Morning in the Hills

Morning in the Hills / oil on black canvas / 5x7 / $68, including shipping!  

sold!

(I've been having trouble with the PayPal buttons recently, so if you want this painting and the button doesn't seem to work, please email me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com - thank you!)

THE OTHER DAY, I HEARD MYSELF LAUGH, and I realized that I hadn't laughed since Peter died. I hadn't laughed in almost a year. The recognition of that fact shocked me.

And then I felt guilty for laughing, for feeling good enough and happy enough to laugh, when Peter was dead, and not here to laugh with me. 

And then I told myself that he would want me to laugh. He loved to make me laugh, and he did it better and more often than anyone in my life ever has. It's one of the reasons I loved him so much. He was gruff, and often, a curmudgeon. He was a Finn, and he had depression, and was often quite dark. But still, he was the funniest person I've met - partly because he was so smart. And so twisted.

And he could be so silly. Here's a photo montage he made of himself - for no apparent reason - just because it made him laugh, and he knew it would make me laugh, too. 

I've laughed a few more times since, and it feels awkward in my heart. But I will think of him in his pink tutu, in his many hats, in his white boots, making his dry, hilarious comments about people and the world, and I'll know that he wants me to live, to enjoy my life, to sing, to sleep well and eat well and probably most of all, to laugh. 

***

A Last Thought

    October

O hushed October morning mild,

Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;

Tomorrow’s wind, if it be wild,

Should waste them all.

The crows above the forest call;

Tomorrow they may form and go.

O hushed October morning mild,

Begin the hours of this day slow.

Make the day seem to us less brief.

Hearts not averse to being beguiled,

Beguile us in the way you know.

Release one leaf at break of day;

At noon release another leaf;

One from our trees, one far away.

Retard the sun with gentle mist;

Enchant the land with amethyst.

Slow, slow!

For the grapes’ sake, if they were all,

Whose leaves already are burnt with frost,

Whose clustered fruit must else be lost—

For the grapes’ sake along the wall.

- Robert Frost

Hummer at Red Flower

Hummer at Red Flower / Oil on black canvas / 5x7 / $68 includes shipping

sold!

TODAY AND YESTERDAY, in the amazing, heavy, mind-blurring heat, I've decided to take it easy. I've stayed inside, in the air-conditioning, napping and reading and watching "Silent Witness," a British crime drama that goes on for season after season after season. 

It's never hot in British shows, have you noticed? It rains, sure, and sometimes there's snow, or weather identifiable as "winter," but I've never seen a character wearing shorts (except for tennis) or sweating, or even looking like she is out on a hot summer day. Or am I just thinking narrowly? 

In the heat here, the ants seem to have found magically instant paths to invade the hummingbird feeders, and of course, the hummers won't go near them with the ants - would you? So I've taken the feeders down for the time being. I miss them! Miss the buzz and blur of the birds, their nasty battles for dominance and ownership, their beautiful colors flashing in the sun. In a day or so, I will try again. There are plenty of flowers available here on the shore, so I think the hummers will be OK until my feeders go back up. 

***

For Today

"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone." 

- Neale Donald Walsch

Foothills

Foothills

Oil on panel, 6x8. $75, including shipping

I'm trying some smaller pieces for 2017 (and the end of 2016). Some of these will be on panels, like the one above, and suitable for framing. 

Others will be on paper, and will arrive matted, and again, suitable for framing. I might even try framing some, but my hope with these is to keep prices low. 

The small paintings are much harder for me than the big ones! Strange, eh? Most artists have a fear of large canvases. For me, the small pieces are a struggle. That's another reason I'm going to focus on them in 2017.

I'm also going to be bringing some prints with me to the shows - but if you want prints at any time, you can go to Fine Art America (fineartamerica.com), search for me, and order prints in whatever sizes you like! 

What do you think about this idea? Is $75 a reasonable price, in your world? 

***

I really should have gotten off the road and checked this one out! 

Maybe I'd have found D.B. Cooper living there... 

***

Dog of the Day

I know I've featured this creature as a Dog of the Day before, 

but she (or he) amuses me endlessly. 

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

***

A Final Thought

"The first step to controlling your world is to control your culture. To model and demonstrate the kind of world you demand to live in. 

To write the books. Make the music. Shoot the films. Paint the art." 

- Chuck Palahniuk

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