Heading In

Heading In

Oil on black canvas, 10x10, $125

Available at Seaside Antiques and Art, Wachapreague, VA

Even though we don't get out on the water much, I love living near it and watching the boats. The small boat on the left has been sitting in the mud of the salt marsh for at least five years. The boat on the right was just motoring in after a day's fishing. The light, and the sunrises and sunsets on the Eastern Shore are often magical, tinged with pink and gold and tender blues. 

This painting is one of 12 I made for a 2017 Wachapreague calendar. You can buy one for $19 at Seaside Antiques and Art in Wachapreague, or from me, on the Jacobson Arts website. 

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One from the Road 

I'm traveling right now, on the Big Skies Painting Trip. As I write this, I'm in Sheriden, Wyoming, about to head north and west into Montana. I've been having a great trip, and I'm happy with the paintings I've been making for my sponsors. This country is so huge, and so incredibly beautiful, it's a delight and an exciting pleasure to wander, explore and paint! 

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Dog of the Day 

Could he be cuter? Saw him at the Uptown Art Festival in Minneapolis this summer. If you'd like your pet to be the Dog of the Day (doesn't have to be a dog...), please send a jpg to me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com

Carnival!

Carnival! 

Oil on black canvas, 10x10, $125

For 2017 Wachapreague calendar

The past couple years, I've made calendars, and 2017 will be no different! I'm working on paintings for a Wachapreague calendar, to be sold on line and on the ground, at Seaside Antiques right here in town. 

Seaside Antiques is the antiques and art store that my friends Pat Hart and Carol Burnham own and operate, and it's just fantastic. In their travels over the years, Pat and Carol have collected interesting, fun and beautiful pieces, and they are for sale at reasonable prices. It's a great place to poke around, do some dreaming and also do some buying. My Christmas shopping list is nearly complete - and much of it has come from Seaside Antiques!

I made this painting after Peter, Erika, Paul and I went to the Volunteer Firemen's Carnival back in June. I have to say I refused to go on the Ferris wheel, though it looked like people were having fun. I just don't want to be that far off the ground! 

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"We shall do good work at a profit if we can, at a loss if we must, but always good work."

Amen to that. 

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Dog of the Day

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

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A Final Thought

"We don't make mistakes, just happy little accidents." 

- Bob Ross

Winter in Wachapreague - and Helping Allen

Winter in Wachapreague

Oil on canvas, 10x10, $125

Please click here to email me if you'd like this painting

That's right, it snowed in Wachapreague! Today, a bitter, biting wind is blowing, and I am glad the studio is insulated. Before the storm, we saw lightning in the night sky.

It is a challenge to paint a winter scene like this. There are many tones of white, but the untouched roofs, facing the sky, are the brightest - by a long shot.

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Allen Gaccione, who is 37, is the father of our youngest grandchild. Last week, Allen found out that he has cancer. It started in his colon and has spread to his liver. Doctors were able to get the colon tumor out, and when he heals enough, they will start with chemotherapy. 

Allen is a good guy and a wonderful father. He has worked for years at McQuade's Marketplace in Westerly, RI, where he lives. He does not have health insurance, in spite of working a full-time job. 

Friends have started a GoFundMe page for Allen; you can reach it by clicking here. If you want to help, that would be great. And whether you donate or not, please think of Allen, or send a prayer his way, if you are a praying sort of person. Thank you. 

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Dog of the Day

Who doesn't need a big box of Puffy? 

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

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A Final Thought

"A good artist has less time than ideas."

- Martin Kippenberger

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

New Paintings in the Galleries!

Ducky

Oil on canvas, 16x16

Center Framing and Art, West Hartford Center CT

In the past month, I've distributed a bunch of my new paintings to my galleries. I thought you might like to see what's where. To track down more of my paintings in galleries, please check out the "Available" page on the Jacobson Arts website. 

Trio

Oil on black canvas, 20x20

J. Gallery, High Point, NC

Chillin'

Oil on black canvas, 30x30

JWV Artists, Charlotte, NC

Bonnie and Clyde

Oil on canvas, 20x20

Harbor Gallery, Norfolk, VA

Painter Farm

Oil on canvas, 12x48

Current Reflections Gallery, Wachapreague, VA

Here are addresses and links for my galleries: 

Center Framing and Art

 56 LaSalle Road, West Hartford Center, CT 

www.centerframingandart.com 

J. Gallery

J. H. Adams Inn, 1108 North Main St., High Point, NC

www.jgalleryhp.com

JWV Artists

By appointment, Charlotte, NC

www.jwvartists.com

Harbor Gallery

1508 Colley Ave., Norfolk, VA

www.harbor-gallery.com

Current Reflections Gallery

Main Street, Wachapreague, VA

www.facebook.com/CurrentReflectionsArt

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Dog of the Day

How could you not take these guys for a walk? 

Want your pet to be the Dog of the Day? 

Send a jpg to me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com

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A Final Thought 

"Great things are done by a series of small things brought together." 

- Vincent Van Gogh

House on a Hill, and the Studio Boat

House on a Hill

Oil on canvas, 6x12, $75

sold

This painting feels like a breakthrough. And it feels like something I've been heading toward for a while.

I stumbled on an idea when I was finishing another painting. I'd made a sky that took my mosaic sky idea (click here and here for paintings with good mosaic skies) and went one step further, when it occurred to me that I might be able to paint in a way that illuminates my belief in the interconnectedness of all things.

So I set out to make a painting that brings the sky into the mountains, the mountains into the fields, the fields into the structures on them, etc.

I love this little painting, and how it does manage to tie everything in together - or at least, in my eyes, it does. What do you think? Does it illustrate the concept? What do you think of it as a painting, without any further thought or meaning?

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Studio Boat 

LAST NOVEMBER, when I was in Texas between shows, I went to the Houston Museum of Art and saw a great show of Claude Monet's paintings of the Seine. It was fascinating to watch his painting style and his area of interest change over the years, going from very precise paintings of boats in the harbor, with every mast and piece of rigging intact, to the soft, blurry, impressionistic pieces he painted near the end of his life, when his style had changed and his vision deteriorated. 

An exciting part of the show was finding that Monet had a studio boat, a stable, covered craft in which he painted the shore, from the water. I have been hankering for a studio boat ever since! Do any of you have one? Have you ever seen one? I have found several sets of plans, and then saw this one (below) in an issue of a newsletter I receive. The letter was focusing on the houseboat behind the studio boat; I've written to the real estate agent who has that houseboat for sale, but I haven't heard back. 

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Dog of the Day

Saw this lovely Great Dane back in May, at the show in Richmond. He's a beauty! 

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A Final Thought

"Painting is the grandchild of Nature. It is related to God." 

- Rembrandt

Eagle Nest - and Some Springtime

Eagle Nest

Oil on canvas, 10x10, $100

Eagle Nest, NM, is one of my favorite places. It's high in the mountains northeast of Santa Fe, and is a gorgeous, unspoiled bit of the world. Sort of like Wachapreague with mountains. Fans of "Longmire" will recognize it as one of the places where the series was shot. 

But storms were rolling in there, one after another, when I was out west this winter, and so I didn't go. But I painted this from a photograph, as a way of remembering and saying hello. 

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Spring has come to the Eastern Shore! Above, trees along Route 13. 

Below, a gorgeous tree in a yard on Main Street here in Wachapreague, 

and daffodils at a neighbor's house. 

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Dog of the Day

It's Booba, whom our granddaughter Samantha found, about a million years ago. Samantha is the new mother of Emmett, and is a grown-up, fully adult woman. She was a little kid when she found (and named) Booba, who has been an interesting and amusing cat for many years.

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A final thought

"A loving person lives in a loving world. A hostile person lives in a hostile world. Everyone you meet is your mirror."

- Ken Keyes

Morning in Westerly - and Max Gets a Special Delivery

Morning in Westerly, RI

Oil on canvas, 20x20

Please click here to email me for price and availability

My first show of the year is this weekend at the convention center in Virginia Beach. My display will consist nearly entirely of new paintings, including this one, and I am excited and interested to see how these paintings are received. 

The show is Saturday and Sunday, and starts at noon each day. It's in conjunction with the Coastal Virginia Winefest, which apparently includes tastings of wine and beer, accounting for the late opening time and $50 entry fee. 

It's the first year for this art show, which is being put on by the Museum of Contemporary Art, the same people who put on the Boardwalk Art Show and the Neptune Festival. First-year shows can be dicey, but this one seems to be advertised heavily, and as part of a known event, has a better chance of success than many first-year shows. I'll let you all know how it goes. 

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AFTER THE SHOW, I will spend the coming week painting and packing the van for the Origins Painting Trip.  (There's still time to get a sponsorship, and I can handle a few more. Click here for info!) 

Friday is Peter's birthday. We will have a nice little celebration, and then on Saturday, I will head out for the west. I am starting to get excited! 

This is Window Rock, a famous formation just a few miles from where I spent my first months. The headquarters of the Navajo Nation are right at Window Rock now. 

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Dog of the Day

It's Max! I ran into him in the post office. He gave me a good sniffing - but what he was really interested in was Jackie, and the cookies she gives him every time he visits. 

Mowing - and a Getaway Idea

Mowing

Oil on canvas, 24x24

Please click here to email me for price and availability

Justin is a young guy who grew up in Wachapreague and has no intention of ever leaving. He's in his late 20s or early 30s, I think, though I find I'm getting worse and worse at guessing people's ages. At any rate, he is a whip-thin young guy, tall and strong. And he mows nearly all the lawns in town. 

He started the mowing business when he was just a kid. By now, he has big equipment, a big truck with a big trailer, a helper - and a pretty big business for this small town, in spite of charging insanely low prices. In many spots, Justin mows many contiguous lawns, going from one to the next to the next to the next, mowing pretty much the entire street - and then doing all the weed-whacking, too. 

I was watching him speed around our yard one day, and decided that I should make a painting of him mowing. It's such a summertime moment, isn't it? 

As you can see from this painting, and others I've been making recently, I am purposely leaving a sort of raggedy edge on the front. I really like this effect - but I wonder about you? What do you think? 

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IF YOU'RE LOOKING for something fun to do over the weekend of Jan. 17-18, you might consider coming to Virginia Beach for the MOCA Art Show at the Coastal Virginia Winefest. This is the first year that the Museum of Contemporary Art has hosted this show, and it promises to be interesting. 

Tickets to the winefest are not cheap - they run from $30 to $60 (for a two-day ticket purchased in advance), but they include wine and beer tastings, food and more. And lodging rates are very low right now. A room at the Best Western is $65 plus change, less than half of the summertime rate. And OK, it's winter, but the beach is beautiful and wild, and you can bundle up and walk to your heart's content! 

If any of you come to the event, please stop by and say hello! I'll give a $15 discount - or donate $15 to your favorite charity - to the person who comes from the farthest. 

Click here for information on the event.

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A WHOLE BUNCH of people have signed on to sponsor my  upcoming Origins Painting Trip. I'm leaving two weeks from Saturday! Here are my sponsors so far: 

Patrick Gallagher                          Pat Kahle and Bill Reimert                Kathryn and Paul Yamartino

Pat Hart                                         Lois Vanskike                                    Richard and Mari Hook

Sherry Sved                                   Pnut                                                    Nancy Russell

Kareem Alston                              Heather MacLeod                               Judy Beisler

Erica Moreland                             Sara Harley                                        Jim Smedley

Sponsorship start at $50 and go up to $1000. Check out the Origins Painting Trip page on the Jacobson Arts website for more information. 

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Dog of the Day 

It's the frenemies, Woodreau (on the back of the couch) and Abigail. Woody tries to throw his weight around with Abby several times a day. She responds by stomping on him with her large feet. They both seem to enjoy the relationship - and when the workday is over, they punch out and have the dog equivalent of a beer together. 

Boxing Day, a Mystery, and Lois's Fun DOD

Boxing Day

Oil on black canvas, 10x10, $100

With all the shows, commissions and gallery work I happily had in 2014, it was sometimes tough to get outside to paint. Also, I admit, laziness figures into the situation a bit, too. Painting on site requires some organization, energy and at least a little travel.

But I love it. I love the immediacy of painting outdoors, painting quickly and urgently, racing to capture the light and to mark the feeling that made me stop at that spot in the first place.

All of this truly whets my appetite for my upcoming plein-air painting trip, the Origins trip. I'm going to revisit the place I was born, and where I spent my first months. I'm leaving around Jan. 24, and there are still sponsorship spots available. Please click here to learn more - and to sponsor me!  For $125 and up, you will get fresh plein-air paintings from beautiful Arizona! 

Here's my painting in the landscape

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A Mystery

A FEW DAYS AGO, I walked into my friend Pat Hart's house. She urged me to go into the dining room and see the Christmas present that her son had given her.

Lo and behold, sitting on and leaning on a small table in her dining room were two of my paintings - two that I didn't remember even bringing to Virginia!

Pat's son had found them in a store in Ocean City, he thought. Or maybe it was a shop in Pocomoke, MD. He really couldn't remember.

The fact that these paintings ended up down here in Virginia is still blowing my mind.

When we moved from Connecticut, I had a couple hundred paintings that didn't please me. They didn't work, I didn't like them, I didn't think they were good, whatever. I put stacks of these at the end of the driveway, and people came and took them away.

My thinking was that artists might paint over them. I had started painting on deep, gallery-wrapped canvases, so I couldn't really repaint over them. And Peter reminded me that people might like them, that everyone has different tastes, and just because I didn't like them, that didn't mean that no one would.

So how these paintings came to be down here, and how Pat's son ran into them, and how he even recognized my style, all of this seems to be a sort of miraculous mystery. And great fun!

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Dog of the Day

WHEN I WAS in Tubac, Arizona, last year, I had the great pleasure of giving a painting lesson to Lois Vanskike. She is a fun, fun-loving, ebullient woman who really liked my painting - and took to palette knife painting right away. She's featured, with her first palette-knife painting, in my California Calling book.  

Lois is a marvelous artist, great at drawing, talented at watercolors, and filled with the artist's spirit. We've become friends, and I love seeing her art and hearing about her life. 

This is a painting she made for the Dog of the Day feature! 

Christmas in Wachapreague

Christmas in Wachapreague

Oil on canvas, 10x10

Every holiday season, the Wachapreague Volunteer Fire Department strings Christmas lights over Main Street. 

After a quiet, lazy, lovely Christmas morning, and a fun Christmas afternoon working on a cowscape, I went over to Main Street and painted as the sun went down. I got the street and buildings painted in, then waited for the lights to go on. As I waited, I heard a dog puffing, and looked around, and there was Abby, pulling at the end of the leash, with Peter at the other end. 

Aside from them, two cars went by, one group of people walked by, and a dad and his two kids rode their bikes past me. 

And everyone said Merry Christmas! 

Longhorn with Bluebells - and a Cow Question for You!

Longhorn and Bluebells

Oil on canvas, 18x18

Please click here to email me for price and availability

I absolutely love this painting! It is bright and colorful and full of life, and I was able to capture the intense and yet goofy expression on the cow's face. Though I worry that it is a little illustration-like (and why is that a bad thing, anyways?), I love the black lines and the brilliant colors. 

However, I think I love the painting below more. It's the above painting, before I finished the cow and added the background. I like it so much, I'm going to do another one, and leave it just like the one below. 

What do you think? Which do you like better? And does the top painting strike you as illustration? If so, is that a derogatory assessment? Yes? Why? I'd really love to hear your thoughts. You can email me, or use the comment area at the end of the blog. 

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Busy, busy! 

Here's Jackie, our postmistress. She is the busiest person in town these days! 

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Dog of the Day

Woody, the white dog, was curled up in the dog bed when Zoe, who is 14 and blind,

 decided she wanted to get in, too. I watched this. Zoe knew Woody was there, 

and I think she wanted to curl up against his fluffy warmth. 

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