Red

Red

Oil on canvas, 12x12

Part of the 101 Dogs project

A few years ago, after Looie, our Pekingese, died, Peter began looking for a dog for him. A dog of his heart. Looie had been this - as much as Looie, with all his self-possession and ego could be any human's dog - but Peter saw me with Jojo and wanted that same sort of relationship. 

After months of searching through probably hundreds of rescue and shelter sites, Peter found Abigail, a Plotthound, who was being fostered by a woman named Christine, in North Carolina. Peter and Christine chatted over the internet, Christine had him fill out an adoption application form, and when she gave him the nod, off he went. 

According to both Christine and Peter, it was love at first sight. Abby hadn't taken much to men, but she played with Peter, gave him the paw, and recognized him as her human. She's been a great addition to our household - as have Koko, Doc and Lulu, all of whom came from Christine! 

You don't meet many people in your life who supply you with joy, love and family, but Christine has done all that and more. I'll always be grateful - and always think of Christine herself as part of our little family. 

***

Good thing I'm going away today, as I'm running out of fun photos to share with you! So I am revisiting my paint-cap contest photo. People always wonder how much paint I use, so last March, I started saving caps. At the end of March of this year, I'll count them all up. Whoever comes closest, without going over, will get a free 10x10, or $125 off a larger painting! Send your guesses to me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com

***

Dog of the Day

It's my pal George. I might have used this already, but I figured we all need a laugh - and George is on his way to Arizona with his pal Henry and their humans, Cynthia and Kevin. We're all meeting in Tubac, and will take place in the art festival there, Feb. 8-12. Yay! Maybe George will wear his hat? 

***

A Final Thought

"It seems harmless enought to observe here that having an MFA (or even a knowledge of modern art) should hardly be a prerequisite to making art." 

- David Bayles and Ted Ormand

"Art & Fear / Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking"

Smart Felix

Felix

Oil on canvas, 12x12

101 Dogs commission

 A few months ago, a woman I'd met at the Paradise City Arts Festival decided to become a three-dog sponsor of the 101 Dogs project.  It took me a while to get to the paintings, but I did, and two of them - Hershey, the chocolate lab below, and Kody below him - worked well for her and for me. Alas, Felix did not. I redid the original painting, (you can see that one just to the left) but it still wasn't right, so I took a fresh start, made a new painting, and it was good for the buyer and for me.                                                                                                                       This is not a big deal. Usually, I get the dogs right off, but about one in 10 needs to be redone. Often it's because I don't like the painting, I don't think it captures the dog. Sometimes it's because it's a miss for the dog's human. It happens, and it's fine. I learn something from every one of these. But it means that I always have a few dog paintings floating around. With the 101 Dogs project, and the return of some very old sample dog paintings from a gallery, I have more than usual.                                                                                                                            I  like to give a painting away at every show, usually to a young person, and so these extra paintings often go that route. Groups often ask me for donations, and sometimes that's where they end up. But sometimes they just end up in the studio, watching me. A few weeks ago, I had a great idea! I'd put hats and glasses, scarves and ties, necklaces and who knows what else on these dogs, and price them low. So I took Kody, put him in glasses and a tie, and put him on my website, Jacobson Arts.

Remember my mentioning that the lovely Lulu ate my glasses? I went to my local optician to get new ones and since my prescription was old, the woman behind the desk suggested that I have him recheck my eyes. I really didn't want to spend the money, but my eyes are my life these days, and so I did. Dr. Keyes was such a nice man! We got to talking, about his life and mine, and of course I mentioned the website. After the exam (my eyes are worse, imagine that), one of the women was measuring something on my eyes when the doctor came out with his laptop. 

"Is this one available?" he asked, pointing to Smart Felix, with the glasses and tie. "I have to have him!" 

So Smart Felix has a new home, and is very much loved, and the sale helped defray the cost of the eye exam, and I met a bunch of nice people who live nearby and love my paintings. 

     Smart Felix

***

Yikes! Snow in Wachapreague! 

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Dog of the Day

It's Koko, Doc and Lulu - Koko has seen snow before, but this is the puppies' first adventure, and they loved it. I froze myself, chasing them around to get them in! 

***

A Final Thought

"Simply put, making art is chancy - it doesn't mix well with predictability. Uncertainty is the essential, inevitable and all-pervasive companion to your desire to make art. And tolerance for uncertainty is the prerequisite to succeeding." 

- David Bayles and Ted Orland

 "Art & Fear / Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking" 

                                                                              

Chloe and Kaylee

Above, Chloe

Below, Kaylee

101 Dogs Project!

The State College Art Fair is a huge event, so big it's hard to walk in one day. And it is very, very difficult to get parking anywhere near your booth. 

I was on a pretty, residential street, and it was a nice spot, though there were no shops or anything nearby, and so, no coffee - or so I thought. 

The first morning of the show, as I was just aching for a cup of Joe, along came two adorable little girls with a red wagon holding a giant coffee urn and all the fixings. Sales of coffee went to support a local charity, they told me. I bought a cup from them as they made their way down the street, and another cup as they made their way back up. They told me refills were free, but I insisted on paying. 

They told me they lived right up the street, and since there were no port-a-potties in my general vicinity, I asked if it would be possible for me to use the bathroom in their home. Sure, they said. Their parents opened up the house to artists all weekend. I gave them $10, which they insisted I didn't need to give them, but it was for a good cause and I was grateful. 

Later that day, a very pretty woman came along and asked if was Carrie. When I said yes, she said that every year, she invites a couple artists to use parking spaces in a building she and her husband own next door to their home. I was one of the ones she was inviting. Yay! 

I used their bathroom during the weekend, and got to know the family a little. I also got to know their dogs, two Newfoundlands who were sweet and funny and utterly enormous. It was with great pleasure that I painted them for the 101 Dogs project! 

It's too late for any 101 Dogs paintings for this holiday season, but if you want to give a gift certificate for one, drop me an email and we will work it out. (carrieBjacobson@gmail.com)

***

It's "Kerosene" in the lower sign, but "Kereosene" in the upper one. Huh? 

The store owner said he'd never noticed the different spelling. 

***

Dog of the Day

Shy service dog in the Lowe's in Pocomoke

***

A Final Thought

"The chief enemy of creativity is good sense." 

- Pablo Picasso

Woody

 

Woody

Oil on canvas, 12x12

The 101 Dogs Project is chugging along, and I am loving it and the paintings coming from it. Soon, I'll have them up on a page on my website, Jacobson Arts (jacobson-arts.com). For now, there are photos to be taken, and surprises in the works, so no page yet. But it's coming! 

Meantime, if you want to read about the project, and maybe even become a sponsor, you can find out more here. I'm donating money from each painting to one of four dog-related groups that I've chosen, and you can read about them here. In addition to the painting, you can receive stuff - or choose not to have the stuff, and have me donate more money instead. 

Woody is one of our dogs. He's a bichon who'd been bought from and returned to a pet store at least twice. He was scared of everything when we got him; it took a year before we could pet him - and he's still not crazy about it. He has his personality quirks, for sure, but he is a good dog, and an ever-constant companion. 

And so, he's also the Dog of the Day! 

***

A Final Thought 

"You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star." 

- Friedrich Nietzsche

Safe at Anchor

Safe at Anchor

Oil on canvas, 10x10, $125

Please click here to email me if you're interested in this painting

For a New Englander like me, it is still a thrill to have a 70-degree day in March. Yes, the wind blew briskly off the water, but as long as we stayed in the sun, the day was warm enough to make a plein-air painting. The gulls squawked, people walked by, and but for the lack of boats and cars, it could have been summer.                                                                                                                                  My friends Pat and Carol run an antiques store in town. A couple years ago, a guy going very fast in a truck smashed into the building, knocked it off its foundation, broke most everything inside, and ended up destroying more than half of the store. Pat and Carol have had it rebuilt, and it's smaller but very cute, and will soon be open. 

I'm making a 2017 calendar of Wachapreague, which will be available through me, of course, and in their store. So this is Painting No. 1 for the calendar. Yay! 

***

I WAS THRILLED this week to find that I've been lifted off the waiting list, and will participate in the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, which has been named the No. 1 show in the country by Sunshine Artists, the major group that lists and ranks festivals. So that is very exciting! 

The festival is July 14-17, in State College, PA, on the grounds of the University of Pennsylvania. 

Meantime, I've been rejected by the Boardwalk show in Virginia Beach, and wait-listed for Stockley Gardens in Norfolk. Sigh. 

Please check out my website, jacobson-arts.com, to see my show schedule. 

***

Dog of the Day 

Well, DOGS of the Day... Meet our new additions, Dr. Cooper (brown eyes) and Lulubelle (blue eyes). Less formally, Doc and Lulu. They're about 10 weeks old, at least part Catahoula leopard dog, and part who knows what. They weigh about 7 pounds. 

The big dogs were wary at first, but now they're loving having New Friends! And Peter and I are loving the enthusiasm and joy with which the pups address life. Everything is new, everything is exciting - and maybe, everything is edible. Their energy and enthusiasm are contagious! Yes, it's madness to have six dogs, but it's fun, too. 

***

A Final Thought

"The main thing is to be moved, to love, to hope, to tremble, to live." 

- Auguste Rodin

Abigail - and Sure, Stuff Again!

Abigail

Oil on canvas, 12x12

Commission for the 101 Dogs project

I've started painting for the 101 Dogs project, and I'm just as excited as can be! The project involves me making paintings of 101 dogs, then putting the paintings together in a book and a poster, and donating money from each sale to a good, dog-related group.

You can be a part of the project, at pretty much any level you wish - sponsorships start at $25! To get an original oil painting and a book or poster starring your dog, you'll pay a minimum of $375. Bigger paintings, and multiple paintings, are part of the project at higher prices. 

Patrons will also receive dog-painting-related items, from buttons to mugs to notecards and stamps, and more. 

For full information, and to participate, click here to check out the 101 Dogs page on the Jacobson Arts website. 

***

Yes! 

Prints, totebags, pillows, shower curtains and more, printed with the paintings you choose, at my site here, or search for me on Fine Art America.

Calendars - cowscapes, Eastern Shore paintings, dogs and flowers, available here, or search for me on Lulu.com. 

***

Dog of the Day

Guarding the car! 

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A Final Thought

"There's no retirement for an artist. It's your way of living, so there's no end to it."

- Henry Moore

Calendars, Tote Bags, Pillows - and a Discount, Too!

 Hope you all had wonderful Thanksgivings, filled with family and friends, love and warmth and an abundance of delicious food! I was lucky enough to celebrate with family in Connecticut and Rhode Island, and then come home and celebrate with Peter and the gang.

I spent part of the time making calendars for 2016, and they're on sale Sunday and Monday, at my store on Lulu.com - http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/carriejacobson. On Sunday,use the code TWOMOREDAYS at checkout and get 30 percent off. Monday, use the code ONEMOREDAY and get 25 percent off! The regular price is $13.88 each.

***

I HAVE SOME FUN items on Fine Art America, too, like shower curtains, pillows and tote bag you see here... there are also note cards, mugs, coasters and I don't remember what else - all emblazoned with your favorite paintings.

You can click here to reach my page, or go to fineartamerica.com and search for me! I'm adding paintings all the time - if there's one you particularly love and it's not there, drop me an email and if I can put the painting up for you, I'm happy to do so.

***
AND CONTINUING in the self-promotional vein, the 101 Dogs Project is a great idea for a present! For $375, you or your giftee will receive a 12-inch-by-12-inch oil painting of your dog, a book or poster starring said dog, and some other items, too, depending on your sponsorship and your choices. Part of the money you give me will go to one of four dog-related groups, or to a dog-related group of your choice. And for a bigger sponsorship, you will get two paintings, or a bigger one! Check it out by clicking here, or go to jacobson-arts.com and poke around a little.

***

Dog of the Day

I bet this German shepherd puppy is pretty much all grown up now! 

I took this photo in the summer, at the South Norwalk Art Festival. 

***

A Final Thought

"One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself." 

- Leonardo da Vinci

The Marsh - Me, a Guest in Another Blog - and Welcome, Koko

Tuesday Morning on the Marsh

Oil on black canvas, 16x16

At Center Framing and Art, West Hartford Center, CT

The salt marsh was the first thing that attracted me to Wachapreague, and it continues to call to me. Every day, the marsh says something new. The colors, the wind, the way the light reflects. The tips of the grasses, the shift in colors from gold to red to green. The rich dark musty smell of the mud. The whitecaps that show on occasion. The water turns indigo in the winter, turquoise in the summer, gold in the right light of dusk. 

And even more than how it looks is the life of the marsh. Birds of all sorts light there, to catch their food, build their nests, swim and sleep and do what birds do. Animals and insects gather in abundance, and live and die, enriching the muck and adding to the ecosystem. 

Sometimes in the mornings, when the tide is low, the smell of the marsh is overpowering. Some people can't stand that smell; I love it. It's the smell of life going on, eternal and unchanging and always changing, too.

***

RECENTLY, I RECEIVED an email out of the blue from Sadie, who writes a blog called Sadie & Co - Her and Her Dogs Plus the Cat. 

Sadie is a fellow artist and animal-lover, and she found this blog and asked me if I'd be willing to answer a few questions, and show my art, on her blog. Of course I said Sure. 

Here's the link: http://herandherdogs.com/2015/10/20/carrie-jacobson-art/

Thank you, Sadie! 

***

Dog of the Day, Dog of the Future

I have adopted Koko, the puppy you see here. I just missed Jojo too much. I missed her love and companionship, and I was adrift without it. Peter found Koko, in the foster home of Christine Stark, who also fostered Abby. 

Christine lives near Asheville, NC, and I arranged my trip to Texas to cut across North Carolina near Asheville. We met in a WalMart parking lot, on a cold morning. Koko was shy, timid, not wanting to come out of her crate at first. But after we'd met for a while, she began to jump around and play, smother me with kisses, nip me with her puppy teeth, and we began to fall in love. 

I have left her with Christine, and I'll come back on my way home and get little Koko, and we will start our lives together. She will never be Jojo; she will never replace Jojo. But she will follow my sweet girl, and she will be my new companion.  

***

A Final Thought

"I saw an angel in the marble and I carved until I set him free." 

- Michelangelo