Cottages or Coffee Cups?

   

Atlantic Avenue Triptych

Oil on three 5x5 canvases

I had a great time at the shows this summer, and I did well. But I am glad as can be that they're over and done with, at least for a couple months. I have commissions to paint, I have ideas to pursue, I have a trip to plan! 

I want to have a project, too - and am hoping you will help. 

Last winter, I thought about painting all the houses in Wachapreague - or at least all the streets in town. So that remains one possible project - and the triptych above is an example of how it might look. I want to do all small paintings, but 5x5 feels a little small. Might go for 6x6s. 

My other idea is modeled on Scott Coleman's cupcake blog - http://scottscupcakes.blogspot.com/. This would be a daily painting, 5x5 or 6x6, of a coffee cup, with or without coffee, with or without additional coffee-related items, like this:  

Coffee Cup No. 1

Oil on canvas, 6x6

So, what do you think? The pieces will sell for $50 or $60 each, plus shipping. Just send me an email with your choice, or put it in the comments below. 

Here are photos of Atlantic Ave: 

            

Here are two scenes you'd have seen yesterday evening, if you lived in one of those houses, 

and looked out your window as the sun was going down: 

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Dog of the Day

Here are Linda Fugate's dogs Holly and Buddy, all the way from Ohio! Want your pets to be the Dog of the Day? Send a jpg of them to me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com

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Don't forget about the 2014 Year in Pets calendar, and the Year in Paintings calendar, too! At $19.99 each, they're fun for giving and for having!

And as always, thank you so very much for reading my blog! 

Salt Marsh Sunrise - and Calendars Again

Salt Marsh Sunrise

Oil on canvas, 10x10

sold

Thanks to everyone who sent me their get-well wishes. I am getting well! Finally!

My brother and I were emailing about how a temporary downturn like this, a head cold/fever/whatever that would not go away, can make everything look gloomy. And you think you'll never be well, and life will be gray and dim forever, and your energy, verve, intelligence and optimism are just gone.

And boo-hoo, poor me, in the wide view of things, this was just nothing. This wasn't cancer or diabetes or MS or a back injury, or a bad hip, or any of the terrible things that could befall any of us at any time. This was just a head cold, with an extra dollop of something, stirred over a fire of exhaustion and physical depletion.

I will do my best to remember, the next time this happens, that it will be over, it will go away, and the only way through it is, well, through it.

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IN MY ILLNESS-INDUCED stupor, I failed to link correctly from the icons of my Two New 2014 Calendars! This time, if you click on the icon, you'll actually be taken to the page where you can see all the pages and place an order!

Just in case you don't like clicking on photos, here's the link for the landscape painting calendar: http://www.lulu.com/shop/carrie-jacobson/a-year-in-paintings/calendar/product-21247757.html

And here's the link for the pet portrait calendar:  http://www.lulu.com/shop/carrie-jacobson/2014-in-pets/calendar/product-21247863.html

The calendars are $19.99 each, plus shipping. They're beautiful and fun - you should buy them for all your friend and family members! If you want 10 or more, please contact me for a bulk price.

I'm also working on a hardcover book of paintings and writing, which should be done and available by the end of the week. Exciting!

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Dog of the Day

My friend Patty Kiersten, a dear woman and talented painter, sent me this photo of Jack (on the bottom) and Honey, astride him. Honey, who died days after this photo was taken, had neurological problems and was only happy and comfortable when she was on top of Jack like this. He was fine with it, and I am sure that between Patty and Jack, Honey had as much love as any dog ever had.

Velcro - and the Perfect Holiday Gift!

Velcro

Oil on canvas, 12x12

commission

After doing a lot of sitting around feeling sorry for myself, watching reruns on TV and, slowly, ever so slowly, starting to get well (yay!), I managed to haul my recovering butt up to the kitchen table and make two calendars for 2014. 

THE FIRST CALENDAR is a collection of paintings from 2013. They're paintings of the Eastern Shore, of beautiful stuff I saw the Tubac trip, and of various other gorgeous scenes near and far. Click here, and you'll be taken directly to my page on Lulu. You'll also find the click-through image at the top of this blog, in the right-hand column, and on my website, jacobson-arts.com.

THE SECOND CALENDAR is a collection of paintings of dogs, cats and one parrot, mostly done in 2013. Some of my favorite paintings are in here. Some of my favorite paintings are not in here, but I suppose that leaves room for 2015. Click here, and it should take you right to the preview area on Lulu, where you can see all the pages. You'll also find the click-through image at the top of this blog, in the right-hand column, and on my website, jacobson-arts.com.

Each calendar is $19.99, plus shipping and handling. They're really fun, and they'd make great holiday presents. 

YES! IT IS EARLY! But it's not that early. I bet some of you are already done with your holiday shopping, aren't you? The rest of you can be done today - Buy calendars for everyone! 

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Dog of the Day

This is Virginia, who spent her entire life with my friend Debbie Ingoglio. 

Virginia died in May. Debbie says she was the best dog, and she does look like a dear. 

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

We Need the Storm - and Withdrawing from Another Show

We Need the Storm

Oil on canvas, 10x10

sold

It's been raining and blowing for days here in Wachapreague. The tide's been high enough to wash marsh grass up onto the road. The wind has been strong enough to blow branches down all over town. 

I have not been strong enough to do anything, and have withdrawn from this weekend's show in Reston, VA. I feel terrible about this for all sorts of reasons, but it is the only thing to do, and it is done. 

I will ride out the storm, on this line between summer and autumn, and I will ride out this tenacious illness, and everything will be fine. I'm on the mend, for sure, and it is nothing serious - just overwhelming and dispiriting.  

Here's my painting in the landscape. I made this piece in August, but the sky looks much the same. I lifted the title from "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" an address by Frederick Douglass. Here's the context: 

For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. 

We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. 

The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; 

the propriety of the nation must be startled; 

the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; 

and its crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced.

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Dog of the Day

I met this guy on the ferry from Orient Point to New London in July. 

He was with the cutest Yorkie I've ever seen. 

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

Two Paintings of Olana ... (Well, Really, Three)

Update: I've pulled out of the pound ridge fine arts fest. It's a great show, and if you were planning on going, please go! I just feel too sick. Sorry! 

Overlook

Oil on canvas, 12x12

At auction Saturday at Olana, in Hudson, NY

I painted for five hours Thursday at Olana, the home of Frederic Church, in Hudson, NY. The high point of the day was a visit by Kathy and Jonathan, who came from Cromwell, CT, to visit the site and watch me and other painters do our thing. It was so great to see Kathy and meet her husband - I only wish I'd been feeling better. 

I painted these pieces, and then just sort of collapsed. I don't know whether I'll paint today (Friday), or just head to Pound Ridge, NY, to set up for the Pound Ridge Fine Arts Festival this weekend. If I am not feeling good enough, I will pull out of that show. If you're thinking of coming, and my not being there would make a difference, please email me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com or text/call me at 860-442-0246 and I'll let you know my status. I've gotten in, paid for my booth space and reserved a room, so chances are, I will be at the show. And I'm feeling better this morning than yesterday! 

Here is the auction painting in the landscape

 And here's the other piece I did on Thursday, a diptych.

Birches

Oil on canvas, 8x24x2

Please contact me for price and delivery info

Autumn on the Ridge

Autumn on the Ridge

Oil on canvas, 20x20

sold

As I drove north in New York, the colors brightened and deepened, the sky opened out, and fields and farms replaced streets and residential neighborhoods. 

And as I drove, a cold I picked up somewhere grew more and more intense, and I began feeling worse and worse. 

Thursday and part of Friday, I've been selected to paint en plein air at Olana, the home of Frederic Church, of the Hudson River School. Saturday and Sunday, I'm in a show at Pound Ridge, NY. 

So keep your fingers crossed that I will not just dissolve into a little puddle of icky, coughing goo. 

My painting in the landscape

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Isn't this plant amazing? The leaves must have been three and a half feet long! 

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Dog of the Day

Saw these cats while in Warwick, NY! 

First Fall

First Fall

Oil on canvas, 10x10

sold

Early autumn has a dusty look this year. The colors are soft, underlined with gold and tan and brown. A certain tired dryness seems etched into the still-green leaves, and the field grass crackles and whispers in the wind.

Even though it is early, and autumn's clothes are thin, the colors pull me in, the swirl of change  and promise visible, tantalizing. It is coming, it is here in a whisper, with a hint of color, and fire, and drama - or, this early, a rich aging, a gentle turn, handsome, quiet, recognizable.

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I MADE THIS painting, "First Fall," when I stopped in Pound Ridge, NY, to check out the site of the show this weekend, the Pound Ridge Fine Arts Festival.

Pound Ridge is a lovely little village tucked into the mountains of eastern New York, Westchester County, near Katonah. If you're in the area, or looking for a scenic autumn drive, come to the show! It takes place Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Here's the pond I painted. I forgot to take a photo with my painting in it! 

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ALL DAY THURSDAY and half the day Friday, I'll be painting outdoors at Olana, the home of Frederic Church, in Hudson, NY. I've been juried into a plein-air paintout with a selection of marvelous painters, and I am excited! Painting will be followed by an auction Saturday at 5 p.m. at the estate. I won't be there, but you can be, to see the paintings and bid on them, too. 

Click here for more information. 

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Dog of the Day

It's Ruth Hamel's dog Patsy, in disguise as a pumpkin!