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. 

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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

If Wishes Were

If Wishes Were

Oil on black canvas, 40x40

Please click here to contact me for price and availability 

This year, this solstice, I am feeling the full, sweet breadth of summer. The days stretch out, thick with heat and humidity, a mist of it in the distance, softening the edges of the future, the edges of the past.

This solstice, I feel the sweet breath of summer, close on my neck, brushing my hair, pushing hot against my arms and feet and broad, working shoulders. I stand out in the daylight, under brilliant sunshine, in this June that feels like July, and the heat pushes into my bones, and draws the sweat and salt from me as it pulls the paintings from my heart and from my soul.

This solstice, this spring, this summer, has been about flowers, the warm deep earth, the grass growing like thoughts in a sleepless night. These days of heat and light have brought a bounty of beauty to me, and I've seen this world in ways I never had, in the slimmer, slighter, paler weeks of winter.

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Dog of the Day

This shy guy didn't mind the art show, but felt safer hiding behind his human.

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A Final Thought

"If it weren't for greed, intolerance, hate, passion and murder, 

you would have no works of art, no great buildings, no medical science, no Mozart, 

no Van Gogh, no Muppets and no Louis Armstrong." 

- Jasper Fforde 

Cosmos

This painting - Cosmos, 12x36 - was one of a bunch  of paintings that sold at the Art in the Park show in Richmond, VA, over the weekend.

It's been a while since I've had a really great show, and part of me had forgotten what incredible fun it is to see person after person come in to the booth, be caught up by my paintings and fall in love. It's thrilling.

I'm still getting comfortable with selling. It is still hard for me to say, in essence, "Aren't I wonderful? You should buy my art!" I wasn't raised that way. Wasn't raised to talk about myself in general, and more specifically, not to brag about myself.

At times, I do it all wrong, and, more times than I can count, I've recoiled in internal horror at my blunders. And as many as I've made, I'm certain there are that many more - at least - waiting for me.

But when I get it together, I have learned to simply treat people the way I would like to be treated. In other words, don't really sell them anything. Let them fall in love and get out of the way.

If they want to hear a story - and many do - I tell them the story of the painting, or the story of my becoming a painter, whatever seems to be calling to them.

I don't talk much about price, unless they are having trouble deciding on one painting or another. At that point, I usually offer a bundled price. It's a good deal for me, and a good deal for them, and frankly, my paintings do well together. They like having their friends around. And sometimes, this is a great option for the buyer, who simply wasn't thinking about that option.

I never want to talk someone into buying a painting. Never want to "sell" a painting. I want people to want to have my art in their lives. That's the perfect thing. And that is when selling is a thrill, as it was this weekend.

For all of you who think you'd never be able to do this because you're so uncomfortable selling, you could. It is a process, and you will find your own way. I am learning, every show, every situation. It's a delight to be able to say that, at least this weekend, it was fun!

My booth in Richmond

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Stuff I've Seen

Hahaha!!! These are gas tanks in the town of Sonoita, Arizona

***

Dog of the Day

This is my childhood friend, Susie Gorra, with her adorable dog, on the beach 

where I spent my summers growing up, in New London, CT.

***

A Final Thought

"No man has the right to dictate what other men should perceive, create or produce, but all should be encouraged to reveal themselves, their perceptions and emotions, and to build confidence in the creative spirit." 

- Ansel Adams

Rising

Rising

Oil on black canvas

Triptych, 12x36x3

Please click here to email me for price and availability

A couple weeks ago, a friend sent me a photo of baptisia, a perennial that I'm going to buy and put in the garden. But until that happens, (and after, too) I'm satisfying myself by making paintings of baptisia, or at least my version of the plant. 

I love the colors in this painting, and the way lights deepen to bright darks. I love the graceful sway of these flowers, and in this case, the way they run from one canvas to the next. 

***

Stuff I've Seen

A few years ago, Heather MacLeod and I went on a painting trip to Atlantic Canada (check blog posts from June 9, 2010, "On Our Way,"  to July 7, 2010, "Northeast Margaree"). During that trip, we became great friends, and I began to realize how incredibly creative Heather is. 

This morning, she sent me photos of arrangements she made with pansies, eggs and carrots, on the occasion of this Easter. Aren't they lovely and amazing? 

***

Dog of the Day

Dog and guy, same sunglasses!

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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

Dances with the Daffodils

Dances with the Daffodils

Oil on black canvas, 16x16

Please click here to contact me about price and availability

Yesterday I mentioned that I was a little behind in my posting. Well, this is how far behind. Daffodils! Sheesh! Seems an eternity ago that they were blooming, here on the Eastern Shore. 

These daffs show up every year at Eyre Hall, an estate that's nearly at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, just about an hour south of here. I drove all the way down there, only to find out that I'd left all my white paint at home. Arrgghh. 

But there I was, and so I decided to make the painting anyways. I had some beige that could do for highlights, and I just would have to mix my colors without using white. A challenge! 

The painting is brighter than it would have been with white. The sky is more solid. The daffodils are a bit more monotone than they might be. But the painting has punch, and I think it captures that moment in spring when the earth is just starting to come alive. 

***

Saw this sign in State College, PA, home of Penn State and, probably, a fair number of high pedestrians. 

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Dog of the Day 

This cat lives with a nice woman whose house is around the corner from us 

here in Wachapreague. The cat believes she owns the road - and the lawn, 

and the next-door lawn, and the one next to that, too! 

***

A Final Thought 

"Art is the only serious thing in the world. 

And the artist is the only person who is never serious." 

- Oscar Wilde

The Earth Laughs - and George!

The Earth Laughs

Oil on canvas, 24x24

This is the first time that I've used my petal-painting technique and the concrete-stained-glass background ideas together. I've been thinking about it for months, but have not had the courage to try until this painting. I think it works - what do you think? 

And while you're thinking about that, what do you think about my flower paintings in general? Do you like them as well as the landscapes and cowscapes? Better? Not at all? 

***

Dog of the Day

It's George - in his new harness! Or, as one of his humans says, it's George, 

dressed for his job as a crossing guard. He is paid in cookies (not really)! 

***

The title of the painting comes from this quote:

"The earth laughs in flowers." 

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sunshine Bouquet - and One Smart Cat

Sunshine Bouquet

Oil on canvas, 48x48

Please click here to email me for price and availability

My first big floral of 2015! I love the colors, the flowers themselves, and the tension of the rough background to the bright flowers. I hope they brighten your January day. 

What do you all think about these new florals? 

***

HERE'S MY LITTLE studio as evening fell one day last month. I love how warm and cozy it looks, with the light shining out warmly from the windows, as the big pines in our back yard tower over it. 

***

Dog of the Day

THIS IS SPENCER, Lynn Hoins's cat. Lynn says Spencer  has learned to open drawers by himself, and will pull stuff out of the drawer to make room, if the drawer is too full. What a great cat! 

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Just a thought 

A READER SENT me this, and I just love it. I was having an inexplicably sad and low day when it arrived, and it cheered me right up. 

***

I'LL BE LEAVING Jan. 24 for the Origins Painting Trip, and I am more and more excited about it. Find out more about the trip, and how to become a sponsor, by clicking here. 

Thank you to everyone who has already signed up! 

I Do - And Good Ideas for Presents!

"I Do"

Oil on canvas, 16x20

Please click here to email me for price and availability

I had planned to finish all my commissions in November, and then take the month of December to relax, visit with friends and family, and experiment with some new approaches, some new content. Launch my people project. Start on paintings for a children's book a friend has written. Pursue some other ideas - make paintings that might eventually be for sale, but are not necessarily intended for sale. This, I'm finding, is a luxury. Who would have expected it? 

Being sick for three weeks in November and early December really upset my plans. I still am working on commissions. I'm still mailing paintings away. I'm already planning paintings for the spring shows, and for galleries that really want new work - work that right now, I just don't have. 

But I took time over the past few days to make this painting, one of a series of paintings of people at specific moments in life, some big, like this one, but most small. 

I saw this scene on a hot day in July, at the courthouse in Accomack. I pulled the car over and took a bunch of photos. Though I didn't even attempt the camouflage material, I hope you can tell that the groom is a soldier or a sailor. In my mind, I imagined him about to go off to to boot camp, or off to his boat, young and strong and just married. 

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Still looking for that perfect Christmas present? 

BUY A PAINTING! Check out the available paintings on my website, jacobson arts.  If you find something you like, there's still time to get it in the mail. And I'm happy to make you a gift certificate in any amount you'd like. 

CALIFORNIA CALLING BOOK! It's 54 pages long, and starts at $22.79 for softcover. I got a note from Blurb this morning offering discounts, too. If you buy two books, use the code 2PLUS, and get 20 percent off. Three or more, use the code 5PLUS and get 30 percent off. These offers are good through Dec. 19. Click here! 

CALIFORNIA CALLING CALENDAR! They're 12 months, and $12.99 on Lulu. Each month showcases a painting from my California Calling Painting Extravaganza. It's fun and really pretty. Click here! 

SPONSORSHIPS! My next painting trip takes place in February, and will bring me back to where I spent the first months of my life - For Defiance, AZ. The town is on the Navajo Reservation in the northeast corner of the state, a gorgeous, amazing area that will be a rich painting subject. Sponsorships start at $50, and go as high as you'd like. Click here for more info and to choose a sponsorship. If you give one as a gift, I'll make you a nice gift certificate that you can print and give. 

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The woman who bought this painting from me had been looking for a painting for that spot for years. It's the first thing you see when you walk into her house. I am honored that my painting is hanging in this special spot. 

***

Dog of the Day

Who would guess that this sweet-looking cat is a warrior? 

Last night, Abby (below), who weighs 70 lbs and stands 3 feet high, snapped at Puffy, the sweet-looking cat above. Puffy, who had been sitting on the arm of the couch, jumped off. She ran about 4 feet away, sat down and licked her paw, then jumped back up on the arm of the couch and proceeded to hiss and spit at Abby, and was going to attack her, until Peter stopped it. I was laughing too hard.