February Bouquet

 February Bouquet / Oil on black canvas / 5x7 / $68, including shipping
Please email me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com if you'd like to buy this painting! 

SOON, THERE WILL BE FLOWERS. There will be gardens, and sunshine, hummingbirds and the smell of lawns being mowed. 

Already, here on the Eastern Shore, sunrise is before 7 and sunset after 5:30. Already, I have smelled the scent of spring - unmistakeable, indescribable - on the morning breeze. Already, I've heard the songs of springtime birds. 

Garden catalogs have arrived. Daffodil greenery has poked through the soil on the protected east side of the house. The tips of the trees and bushes along the roadways are starting to redden. My mind has turned to thoughts of mulch. 

We will make it. Spring will come, bringing warm days and new flowers, lush lawns, dogwoods shimmering in deep woods, laughing gulls calling on the breeze, the marsh grasses changing to that thin yellow green, tender with the season, with new life, with rebirth. With survival. 

***

Coda

(love is more thicker than forget)

love is more thicker than forget

more thinner than recall

more seldom than a wave is wet

more frequent than to fail

it is most mad and moonly

and less it shall unbe

than all the sea which only

is deeper than the sea

love is less always than to win

less never than alive

less bigger than the least begin

less littler than forgive

it is most sane and sunly

and more it cannot die

than all the sky which only

is higher than the sky

- e.e. cummings

Reflecting Light

Reflecting Light

Oil on black canvas, 18x18

Please click here to email me for price and availability

Here's another in the series of swirling bits and bites of color and content on black. I love the urgency of this painting, the looseness, the focus on the flowers - but looking at it now, I'm not sure about the black background. What do you think? Yay or nay, I'd love some input. 

***

Christmas Goodies

Yes, in my heart of hearts, I am 8 years old, and I love getting and giving Christmas presents. I guess I will never outgrow this! If I were going to, I would have already. So here are some of my many presents. Above, a sculpture by Mama-Girl, a wonderful local artist. It's in front of a painting of Lulu by my friend Lois Vanslike, a wonderful woman and talented artist from Arizona. That was not a Christmas present, or at least not this year. Below, me with my Bob Ross T-shirt, a gift from my grandson Ashton. Can't wait until it's warm enough to wear it! 

I hope all of you received and gave gifts that delighted you - even if they were simply smiles, hugs and prayers. Happy holidays, all, and Happy 2018! 

***

Dog of the Day

My friend, the immensely talented jeweler Cynthia Battista (check out her work here) sent me a link to a video of an Airedale singing , and I played it this morning and the puppies came running Lulu ran away, but Doc stayed, fascinated. I don't know if it was the dog's singing or the squeaky toy he was squeaking that attracted Doc's attention, but as long as I played the video, he stayed and watched. 

***

A Final Thought

"A blank canvas... has unlimited possibilities."

- Stephanie Perkins

Iris Garden, Wachapreague

Iris Garden, Wachapreague

Oil on black canvas, 10x10, $125

sold

As Hurricane Irma heads across the ocean toward Florida, Hurricane Carrie is getting ready for a show in Durham, NC, and a painting trip to New England!

I had a lovely time at CenterFest last year, in Durham, NC, and had good sales, too, and of course, I'm hoping for a repeat. This year, my friend, the amazing jeweler Cynthia Battista (check out her work here) will also be at the show, and that's great. It's always fun to have friends at a show.

CenterFest is Sept. 16-17, in downtown Durham. There will be about 150 artists, and music, activities and food. The festival is gated, and while entry is fee, the Durham Arts Council, which sponsors the show, hopes for a $5 donation at the gates. It's the group's main fund-raiser, and from what I see and read, it's an active, vital group, important in the artistic and spiritual landscape of Durham. For more information, please click here.

My final show of the summer is the Neptune Festival, on the Boardwalk at Virginia Beach, Sept. 29-Oct. 1.

After that, I head north, on the Farms and Foliage painting trip. I hope you'll consider sponsoring me! It's fun! For $125, you get a regular travel blog from me, and a painting, and my undying gratitude - and maybe some other fun stuff from the road. You can read about it and sign up to sponsor me by visiting the Farms and Foliage page on my website, Jacobson Arts. 

***

Dog of the Day

Met this cutie at the vet a while back. Adorable! 

***

A Final Thought

"I dream my painting and then I paint my dream." 

- Vincent VanGogh

You Know You Will

You Know You Will

Oil on black canvas, 30x30

Please click here to email me for price and availability

It's hard to tell, from this photograph, how bright and full of life and sunshine this painting is. This one is another of those big steps for me, a leap that brings all that I've been doing into a new light, a new place. There's a new feeling in this one, and it is something about freedom, and bliss and the simple cheerfulness of a sunny hillside on a summer afternoon.

I've worked and worked on this photograph, hoping to make it reflect the painting more truly, but this is the best I can do. In the piece, bright green dominates, and the orangey pinks of the spiky flowers hum and resonate over the green, above the blue and purple, all under a clear, sunny sky.

Unless it sells beforehand, I'll have this piece at my next show, which is CenterFest, in Durham, NC, Sept. 16-17. Click here for more info!  And if you'd like to see this piece before I leave for Durham, please drop me a line, and come visit me in Wachapreague.

***

Here's a Pair that Beats a Full House

Hahahaha, it's my brother Rand (right) and his childhood-into-adulthood friend Jon, on a recent trip to Cape Cod. 

I can explain the T-shirts - the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts chose one of my paintings for their T-shirt design this year, and I gave a couple to Rand. 

I can't explain the shorts. 

***

Dog of the Day

This is the dog of a friend I met on Facebook, and then later met in real life, near the Suwannee River, east of Jacksonville, Florida. It was such fun to meet her in real life! 

***

A Final Thought

"I don't want life to imitate art. I want life to be art."

- Carrie Fisher

Sweet Amarillo

I'm setting out on a month of shows, and part of me is dreading it - the driving, the setting up and taking down, the uncertainty - most of me is looking forward to it.

But the same things that fill me with dread fill me with joy, as crazy as that sounds. I love the driving. I enjoy the physical challenge of setting up and taking down. I thrive on the rush of uncertainty, the thrill of making sales, of seeing people fall in love with my paintings.

***

A note here... I wrote this just before a string of shows - and I failed to post it! The shows - Paradise City in Northampton, MA; the Sidewalk Art Show in Roanoke, VA; and the Art and Wine Festival in Annapolis, MD, all were good to me. This painting, and many others, sold during these three shows, and I took a weekend off - didn't go, as scheduled to Indianapolis - and painted.

This weekend, I'll be at the Howard Alan Art and Craft show in Huntersville NC, just outside of Charlotte.

After that, it's Fine Art Festival in Wickford, RI, July 8-9, and the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts in State College, PA, July 13-16, then back here for a week or so, and then back to Connecticut for the Stamford Art Festival, July 29-30. Whew!

Thank you so very much to all of you who came to the shows in Northampton, Roanoke and Annapolis, and a special thank you to the folks who bought paintings from me. All of you - buyers, lookers, friends - make this journey possible. And all of you help make it exciting and engaging.

***

Dog of the Day

Lulu, on the right, is at the bottom of the heap in the wide world of dogs here at 18 Bayview in Wachapreague. All she wants is to be Koko's best friend. Koko, on the left, wants nothing to do with her. She snarls and growls, but it never goes farther than that. After Koko lets Lulu know that she needs to stay in her place, they almost inevitably curl up and snuggle. 

***

A Final Thought

"A man's work is nothing but this slow trek to rediscover, through the detours of art, 

those two or three great and simple images in whose presence his heart first opened." 

- Albert Camus

I Knew Love

 Knew Love

Oil on canvas, 20x20

sold

It feels like I've found somewhat of a niche - flowers. Even more than landscapes, even more than cows, the florals elicit reactions and sales.

While this delights me, it also scares me a little bit. Do I want to be a flower painter? Do I want to be known as "that woman who paints the flowers"?

But then again, if that happens - for a long moment or a short one - is it so bad?

A friend of mine, Teresa Haag (click here to see her art), a nice person who is a fabulous artist, has a strong niche - cityscapes, particularly in and around Philadelphia. Her paintings are gorgeous, her palette is exciting, her approach is unusual and her technique is marvelous. At a recent show, a collector came into her booth and bought all her paintings.

This is every artist's dream, of course! I've thought about it a lot, since it happened last weekend, and realized that she made it more possible, more probable, by having a tightly controlled focus - and, of course, wonderful paintings!

I'm not a tightly controlled, tightly focused person, and not a TC, TF painter. I'm not sure I want to be. It's fine to be known as that flower painter - but I think I will always have cowscapes, landscapes, dogs and whatever else interests me, even if it dilutes my presentation.

That being said, if you know someone who wants to buy a booth full of bright, palette-knife paintings, heavily floral, please send them to me! Next show is Paradise City, in Northampton, MA, May 27-29 (Memorial Day weekend).

What are your thoughts?

***

Birthday! 

ON TUESDAY, I turned 61 - YIKES! - and  I was overwhelmed by my birthday celebrations. Above, what I found when I woke up. Below, tulips from my dad and Paula. Left, my birthday dinner - meatloaf, asparagus and tater tots, cooked by my dear husband. My gifts included plants of all varieties, a water cannon to use for canine management (or whatever), a Stanley thermos, a gorgeous scarf and books, a cordless drill, tomatoware and two Buddha lamps, and a perfect tomato. Also, Peter is pruning the shrubbery around the entire house! About a million people sent me birthday wishes on Facebook, everyone in the family called, and I was treated like a queen. Thank you, everyone who made my birthday such a celebration.

***

Dog of the Day

It's Molly, the feral cat adopted by Jacki, our postmistress. Molly was waiting for breakfast! 

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

***

A Final Thought

"I am no longer afraid of becoming lost, because the journey back 

always reveals something new, and that is ultimately good for the artist." 

- Billy Joel

Patty's Song

Patty's Song

Oil on canvas, 20x20

Please click here to contact me for price and availability

It's been raining here, raining and raining and raining, and while all that rain brings its issues - smelly, muddy dogs; a halt to the flower-planting; two leaks in the roof - it also creates a marvelous, quiet, focused atmosphere in which to paint. My studio (left) is the former boat garage, in the back yard, over near the west neighbors. On warm days, I leave the front and back doors open, and open all the windows. This is great for letting in the breeze, the sun and the light, but it also lets in the dogs and all their barking. Running in one door and out the other is a great game for them, too, and while I don't mind, it is distracting. But in the rain, my dog friends aren't interested in playing in the yard. Even when they are, no one is out to be barked at.

I've enjoyed the focused time to paint, and hope you like the pieces I've created. This one is from a gorgeous photograph taken by my talented friend Patty. 

*** 

Stuff I've Seen

Hahahaha! Saw this turkey-painted rock on the road to Arivaca, Arizona. I love that someone saw this, thought about it and then went back and painted it. 

***

Dog of the Day

Saw this loony Australian shepherd at the Richmond show. A cousin of Doc and Lulu! 

***

A Final Thought

"All forms of madness, bizarre habits, awkwardness in society, 

general clumsiness, are justified in the person who creates good art." 

- Roman Payne

Early Morning Melody

Early Morning Melody

Oil on black canvas, 48x48

Please click here to email me for info on price, location and availability

Overnight, the cold spring turned into hot summer, and my body hasn't caught up. Setting up my tent for the show at Paradise City, I found myself just drenched in sweat, for the first time this year, really. 

Part of me hates being all sweaty and sticky, and another part of me feels it's healthy, that the sweat draws out a whole bunch of bad stuff and flings it away into the humidity. 

This painting - a large version of one I painted a few months ago - makes me remember "the cool, green breathing of the leaves;" the sweet scent of new, thin grass; and the winter-cold earth warming. It was only a few weeks ago, but feels like a different era. 

I'll have this and some other exciting new pieces at the Paradise City Arts Festival this weekend in Northampton, MA. I'll be in Booth 909 in the Arena Building. Hope to see you there! 

***

Funny Signs

Above, I found "Beaver Ruin Road" to be a hilarious sign. I'd like to hear about the event that occasioned the naming of that road! Below, a friend sent in this sign... Looks like Archie Bunker might be alive and well after all, selling real estate in Rhode Island! If you see a funny sign, or an amusing scene of any kind, please send me a jpg at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com

***

Growing Up Fast

Above, Doc and Lulu a couple days ago. 

Below, the same pups on the same steps, a couple months ago. 

***

A Final Thought

"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. 

It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science." 

- Albert Einstein

The Dreams I've Seen

The Dreams I've Seen

Oil on black canvas, 16x16

Please click here to email me for price and availability

 Oh, OUCH. The scene to the left was what I saw on Sunday, when I left Hartford, CT, to head home to Wachapreague. Honestly, it seemed like a late, lame April Fool's joke. While the snow stopped an hour or so past Hartford, the 32-degree temperature kept me focused on the surface of the road, and the potential for black ice.

Then on Tuesday morning, it snowed here in Wachapreague! Just too much.    

***

THE WEATHER ALSO figured into my weekend plans. It rained most of the day on Saturday, so there was no painting outside Center Framing & Art in West Hartford Center, CT. I had a nice time, even so. I got to spend time with some people who really love my paintings and came in specially to see me and talk with me. It was great! 

***

Dog of the Day

Saw this old guy last week at the Island House restaurant here in Wachapreague. It was a bit cold to be dining outdoors, but the dog and his human thought it was just perfect. 

***

A Final Thought

"Creativity takes courage."

- Henri Matisse

Summer Bouquet

Summer Bouquet

Oil on black canvas, with gold leaf, 30x30

Please click here to email me for price and availability

This painting is on its way Friday to Center Framing and Art in West Hartford Center, CT.  I've been in this gallery for longer than any other, and I love being represented by Lori. The gallery moved early this year, and I haven't seen the new digs yet, so I'm excited. I plan to paint in front of the shop for at least part of the morning, weather permitting. Ronet Noe will be there with me, also painting!

***

A FRIEND ASKED today about my Abraham Lincoln paintings - an idea I had back in the summer, to paint Abraham Lincoln doing this and that, in 21st century America. I made one painting, of Abraham Lincoln jumping rope with a Muslim girl - and while I really liked the painting, it became clear to me that the Lincoln idea was a short road.

I've found a whole bunch of short roads while I've been on this journey. The underground bunnies, the tiny food paintings, tiny bird paintings, and to some degree, the swirly sky paintings. This last road might pick up again after a little detour, and who knows, maybe I will come back to some of the others.

It's interesting to me to see how - no matter how exciting the idea is - a few paintings in, I can tell whether there's more to go, or whether that's just it.

***

Dog of the Day 

It's Henry, Cynthia and Kevin's new puppy, having his first bath. I can name a few Wachapreague dogs that could use a good bath... 

***

A Final Thought

"If I could say it in words, there would be no reason to paint." 

- Edward Hopper

The Earth Laughs in Flowers

The Earth Laughs in Flowers

Oil on black canvas, with gold leaf, 40x40

Please email me for price and availability

One of the joys of leaving newspapers is that I am no longer required to be emotionally involved in the news of the day. I can choose to let it have a deep impact on my life, or to let the events of the day touch me and then dissipate. Most days now, this is what I do. It's what I must do, I find, if I am to remain sane and whole and devoted to finding the joy in my world and making art that captures that joy and passes it along.  

Today, I watched the news of the bombing in Brussels, and I listened to candidates for the presidency try to make hay from the events. I thought about the lives lost and the incredible, seemingly unstoppable violence, all in the name of God. 

And then I turned the television off, and I played with the puppies. I rejoiced in the warmth of a spring morning and the deep, simple pleasure of the first cup of coffee of the day. I thanked my God, a God who - in my understanding - doesn't want war or strife, for the many gifts I have, for my family and friends and this simple life. I turned away from the violence and the hate and focused on love and the light. While this might be simplistic, while it might be superficial, it is what I can do, and for that, I am thankful. 

***

Dog of the Day

Ruth's dog Patsy died suddenly last fall. When Ruth and Tim were in Tucson this winter, 

they found Lucy, on the left, and adopted her. Vinny, right, seems pretty happy 

with the change, and Ruth and Tim are happy, too. 

***

A Final Thought

"To create one's own world takes courage." 

- Georgia O'Keeffe

Flowers and Route 13 Farm

I felt I had to give you all a break, and so in addition to "Flowers for Jojo III" (left, 12x36), I'm posting "Route 13 Farm," above oil on canvas, 20x20. Please click here to email me for price and availability. 

I am on my way back from grief over the death of my dear dog Jojo, but it is not a steady climb

I will say that these broken-color paintings I've been doing seem to be helping me mend. Helping me cope.

This is how painting came to me, as a way of recovery, when I was 50. I was struggling to cope with my mother's death, and I was failing. Painting came into my life unbidden and unexpected, and it lifted me, helped me get my head above the grief. It helped again, months later, when my boss died, and again, four months after that, when the job I'd thought I would have forever was eliminated.

It is not a surprise that painting is rescuing me again.

***

I'M HEADING OUT this week to High Point, NC, where I will participate in the Piedmont Plein Air Paintout, Sept. 17-20. This is a fun event. Twenty-five artists will paint on site from Thursday through Saturday around the pretty town of High Point, then sell the paintings, still wet, on Sunday.

On the way, I will put new paintings in J. Gallery in High Point, and with JWV Artists in Charlotte, NC.

The next weekend, I'm in Dayton, Ohio, at Oktoberfest, an art and, yes, beer festival at the Dayton Art Institute. 

***

Dog of the Day

Smokey had been with us for about a year when we brought Jojo home, and they became friends instantly. Smokey is part chow, part shar-pei (we think), and Jojo taught him to play, entreating and inviting him again and again and again and again, until he finally got it. 

For the past 10 years, Smokey has slept nights in the doorway to our bedroom. I believed he was guarding us. But since Jojo died, he has moved out of that doorway and set himself down within eyesight of the back door. 

I think that all these years, he was protecting Jojo, not us. And now, I think, he keeps waiting for her to come back. 

***

A Final Thought

"It is not the language of painters but the language of nature which one should listen to. The feeling for the things themselves, for reality, is more important than the feeling for pictures." 

- Vincent Van Gogh

Flowers for Jojo II

Flowers for Jojo II
Oil on canvas, 12x36
sold

The second in the series of florals I've painted since Jojo died.

Yet again, I am thankful and grateful that painting came into my life when it did. It's helping to get me through another difficult, sad time.

I'm healing, and Peter is healing, and that's good. Thank you, all of you, who have reached out. Knowing we have your love and support is tremendously helpful.

***

Still no Dog of the Day, sorry. Soon.

***
A Final Thought

"It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child." 

- Pablo Picasso

Tall Bouquet - and Dr. Buzby's Toe Grips

I loved making this painting! The colors truly delighted me, and I like the transparency of the vase. And the dots, of course.

I started with these dots in another vertical painting, "Calla Bouquet," as a way of filling in some of the black, in a graceful and fun way. And then I started enjoying the pattern of the dots, and how they shifted things from solid to less-than-solid. Also, it's fun to make them!

This painting is available, at Center Framing and Art, 56 LaSalle Road, West Hartford Center, CT.

***

I'M GEARING UP for two shows in Connecticut in August. The Mystic Outdoor Art Festival is Aug. 8-9, and the SoNo (South Norwalk) Art Festival is Aug. 17-18. Both shows are 10-6 on Saturday and 10-5 on Sunday. In Mystic, I'll be at the corner of Willow and Main, across from the post office. I don't know yet where I'll be in SoNo, but I'll will let you all know as soon as I do!

***
The Dog of the Day today is Smokey, our dear chow-sharpei, and one of the sweetest dogs on the planet. He has had arthritis for a while now, but in the past week or so, he's also developed a real weakness in his right hind leg. We had company last week, and Smokey had a very active couple of days; the weakness appeared soon afterwards. So we're hoping that he strained himself, and we're keeping him quiet, and he does seem to be improving.

One issue that won't go away is how slippery our floors are, and what trouble this causes him. We've gotten some extra rugs and mats, and those are helping, but I also ordered some foam caps that fit over dogs' toenails and are designed to help them get purchase on slippery floors.

They're called Dr. Buzby's Toe Grips, and I think they're worth trying. (There's a great story behind this invention; click here to read it). 

I ordered a set of mediums - and got an email from the company saying that after seeing Smokey's breed mix and weight, they were giving me a set of large toe grips, for free, because they think the larges might fit him better.

Now that's customer service!

***

A Final Thought

"If you ask me what I came to do in this world, I, an artist, will answer you:

 I am here to live out loud."

- Emile Zola

Four Sunflowers

Four Sunflowers

Each is 4 inches by 4 inches / $40 each or $150 for all four

 Here's another in the mini-painting series. I'll be showing these for the first time this weekend, at a show in Arlington, VA.

It's the third annual Arlington Festival of the Arts, and it takes place Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., on Highland Street in the Clarendon district of Arlington.

More than 100 artists will show and sell paintings, glass, mixed media, jewelry and pottery, in an area that the promoter says has lots of good restaurants and bistros, and interesting shops.

For more on the show, click here. When I know my booth number, I'll post it here on the blog, and on the Jacobson Arts website.

***

Dog of the Day

Abby, left, and Jojo have become the best of friends. Abby is a youngster, and is big and strong, exuberant and clumsy, and she loves to play. Jojo is at least 10, 

and - compared to Abby - is small and delicate. But she loves to play, too. 

When Jojo came to live with us, she forced Smokey and even Woody to play, but eventually, they excused themselves. Now, with Abby, she has all the fun 

she's dreamed of for all these years. 

The play is rougher than I'd like, and Joey got hurt last week, but she bounced back and was racing and tearing with her young friend after just one day of rest. 

***

A final thought

"If we did things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves." 

- Thomas Edison