Jo,Meg, Beth, Amy - and the Best Parade

Jo, Meg, Beth, Amy

Oil on canvas, 36x60

sold

After a month on the road through the midwest, and two back-to-back weekend trips to New England, I stayed home in Wachapreague, and I mean stayed. When I drove up the Wachapreague Road on Thursday to head to Rhode Island for this weekend's show - the Wickford Art Festival, in Wickford, RI - I realized I hadn't left our tiny town for about 10 days. Wow.

During those 10 days, I painted like a fiend! I love this brand-new cowscape, a big one at 36x60! Love the expressions on the cows' faces, and I really like the little collection of buildings in the saddle of the hill. The texture is great, too - and you can see it in real life this weekend, from 10-6 on Saturday and 10-5 on Sunday.

Wickford is an adorable coastal village, and this show is probably the best in RI. It's all fine art, so don't expect to find jewelry or pottery or clothes - though there's plenty of all three in the excellent shops in town.

I'll be on Elam Street, Booth 79, so please stop by and say hello!

***

WHILE I WAS hanging around, painting in Wachapreague, I took a break to watch the July 4 parade (about 7 minutes long - perfect!) and the amazing fireworks (about 30 minutes long, and amazing!) Here are photos from both events:

*** 

Dog of the Day

The Dogs of the Day got to be in the parade! 

***

A Final Thought

"As practice makes perfect, I cannot but make progress; 

each drawing one makes, each study one paints, is a step forward." 

- Vincent Van Gogh

***

Thanks for reading!!

Andy - and I Love Pet Portraits

Andy

Oil on canvas, 12x12

Commission

I question myself about nearly everything about my painting, especially after a series of low-sale shows like the three I've had so far this year. One thing I never question is my pet portraits. I love doing them! And the people who commission me love them, too. It's pure joy. And if I could make our living doing nothing but painting pets, I'd do it! 

Pet portraits are sort of like the romance novels of the art world. People love them, but they're looked down upon by "serious" artists. When I first started doing shows, I thought I'd show primarily pets - but to my amazement, juries - the people who decide who's in and who's out of the shows - hate pet portraits. Don't consider them "real" art. 

Well, I do. I don't think of them as "pet portraits," really, but as paintings that are about beloved animals. Each is a challenge, each is an experiment, each is individual and filled with its own light and personality.

Someday, someone is going to hire me to do a 60x60 pet portrait. Someday, someone is going to ask me to paint a gerbil or a hamster. In the meantime, I'll happily paint dogs, cats and the occasional parrot. The 12x12 size is $350; I go up in size and price from there. I work from photographs, and am happy to include or exclude this color or that. Drop me an email if you want to know more. These paintings make the BEST presents! 

***

Dog of the Day

I met this poodle in West Hartford Center in March. He looks pretty calm here, 

but this photo was taken after several minutes of exuberant

 and amusing leaps of excitement. 

***

A final thought

"The real secret of happiness is simply this: to be willing to live and let live, and to know very clearly in one's own mind that the unpardonable sin is to be an unpleasant person." 

- Galen Starr Ross

Angie - Not Baaad!

Angie

Oil on canvas, 10x10, sold

I've painted sheep before - at a small farm in Groton, CT, and at a sheepdog-training event in New Hampshire  (this last one is still available. Email me if you're interested!) - and I have some great photos of sheep from a farm around here. 

A couple contemplating a commission has expressed an interest in a rural scene featuring sheep instead of cows, and so I've done a little more exploring of sheep this past week or so. Angie is one of the experiments - and I love her!  So expect some sheep paintings in the future. Fun! 

***

Dog of the Day

It's Little Bit, campground cat at the wonderful KOA in Anderson, SC. The women who run the campground are real animal lovers, and have several dogs and a few cats. Little Bit is one of the cats who stay at the campground. When I was there last year, she was very shy - but she's come out of her shell enormously in the past year! 

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

***

A final thought

"Act as if you were already happy and that will tend to make you happy." 

- Dale Carnegie

Four by Four by Four

Four Coneflowers

Each is 4x4; $40 for each, or $150 for all four

For a variety of reasons, I don't have prints. The biggest reason is that prints don't have the surface texture of paintings, and so, in a way, they are self-negating. You can see the texture, but can't touch it or feel it, and it doesn't capture the light the way the paintings do. That being said, so many people ask for prints that I am thinking of making some available on line, and seeing how it goes. 

Another reason that I don't have prints is that I always have $100 painting available. In many shows, prints sell for more than $100. So you can come to me and get an original oil painting for less than a print! 

But $100 is substantial money, and more than many folks can afford right now. So I am trying an experiment - 4-inch by 4-inch paintings that I'll sell for $40 each. I'm making them in groups of four, and if someone wants all four, they can buy them for $150. 

What do you all think? Is this a good idea? Is $40 a reasonable price for a small oil painting? I'd love to hear your thoughts. So far, I've done coneflowers, sunflowers and sunsets. I'll post them all in time here on the blog. 

***

Dog of the Day 

It's Patsy and Vinnie, from an Easter past. Patsy, the bulldog, 

passed away last year, suddenly and sadly. Vinnie is going strong. 

***

A final thought

"If you are distressed by anything external, the paint is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment."

- Marcus Aurelius

Eagle Nest - and Some Springtime

Eagle Nest

Oil on canvas, 10x10, $100

Eagle Nest, NM, is one of my favorite places. It's high in the mountains northeast of Santa Fe, and is a gorgeous, unspoiled bit of the world. Sort of like Wachapreague with mountains. Fans of "Longmire" will recognize it as one of the places where the series was shot. 

But storms were rolling in there, one after another, when I was out west this winter, and so I didn't go. But I painted this from a photograph, as a way of remembering and saying hello. 

***

Spring has come to the Eastern Shore! Above, trees along Route 13. 

Below, a gorgeous tree in a yard on Main Street here in Wachapreague, 

and daffodils at a neighbor's house. 

***

Dog of the Day

It's Booba, whom our granddaughter Samantha found, about a million years ago. Samantha is the new mother of Emmett, and is a grown-up, fully adult woman. She was a little kid when she found (and named) Booba, who has been an interesting and amusing cat for many years.

***

A final thought

"A loving person lives in a loving world. A hostile person lives in a hostile world. Everyone you meet is your mirror."

- Ken Keyes