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

Afternoon, Grassy Knoll

Afternoon, Grassy Knoll

Oil on canvas, 12x12

sold

The Piedmont Plein Air Paintout ended with a wet-paint sale on Sunday, and it was a lovely and fascinating event. It's so cool to see the art that 25 painters make. We were all painting on the same days, in the same five areas, and yet, our paintings were all different in type, and color and focus and approach. That being said, my paintings were totally different from pretty much everyone else's. My colors are brighter, my paintings are rougher and faster, and I generally just paint differently from most painters, and especially most plein-air painters. There was another woman who painted with a palette knife - she would make the paintings first with molding paste, building up the texture, but using no color. Then she'd go back and put the color on top. Interesting! 

Here are five of my paintings from the event. All sold except the one in the bottom left.  

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One of the very fun parts of the Paintout was a visit from the Art Bus. It's a whole art-supply store in a short bus, and it's very cool. Bibbi doesn't have everything, but she has the right things, and a great idea, too. 

Here's Bibbi, above, who owns the bus. Below, oil paints hang from the bus ceiling. 

Slots on the left hold papers and other supports. Behind them is a rack of small bins holding pens, pencils, pastels, etc. 

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Dog of the Day

The Dog of the Day isn't always a dog. 

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

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A Final Thought

"There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot, but there are others who, thanks to their art and intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun." 

- Pablo Picasso

Poppies! - and Some Cool Earrings

Poppies No. 2

Oil on canvas, 16x16

At Center Framing and Art, West Hartford Center, CT

Do any of you remember Peter Max? When I was a kid, I had a jigsaw puzzle of a Peter Max painting of flowers, and I just loved it. I don't remember exactly what it looked like, but I do remember that it made me happy, and it intrigued me. The vibrant colors, the free forms, the dark outlines, these all stuck with me over all these years.

I think that's part of what I am loving so very much about the new paintings I'm doing. The strong colors, the feeling of freedom that I am enjoying while I paint, and the intrigue of leaving those little black rivers of gaps between pieces of the paintings, these are conspiring to make it amazingly fun and exhilarating to make these paintings.

Now to see if other people like them!

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I HAD A TERRIBLE show in Williamsburg! There were tons of people there, they seemed to like my paintings, had good things to say, came into the tent - just didn't buy. One painting, $75, was all that sold all weekend! Sheesh.

But I have another chance this coming weekend, at Paradise City, in Northampton, MA. I'll be bringing flowers and flowers and more flowers  - and a new cowscape, too! I'll be in the arena building, in Booth 909, on the side near the food. Please stop in if you're at the show - and consider going to the show if you're in the area! There are discount coupons for admission at the Paradise City website. 

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ONE OF THE PAINTERS I met at the Piedmont Plein Air Paintout wore some really great earrings the entire time. I found out the name of the guy who made them - Mark Schieferstein, aka Skrapmonkey.  He lives and works in Asheville, NC, and his stuff is really fun and interesting. My earrings - the ones at the far right in the first photo - were $24. And they're as good in real life as in the photo! You can check out his site, or send him an email, and he'll help you get some great ear decorations.

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Dog of the Day

There were tons of great dogs at the show in Williamsburg, and this girl was one of them. 

She has a little dress on, and was clearly being spoiled rotten by her human. 

The woman looking on in the back clearly didn't approve! 

Sunny Field, Route 58 - and a Breakthrough

Sunny Field, Route 58

Oil on canvas, 10x10, $100

sold

Those of you who've been reading this blog for years know that every once in a while, I become dissatisfied with my paintings. 

At first, these times worried me. But as I encountered them more regularly, a few times a year, I have learned to welcome them, because they inevitably precede a leap, a breakthrough. 

I've been vaguely dissatisfied with my paintings since about August, though I have made a string of paintings that I love. I have felt, nonetheless, that there's been something missing, something lacking, something ... I don't know, not as vivid, not as muscled, not as clear as I want. 

The Piedmont Plein Air Paintout, and the drive home afterwards, gave me time and space to think about my paintings, other people's paintings, the winning paintings, and pieces of paintings that I saw over the weekend. I thought about light, and strokes and edges, about focus and sharpness, about academic painting and joyous painting, and where my painting fits. And I thought mostly about ways to make my paintings be even more like my paintings. 

I think that "Sunny Field, Route 58" is a good step down a re-energized road. It has light, focus, brilliance, and a sort of simplicity that I feel has been missing lately. 

So I am even more thankful to have been part of the Piedmont Plein Air Painting. 

Below is the winning painting, by Russell Jewell. It was absolutely spectacular in real life. 

Here is a painting by Lynn Mehta. Her work also won a prize.

Below, a mother and daughter who work in the J. H. Adams hotel. They helped keep the place bright and sparkling, and they were just as sweet as could be to me. 

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Yes! Gas below $3 a gallon. This was in a small town in Virginia, 

on Route 58, close to the North Carolina border. 

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MY NEXT SHOW is Oct. 4-5 in Williamsburg, VA. The show takes place in the main square in downtown Williamsburg, and I'm on the main drag of the main square, Duke of Gloucester Street. I'll be in booth A-8. If you're in the area, please stop by. I've never done this show, but have heard it's a good one, and lots of fun, too! 

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Dog of the Day

It's Zeus! He's been the Dog of the Day before, but he's just so cute, he had to be in again. He's a sweet, happy Pomeranian, who came running up to Jojo while we were walking the other day with our friends Cynthia and Kevin. Lots of sniffing, lots of wagging, some hackles up... but peace reigned. 

Cloudy Day in the Park - and Homer!

Cloudy Day in the Park

Oil on canvas, 16x20

For sale at J. Gallery, High Point, NC

I started painting on Friday at the train depot in downtown High Point. I painted and painted and painted, and still hadn't captured the train station, at least not in a way that appealed to me. So I had lunch, and packed up and headed out to the park, where I found trees and clouds and water and a scene that comforted and excited me.

Today, I'm going to have another go at the depot painting, and then, perhaps, try it a completely different way. 

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HERE IS a cool building in downtown High Point. I might try painting this today! 

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Dog of the Day

It's Homer, a Weimaraner pup I met at the Brandywine Arts Festival earlier in the month. His human said he was about eight weeks old. He was interested in everything and everyone! 

St. Mary's - and the Paintout Is Underway

St. Mary's Episcopal, High Point, NC

Oil on canvas, framed, 12x16. 

sold

The Piedmont Plein Air Paintout, here in lovely High Point, NC, started on Thursday with a Quick-Draw event from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., on North Main Street, near the J. H. Adams Inn, where all the painters are staying. 

There we were, 30 of us, spread out along a couple blocks in the middle of downtown, painting. It was fun and convivial and challenging. I saw the paintings most of us did, and they were really great, ranging from a lovely painting of a sun-drenched yellow building, to a vivid painting of a Krispy Kreme donut shop, to a small painting of a half-eaten pink-frosted donut. 

I like my painting of St. Mary's Episcopal Church. I particularly love the threatening, shining sky, and the soft glow of the one side of the church. 

Architecture is not my strongest suit, but I am determined to improve, and so I plan to make more architecture-focused paintings during the next two days. 

The other painters here are amazingly talented, and very, very nice. It's an honor and a pleasure to be in their company.  

If you're in High Point and want to say hello and watch me paint, head to the train station on Friday. I plan to spend much of the day there! 

Here's my painting in the landscape. 

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Dog of the Day

Here's a great, older German shepherd I met at the vet's a couple weeks ago. 

She showed her age a little, when she got up - but who doesn't? 

Blue-Sky Sunflowers - and a Lovely Place to Stay

Blue-sky Sunflowers

Oil on canvas, 48x72

commission

One of my goals in all of this is to do fewer outdoor art shows, and earn the rest of our living from galleries and internet sales, painting trips, plein-air events and commissions. And paintings like this one are proof that that plan can become - and is becoming - a reality. 

I love love love this sunflower painting! It is intensely bright and sunny, and while I'd never have thought of doing the upper background blue, I really like the way it offsets the rich colors of the sunflowers. 

What you don't get from the photo is a sense of the depth of the bright colors, and an idea of the size of the painting - 4 feet by 6 feet. It's so heavy I have to take it off the easel in order to change the height of the easel. And the size is one of the things that makes it so intensely sunny and amazing. I am looking forward so very much to delivering it, and seeing it hang in the gorgeous kitchen where it will hang! 

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I MADE MY WAY to High Point, NC, on Wednesday, for the plein-air paintout that starts today. It was a beautiful drive, mostly west, through lovely, sunny farmland. High Point looks like an interesting city with some bright and well-polished spots, and some fairly large pockets of what look like economically depressed areas. 

The paintout starts today, with what's known as a "Quick Draw," a three-hour event on North Main Street, very close to the hotel. I imagine that part of the Quick Draw is to draw attention to the event, and I think that's very smart. 

The hotel where we are being put up is absolutely gorgeous. And the paintout is paying for our rooms, and for most of our meals. What a treat! 

Above, the front and back of the JH Adams Hotel, where we are staying. 

Here's my room! 

The back entry to the hotel. 

Here's the outdoor patio. 

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MY NEXT SHOW will be An Occasion for the Arts, in Williamsburg, VA, Oct. 4-5. It's my first time doing this show, and I'm excited about it! I'll be in Booth A-8 on Duke of Gloucester Street. If you're in the area, or planning to be in the area, please stop by and say hello, and see my new pieces! 

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Dog of the Day

Today's Dog of the Day is Samantha! She's the mother of Puffy, our other cat, and Kizzy, Puffy's late sister. Doesn't she look like Katharine Hepburn, the Dog of the Day from my most recent post? 

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

Rooster No. 5 - and Thoughts on Fear and Courage

Rooster No. 5

Oil on canvas, 10x10, $100

sold

I was emailing a friend who is also an artist and a collector of my paintings, and she wrote about how scary it is to make a painting for someone. For anyone, really. They might not like it, it might not look like the person/dog/scene that the buyer was picturing, the buyer might think you're a talentless hack.... and on and on.

I confessed to her that I'm scared pretty much all the time. As I drive up to a show, and especially to a new show, I am often literally shaking. I'm afraid that the people at the show, buyers and artists, are going to look at my paintings and see right off the bat that I am self-taught, that I don't know the rules, that I'm a messy painter, that I can't draw, and on and on and on.

But I told her that I just get a hold of myself, pull myself together, and go on and do it. Be scared, sure - but do it. We are all scared - or at least, I suspect we all are.

After I wrote this to her, I went to the home page of the Piedmont Plein Air Paintout, that I'm participating in this week. I started looking at the paintings by the participating artists  - and totally freaked out again. Sigh.

I left the site, got a handle on my fear and paranoia, and went back to the site later in the day. When I looked again, I could see clearly that my paintings do stand up next to everyone else's - and after all, I was chosen to participate! That should be enough to quiet the fears, right?

I'm sharing all of this not so you all will tell me that I'm a good painter, etc. I'm sharing it because so many people tell me all the time how frightened they are - of painting, of trying to paint, of applying to shows, of thinking of quitting their jobs to follow their dreams. People tell me how brave I am - and I just wanted to share that, really, I am not brave. I am scared and hesitant, but I go ahead and do it anyways. And anyone can do this. It doesn't take not being afraid. It takes not letting your fear paralyze you.

My faith; my belief in what I'm doing; my dear and supportive husband; my dear and supportive daughter, brother, sister, father and stepmother; and all the people who read this blog, go to the shows and buy my paintings, all of these people, all of you, help me find the courage that I need to go ahead, fear in hand, and do what needs to be done.

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JUST A NOTE, in passing. I've changed the title of "Fat Guy at the Diner" to "Room at the Counter." I gave the painting that title in part because it has the same rhythm as "Nighthawks at the Diner," one of my very favorite paintings. But several long-time readers of this blog said they loved the painting, but wouldn't want to buy it, because of the title. Being a person who has struggled with my weight for my entire life, I do understand their point of view, and agree. 

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Dog of the Day

It's Katharine Hepburn, who lives with Lynn Hoins, a faithful reader of this blog. 

Kate looks a lot like our cat Samantha, mother of Puffy and Kizzy, who appeared 

in my most recent blog entry.