Manny, Moe and Jeff

Manny, Moe and Jeff

Oil on canvas, 36x60

Please click here to email me for price and availability

This painting started its life looking a little different. The sky was pretty much the same, and the road to the left was pretty much the same, and the mountains were sort of the same, but the cows were smaller, the trees were smaller, the water was smaller, and the colors - still a little out of my comfort zone - were a little more quiet. 

I wanted to like it, but just couldn't, even though people liked it, and I was going to paint over it. Instead, I really looked. I searched for what was bothering me, for why I wasn't in love with this cowscape. It took a while, but it came to me, and I was able to make the changes that are making it work. 

This is a process that's happened a few times to me now. It is still a new process, of improving rather than tossing out. And it's a process I hope I can bring to other parts of my life, including my own sense of self. 

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Shows! 

I'm sending a big thank you to everyone who came to the shows this summer, took the time to look at my paintings and talk with me! And a special thanks to all of you who bought paintings! Each sale is a miracle, and I appreciate each one very much. 

I'll be on the road for a few weeks, starting tomorrow. Here's my schedule: 

Stamford, CT, July 29-30, Harbor Point, Booth 20

Uptown Art Festival, Minneapolis, MN, Aug. 4-6, Booth 3407 on the mall

Mystic Outdoor Art Festival, Mystic, CT, Aug. 12-13, corner of Willow and East Main

and Centerfest, Durham, NC,   Sept. 16-17

Hope to see you there! 

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Dog of the Day

Pals! Saw these guys at the show in State College, PA. 

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

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A Final Thought

“Some people are born to make great art and others are born to appreciate it. … 

It is a kind of talent in itself, to be an audience, whether you are the spectator in the gallery or you are listening to the voice of the world's greatest soprano. 

Not everyone can be the artist. 

There have to be those who witness the art, 

who love and appreciate what they have been privileged to see.” 

- Ann Patchett

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Near Manhattan, Montana

Near Manhattan, Montana

Oil on black canvas, 30x30

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

There's something about the West that reaches into a deep part of my soul and releases something that lives there. It's a thing I love, this thing deep in me, but not a thing I can easily name. It's some mix of feelings of freedom, courage, confidence and a deep, abiding love of the landscape itself, the sky, the mountains, the grasses and plains.

In the landscape of the West, I feel strong and tall, square-shouldered and unburdened. I feel that I could ride a horse, write a book, hold my own in a conversation with anyone.

Most of all, in this landscape, I feel that I can paint. On this most recent trip, I felt that feeling again and again, day after day, and it was wonderful. I painted enough out there to recognize the feeling, learn where it is in me. And back home, in spite of all my fears and worries, I've been able to call that feeling to the surface and carry it with me.

Nothing is as clear here as it is on a painting trip. There's family here, Peter and our dogs and cats. Friends. Distractions, chores, errands. But the point of the trips, one of the main points, is to bring home all kinds of things that I found Out There. And happily, I've been able to do just that.

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AND NOW, for a short commercial.

WACHAPREAGUE CALENDARS are $19, and you can get them on the Jacobson Arts website.

I have to say, the calendars came out great.  12 paintings of beautiful Wachapreague, one for every month of 2017. Click here to reach my website, Jacobson Arts., where you can buy them. 



PRINTS, NOTECARDS, PILLOWS, shower curtains,Fine Art America. You can go to the main page and then search for me, or click here to reach my page. If there's a painting you'd like, and you don't see it on the page, please send me an email (carrieBjacobson@gmail.com) and if I can get it on the site for you, I will.
 


PATRONAGE PROGRAM. Maybe you're a person who owns a business, or a string of businesses. Maybe you're a person with several homes. Maybe you're a person who would love to give a grand present to a spouse, or is looking for great gifts for a whole group of people. Maybe you're a person who would be intrigued with the idea of becoming an even more significant patron of the arts.

If you are any of these, or any combination, let's talk. I'm looking for three patrons to enroll in my program, at $25K each. Yes, it is a lot of money, but it will buy you a lot of art, made especially for you, or for people to whom you'd like to give art. To find out more, click here to visit the Patronage Program page of my website. You can email me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com, or call me at 860-442-0246.

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Really? Pre-sliced? What on EARTH does that mean? 

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Dog of the Day

He was small, but he was serious! 

Want your pet to be the Dog of the Day? It need not be a DOG! Send a jpg to me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com

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A Final Thought

"The first mistake of art is to believe it's serious." 

- Lester Bangs

Simon and Garfunkel

Simon and Garfunkel

Oil on black canvas, 36x60

At Center Framing and Art, 968 Farmington Ave., West Hartford Center, CT

I've been busy, traveling to Connecticut to visit with family, paint outside Center Framing and Art, have an early Thanksgiving/Christmas party, visit with Erika and Paul and their whole family, then come back to beautiful Wachapreague and have Thanksgiving here with Peter and the devil dogs, WHEW! I took a few days off afterwards, just to get my head to stop spinning. 

I hope you all had good Thanksgivings, whatever kind of Thanksgiving you had. 

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HERE'S A QUESTION for you: 

Many people have told me they pretty much never read what I write here. They just look at the painting, scroll down to the Dog of the Day, and go on. If you'd prefer pretty much just the painting, the DOD and maybe the quote, and only the rare bout of verbiage, that's fine with me - but let me know, would you? Please use the comments below to voice your opinion. And you will not hurt my feelings, I promise! 

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Dog of the Day

Couple of cuties, dressed up for a summertime show. 

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

"I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream." 

- Vincent Van Gogh

Montana Highway

Montana Highway

Oil on black canvas, 12x36

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

When you drive out West, this is what you see, day after day, mile after mile. Sometimes there are mountains behind the hills. Sometimes there are hills behind the hills. Sometimes you're on such high plains that, basically, you're in the clouds. 

I love this. I love the empty highway, the horizons that stretch away forever, the sun-bright fields and scrub and the way the clear, clean light heightens the colors, lengthens the shadows, brings my heart and soul to life. 

It's a tough place, a lonely place, a hard place, surely, to build a life. Winters are long and very cold, summers are brutally hot, jobs are scarce. But spring and fall bloom in the West with rich colors, gorgeous foliage and the promise of our best America. 

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Found the dogs' favorite town... 

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Dog of the Day

Met this puppy this summer in Omaha. Bet he's all grown up now! 

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A Final Thought

"Art without emotion is like chocolate cake without sugar. It makes you gag." 

- Laurie Halse Anderson

Tetons Homestead

Tetons Homestead

Oil on black canvas, 12x12

                                                         

I had been planning on driving to Wyoming and Montana after the show in Omaha, but all sorts of things seemed to be conspiring against my going, and so I came home. I am planning on a painting trip to those western states in the fall, when it is sure to be incredibly beautiful.

But the thought of the West has blossomed in my head, so I took the opportunity to make this painting of a gorgeous log cabin in the Tetons. I'd love to live there, with the sky huge and open above me, and the mountains standing strong behind me, reminding me every day of the force and power that formed our earth.

I don't think I'd like to live there in the winter, though.

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MY FRIENDS Pat Hart and Carol Burnham are going to reopen Seaside Antiques and Art soon, right here on Main Street in Wachapreague, and that's very exciting. It was more than a year ago when a truck rammed into the side of the store, knocked it off its foundation, ruined most of the items inside, and meant the store's closing for many months. 

Pat and Carol had the front half of the building removed, a new porch added, and the inside redone, and they are ready to open soon! They have wonderful antiques, ranging from inexpensive to very dear, all chosen with love and care. And they have art by local artists, including me and, soon, Peter. 

I believe July 1 is the opening date, so if you're in Wachapreague, take a look and see. 

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Dog of the Day

It's Doc and Lulu, in their favorite spot, between the couch cushions and the couch back. They will stay this way, feet in the air, heads totally buried (how do they breathe?) for hours. 

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A Final Thought

"I dream my painting and I paint my dream." 

- Vincent Van Gogh

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Pony Express!

Pony Express

Oil on canvas, 10x10, sold

I was driving through the mountains on a back road from Holbrook, Arizona, to Scottsdale, when I saw a big hubbub ahead. Lots of police cars, flashing lights, a line of traffic. When I came up to it, I was amazed to see that the police cars were surrounding a guy riding a horse along the side of the road. 

I passed, and a little ways up the road, saw another guy, dressed in a long duster, waiting with his horse. A little ways later, another. It dawned on me that I'd seen historical marker signs naming this road as the Hashknife Pony Express route - and putting two and two together, I realized that I was watching the Pony Express. 

I drove past the riders and entourage, and in a ways, stopped at a store to get gas. The guy behind the counter told me that, indeed, this was a once-a-year running of the Pony Express, and that the riders were carrying real mail from Holbrook to Scottsdale! Each rider goes a mile or two, then the next rider picks up. They carry 20,000 pieces of mail, each stamped with the official Pony Express logo! You can read all about it on the website. This just seemed like the coolest thing - and the first fun thing I've seen on the trip. So far, this trip has been nothing but fear - a giant snowfall, the mock jury and visiting four galleries, seeking representation, all worthwhile, but all scary. 

So I changed my plans, turned around and went back to see the riders again, and paint! I painted the scene, leaving a space for the horse and rider, and then put him in. Later, in Payson, I saw all the riders riding in a line on the last leg, to the post office. 

Here's my painting in the landscape

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THE PONY EXPRESS painting was sold to my first sponsor for the Arizona Byways trip. This is not as structured as my recent trips, but sponsorships are still encouraged. Sponsors will have first choice of the paintings I make on this trip. I plan to paint in and around Tubac, and on some side treks, too.

A 10x10 sponsorship is $125. Please click here to email me if you want in.

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Scenes from the Road

Antelope just wandering the streets in Springer, NM. 

Dinosaurs dot the Arizona landscape. Above, a display in Holbrook. 

Below, a display in I-40 just outside Holbrook. 

Some good-looking donkeys in Kansas, above, and a Kansas landscape, below.

Snow in New Mexico

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Dog of the Day 

 I saw this lunatic Corgi in a small town in Oklahoma. 

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A Final Thought

"I found I could say things with color and shapes 

that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for."

- Georgia O'Keeffe