Gray Day in Wildwood

Gray Day in Wildwood

Oil on black canvas, 16x16

While I was at the show in Chattanooga, a friend invited me to stay at her farm in Wildwood, Georgia, just outside of Chattanooga. It was a beautiful spot to stay during a show. The nights were calm and quiet, the mornings soft with the light reaching over the mountains, and the house was welcoming and and warm. 

A thing I loved, that most people might not, was the regular sound of trains passing nearby, blowing their whistles all day and deep into the night. 

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Whenever I see a sign like this, I always imagine sharpshooters 

up in airplanes, taking aim at speeding drivers. Do you?

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Dog of the Day

It's Stanley, on his birthday! 

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A Final Thought

"Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, 

and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen." 

- Leonardo da Vinci

Red Dirt Farm

 North Carolina Red Dirt Farm

Oil on black canvas, 20x60, $1200; shipping to be determined

I was one of 25 artists invited to the Piedmont Plein Air Paintout in High Point, NC, in September. It's in a beautiful part of the country, and I had time before the event to drive around and take it in. I'd hoped to paint on site before the event, but ditches and wind made that impossible, so I took lots of photos and have begun painting from them. 

In this piece, what pulled me most was the patchwork of red dirt, plowed for mowing, and crops ready and nearly ready to be harvested. I like the way the buildings sit on the land, too. And in my painting, I love the swirly sky.  

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SINCE I RETURNED from Texas with a van full of paintings, I've collected them in a store on my Jacobson Arts website. (Please click here to reach it). 

If you're a reader of this blog and you buy a painting, I will refund you 10 percent after your purchase. Shipping will be extra, but if I'm going to be near your area, I'm happy to deliver a painting in person, for free! 

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Saw this on the wall of a parking lot in Austin. Isn't it beautiful? 

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Dog of the Day

Yes, it's Koko. I am smitten, and Peter is, too. Abby (the big dog, above) is thrilled that we brought her a playmate. Smokey likes her well enough, and Woody is his usual grouchy self. So Koko is fitting in perfectly, and is helping me remember Zoe and especially Jojo with more joy than sadness, and far more gratitude than loss. Thank you, Koko!

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A Final Thought

"Life beats down and crushes the soul, and art reminds you that you have one." 

-Stella Adler

Swirling Sky

Swirling Sky

Oil on canvas, 36x36

Please click here to email me for price and availability

A while back, I made a series of paintings in which I left much of the canvas blank. I loved this look, the pure white blank space, to be filled in by your imagination, or your memories, or your dreams.

And people did just that, when they saw the paintings. The houses were standing at the edge of a cliff, or in the middle of a snowstorm, or nestled into dunes - and there were more stories, more ideas. It was great to hear them, and to talk about these paintings with people. 

But in the end, I stopped making them. It was very hard to sell them. While lots of people got it - and I sold quite a few of them - many didn't, and didn't understand why they'd pay good money for a painting with almost no paint on it. And I do understand that. Also, no matter how careful I was, the beautiful white canvas picked up smudges and dirt from the shows. 

Recently, I exchanged pieces with Judith of JWV Artists in Charlotte, NC, and got my biggest blank-canvas painting back. This past week, I filled it in - and ended up with this painting. I have to say I like it even better than the original. I love the thick, undulating dunes, love the swirl of the clouds in the sky, love the contrast of the two parts together, linked by the houses. What do you think? 

You can see this painting and other new pieces at the Paradise City Arts Festival this weekend in Northampton, MA. The show runs from Saturday through Monday. Click here for more info! 

Here's the original

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Really? Wouldn't you think about changing the name of your town? 

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 Here's the flier I've been working on for the 101 Dogs project. If you click on the flier, you should be able to read everything. Otherwise, click here to check out the project on the Jacobson Arts website: http://www.jacobson-arts.com/#!101-dogs/ci93

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Dog of the Day

My friend Tiffany told me this story. A guy she works with had to euthanize his dow two years ago, and has missed him ever since. The guy wanted an American bulldog, and applied for an out-of-state rescue - and never got a response of any kind, not even an acknowledgement of his application. 

Tiffany told him to be patient, that the right dog would come along and would find him. Sure enough, this dog came in to the local shelter. He got a wash and a dry and went home with Larry to see how it would work. I haven't heard back, but something tells me it was Meant To Be.  

Burton's Bay - and a Great Knife Rack

Burton's Bay

Oil on canvas, 16x16

sold

When Peter and I moved from Connecticut to Wachapreague, one of the places that we fell in love with was this little inlet area on Burton's Bay. We went out there last week, as a hot afternoon lengthened toward evening. The place was quiet, except for the sounds of cicadas and crickets. Fiddler crabs scuttled across the sand and into the reeds. I walked into the water, muddy sand sucking at my sandals. The water was bathtub-warm, shocking for someone who grew up in New England. 

There wasn't time or light to paint in plein air, so I took a lot of photos and painted this in the studio yesterday. I really like this painting, the way the light filters through the tall pines, the amazing electric blue of the sky, the calm reflections. I'll have it with me at the Mystic Outdoor Art Festival this weekend, in Mystic, CT. I'll be at the corner of Willow and Main; stop in if you're in the area!

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Best Knife Rack Ever! 

 

My friend Heather MacLeod gave me this knife rack, and it makes me smile every time I see it. Isn't it great? Heather has an amazing imagination and more creativity in her little finger than most people have in their entire bodies, me included. See more of her stuff - and wonderful art by her husband Josef Keller, as well - by clicking here. 

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Dog of the Day 

Another thing that made me fall in love with Wachapreague was a scene I saw like this. Our little town is so small and so quiet that cats can, and do, just hang around outside on the warm afternoons. It was sweltering the day I took this photo, and I can't imagine how hot the trunk of that car was! 

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A Final Thought

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." 

- Pablo Picasso

Sunny Summer Days

On Miscou Island

Oil on canvas, 12x24

commission

It's a delight when I open my email or answer my phone and there's someone there, wanting a painting. It was an extra special delight when I got an email from Tracee, wanting to know if my painting of Miscou Island, New Brunswick, was still available. 

It was not, but I told her I'd be happy to make one for her that captured the same scene as the first one, and she was delighted. The painting was to be a gift, and Miscou Island had special meaning for her entire family, as her grandmother had lived there as a young girl. 

In June 2010, I went to the Atlantic Provinces of Canada with Heather MacLeod (you can see some of her work by clicking here). We barely knew each other when we left , but we had a grand time, saw amazing and beautiful places, made a lot of paintings, and laughed until our sides hurt. 

Painting Miscou Island again brought back all that delight, and all that sense of discovery and exploration. And it made me want to go back! 

The painting below was another commission from a supporter who loved the original painting that I made, as part of a six-piece commission. He wanted the beach ball to have the colors of the Rainbow Flag, and I loved that idea. I painted it a couple days after the Supreme Court made marriage legal for everyone, and I felt like the painting itself was a celebration. 

Can you tell that I like making commissions? I do! 

Andrew's Beach

Oil on canvas, 10x10

commission

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THE 101 DOGS PROJECT is progressing, inch by inch, as I work through some of the details. I'm glad to hear that people are interested! 

The full sponsorship price, the one that gets you a painting and cool stuff (or a painting and a donation to a pet-related charity of your choice) is going to be somewhere between $350 and $400. 

There will be lower-priced sponsorships, and payment plans, too, so if you want a painting of your dog, and you want to be a part of the project, I'm going to do everything I can to make that happen. 

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Happy Buyer's Dogs of the Day

Above, Daisy, who Pearlene says is a gentle, loving dog. Doesn't that show in her face? Below, Pearlene with "Does the Night Forget?" in her Ohio home. 

And here's Olive, Pearlene's other dog. I think Olive runs the show! 

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

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

-Vincent Van Gogh

Robin's Field - and Heading to CT

Robin's Field

Oil on canvas, 16x16

sold

I found plein air painter Robin Weiss a few years ago, just as I was starting to paint seriously. I loved his work, signed up to get his blog, and studied each painting to learn what he was doing.

Over the years, we've gotten to be internet friends. He likes some of my paintings, and I continue to admire and be inspired by his.

A recent painting of his intrigued me. I liked the painting, and I loved the landscape. I wrote and asked if he would mind if I painted it, and was pleased when he said it was no problem. So here's the painting I made, as different from his as could be. But what fun! And one of my favorite collectors bought it at the Wickford Art Festival, so just great stuff all around.

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I'LL BE IN Connecticut for two shows in August! The Mystic Outdoor Art Festival, Mystic, CT,  is Aug. 8-9. I'll be at the corner of Willow and Main, on the east side of the river, across the street from the post office. The show is Saturday, 10-6, and Sunday, 10-5. 

The following weekend, I'll be in SoNo Arts, in South Norwalk, CT. That show is also Saturday, 10-6 and Sunday, 10-5. Don't know where my booth is yet...

My friend, the fabulous jeweler Cynthia Battista, will be in both shows, too! So make sure you stop by her booth, as well as mine. In Mystic, I know she will be nearby, in the pet store parking lot at the corner of Willow and Main. SoNo, who knows? I'll keep you posted. 

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Dog of the Day

Got to love this beautiful Belgian shepherd, I saw at the show in Richmond, VA, earlier in the year. What a gorgeous dog! 

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

"A great artist is always before his time or behind it." 

- George Moore