Sailboats - and Fort Defiance Scenes

Sailboats, 10x10

Commission

This is the fifth in a six-piece commission I made for my youngest collector. She came up with the ideas, and set me loose on them. It was great fun to find the images, concoct a color palette for the whole thing, and make paintings that work alone and together. I loved every minute of it, and am honored by it, as well. When I post the final painting, I'll also post a photo she sent me of the pieces all together. 

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WINTER HAS FINALLY caught up with me! I've been in Arizona, painting for the Origins Painting Trip, and I've had an interesting time, and made paintings I really like. 

But as I write this, I'm in a hotel in Tucumcari, NM. This is my second day here, and it might be the second of three, depending what happens with the weather. After I arrived, Saturday night, it began to sleet. That continued all night, then mixed with freezing rain and snow. The temperature dropped on Sunday, and the snow continued. It's snowing hard now, and the wind is blowing, and I am staying put until the weather blows out of here. And I might as well. The storm seems to be traveling the same road I intend to travel - I-40 to Memphis. 

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Scenes from the Road

Can you imagine living on Bucket of Blood Street? At least a few people 

in Holbrook, AZ, do! So would you like to live there?  Below, a dino sculpture

on the main street in Holbrook. It must be an interesting town. 

I saw this "Water Is Life" graffiti on a shed on the road

 between Gallup, NM, and Fort Defiance, Arizona. 

Above and below, some of the amazing red rocks around 

Fort Defiance, AZ. I was born there, and the Origins Painting Trip

 took me back there to paint. 

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Dog of the Day

It's Jillie, with my friend and sponsor, Rose. Jillie, a great, fun dog,

 is a real snuggler - and a great walker, but she's not so happy

 with the frigid temperatures and mounds of snow in upstate New York this winter! 

San Xavier - and Scenes from the West

San Xavier Mission

Oil on canvas, 10x10

Hi, everybody! Remember me? 

I'm in Arizona, painting for the Origins Painting Trip. I visited my dad and Paula in Tubac, did the show there (yup, won a ribbon, I know you know, but still...) and then traveled to the Navajo reservation on the eastern border of the state, to paint in and around Fort Defiance, where I spent my first year and saw my first landscapes. 

When I was in Tubac, Dad and I visited the San Xavier mission, just south of Tucson, and we painted. Well, I painted and he sketched. And we had a great time! I am so lucky that Dad is alive and so healthy and vibrant at 85. He could probably outhike me, and certainly can outparty me, any day. I spent a great couple weeks with Dad and Paula. I really enjoyed myself and my time with them. 

I will be back with another posting of the beach group of paintings, but I wanted to share a painting from the trip - I'll share a few more before I get back to real life, in March. 

My painting in the landscape

Here's Dad, sketching the Mission; his sketch is below. 

***

 

Here's one of the back roads of Fort Defiance. Our home, which is no longer standing, 

was not so far from here. 

Here's the old, and now, abandoned hospital in Fort Defiance. Our home stood 

in the empty space in the lower right corner of the photo. 

This wild horse watched me as I got out of the car in Fort Defiance to set up to paint. He wandered off as soon as it became clear that I had no food for him. 

Here is a hogan, a traditional Navajo dwelling, on a hill near Fort Defiance. 

Saw this sight as I was driving from Tubac to Fort Defiance. I think this will become a painting...

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Dogs of the Day

While I was out here in the West, Wachapreague got 8 inches of snow! Yikes! That's enough to close  down the Eastern Shore completely. Of course, there are no snowplows and no one has snow shovels, but Peter says the roads had been salted, so the main streets at least, were cleared of snow pretty quickly. 

Abby, above, might never have seen snow. She thought it was great, Peter said. She romped and ran and leapt and had a ball! Smokey, below, with Abby, has always loved the snow. With that coat, he could live outside and be happy. 

Seagulls - and Off We Go!

Seagulls

Oil on canvas, 10x10

commission

At the start of autumn, my youngest collector contacted me about a project. She had a new home, and wanted six beach-oriented paintings to hang on her stairwell. She knew what she wanted in each - seagulls, a beach cottage, a pier, a beachy beach scene, two beach chairs and a beach ball, and sailboats. 

It is a delicious, delightful treat when someone comes to me with a project, an idea, something that they want, and they trust that what I will do will be what they want. It's an amazing, juicy, exciting thing to be asked to make not just a painting - that, in and of itself is a delightful miracle - but to be asked to make a collection. 

It took me a while to do these, and I sweated and worried at times - but mostly, I just had a blast! I'll post them over the next couple weeks, and at the end, I'll post them all together. 

I love how these seagulls really look like they are hanging in the air. 

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Heading West

Each of those canvases has two D-rings and a wire on the back. And now, about half of them are black! The process took forever, but I'm all set with all the small canvases for the Origins Painting Trip. The van is loaded, with these smalls and the larger ones, paintings for shows and galleries, all my tent stuff, and clothes for warm and cool weather. I'll be setting off in just a couple hours. Yay! 

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Dog of the Day

You've got to love an older dog, don't you? This is Heather MacLeod's gal

 Gypsy, on the right, and Gypsy's cousin, Daisy, on the left. 

Three Houses - and the Origins Painting Trip

Three Houses

Oil on canvas, 10x10, $100 plus shipping

I'm having a great time experimenting in the studio, on these raw winter days. I've been pushing myself with new colors, new strokes, new approaches - and working to strengthen what I like and let go of habits or ideas that don't work for me. 

 I really love this 10x10, and another that I did just after this, and will post soon. I made this one on top of a painting that I made a couple years ago, and never liked that much. One of the difficulties about making this painting - but one of the things that makes it interesting, I think - is how the texture of the painting beneath this one affects and changes the texture and content of this painting. 

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The Origins Painting Trip

I'M LEAVING IN less than two weeks for the Origins Painting Trip, and I'm pretty excited about it! I'll be starting in Tubac, Arizona, visiting my dad and stepmother, and doing the Tubac Arts Festival with my friend Cynthia Battista, an amazing jeweler (click here to see her website) . 

After the show, a good visit and a couple of workshops I'm teaching, I'll head to Ganado and Fort Defiance, Arizona, to paint for a couple weeks. Fort Defiance is on the Navajo Reservation in the northeast corner of Arizona, and is where I spent the first months of my life. 

The photo above shows one of the awe-inspiring rock formations in the area. It shows the huge sky and the red earth, the amazing muscle and flow of the land. It's easy to imagine the quiet of the day and the brilliance of the stars at night. 

This is the first landscape I saw, and by painting and exploring, I am hoping to unearth some connections between those first sights and my artist's eye of today. 

You can come along with me, in a way, on this trip, and have art that I paint in plein air on the trip. Sponsorships start at $50, and run to $1000. They all include access to a sponsor-only blog of my travels, with photos and stories and all my new paintings. Sponsorships include chances to win art, a calendar and a book from my travels. They include postcards from the road, and my deepest gratitude. 

Click here to see more photos and choose your sponsorship! 

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Dog of the Day

IT'S SMOKEY, totally crashed out on his bench after a walk in the cold. 

Calla Spiral - and Another Lily, Too!

Calla Spiral

Oil on canvas, 12x12

Please click here to email me for price and availability

I don't often make paintings like this one, but I was hunting around for photos of lilies, and saw one that focused on the beautiful, brilliant twirl of a vivid calla lily. I just loved the feeling of the photo, of diving deep into color and motion, and that's what brought me to this painting. 

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I AM GETTING more and more excited about my upcoming painting trip to Arizona. I'm leaving Virginia Jan. 24, and heading for Tubac, AZ, where my dad and stepmother live. I'll visit with them, participate in the Tubac Festival of the Arts, with my friend Cynthia Battista, an amazing, creative jeweler. 

In mid-Feburary, I'll leave Tubac and head for the Navajo reservation in the northeast corner of Arizona. I was born there, while my dad was in the Civil Service, and that landscape is what my eyes first saw. The rich colors, the bold and monumental shapes, the huge open sky, these formed the background of the first months of my life. I know that what I focused on were my parents and Sam, my first dog - but this land was around me, informing my vision and my outlook. 

On this trip, I want to find the resonances. Find the echoes of those first sights, find the landscapes that make my heart sing - and see what I can understand about those connections over time and space. 

You can see photos from back in 1956, and current photos, too, and you can become a sponsor, at the Origins Painting Trip page of the Jacobson Arts website. Click here! 

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My friend Nancy Russell stopped by for a visit on her way from Virginia Beach to Niantic, CT! It was great to see her, and have some time to spend chatting. Any time you're on the Eastern Shore, please stop in to our home and studio, here in Wachapreague. 

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Dog of the Day

It seems only fitting that on a day with a painting of lilies that Lily is the dog of the day! She belongs to Jim Smedley and his wife, who live in Lewiston, Maine, a very cold place. I'd be warmed every day by this sweet face, wouldn't you? 

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

Poppies - and the Origins Trip

Poppies on Black

Oil on canvas, 12x24

Please email me for price and availability

I love painting flowers, and I really love painting flowers on these black canvases. The flowers themselves delight me, with their colors and their depth and their movement. It's a challenge to capture these qualities and make them new.

The other thing that intrigues me is the tension between the background and the flowers. These backgrounds remind me of concrete. The play between the fragile, graceful flowers and the rough, tough background helps make these paintings work, I think. Add in the nod to stained glass, and then that's another level. 

What do you all think of these flower paintings I've been making lately? 

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Origins

At the end of January, I will set out for the Southwest, to visit my dad, do a show in Tubac, Arizona, and go back to where I was born and paint. During the Origins painting trip, I'm going to spend time in and around Fort Defiance, Arizona, on the Navajo reservation in the northeast corner of the state. I lived the first short part of my life there, while my dad was in the civil service. 

It's an amazing, spectacular landscape, rich with deep colors and brilliant light. The rocks and buttes are red and yellow and pink and gray, and the earth seems to go on forever. I'm planning on spending a couple weeks in the area, painting, and I hope you will sponsor me on my trip. 

Sponsorships run from $50 to $1,000, and include access to a sponsor-only blog with photos and stories from the road, postcards from the road, the first look at all the paintings I make, a chance to win a painting - and my undying gratitude. For sponsorships at or above $125, you get all that plus one or more original oil paintings that I make on the trip. 

Sponsors have told me they not only love the art, but also really enjoy the blog. It's the next best thing to taking the trip yourself! A sponsorship makes a great holiday present - for someone else, or for you. I can email you a nice gift certificate that you can give. 

For more information and to sign up to sponsor me, go to the Origins Painting Trip page on the Jacobson Arts website. Click here to get to that page! 

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Dog of the Day

This is King, and he needs a home! According to the Eastern Shore SPCA, he is about a year old, weighs 33 pounds, has been neutered, and is up to date on shots and vaccinations.

 If we didn't already have five dogs, I'd be at the SPCA this morning to bring this guy home. If you know anyone who needs a dog, please let me know! As an extra added benefit, you could spend the night with us when you come to the Eastern Shore to get King. 

Here's a link to the shelter: http://www.shorespca.com/?page_id=21#25824329

Shadow on a Hill - and a Good Gift Idea

Shadow on a Hill

oil on canvas, 18x24

commission

People are always telling me about places they love, scenes they think I should paint. I always welcome the input, and enjoy seeing sights that inspire others.

But what catches my eye, and what catches their eye, these are often different. So I was glad that I asked the person who commissioned this painting just what delighted her about it. Turns out it is the shadow on the hill, and the way the autumn colors shine in that darker area. 

Thank heavens I asked her! I'd have painted the shadow, and the brilliant colors in it - but I'd probably not have painted it as a shadow. I'd have painted the whole hillside in those deep, saturated colors - and not have included the relatively washed-out, sunny edge of the hill. And it's a much better painting with that edge included. 

It's often hard to put into words what one likes about a landscape, I think. For me, it is often a feeling that the landscape evokes in me, a feeling that comes from what's there and what's not there. It's a feeling that comes from the balance of light and shadow, the mood of the sky, the colors of the land, the presence or absence of buildings and civilization. 

As I paint, I grow closer to understanding why this landscape attracts me, takes my breath away, makes me want to share the feelings it evokes. The better I understand all that, I think, the better the painting. So there's a challenge. It's an even bigger challenge to capture the feeling that a landscape evokes in someone else! I'm glad I asked some questions about this one, and hope I remember to do that always. 

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MY NEXT PAINTING TRIP is coming up! The Origins Painting Trip will take me to Arizona to visit my dad and stepmother, and participate in the Tubac Arts Festival - and then, I'm going to spend a good block of time in and around Fort Defiance, and Ganado, where I was born, on the Navajo reservation in the northeast corner of the state. 

I'm going to paint the powerful, colorful landscapes, the huge skies, the small towns. I'm going to paint to capture the beauty and breadth of the area, the richness and the desolation. I'm going to paint to understand how this land, where I lived for my first couple years, has influenced me as a person and as a painter. 

I'd love for you to come along with me! Sponsorships run from $50 to $1000. They all include access to a regular sponsor-only blog from the trip, a chance to win a painting from the trip, postcards from the road, and more. For $125 and above, you will get original oil paintings from the trip. And for any sponsorship, you will receive my undying gratitude. 

A sponsorship would make a great holiday present! Give it to someone you love, or ask someone you love to give it to you. If you'd like me to drop a hint to that someone, that you'd like a sponsorship, drop me an email at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com. 

Click here to reach the Origins Painting Trip page on the Jacobson Arts website. There, you can see photos from Fort Defiance, learn more about the trip, and choose your sponsorship. 

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SOME RANDOM OBSERVATIONS

FOR MOST OF US, sunset starts getting later THIS WEEK. Here in Wachapreague, it happens on Thursday. Yes, the days continue to get shorter, because sunset comes later - but that all-important sunset is going to start coming later. Check out sunset times in your town by clicking here.

THERE'S SOME GREAT STUFF about winter, and soup would be tops on my list. There's nothing quite like a house filled with the steam, warmth and aroma of a good stock, and then a good soup, sitting on the stove all day. 

ON THE WAY TO TEXAS, I got off at an exit somewhere in Tennessee to get gas and a cup of coffee. At the gas station, I heard myself utter this question, in this form: "Do you know where that Dunkin' Donuts is at?" 

AND SPEAKING OF TEXAS, guess where gas prices were the highest, as I traveled last month? Texas. Tell me how that makes sense. 

THE STRETCH OF ROAD from Tucson to Tubac, and beyond, is the only stretch of road in the US that's measured - on the road signs and exits - only in kilometers. So, the distance between Exit 50 and Exit 56 is six kilometers. I've driven that road many times while visiting Dad and Paula, but until a news story on NBC this weekend, I never knew it was the only road measured metrically. 

I SAW THIS scary barn in Delaware, on my way to a Cooper family gathering the weekend before Thanksgiving. Looks like it would be a great Halloween outing. 

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Dog of the Day

It's Tyler, our new granddog. He's a great dog, happy as can be, 

living with Erika, Ashton and Paul. 

Want your pet to be Dog of the Day? 

Send me a jpg at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com

Pat's Cowboy - and My Next Painting Trip!

Pat's Cowboy

Oil on canvas, 10x10

Sold

My next painting trip is taking shape, and I couldn't be more excited! Near the end of January, I'll head for Arizona, to visit my father and stepmother, participate in a show, and make plein-air paintings for my sponsors. I hope you decide to sponsor me, and come along for the ride!

I was born in the mission hospital in Ganado, Arizona, where my dad was working for the Civil Service. For the first couple years of my life, we lived in Fort Defiance, about 20 miles from Ganado. All of this is in the Navajo reservation in the northeast corner of the state, relatively close to Window Rock, site of the seat of the Navajo government.

It's a wide-open, richly colored, sparsely populated part of the country. There is deep poverty in parts of the reservation. The towns are small and dusty, the buildings low and generally simple. The beauty and power of the landscape overwhelms and enriches everything that man has built.

I spent a little time there a few years ago, and did some painting, and can hardly wait to go back and paint again. I hope to capture the beauty and the breadth, the color and the mood and the swirl of this beautiful place.

I've often wondered if my delight in big skies and brilliant colors comes from my early exposure to this land. I don't remember it, of course. But this is the land that I first saw, the air I first breathed, the colors that I first responded to. Maybe it's a stretch, but part of this trip, I hope, will help me see and understand my birthplace better, and maybe my place in it, too.

I'm offering five sponsorship levels this year. Everyone who signs up at any level gets access to a sponsor-only blog that I'll post on the internet and also email to every sponsor. On the blog, I'll write about my experiences and post my new paintings, along with photos of people and things I encounter on the way. Sponsors have told me they love the blog, that it's like being on the trip with me.  To see the blog from my 2014 California Calling trip, click here. 

Everyone who signs up will also get a chance to win a painting from a group of special Origins paintings I make during the trip. These will probably be in the 16x16 to 20x20 size range, and the drawing will come at the very beginning of the selection process. After that, sponsors will choose their paintings according to the order in which they signed up.

Everyone who sponsors me will also have at least one chance to win a calendar of paintings from the trip, and sponsors at higher levels will also have a chance to win a book.

To see (or buy!) the calendar from the California Calling trip, click here.  

To see or buy the book from my trip, please click here. 

Here are the sponsorship levels:

$50 - You don't get a painting, but you do get the blog, the chance to win a painting, the chance to win a calendar, and my undying gratitude.

$125 - This gets you a 10x10 painting, the blog, and all the other stuff, including my sincere thanks.

$250 - This gets you two 10x10 paintings, two chances to win a calendar, my deep thanks, and all the rest...

$500 - This gets you a larger painting, from 16x16 to 30x30, or two smaller paintings; a calendar or a book, my heartfelt appreciation, and all the other goodies...

$1000 - This gets you two larger paintings or some combination of smaller paintings, a calendar and a book, my relentless gratitude, and all the rest. And if it is sanely possible, I will deliver the items to you in person, and cook you dinner, too.

All the sponsors at all levels get my true appreciation and my deepest, most sincere thanks, today, tomorrow and always.

To sign up, please click here to go to the Origins Painting Trip page on the Jacobson Arts website and click on the sponsorship level you choose. When you do, you'll be directed to a PayPal site, where you can use a credit card or a PayPal account to buy your sponsorship. If you'd rather pay by check, please email me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com and let me know. You can send checks to me at P.O. Box 144, Wachapreague, VA 23480.

Last year, one sponsor sent me a $50 Starbucks card. I thought that was a great way to handle the sponsorship. If you have some creative idea about a possible trade, let's talk!

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Dog of the Day

I've been flattened for more than a week with strep throat and an additional bacterial infection. And maybe the flu on top of it, who knows. All I know is that I've been sick, bored, useless and cranky. Peter has been sweet to me, and has taken great care of me in spite of the fact that he doesn't feel good, either. Nurse Jojo, above, has plastered herself to my side for pretty much the entire time, making sure that I have that good, strong dogsbody for warmth and protection. She's really earned her Dog of the Day status.