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

Always on My Mind

Always on My Mind

Oil on canvas, 20x20

Please click here to email me for price and availability

I had a charmed childhood, in all respects. I had great parents, who loved each other and made a happy, warm home for us. We had rules, we had freedoms, we had lessons, we had discoveries. I'm grateful for them every single day, and for my stepmother, too, who makes my dad happy in their lovely Arizona life.

Mom died 11 years ago, and I was thinking of her and celebrating her when I made this painting, on her birthday, Sept. 12. She'd have loved this field, which I believe is at Buttonwood Farm in Griswold, CT.  (My friend Margaret took this photo).

Buttonwood Farm is a great place to visit in the summer, and late July is the time to go. Sunflowers stretch on for acres and acres and acres. You can buy them in bunches - the money goes to the Make A Wish Foundation of CT - you can have sunflower ice cream, and mostly, you can gaze on fields of gold for as far as your eyes can see. There are also hayrides, a cow train and great ice cream. Check their website for info. And after the sunflowers have bloomed, the cows are let into the fields to munch to their hearts' content. I've never seen this, but have heard it's really fun.

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Yes or No?

The Neptune show is scheduled to take place Friday through Sunday, on the Boardwalk at Virginia Beach, with set-up Thursday afternoon. Hurricane Maria is scheduled to show up on Wednesday and blow through - though it could be Thursday, instead. If it looks clear and safe, I'll be on the Boardwalk in Booth 2610, between 26th and 27th streets. If it looks windy and dangerous, I'll be here in Wachapreague, painting in the studio. I'll put a posting on Facebook Thursday morning. Feel free to email me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com for my status! 

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Dog of the Day 

Met this cute Pekingese at the show in Durham, NC! 

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A Final Thought

"Dream delivers us to dream, and there is no end to illusion. Life is like a train of moods, 

like a string of beads, and, as we pass through them, they prove to be many-colored lenses which paint the world their own hue. "

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Summertime!

HERE'S A SWEET sunflower painting that's 10 inches by 30 inches. It's just the right size to hang in a little nook, or in that space between two closets or two windows. If you're interested, this painting is at Center Framing and Art, 963 Farmington Ave., West Hartford Center, CT.

                                  ***

HAPPILY, A SUNFLOWER painting has been chosen to decorate the brand-new hospital that's being built in nearby Onley. My painting, which will be 36x36, will hang somewhere on the first floor, so that sounds like lots of people might see it. Very exciting!

                                         ***

MY NEXT SHOW is next weekend (thank God I have no show during this hurricane-stuffed Labor Day weekend!). So, Sept. 10-11, I'll be at the Workhouse Arts Festival in Lorton, VA. It's only the second year of this show, but I heard that the first year was good, so I will give it a try. I'll be in Booth 72, and I'll post a photo when I get my tent set up. For more on the show, click here. 


                                          ***
BELOW IS ANOTHER painting I should have posted ages ago. I made it in the spring, when the forsythia, dogwood and cherries were bursting forth with color and the exuberance of spring. Some of my favorite collectors bought this piece at the Paradise City show in the spring.

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Dog of the Day 

Met this beauty at the show in Wickford, RI, this summer. He has one blue eye and one brown! 

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A Final Thought

"Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them." 

- AA Milne (via Eeyore)

Thanks again to Lynn Hoins for sending this good quote! If you have a quote about art, flowers, cows, the Eastern Shore or anything pertinent, and you'd like to share it, please send it to me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com. Thanks! 

Four Sunflowers

Four Sunflowers

Each is 4 inches by 4 inches / $40 each or $150 for all four

 Here's another in the mini-painting series. I'll be showing these for the first time this weekend, at a show in Arlington, VA.

It's the third annual Arlington Festival of the Arts, and it takes place Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., on Highland Street in the Clarendon district of Arlington.

More than 100 artists will show and sell paintings, glass, mixed media, jewelry and pottery, in an area that the promoter says has lots of good restaurants and bistros, and interesting shops.

For more on the show, click here. When I know my booth number, I'll post it here on the blog, and on the Jacobson Arts website.

***

Dog of the Day

Abby, left, and Jojo have become the best of friends. Abby is a youngster, and is big and strong, exuberant and clumsy, and she loves to play. Jojo is at least 10, 

and - compared to Abby - is small and delicate. But she loves to play, too. 

When Jojo came to live with us, she forced Smokey and even Woody to play, but eventually, they excused themselves. Now, with Abby, she has all the fun 

she's dreamed of for all these years. 

The play is rougher than I'd like, and Joey got hurt last week, but she bounced back and was racing and tearing with her young friend after just one day of rest. 

***

A final thought

"If we did things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves." 

- Thomas Edison

In the Barn - and Abby Fits In

In the Barn

Oil on canvas, 30x30

Available at Center Framing and Art, 

56 LaSalle Road, West Hartford Center, CT

To all of you who came to the Paradise City show this past weekend, and stopped by my booth to say hello, thank you! It was great to see you, and you added greatly to my enjoyment of the show. 

I had a couple nice sales, some to new buyers and others to people who've bought my paintings in the past. The lovely couple below, who now have four of my pieces, said the greatest thing to me. Not only do they love my art, they said, but they're buying more also because they want me to be able to keep painting. How great is that?  

Still, this fall's Paradise City was only a break-even show for me, and so I am considering skipping it next fall, seeing if I can find a more profitable - or closer - way to spend my weekend. 

It wasn't just me, of course. The weather was rainy and cold, the stock market took a big tumble, and while folks were buying, they generally weren't buying two-dimensional art. Jewelry and three-dimensional art were the big sellers of the show. 

***

I DID A GOOD but pretty frightening thing after the show at Paradise City. I left a big bulk of my supply of paintings at Center Framing and Art in West Hartford Center, CT. 

It was a good move, because Lori, who owns Center Framing and Art, sells lots of my paintings, and she loves them. But it was a frightening move because I have two shows in Texas coming up in early November, and I have to paint like a crazy woman to have enough art to fill my booth! 

But I'm excited about my new paintings, and I am eager to try new things with them - and so it's good, all good. And I do love a challenge. 

***

SO, THOSE NEXT shows, in Texas. The first is the Houston Fine Arts Festival, Nov. 1-2, at 1500 McKinney St., downtown Houston. The second is the Winnsboro Fine Arts Market, Nov. 7-9, in Winnsboro, which is a couple hours from Dallas. 

I've never done a show in Texas, but I'd think that my big paintings, especially sunflowers and cowscapes, might do very well there. At the very least, it will be an experience! 

***

Dog of the Day

The Dog of the Day is our new addition, Abby. She is getting along great with the other dogs, and injecting a nice dose of puppy high spirits into the lives of our aging pack. Woodreau, the not-so-white fluffy dog up on the back of the couch, would like to be mean to Abby, and boss her around - but she pretty much just refuses to take him seriously. He lunges and barks and she plays. Abby is proving to be a real gal pal for my dear JoJo, which makes me very happy. Below, Joey and Abbs take a break from a bout of very enthusiastic playing. 

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! 

***

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. 

***

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! 

***

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

Sunflowers - and Hnngghhh!

Kari's Sunflowers

Oil on canvas, 10x10

Commission

Peter came home the other day laughing. He'd gone to the vegetable stand down the road and bought tomatoes and something else, some kind of sweet potato that he'd never seen before. 

He asked the person selling the veggies what it was, and she said, "Hnnggh!" 

"What is it?" Peter said. "Pardon?"

"Hnngghh!" she said. 

And my dear husband, who pretty clearly was never going to understand what that woman was saying, just gave up and bought the hnngghh, two of them, actually. He brought them home, and cooked them, and they were delicious. 

So today, I talked to my friend Pat, who's lived here all her life - so far. 

She said that hngghh are haymen, an Eastern Shore delicacy. And there's apparently a very distinct way to treat, cook and enjoy the haymen. I took a video of Pat explaining. Click here to see it on YouTube.

***

On the Easel

It's a commission, 24x72, and I'm really excited about it!

***

Dog of the Day

Hahahaha! Aren't goats wonderful and STRANGE? 

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

Sunflowers on the Easel, Canvases in the Living Room, and the Van Packed to Go!

Stefanie's Sunflowers

Oil on canvas, 36x72

sold

In just a few hours on this Saturday morning, I will climb up into the giant van and hit the road for Arizona, on my "To Tubac and Back" painting trip! Whee!

Twenty-two people have sponsored me for 27 10x10 paintings, so I leave with money in my pocket and a challenge ahead of me. That's a lot of paintings! But I've come home from my other trips with more than 40 paintings, and they've generally been bigger than 10x10, so I know I can do it.

I really love knowing that I'm making paintings for these folks:

Kathryn Yamartino

Tiffany Williams

Laurie Cooper

Dov Kugelmass

Pat Hart

Blake Wenz

Maggie Platte

Donald & Paula Cooper

Kristen Singh

Linda Fite

Nancy Russell

Sherry Svec

Heather MacLeod

Susie Zuntini

Mary & Eric Bryson

Ellen Cornelius

Richard & Mari Hook

Candy & Jeff Buebendorf

Mike Vincitore & Rose Dittus

Joe Skelly

Patrick Gallagher

Don Bruce

Lucy Beit

Isn't that great? 

If you haven't sponsored me, don't feel bad! I have all that I can handle - and I know that everyone who follows The Accidental Artist is coming along with me for the ride. I promise tons of paintings and photos from the road for everyone! 

***

And speaking of tons of paintings... Here's the stack of 10x10s that I prepared for the trip. This is more than twice as many as I need, but you never know. 

***

And here's the big van, nearly all packed. 

The peg boards not only serve as structures to hold the paintings upright, but also are going to offer me a place to hang wet 10x10s. Cool, huh? And while the van isn't as sweet as the teeny camper, I should be able to sleep there comfortably, at least some of the nights. 

Sunflowers, My Great Sponsors (so far!), and a Video!

Sunflower Diptych

Oil on canvas, 12x24, 48x24

Commission

The people who are buying this commission have a gorgeous dining room, but there's no blue in it! So they asked for a green lower background to go with the room. So why not?

I wasn't sure about this at first, but it is growing on me - and I know the buyers will love it, and that's all that matters with a commission!

***

My audacious sponsorship idea is taking hold! Here are the wonderful folks who already have committed to sponsor my upcoming painting trip, "To Tubac and Back!"

Kathryn Yamartino

Tiffany Williams

Laurie Cooper

Dov Kugelmass

Pat Hart

Blake Wentz

Maggie Platte

Donald & Paula Cooper

Kristen Singh

Linda Fite

Nancy Russell

To find out more about the trip, click here; there's still plenty of time to get on board! 

And there are plenty of ways to do it! Of course, you can sponsor me yourself. That's easy and fun and a great present to YOU!

A sponsorship makes a great gift for a friend, spouse, family member... Get the kids together and give a Big Present to your MOM. Ask your husband to give you a sponsorship for your birthday! Tell your wife you've been wanting one of my paintings for years, and now's the time! 

A donation of $100 or more gets you at least one painting... A donation of less than $100 will get you a  smaller gift (more on this later) and a chance to win any painting I've made... 

Here's that Donate button. Don't worry if you don't have PayPal. You can use any credit card! If you'd rather send me a check, drop me an email and I'll give you my mailing address...

***

At the request of several friends who I've met through this blog, I've made a how-to video, "carrie jacobson paints sunflowers!" The first part is up now on YouTube, and the second part will be up later today, I hope. 

This is sort of a test, another experiment. I'm planning to video myself painting landscapes as I cross the country to Arizona, so I'm working on getting used to the process, getting faster at it, and getting more comfortable with it. 

I'd REALLY like to have some feedback on this. Please let me know how I can improve it! 

Click here to see my video! 

Sunflowers After the Storm

Sunflowers After the Storm

Oil on canvas, 36x48

Please contact me for price and delivery options

It's been a long, long stretch of not posting, and I apologize! Thanks to all who wrote to make sure I was OK.

I am! It's just been busy here beyond imagining.

I spent a lot of time getting ready for the Mystic Outdoor Art Festival, and then, of course, working hard at the festival. The first day, a brilliant and sunny day, one painting sold. It was bought by a couple from Rhode Island, delightful people who are collecting my work, and I could not be happier that they came to the show and bought another painting! I love knowing that as they walk through their house, they see my paintings, day in and day out. I know my paintings make them happy, and knowing that makes me happy.

The second day, it poured. Poured and poured and poured, and all around me, artists packed up and left. But I had committed for two days - that's what you do when you get into these shows - and so I stayed. And much to my delighted surprise, six more paintings sold. I had a lovely, if wet, day, met a bunch of very, very nice people, and again, several pieces were bought by one delightful collector. What a thrill!

After shows, I rest a little. There's a letdown - and true, bone deep fatigue. So I laid low for a day or two, then started painting, this large and bright sunflower piece, one that I hope will be part of a display soon at Center Framing and Art in West Hartford Center.

And then, the hurricane hit. And I wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote, filling the Montville Patch with news and stories and photos and videos. I believe I wrote 53 stories between the Friday before the hurricane hit and the following Friday, when the power (mostly) came back on.

And then - surprise! - I had another show. I got into it just before it began, and honestly, up until about a day before it started, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get the garage door up to get my stuff out, because of the power situation here.

But the power came on, the door opened and the show went well. Three paintings sold, I worked hard, I met incredibly nice people who were so happy to be away from tropical storms and hurricanes and power outages that they were overjoyed to look at art.

So I am back, and painting, and looking forward to whatever's coming next!

Jacobson Arts is located in windswept Gales Ferry, CT

Moonflowers

Moonflowers
Oil on canvas, 12x16
Please contact me for price and shipping information

This week, I had the opportunity to attend a painting class at Dragonfly Studio in Pawcatuck. The teacher is a woman named Nicole Naylor, and I have to say, she is fabulous.

I'd been wanting to do a sunflower painting in a different range of colors - really sort of play with the colors, and the feelings evoked - and though I could see the painting in my mind, I didn't have the nerve to do it.

I can't explain this, really. I have enough canvas and paint that if I waste some, it's not a big deal. There's no one at my shoulder, when I'm up there in the studio, telling me I should do this or should do that, or passing judgment. Heck, if I made the painting and hated it, I could just wipe it off.

And yet, I couldn't begin.

In the class, I did begin. And Nicole helped me, questioning, suggesting, pushing. It was great. She was great.

And it was wonderful to paint with the other women in the class, too, all of whom made paintings that vibrated with life.

Don't forget! Mystic Outdoor Art Festival, Saturday and Sunday, rain or shine, starting at 10 a.m. I'll be at the corner of Willow and Main, across the street from the post office.

Want to read about how you get into an art show like Mystic? Click here.

jacobson arts is well hidden in gales ferry, CT

Passing Fancy

Passing Fancy

Oil on canvas, 12x48

Please contact me for price and delivery options

One of these very hot days, after the sunflower extravaganza was officially finished, I went back, and sure enough, the fields were still full (and might be, even today... I hope to get out there!)

Cows had been allowed in to one of the fields, and they'd done a number on the flowers. The weather was doing its work, too, August's tropical heat withering the leaves and forcing the flowers' heavy heads to droop, their crown of petals to curl.

But even then, they were lovely, and so I painted, hot and happy and pleased to be alive.

The Mystic Outdoor Art Festival is this weekend! If you haven't been, and you're in the area, it is really worth the trip. Yes, it's a madhouse. Yes, it's crowded. Yes, it's hard to park, and it's always hot - but there is wonderful art, and fine people, and chances are that you will see friends, maybe even friends you haven't seen for years. And whether you buy something or just look, you will come away filled with images and creativity and a renewed sense that this is a good and beautiful world.

jacobson arts's double secret world HQ is hidden deep in gales ferry, CT.

Sunflowers, Day 1

Sunflowers, Day 1

Oil on canvas, 11x14, sold

Clouds rolled in, my first day painting at Buttonwood Farm this year - and I really like the way they brought the colors down just a little. I like the way the clouds and the wall echo each other, and make the sunflowers just that much more intense - because they matter more, I think.

I mean, on a beautiful day, you already have the beautiful day. On a cloudy, humid, gray day, the sunflowers are a surprise, a contrast.

This painting sold before I finished it! A woman from Virginia bought it, and I will be shipping it to her as soon as it is dry enough.

The painting I made the next day sold before it dried - and I never even took a photo of it!

Don't forget about the Mystic Outdoor Art Festival this weekend! It's Saturday and Sunday, starting at 10 a.m. both days. The show closes at 6 p.m. on Saturday, and 5 on Sunday.

I'll be at the corner of Willow and Main, near the post office. If you're at the show, please stop in and say hello, and see my new work.

Here is this painting with the sunflowers behind.

Jacobson Arts world headquarters is in Gales Ferry, CT

More Sunflowers

Sunflowers

Oil on canvas, 18x24

Please contact me for price and delivery options

Jill Blanchette and I went out to paint Tuesday at Buttonwood Farm. The big sunflower extravaganza is over (they raised more than $100,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation!) but there were still plenty of sunflowers.

The heat and dryness is catching up with them, though, and they are starting to tip over, faces turning toward the ground.

I've had crazy success with my plein air Buttonwood Farm paintings! One sold before it was finished. The next sold before it was dry. The third, I still have, and this is the fourth.

I am so happy with this painting! Partly, I think, because I was so happy with the day. It was a joy to be with my old friend, and to laugh, and to know that this friendship has lasted, through thick and thin, joy and grief, over many years.

And partly, I am happy with this painting because it came without thought or effort on my part. It came through me, a gift from God, or the universe, or the muses, or whatever name you'd like. I was a vessel with this one, and it's a cool, fun painting - and the best of experiences.

jacobson arts world headquarters is in gales ferry, CT

Tuscan Sunflowers

Tuscan Sunflowers

Oil on gallery-wrapped canvas, 24x48

Please contact me for price and delivery options

It has been a hectic day. I took a second show's worth of paintings to Chris Rose at the Lighthouse Gallery today. I took my first show down, the one with my newest paintings, packed it into the car, and left Chris to puzzle and ponder and hang my older paintings.

In the garage here, I found all my show stuff, my S-hooks and my tablecloths, my exhibition grids and my guestbook and my receipt book and my price tags, my cards and postcards and all the little stuff I need for the Paradise City show in Marlborough, Mass.

The van is filled to the brim, I have a stupid amount of work left to do, and I need to pack my clothes and frame two more paintings, but sometime Thursday morning, I will leave for the show with my heart thumping.

I do all this, and I paint, and I work, and I worry about my job, and the house and Peter and the dogs, and I stress and fret that someone at the show will find out that I really don't know how to paint, but am only doing this because it is so very much fun - and then I think about Japan, and the earthquake and tsunami, and nuclear meltdown and the end of the world, and I am stopped short.

It would be all to easy just to say, Enough, and to stay inside and live a life of fear and worry and despair, but I can't do that. I won't do that. I will not give in. I will keep painting, and working too hard, and not sleeping enough. I will keep hugging my husband and petting my dogs, and yelling at my cats, and hoping that today, the sun will shine on my family and my friends, and there will be joy in our world.

Sunflowers, Tuscany - Supersized!

Sunflowers, Tuscany

sold

So this is the big version of the miniature painting I posted yesterday. I really love this painting. It has great texture - lots of paint! - and the addition of the blue and purple shadows in the foreground really make it sing for me.

Starting in the summer, I began painting the sky in a different way, in short strokes, with colors I usually wouldn't think of for sky - Naples yellow, ochre, different tans and browns and even greens sometimes. And then puffs of clouds over all of it. These skies make me so happy! They have depth and shine and movement, and it is so much fun to paint them.

***

A week ago, I learned that I've been accepted into the Paradise City show in Marlborough, Mass. This show is in March, and is even harder to get into than the Memorial Day show that I will be doing in Northampton, Mass. It is so very exciting to know that I'm going to Marlborough, too! And the acceptance came on a day when I really needed something wonderful to happen.

Life is treating me so well these days, I am grateful, so grateful.

Sunflowers, Tuscany

Sunflowers, Tuscany

Oil on gessoboard panel, 4 inches by 4 inches, in wide black frame

Contact Center Framing & Art at 860-233-7804 for price and shipping options

I had the chance to paint yesterday, and I relished it. There's heat in the studio now, too, another huge step forward! 

Today, I am painting this same painting, but large, 30x40. I started it yesterday, and so far, so good. There's something magical about the start of a big painting, about those first strokes, those first shapes on the huge white canvas. I always love them when they are just started, and there is always a little part of me that wants to leave them like that. Next time, I will take photos along the way and post them. It's pretty interesting. 

For any of you who have enjoyed my fictional serials in the past, I'm writing another one, for the Patch site I run. The site is montville-ct.patch.com, and the story is "The Best Present Ever." 

If you read it and you like it, I'd be eternally grateful if you'd keep reading it, chapter by chapter, and also tell your friends about it. 

If you don't like it, let me know, and let me know why, so that I can improve. 

While you're on the site, please look around, and tell me what you think. I would appreciate it!

Sunny Flowers

Sunny Flowers

Oil on canvas, 8x24
sold

Please email me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com for shipping/delivery info

Yesterday, my granddaughter Samantha turned 18. It was a bittersweet birthday, I think, for her and for our daughter Erika, Samantha's mother.

Samantha herself has been looking forward to her legal adulthood for a while, and talking enthusiastically about it - until a few days ago. Spiritually, philosophically, she wants to be an adult, but faced with it, she seems to realize that she is not.

I hope, for her sake, that this doubt continues.

Samantha has vast potential, but so far, has shown only glimmers of it. After dropping out of school two years ago, after fighting and other issues ended her up in trouble with the law, she worked desultory jobs for six months and saw precisely what a dead end road she was walking. She returned to school and for the first time in her life, applied herself. She made the honor roll, and even more excitingly, found that she loved learning. It was a marvelous stretch for all of us.

But then the old Samantha kicked in, and she began finding fault with teachers, and becoming the victim, and then she couldn't manage to get herself to school, and so it all slid back into crumbles, and she dropped out, months from graduation.

Erika decided, rightly, I think, to take herself out of the situation. She'd done it all once, truancy court, halfway houses, school administrators, special programs, the constant pushing and pushing and pushing. This last time, Samantha was 17, and Erika had had enough.

So my now 18-year-old granddaughter is a high school dropout, living at home, looking for a job, and facing a life with issues and problems and dangers she has never imagined.

Erika's adolescence was anything but smooth. But now, she is living well, doing well, and appreciating every bit of it. In all honesty, Peter didn't find himself until he was in his 30s. So I continue to hope for Samantha, and to pray for her, and to make myself available as a grandparent and friend. At this point, I believe, that is all I can do.

Sunflowers!

Sunflowers

Oil on deep-cradled canvas, 16x20, $350

Please email me for information on shipping or delivery

Two years ago, in the fall, I heard about the acres of sunflowers on Route 165 in Griswold, here in Conn. Last year, I got there a day or two after the last ones had been harvested. This year, I got there on time! And for anyone in or around the area, there are probably still a few days to see this miracle.

Buttonwoods Farm began planting sunflowers a few years ago, and has expanded the harvest to 14 acres. The farm sells bouquets of four beautiful flowers for $5; proceed go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. (see http://www.sunflowersforwishes.com/ for details).

It's quite the place, and quite the attraction. I was there twice on Thursday, and both times, people came and went, oohing and aahing and taking photos of their kids and families and dogs in front of the fields of flowers. Droves of professional-looking photographers were there, too, with tripods and big lenses and serious expressions.

Many people stopped to watch me paint, and many told me that my painting reminded them of Van Gogh. I used to shudder at this, thinking that people believed I was trying to copy him. Now, I take it as a compliment.

If you're in the area, and especially if you have a child, you might think about going to see the sunflowers. It's a truly amazing sight. You can take a ride through the field in a cart. You can buy the bouquets. And if you're willing to wait, you can get some pretty darn good ice cream, too.