

Sara Harley

Andrew Graham

Rose Dittus & Michael Vincitore

Patrick Gallagher

There's plenty of time to sponsor me, if you'd like. Click here to go to the Sponsor Me page on the Jacobson Arts website! 

I am still planning on setting out on Wednesday for California! 

***

THE DOGS I FEATURED as Dogs of the Day in my most recent post  - after forgetting who sent them to me, what their names are, or where they live, sigh - are Brutus and Bella. They belong to the son and daugher-in-law of Joe Keller, Heather MacLeod's husband. 

The pink structure holding them in is, as an impressive number of you knew, a Little Tykes Kitchen. Heather says, "It serves as a jail gate when the dogs are banished to the real kitchen because they peed on the floor when company came."

 It's great to have dogs, isn't it? 

***

Dog of the Day 

Yes, I am a sucker for dogs waiting for their humans to come home. This is Big Head, a dog about town here in Wachapreague. You've got to love a dog whose name is Big Head, right?

Cutting In - and Heading Out (Soon!)

Cutting In

Oil on canvas, 30x30

please email me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com for price and availability

Five days until I leave for California! And I think I have seven days' worth of work to do between now and then. It will get done or it won't, and it will all shake out the right way, I'm sure. 

If you're considering sponsoring me, there is still time, and there are still slots left. And you know I'd love to have you along for the ride! Click here to go to the sponsor-me page on the Jacobson Arts website. 

I've built in some extra travel time, just in case the weather is bad - it's been pretty awful for most of the winter so far. This time, I'm driving straight out, and starting to paint once I get there. I am very excited! 

***

Can you see spring? It's not the field - that's winter wheat, I think, or clover... something they grow down here in the winter. But I'm seeing the small branches of trees starting to turn red.

 It's the first sign of spring! 

***

Here's my friend Catherine Lenoci with her dog, Georgia. They're standing in front of "Winter's First Snow." Catherine sent me a photo of the first snow of the year in Connecticut, and I made the painting, 

and she bought it. How's that for perfect? 

***

Dogs of the Day

Aren't these great-looking dogs? I love them! But I can't remember their names, or who sent them to me. If it's you, I do apologize! And if it IS you, would you please drop me an email 

so that I can correct my deficient memory? 

And while you're at it, please explain what that pink thing is that's framing the dogs' faces. Thank you! 

Raising a Cloud - And Happy New Year

Raising a Cloud

Oil on canvas, 30x30

Please contact me to find out about price and availability

It's been a great year, thanks in large part to all of you, who have supported me spiritually and financially, encouraged me, critiqued my paintings, and told me to pick myself up when I felt down. 

I truly appreciate it! 

Today, a person who has bought a number of my paintings came to visit, with his girlfriend. We have become friends over this year, and we had a lovely time, talking, looking at my paintings and going out to lunch. Chris gave me a beautiful piece of art that he had made. It stands in a place of honor with art given to me by Catherine Lenoci, Cindy Bennett, Bonnie Brankey and ... have I forgotten anyone? 

The decision to leave a regularly paying job to make my way as an artist was terrifying and energizing. I'd never have done it without my husband. I'd never continue it without the support and love of my brother and sister, my dad and stepmother, and the hundreds of people who've bought my art, read my blog and cheered me on. 

So I go into 2014 happy and hopeful and grateful - and so optimistic. 

I hope that the new year brings you all everything that your hearts and souls desire. 

***

Snow Geese

You can just barely see them, but they are there, in the last sky of 2013. It's the first flock I've seen this winter - I'm so looking forward to seeing them covering the fields here on the Eastern Shore. 

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Dog of the Day

Here's Heather MacLeod's dog Gypsy, looking a little less than thrilled at the Maine snow.

 And winter has only just started up there! 

***

On the Easel 

Another cowboy painting! This one is 20x60. I can hardly wait to finish it!

Through the River - and Woody's House

Through the River

Oil on canvas, 12x24

sold! 

On Christmas Day, I went into the studio to paint. I'm stocking up for the coming show season, which starts with my California Calling Painting Extravaganza (there's still time to sponsor me!) and the Southwest Arts Festival in Indio, Calif.

I've not been unhappy with my recent paintings, but I've had the feeling that there's been something missing, some quality of joy or satisfaction, that highest note that maybe only I can hear.

I used to dread this feeling, this hard-to-describe malaise - but I have come to welcome it, since it inevitably heralds a breakthrough.

And this time, it was a doozy. I was sitting in the studio, and I had a small canvas, 6x6, and the idea came to me to make a painting of a cowboy on horseback. I went searching for a photo, and found one, and painted Cowboy Up!  And I loved it.

I've been painting cowboys ever since, and having an absolute blast. This is the second painting I've done, and I am still loving it, barely able to wait until the sun comes up to go out to the studio and start painting.

This new phase, as all of my art, is, I believe, God working through me. I drew horses when I was a kid - but that's it. I have no special knowledge of horses or cowboys or anything - and yet, here are these paintings, and I think they're good, and exciting - and they feel authentic.

So I am grateful and excited - Yee ha!

***

Dog(house) of the day

We decorated Woody's house for Christmas - and he seems to love it! 

Cowboy Up! - and Five Gifts to Give Yourself

Cowboy Up

Oil on canvas, 6x6

I hope you had a lovely holiday, no matter what you celebrated. And if you don't celebrate anything, I hope you had a peaceful day at home, or at work. 

We had a nice Christmas,  though our Christmas dinner was delayed until Boxing Day, as we ran out of propane, in spite of being on automatic delivery. Oh, well. There are plenty of worse things than Chinese food for Christmas. 

In the spirit of the season, and with inspiration from Marc and Angel  and, yes, I admit it, tags from my Yogi tea, I've come up with a list of five things you can give yourself, now that Christmas is over. These are all free, and when you're in the right place, they're easy.

1. Believe in yourself. What you feel, what attracts you, what inspires you, this is all legitimate. If you're drawn to a person, an idea, a pursuit, go with it. If you can't make time for it, if doing it seems difficult or insurmountable, whatever it is is probably not for you. Do what you're good at, and what feels good.

2. Tell the truth - or as my mother would say, tell your truth. Whenever you can, no matter how scary it is, you're better off telling the truth - especially to yourself. If telling the truth is going to hurt someone else, and you don't want to do that, then stay silent. Do anything but lie. 

3. Forgive yourself. Whatever you did or didn't do, said or didn't say, promised or didn't promise, it was then. It was in the past. You can't change it. What matters is this moment. What you can change is this moment. What you can participate in is this moment. 

4. Forgive the other guy. Forgiveness is liberation. It frees you from the bad feelings. It keeps you from living in the past. Forgiveness lets your forget, or at least minimize anger, hate, bad feelings. And without them, believe me, today looks much better. 

5. Accept who you are and where you are in life. You are perfect. It might not seem so, from time to time, but you are. The things you think of as failures, they are learning experiences. They are growing pains. The things you think of as shortcomings, they are motivating opportunities. The things you don't like about yourself, someone else loves. So today, take this moment to accept yourself. 

What would you add to the list? What gifts are you giving yourself today? Please use the comments below, or drop me an email at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com.

***

NOW THAT CHRISTMAS is over, I am turning my thoughts and energy to my upcoming California Calling Painting Extravaganza! 

There's still time to sponsor me, at any of four levels. Sponsoring me means you will get art by me, access to a sponsor-only blog/newsletter, postcards from the road and a chance to win any painting I make, or that you want commissioned. 

As I found with my Tubac and Back painting trip, sponsorships change the landscape for me. Not only do they help me defray my expenses up front, but they also mean that I paint for you. I'm not painting for random people who might come into my booth, but for people who trust me enough, believe enough in me, and like my work enough to pay for art before I even make it. It turns a fun trip into a magical one. 

Click here for info, and to find out how to become a sponsor. 

***

Our former neighbor, Dulcie, who is 92, has moved from Wachapreague to her family's farm/compound up the road in Quinby. We went to visit her in her new place a couple days before Christmas, and found her cooking dinner for eight people. Here she is in the kitchen of her new place. On the wall behind her is one of the paintings from my Tubac trip. 

***

Dog of the Day

This is Big Mama, a cat we met at the vet when we took Sam in the other day. She had sunburn so badly that her ears had to be amputated. But she can still hear, and in that marvelous way of animals, she clearly doesn't feel sorry for herself. She strutted right up to us, demanding attention and petting.

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