Dancing Sunshine

Dancing Sunshine

Oil on blackened canvas, 36x48

THERE'S A THING that has happened to me now many times in my lengthening painting life. I get an idea of a painting I want to make - maybe even just a whisper of an idea - a ghost, a sliver of a thought. I know I want to make the piece, but I either can't see it, or just don't yet have the skills to paint it.  Blue Canada, the painting to the left here, was one of those. I knew it would be an amazing painting, but when I saw the scene, on a trip to the Atlantic Provinces with my friend, the terrific artist Heather MacLeod, I knew I wasn't ready to paint it. Today, it doesn't look particularly difficult or intimidating, but really, it was and is. There's almost nothing in it, and yet, it's a pretty cool painting. 

The sunflower piece above, Dancing Sunshine, is one I've had in my head for years - really, ever since I started making sunflower paintings.  But I hadn't been able to see it clearly enough to understand what was compelling me, what I wanted to do. 

From the photo, it doesn't look like anything special, I am afraid. This is one of the ones you really need to see in person. What attracts me, and makes me so happy, is the differences in thick and thin paint, the places where the nub of the canvas makes its way to the surface, or isn't covered at all. I love the looseness of the sunflowers and the feeling of their petals and colors and vibrance bursting onto the canvas. 

In my mind are several paintings that are calling to me, that I don't yet know how to paint, or have the skills to paint. I will just let them sit there until they force their way to the front and let me know it's time. 

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Three Smalls

Shore Spring,

Oil on canvas, 6x12

Iris House

Oil on board, 6x6, not including frame

Three Ps

Oil on board, 6x6, not including frame

THESE THREE are headed for "Earthly Delights," my upcoming solo show at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens, in Norfolk, VA. The show will open July 1 and run until the end of August. If you're in the area, I hope you'll stop in. The gardens are amazing - and it's been a long time since I've had a solo show. This is a real honor for me, and I'm excited about it! 

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Dog of the Day

It's Koko! And she is happy on the couch, for sure. Paintings in the background are by Cynthia Rosen Malter (left) and Bethany Simpson. 

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A Final Thought

"Art is man's nature; nature is God's art."

- Philip James Bailey

Sweet Amarillo

I'm setting out on a month of shows, and part of me is dreading it - the driving, the setting up and taking down, the uncertainty - most of me is looking forward to it.

But the same things that fill me with dread fill me with joy, as crazy as that sounds. I love the driving. I enjoy the physical challenge of setting up and taking down. I thrive on the rush of uncertainty, the thrill of making sales, of seeing people fall in love with my paintings.

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A note here... I wrote this just before a string of shows - and I failed to post it! The shows - Paradise City in Northampton, MA; the Sidewalk Art Show in Roanoke, VA; and the Art and Wine Festival in Annapolis, MD, all were good to me. This painting, and many others, sold during these three shows, and I took a weekend off - didn't go, as scheduled to Indianapolis - and painted.

This weekend, I'll be at the Howard Alan Art and Craft show in Huntersville NC, just outside of Charlotte.

After that, it's Fine Art Festival in Wickford, RI, July 8-9, and the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts in State College, PA, July 13-16, then back here for a week or so, and then back to Connecticut for the Stamford Art Festival, July 29-30. Whew!

Thank you so very much to all of you who came to the shows in Northampton, Roanoke and Annapolis, and a special thank you to the folks who bought paintings from me. All of you - buyers, lookers, friends - make this journey possible. And all of you help make it exciting and engaging.

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Dog of the Day

Lulu, on the right, is at the bottom of the heap in the wide world of dogs here at 18 Bayview in Wachapreague. All she wants is to be Koko's best friend. Koko, on the left, wants nothing to do with her. She snarls and growls, but it never goes farther than that. After Koko lets Lulu know that she needs to stay in her place, they almost inevitably curl up and snuggle. 

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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

Summer Song

Summer Song

Oil on black canvas, 30x30

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

People have sometimes asked me to add detail shots of my paintings, so here are a few. It's interesting to me that when I do these detail photos, I see stuff that I didn't even know was there! Aren't they fun? 

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Big Sky Painting Trip

IN OCTOBER, I'm heading west to paint! I'm hoping to make it to Wisdom, Montana, where I took my first painting trip. The only painting I can find from that trip is below - and I am amazed at the difference between the way I painted then and the way I paint now. Still, I love this painting. The landscape near Wisdom (above) is spectacular - and I am not limiting myself to it. I plan to paint in Wyoming, too, and South Dakota, if all goes as planned. 

Soon, I'll start a page on my website, Jacobson Arts (jacobson-arts.com). I'll be making paintings for sponsors, and also for shows. I already have one sponsor! Prices will start at $125 and go to about $1000. If you know you want in, and you want to reserve an early choice, please feel free to email me now (carrieBjacobson@gmail.com). Sponsors will choose their paintings in the order they sign up. 

Here is just a mention of another trip, for your planning purposes. I hope to be traveling to Alaska in January to paint the Northern Lights. More about this soon! 

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Dog of the Day

Dog in the front basket, dog in the back basket! I saw this guy at the Omaha show this year, and remember him from last year. The dogs looked like they were having a blast. 

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A Final Thought

"One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, 

see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words." 

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Four in Hand

Four in Hand

Oil on black canvas, 40x40

Please click here to contact me for price and availability

I started this painting at home, and finished it in a parking lot in East Texas. Or maybe western Louisiana, I can't remember which. It was right near the border, though. 

When I was at home, the day before I'd planned on leaving, the realization that I needed a dog of my own hit me suddenly and hard. I'd been intrigued by little Koko (you can see photos of her here), but wanted to meet her before arriving at any decision. So I finished the flowers on this piece, put it in my handy-dandy drying/protection rack in my van, and set off, a day early. 

After meeting Koko and falling in love with her, I headed west, looking all the way for a quiet, safe place to set up and paint. Finally, somewhere near the border of Texas and Louisiana, I saw a new-looking but deserted little strip mall. I pulled in and set up my easel and began painting. Five minutes later, a giant pickup pulled in. It was the owner of the strip mall, wondering just what the heck I was doing. He peered around the side of the canvas, nodded a little nod and gave me permission. 

I finished the painting about five minutes before it started raining! And I love it, I have to say. 

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World Health Organization be damned!

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Dog of the Day 

I met this dog in Arlington, VA. She had belonged to the mother of the woman who had her. That woman said that when her mother died, the dog had gone gray overnight. 

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A Final Thought 

"I want to touch people with my art. I want them to say, 'He feels deeply, he feels tenderly.'" 

- Vincent Van Gogh

Big Sunflowers, Big Shows, Big Head

Big Sunflowers
Oil on canvas, 48x72
sold

 I had a couple really good shows in Connecticut this month - Mystic and SoNo - and returned home with NO big paintings at all.

That's right, all my big paintings sold in those two shows.

What a miracle! Really, truly, any time anyone buys a painting from me - or any living artist - it is truly special.

It's so much easier to buy prints or reproductions. So much cheaper to go to Marshall's and buy some painting made in China, and already framed, and all for $37.

When someone goes out of their way to go to a show, and then allows themselves to fall in love with a painting, and actually buy it - sometimes for big $$ - well, so much has to happen to make that work, it's really somewhat surprising that it ever happens.

When a series of those events takes place in the life of an artist, it's sheer joy and celebration! People bought big paintings, people bought small paintings, people bought merchandise I was trying out - and people came to just look and talk and have fun. And there's joy in that, too.

So I am home, and I am painting like mad for autumn shows and for galleries that need new stuff. It's great to be here, to spend time with my honey, in our hometown, and to have the luxury of weeks on end to create.

Thanks, all of you who came to the Mystic and SoNo shows. Whether you bought anything, or whether you just said hello and looked at the art, your presence helped make my shows successful.

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MY FRIEND CANDY asked me what my favorite meal is. I was staying with her and she was going to cook. Well, I have lots of favorite meals, but my favorite summertime meal is a tomato salad, corn on the cob and fish. Yum! Candy sliced and diced and cooked a delicious dinner. Doesn't this salad look scrumptious?  

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Dog of the Day

It's Big Head, the goofy, fun neighbor dog who loves pretty much everyone. 

He really does have a big head

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A Final Thought

"It is a widely accepted notion among painters that it does not matter what one paints 

as long as it is well painted. This is the essence of academicism. 

There is no such thing as good painting about nothing."

- Mark Rothko