Rex

Rex

Oil on canvas, 12x48

Please click here to email me for price and shipping/delivery info

On Jan. 1, I celebrated 30 years clean and sober. It's really a miracle! I was high, on one substance or another, for most of my 20s. I am quite sure I'd be dead now if I hadn't found AA, and my Higher Power, and Peter, and the strength and spirit I needed to get and stay sober. Interestingly, stopping the drinking and drugging was the smallest part of the process. Learning to live again, that was the most of it, and continues to this day.

One of the things AA promises is that "We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness." Look at Rex here. Isn't he all that and more? That's what he says to me, and what I felt while I painted him. He's realistic and abstract. He's dark and bright. He's got the essence of "longhorn," and also the essence of  "art." He's everything I learned before my Big Skies Painting Trip, and everything I learned on it - and was able to bring back and do In The Studio, as opposed to out in the air, where everything is easier for me.

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Speaking of Out in the Air, what's your guess as to the location of  this telephone pole? Haiti? Bangladesh? Mumbai? Nope. Mystic, CT. Go figure.

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Dog of the Day

Good-looking chow, isn't he? Looks like he owns the world - as all good chows should. 

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

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A Final Thought

"The point is that you learn how to make your work by making your work, and a great many of the pieces you make along the way will never stand out as finished art. The best you can do is make art you care about - and lots of it!" 

- David Bayles and Ted Ormand

from "Art & Fear / Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking. I'll be quoting passages from this small, amazing, inspiring book for the month of January.

Three Sold Pieces

 These paintings have all sold, but I thought you might like to see them.

I've always liked looking at fields of grasses, watching the way the wind blows through, bending the tops of the plants, making a gold or silver or soft-green path. I had a series of grass-focused paintings this summer, and I plan to keep making them.

The little longhorn made me laugh. The painting is 6 inches by 12 inches - I usually make longhorn paintings that are 15x60 or larger.

The sunset is one that came from my project with my friend Candy. I really like the warm glow I captured.

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A Final Thought

"The artist's world is limitless. It can be found anywhere, 

far from where he lives or a few feet away. It is always on his doorstep." 

- Paul Strand

George - and Good Times in Ann Arbor

George

Oil on canvas, 20x20, sold

In my summer of experiments, the Summer Art Festival in Ann Arbor was one of the biggies. 

It's one of the top shows in the country, and also one of the largest, if not THE largest. It's actually four shows that take place at the same time in roughly the same part of Ann Arbor. It's big, sprawling, long, difficult to do and comprehend - and wonderful. 

I set out on Monday, after a nice show in Wickford, RI, and headed for Michigan. I had to be there by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, my allotted set-up time. 

I got there early, and was allowed to set up early, which was good, since a series of downpours soaked me and also halted progress several times. I had a bad case of nerves on the way to the show, but sweating, getting soaked and setting up the tent was all so familiar, it eased me.                                                                                                                                                               The show started on Wednesday, and ran through Saturday. It was 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day, except for Saturday, when it closed at 6 p.m. So that's a long show. A long, long, long show. But it gives people time to walk the whole thing, and time to go after work, and time to see and consider and then return. It works, but my goodness, it's exhausting, especially if you're in the tent alone. 

I had some great sales, and met some really wonderful people. I felt honored that they liked and bought my paintings, and were welcoming and supportive. 

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AT ONE POINT, late on one of the days, I was feeling tired and a little grumpy. I was focusing on something on one of the walls, when a male voice said, "Well, I don't like anything in this tent!" 

"Then get out of my booth," I said, mostly laughing, but a little cranky, too. 

Then I turned around and saw Barb Cuson, and then recognized her husband, Ted, the snarky fair-goer. It was so great! 

I met the Cusons in Arizona, where they bought a painting from me. They've collected several more, and I had the good fortune to be hired by their daughter to give a workshop to Barb, who is a good palette-knife painter, intent on improving. 

They have a home in Michigan, a couple hours from the show, and came to see it, and to say hello. They made my day! 

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Dog of the Day

I met this little puppy at the show in Richmond, VA. He was as sweet as could be - and deaf! His foster mom said he was learning hand signals very well. 

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A Final Thought

"A painting is never finished - it simply stops in interesting places." 

- Paul Gardner

December Longhorn - and Erica's Wonderful Pet Portraits

December Longhorn

Oil on black canvas, 16x20

Please click here to email me for price and availability

After a bout of indecision with a cowscape I made earlier in December , I decided to try another cowscape, and plan from the start to leave the canvas black. So here is December Longhorn, staring out of that darkness at you. I really like the expression on his face, and all the colors there, and on his hide, too. 

The black canvases continue to interest me. They change everything! What do you think? 

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LAST YEAR, at a show in Chattanooga, I met a lovely couple who really responded to my paintings. They bought two of them, and when I delivered them to their house, I found that Erica was not only a painter, but also a palette knife painter. 

We clicked immediately, and over the year, I've watched her painting grow and develop. She does beautiful landscapes (I have one!) - and wonderful, fun pet portraits. She gave me permission to share them here. 

If any of you would like to find out more about Erica, or talk to her about a pet portrait, please click here to email me, and I'll get you in touch with her. 

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Dog of the Day 

This is a lurcher (? who knew?) whom I met at a show this summer. Love her eyes! 

Turquoise Longhorn - and a Good Decision

Turquoise Longhorn

Oil on canvas, 15x60, sold

I can see autumn coming now, even in these hot and humid days. A certain brightness has gone from the leaves and from the grass. The greens are deeper, more dry, less rich, less lush. The light seems to have changed, as though a little sparkle at dawn has been replaced by something more serious, more soft. And even in the most scrupulous gardens, the weeds seem to be winning. 

Autumn is out there, on the horizon, and in this low, flat place, you can see it, if you look hard. 

I will welcome it, the change, the coolness, the sharp breeze that will rise off the ocean. I will welcome the slow and subtle changing of the colors here, and the chance to go north and paint the riot of autumn in New England. I will be glad to wear long pants and sweatshirts, and to try a new spate of autumn shows, here and there, and maybe even in Texas. 

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I DID INDEED pull out of the show in Pittsburgh, and I am glad I did. I slept much of Thursday, and some of Friday, and by today, I'm feeling like myself. 

I had not factored in the emotional stress of Sam's death; that explains a lot to me about my oddly deep fatigue. 

Thanks for all the kind words, everyone, and the support. 

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THOUGH I DID pull out of the Pittsburgh show, I've added the Brandywine Arts Festival, Sept. 6-7, in Wilmington, Delaware. This was a fun show to do last year, in a very pretty place, and I'm looking forward to doing it again. 

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Dog of the Day

I met these guys at a Wawa in Dover, Del., on my way home from Montauk. What you can't see is that there's a fourth one. These three just stepped all over him, until eventually, he stuck his head up between the legs of the one standing on the window frame. After I took this photo, I had to stop, because that dog had climbed up onto the window frame, and had his front legs on the mirror. All four were wriggling and wagging and begging to be petted. They were so funny! 

Want your pet to be the Dog of the Day? Send me a photo by email, carrieBjacobson@gmail.com

What a Pair! Longhorn and Scottish Highlander

 What A Pair! 

Longhorn and Scottish Highlander, each 15x60

sold

When I was painting my first long, long, longhorn piece, it came to me that it might be a great idea to make two similar paintings that could go together. If that piece hadn't sold at the show in New Milford, CT, I was going to come home and make the second one.

Instead, I got two more of the 15x60 canvases, and painted this pair. I'll sell them separately, but I am hoping to find someone who will buy both of them. They look really fabulous end to end. I would put one on one wall and the other on the adjacent wall, I think.

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WHILE I WAS walking around Wachapreague this week, I got a great idea! (When I say something like this to Peter, he always says, "Uh-oh, not another great idea...")

While the sun is shining and the days are hot, I'm going to make 30 small paintings of summertime in Wachapreague. Sun on the porch, hydrangeas in bloom, tomatoes reddening on the vine, people boating... and I'm going to put them up on my newly revamped website starting in November. Each day, a new painting will go up. They'll be priced well for Christmas presents!

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Dog of the Day

It's JoJo the wonder dog! 

Long, Long Longhorn - and a Good Show in Annapolis

Long, Long Longhorn

Oil on canvas 15x60

sold

I had an absolute blast making this painting! I bought the canvas because the shape intrigued me, but I had no idea what to paint on it, or even whether I should make a vertical painting or a horizontal one. Vertical would be easier to show in my tent, I know, but at least in my initial thinking, vertical offered fewer possibilities. Horizontally, the canvas offered a richness of width, a long sweep of landscape or garden or sky or.... horns. 

And so I set out to find a photo of a longhorn that would work, and then I painted more or less like a crazy person, with sweat pouring off of me, until this piece was finished. And I have to say that I love it! I have another canvas that's more or less the same shape and size, and I'm thinking of doing a companion piece. Doesn't this guy need a friend? 

Want to see it in person? I'll have it at the Art and Craft Festival in New Milford, CT, this coming weekend. 

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I HAD A really good show this past weekend in Annapolis, at the Art, Craft and Wine Festival. It is an odd festival, and a hard one to do, but both times I've done it, I've found success. 

The festival takes place in the parking lot of the Navy-Marine Corps stadium in Annapolis. There are no trees, no shade, no break from the brutal sun. Add to this the fact that I set up my tent wrong, so I couldn't put up the awning, and I ended up sitting inside my tent, which I never do. 

But it wasn't enough to scare off the buyers, so, yay! The nicest folks bought paintings from me this weekend! Here are photos of them with their purchases: 

He bought the zinnia painting - even though it wasn't QUITE dry! 

They bought "In the Curl," the minimalist wave painting! 

He bought "Combs Ridge," the largest plein-air piece I made on my southwest trip this winter. 

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This is just a pretty sight I saw one morning in Annapolis. 

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Dog of the Day

I've written about this before, I know, but I was struck again this weekend by the trust that our dogs put in us. We put them at one end of a leash, and we put ourselves at the other, and off we go. Time and again, I see the dogs trotting along, sniffing here, taking a quick glance there, and then, always, looking back at their humans, trusting them entirely, knowing that, at the other end of the leash, we have their welfare in mind, and are walking with them, keeping them safe. I know that's not always true, but I hope that people will think of this post when they're contemplating taking their dogs to a place that might be too hot, too cold or too crowded for them.