The Accidental Artist

Teeny-Weeny Jelly-Beeny

noreply@blogger.com (Carrie Jacobson) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 12:19:00 +0000

Hmm, the right-hand one is sideways

These mini sunflower paintings are in the window at Center Framing & Art in West Hartford Center, CT.

They were the idea of Lori Chozik, who runs the gallery and frame store. She's a wonderful person, a fantastic salesperson, and a generator of very good ideas.

When she says - Carrie, you ought to try this - I listen.

I had been making paintings of dogs and cats before I met Lori, but it was her idea to focus on them, to paint only their faces, and to do them on square canvases.

She's gone a little nuts over the sunflower paintings I've been making, and has asked for more - and has been selling them nearly as fast as I can make them. So when she said why not do some sunflower minis, I was all ears.

I have to say, I love making these teeny paintings. Each has the potential to be a little gem - and it's FUN to make them! The ones pictured here range from 1 inch by 1 inch (the one just below) to 2 inches by 3 inches.

The whole crop of minis together!

Minis in the window at Center Framing & Art, 56 Lasalle Road, West Hartford CT

Afternoon in Clinton

noreply@blogger.com (Carrie Jacobson) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:19:00 +0000

Afternoon in Clinton

Oil on canvas, 10x10, $100

There is something about these afternoons of clear light in winter and in spring that seems to open my eyes and my heart. The air, thin and clear, picks up golden colors and blues, and sometimes an amazing pink, and the world looks new and bright and pretty.

Today, I saw robins - two of them, fat and happy, lighting on a branch outside my window. A small woodpecker joined them for a moment, and then they all flew off, in search of something better than the meager seeds here. Spring is coming, indeed.

I woke to a beautiful bouquet of daisies and roses, carnations and lilies, and a balloon that talks to me when I tap it, and tells me how beautiful and HOT I am. I've spent the day smelling the flowers and tapping on that balloon, and being happy to be married to Peter, who is willing to accompany me on all of these adventures.

I hope that this Valentine's Day is filled with love for all of you!

Otisville Afternoon Revisited

noreply@blogger.com (Carrie Jacobson) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 11:31:00 +0000

Otisville Afternoon Revisited

Oil on canvas, 11x14

Commission

I have had the remarkable opportunity lately to repaint a few already sold paintings that collectors want afresh. It's been a thrill, and a challenge.

Paintings aren't photographs, and my paintings, relying as heavily as they do on accident, randomness and chance, are really not like photographs.

I've replicated paintings before, and it's fun. Still, mid-painting, every time, I grow uneasy. I see the inexactitude. I see the variations in color, in stroke, in light - and I worry.

Of course, I grow uneasy in the middle of pretty much every painting. There is always - always - a point where I think - this is terrible, it's a disaster, I won't be able to pull it out of the fire.

But I push the feeling back, or down, or away, and I push on, and in time, the painting becomes itself, and takes me somewhere. While these paintings have the same general feel, and the same subject matter as the first ones I painted, they are different. They take on a life of their own - and I welcome that!

Brown-eyed Handsome Dog

noreply@blogger.com (Carrie Jacobson) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 11:14:00 +0000

Brown-eyed Handsome Dog

not for sale

This is Smokey, one of our dogs. He's a chow-sharpei mix (we think) and is one of the sweetest dogs on the planet.

He is also one of the fiercest! He doesn't look it in this painting, but he would take your arm off if he thought you were going to hurt me, or any of the other dogs, or mess with our house. Every day, when I take the dogs out in the mornings, Smokey (who is always on a leash) stands at the edge of the deck and refuses to come in until all the others are in. He is guarding them.

I really love this painting. It's funny to me how my paintings are either loaded with paint, or have nearly no paint on them at all. There are few in the middle. This is one of the minimal ones, like my painting of Bert, and my painting of Gus, both from a while ago.

Nobody except my brother has ever asked me to paint one of these minimalist pieces - even though I think they are among my best animal portraits. But they are thin, and sketchy - they feel to me like thoughts snatched from a conversation, or ideas grabbed from a daydream.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on these minimal paintings. Please be sure to click through to the Bert and Gus paintings and take a look at them!

Passages - Sunflowers

noreply@blogger.com (Carrie Jacobson) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 21:38:00 +0000

Sunflowers

Oil on canvas, 10x10, $100

Red Sunflowers

noreply@blogger.com (Carrie Jacobson) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:01:00 +0000

Red Sunflowers

Oil on canvas, 12x48

Please contact me for price and delivery options

My, this is a raw thing to do, this painting thing. Your whole insides are on display, all the time.

I have applied to a whole bunch of shows, good shows, top shows. Two days ago, I got one rejection, yesterday, I got another. Yes, my skin is getting thicker, but still, ouch.

And then, hours after the second rejection, I stopped painting to check the computer, and there were two emails from people wanting to buy paintings from me. And today, I finished this sunflower painting - and though you can't truly tell from the photo, it's a fantastic painting, maybe the best I've ever made. It sings with color and heat and sunshine, and the sweet warm promise of summer. I'm thrilled.

And so it goes. Vast gulping terror. Swift, sharp pain. And unbounded joy. All in a day. No wonder I feel raw.

Sunflowers

noreply@blogger.com (Carrie Jacobson) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:24:00 +0000

Sunflowers

Oil on canvas, 30x40

Going on sale soon at Center Framing & Art, West Hartford Center, CT

Ronet Noe and I had a grand time painting on a very cold sidewalk Saturday in front of Center Framing & Art in West Hartford Center, CT.

The Center is a fun place, especially on a weekend! Well-dressed people walk nicely groomed and well-behaved dogs, and are happy to talk and supportive, too! They are shopping, window-shopping, dining, chatting, meeting friends and generally having a fine weekend time.

It's the kind of afternoon you remember from your childhood, if you're old enough and grew up in a place with a downtown. You're out - and chances are you're going to see pretty much everyone you know, because they're all out, too.

It was a little windy to be working on such a large canvas, on an easel (well, two actually) - but I'd started the painting here, Lori wanted it for my window that's coming up, and so I took my chances. I experimented in places, having fun - this is not a good photo, but I will get one and replace it, so that you can see some of the cool, small stuff!

Four in Hand

noreply@blogger.com (Carrie Jacobson) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 11:24:00 +0000

Four in Hand, Quadtych

Four paintings, oil on canvas, each 10x10

Please contact me for price and delivery info

This was such a fun thing to do!

I taped brown paper to my studio easel for a backing, then I balanced two 10x10s on two 10x10s, and went about painting as though I were working on one canvas.

Then, I carefully carefully separated the paintings, painted around the edges (all four, not the usual three!) and set the canvases on the floor to dry.

I should have put the hanging hooks on the backs of the canvases first, and I am not sure at all about painting around the edges. Also, it is hard as HECK to get a photo. This is about the 20th I tried, and it is still not wonderful. But the paintings are going to Center Framing & Art today, so I wanted to shoot them before I put them up for sale.

The colors and textures in the quadtych (!! I looked it up!) are really wonderful. Better than they show up in the photo... If you're in Connecticut, why not stop by Center Framing & Art, 56 LaSalle Road, West Hartford Center, and see them?

Homecoming

noreply@blogger.com (Carrie Jacobson) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:15:00 +0000

Homecoming

Oil on canvas, 10x20

Please email me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com for price and shipping info!

This weekend, I read part of a book.

That doesn't sound like much, does it, but it was huge for me. I haven't read a book, or even a page of a book, since September 2010, when I began working for Patch. I have done my job, I have painted, I have spent moments with my husband and family, and I have fallen into exhausted, dreamless sleep.

Oh, at the beginning, I tried. For months, I kept by my bedside a book by Martha Grimes that Peter had given me for my 2010 birthday. After I read the same three paragraphs about 45 times, and remembered not a single word, I just gave up.

This weekend, away in a place with no cell phone and no internet, I read. I made this painting, I cooked, I talked and walked and laughed with my husband and daughter and son-in-law. I played with the dogs, I saw friends, I slept well - and I read.

It was great. It felt like knowing again, for a weekend at least, who I am. It was a pleasure and a luxury. It was a homecoming.

Winter Sunset

noreply@blogger.com (Carrie Jacobson) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:45:00 +0000

Winter Sunset

Oil on canvas, 10x10, $100

sold

I have realized that one of the things that I like best about painting is that it is something I do with my hands. Something I make with my hands.

I remembered my delight, when I worked in newspapers, at finding out that in most states, newspapers are categorized as manufacturers. (This was 25 years ago and might have changed since, but at the time, it was true). I loved that, and it made sense to me. I always appreciated the workmanship of a well-designed page, a well-written story, a well-crafted headline.

And painting, for me, is much the same. By and large, it is not a magical experience, spirit floating on the wind, etc. It is a physical effort. It is work. It is a muscle that grows stronger with use - so that when that magical experience does come along, when that spirit flashes across my path, I will have the vision to see it and the strength and ability to capture it.

On the Reservoir After the Snow

noreply@blogger.com (Carrie Jacobson) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:51:00 +0000

On the Reservoir After the Snow

Oil on canvas, 12x48

Please contact me for price and delivery

The snow comes in quiet and soft this time, a whisper of a storm dancing in overnight, touching the tips of the trees, barely covering the winter-hard earth, marking the branches with a delicate line.

In the morning, the wind puffs up cold and hard, and chases the storm away. I find myself at the edge of the reservoir, reveling in the gorgeous, clear light that follows the snow.

My canvas is large and awkward, a sail in the wind, and it's far too cold to use my clamp system. So I tape the canvas to the easel, hang my bag from the easel's legs, and set to painting.

Before I'm finished, I'm too cold to go on, but I know where I am going with the painting, and I pack it up to finish at home.

I love the way the light spills over the near trees at the left-hand edge, and the way the sky moves from white to blue. I love the brave, scrawny trees that grow along the reservoir's edge, and the way the snow dusts it all.

The rest of the day, I'm cold, chilled to the bone by my hours in the wind. But it's a good feeling, and I'd do it again, any day, to make a painting like this one.

Sitting Pretty

noreply@blogger.com (Carrie Jacobson) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 14:03:00 +0000

Sitting Pretty

Oil on canvas, 24x28

Please contact me for price and shipping info

For the first time in ages - since my vacation at the end of October, really - I had nearly a whole day with virtually nothing required of me.

It was snowing like blazes, and was quiet and pretty outside. And yes, it was cold inside. Even though there's heat in the studio, it's usually chilly up there in the winter. I'd painted outside, though, a day earlier, and found myself chilled absolutely to the bone... So, everything is relative. (That painting, of the reservoir early in the morning, as Friday's snowstorm was lifting, is a real beauty. I'll be posting it soon!)

I've been having great fun expanding my range of animal subjects. I will have the window at Center Framing and Art in West Hartford Center in the middle of February, and I hope to have a variety of animals on display there, along with sunflowers and rainbow sunflowers, too!

Hope you are all cozy and warm on this brisk winter's day!

Rainbow Sunflowers

noreply@blogger.com (Carrie Jacobson) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:54:00 +0000

Rainbow Sunflowers

Oil on canvas, 10x10, $100

I like the way this painting came out, though I admit I am a little uncertain about the background. I think it works, but I like the flowers themselves so much more. I think that the next one I do, I will fill the entire canvas with flowers, see if I can make that work.

So the article I mentioned recently about ME is now out, on line! Very cool! Here at the world headquarters of Jacobson Arts, I am FAMOUS. I hope that other artists will use my gizmos to help them paint bigger paintings outdoors.

Thank you, all who read this, for all the support and encouragement that you give me every day, and which some of you have given me for years. I couldn't do this without you, and I hope you know how much I appreciate your reading, commenting on and buying my paintings!

Longhorn

noreply@blogger.com (Carrie Jacobson) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:33:00 +0000

Longhorn

Oil on canvas, 30x36

Please email me for price and delivery options

I don't usually paint backgrounds with my animals, but this is the second in a row. My friend Heather wrote, after I posted my recent frog painting, that while she liked the painting, she preferred the backgrounds that are just solid colors, like on Pugster!

At any rate, I have this painting hanging in my bedroom office here, and it's really pretty captivating. There's a lot of paint on this one!

Sunflower Details

noreply@blogger.com (Carrie Jacobson) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:36:00 +0000

Detail No. 1

Detail No. 2

Detail No. 3

Yes, I do have actual paintings that I have finished, and which I could be putting up on this blog, and they're good paintings - but I'm so excited about this in-progress piece that I wanted to put it up and share it!

I was making a 10x10 sunflower painting, an idea suggested by an artist friend of mine at the gallery show on Saturday, when I began fooling around with overlaying these marbled paint strokes, as petals.

From a distance, the painting is pretty cool. It looks like an interesting, slightly oddly colored sunflower painting.

But up close, isn't it wonderful? It is scary as hell to do this, because there's no going back. Well, I guess there it. I guess I could scrape the paint off and start again in an area. But the real beauty of it, or what felt like the real beauty, as it was unfolding for me, is the random swirls of marbling, and the accidental picking up of contiguous colors.

So, a finished painting tomorrow, but in the meantime, please tell me if you all think this is as cool as I think it is!

Boat Launch Ramp, Old Lyme (10x10)

noreply@blogger.com (Carrie Jacobson) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:11:00 +0000

Boat Launch Ramp, Old Lyme

Oil on canvas, 10x10, $100

The represented artists' show at the Wallkill River School Gallery on Saturday was hot, chaotic, crowded - and fun! It is always a pleasure to meet new people, and especially new people interested in art... and it was just so great to see my old friends, artists and nonartists alike.

Before the show even began, a woman came up to me and told me that she remembered "The Christmas Surprise," one of the fictional serials I wrote for the Times Herald-Record. That conversation made my day.

And then the artists came in, and began setting up, and I tell you, it felt like going home to my adopted family.

There was Shawn Dell Joyce, with whom I'm showing in April, and who I called before I made my first painting, when I realized I had no idea how to do a background.

There was Bruce Thorne, the first person I ever saw painting with a palette knife, and there was his wife, Lita Thorne, who showed me how to push limits and be unafraid to make my own paintings.

Here's my painting in the landscape

There was George Hayes, with whom I had my first show, and Nancy Reed Jones, with whom I had one of my best painting days ever. There was kindred spirit and animal lover Lisa O'Gorman, and the ever so talented Mary Muegle Sealfon and Janet Campbell, and scores of others who shared their secrets and their inspiration with me, and helped me begin to learn how to paint.

So yes, it was too hot, and too crowded, and too nuts for words, but it was great fun, and greatly reassuring, too. I am so proud to be included as one of the represented artists in the gallery. I am in such excellent company.

Edge of the Sound, Madison

noreply@blogger.com (Carrie Jacobson) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:46:00 +0000

Edge of the Sound, Madison

Oil on canvas, 10x10, $100

I hoped I would have the chance to paint on New Year's Day, but work took over, and so what has become a tradition got pushed off for 24 hours. Even though I was working on the Monday holiday, there was not much to do, so I had the chance to scour Madison and Clinton in the afternoon and paint, on a day of wind and sun and high wintry clouds.

It was the kind of day that made me happy to have a big hat and a warm coat and a van to get into to thaw out. And the kind of day that made me happy to be alive.

If any of you are in the mid-Hudson Valley in New York, why don't you come to the Wallkill River School Gallery on Saturday? I'm part of a group show of represented painters, and will be demonstrating during the opening, along with everyone else.

It's a little chaotic, but it's a lot of fun, and it gives people the chance to see work by everyone who exhibits at the gallery throughout the year.

The gallery is at 232 Ward St., (which is also Route 17K) in Montgomery. The show is Saturday, from 5-7 p.m.

And in April, Shawn Dell Joyce and I will be doing a two-person show, "Dreaming in Color," at the gallery - so plan on coming!

Rodanthe Revisited

noreply@blogger.com (Carrie Jacobson) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:56:00 +0000

Rodanthe Revisited

Oil on canvas, 10x10, sold

Look familiar? My friend Bonnie got in on the 10x10 action just when I was starting the project, and when she saw the original Rodanthe 10-inch by 10-inch painting, wrote to tell me how much she loved it.

Or how much she would love it, if the sky were blue.

I took it as a challenge, and approached the painting a second time, this time thinking of the clear blue skies I saw while I was down in North Carolina.

She loves it - and so do I. And it was fun to rethink the painting, too.

Hope you all had an excellent new year!

Pugster!

noreply@blogger.com (Carrie Jacobson) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 23:28:00 +0000

Pugster!

Oil on canvas, 12x12

Please contact me for price and delivery options

How can you not love a pug? Those eyes, those ears, that snorting... We have a pug granddaughter, along with the regular human grandchildren, and while this is not her, it has some of her expression, for sure.

***

Turns out that my recent painting of the turtle is not sold - long story - so if anyone is interested in him, please let me know. In the meantime, I have another frog to paint, and oh yes, there are landscapes, too.

***

Those of you who receive my blog by email... would you please go to the real site - click here to reach it - The Accidental Artist - and let me know:

a. if you can see the whole flipcard thing and
b. what you think of it?

Thanks!

***

This week between Christmas and New Year's has been relaxed and easy and fun for me. I have read, I have cooked, I have shopped - all pursuits that have been pretty much nonexistent in my life these past 16 months or so.

I didn't realize how much I had missed them.

Frog

noreply@blogger.com (Carrie Jacobson) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 23:53:00 +0000

Frog

Oil on canvas, 30x40

Please contact me for price and shipping/delivery info

I went out today, my first venture into the commercial world since a few days before Christmas. As I drove up to Stop & Shop, I thought, "Yay, there'll be no irritating Salvation Army person there, asking for money, no crowds of shoppers, no annoying Christmas music and pointless decorations, whew."

And then, as I walked up to the store, I realized that I really missed all that stuff. I missed the cheery Salvation Army bells, and the energetic woman who dances wildly at the Groton Stop & Shop. I missed putting my dollar in the pot and feeling helpful. I missed the sappy Christmas songs that I hum along with, or whistle to, or even sing aloud. I missed the bright Christmas decorations, and the people with their stuffed carts and their happy plans and their hopes of joy and peace.

For a crazy moment, I thought - Maybe we should have Christmas all year round, or at least all winter.

Nah. It's better to miss it. Just a little.

***

So... what do you think of the frog?

Christmas Day

noreply@blogger.com (Carrie Jacobson) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 19:14:00 +0000

Christmas Day

Oil on canvas, 16x20

Please contact me for price and shipping information

As I guess you can see, I spent some time Christmas morning fooling around with the blog. What do you think?

What I like is that you can see so many paintings at one time, and flip through them so easily - I have it set on the "flipcard" option. I think you can set your own view on a variety of different options, is that right?

At any rate, I'd love any feedback. At first, I really wasn't sure about the change, but it is growing on me.

In the meantime, I do love this painting. It feels like Christmas to me, the kind of Christmas I hold in my heart. No Christmas is really like this for me, not since my mother died, but this kind of Christmas, the kind in the painting, lives in all these other Christmases, and in all my family members, and in all my memories and all my hopes.

Merry Christmas to You!

noreply@blogger.com (Carrie Jacobson) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 11:03:00 +0000

Rufus

Oil on canvas, 12x12, commission

Christmas morning, and the house is quiet. Peter's asleep, with two dogs by his side. Sam, the big Samoyed, is sleeping by my feet and Eunice the cat is curled up in the warmth of my desk lamp.

It's not quite 6 a.m., and it is dark still. But I trust and I believe that soon, the edge of the sky will lighten and the sun will come up on another day, this Christmas Day, a day to celebrate love and peace and family and the birth of Jesus.

Hope and fear, courage and frustration, optimism and exhaustion, these have been my companions this year. I've reached highs I never imagined I'd see, and felt lost in ways I've never felt before.

In the end, this has been more than anything a year of faith - in myself, in the path I'm walking, in the guidance of a higher power, in a future that holds great change and great promise.

Thank you, all of you, for your constant support of me, of my paintings, of my toddling steps forward. Thank you for your comments, your words, your purchases, your inspiration.

Art has shown me more clearly than anything how connected we all are, and how our words, our gestures, our decisions touch the people around us.

Merry Christmas, friends! I hope that you find joy and peace today, safe in the heart of your families, and that the feelings of this day stay with you always.

Turtle

noreply@blogger.com (Carrie Jacobson) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:42:00 +0000

Turtle

Oil on canvas, 18x24

sold

Yes, my first turtle! And yes, it is sold. Sold before it was finished. Sold when it was barely begun. Of course, the would-be buyer hasn't seen it yet, so there's always a chance it will slowly turtle its way back to me, but far as I am concerned, it's sold.

I am pretty excited about this painting, as it is a step in a new direction for me. I'm going to try some water-related animal paintings, a different turtle, maybe a frog, some fish. The colors interest me, and the creatures are a new challenge. And I love a new challenge.

Now that I am recovered from the flu, I'm heading back to my 100x100 project, speaking of challenges. Some of the paintings sold for Christmas presents, and that makes me happy!

And speaking of happy, I have my first 2012 commission! It is of a scene to be painted in August, so it's not imminent, but I am pretty darn pleased to have a commission before the year even begins.

Ho ho ho indeed.

Sunset on the Salt Marsh

noreply@blogger.com (Carrie Jacobson) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 21:56:00 +0000

Sunset on the Salt Marsh

Oil on canvas, 30x30

Please contact me for price and delivery options

I have been flat on my back with the flu for pretty much the entire week, and I can tell you, it stinks.

It's not great to be away from work, no matter how much I complain about my work.

It's not great to have a break from painting, no matter how fixated I am.

It's not great to watch TV all day, even though on some of the brain-busting 19-hour days I have, I think, "How nice it would be just to watch TV all day."

And it is not great to have an excuse not to finish my Christmas shopping/making.

Boo hoo, poor me.

People around me seem convinced that I will live, and I am trying to believe them. If I don't, those of you who have paintings of mine will find yourselves in the money, soon, I am sure.

I'm kidding, of course. I am going to live. I'm just going to draw everyone else into my misery until I feel better.

****

On an entirely different note, whether I expire or survive (I am assuming), I will be featured soon in Plein Air magazine!

Editor Steve Doherty is doing a piece on extreme plein-air painters, and launched it in his newsletter. I saw it, and wrote to tell him about my clamp system. He's into it, so I sent him some photos and explained it, and if all goes well, there will be a short piece about me! With some of my paintings!

Jojo

noreply@blogger.com (Carrie Jacobson) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 21:40:00 +0000

Jojo

Oil on canvas, 12x12

Really, Jojo is the funniest dog in the world. She is my dog, or I am her person, or some combination of all that.

I saw her picture in the paper, in the Shelter Tails feature that showcased animals who needed to be adopted, and I just fell for her. "Crystal" was the name they'd given her, and believe me, this is no "Crystal."

By our best guesses, she is border collie, pit bull, and who knows what else - and she is just as funny and as loving as a dog can be. The expression that I got in this painting, that worried and yet direct expression, that's her to a T.

Jojo crashes down onto my side every night, and sleeps pressed hard against me. She is within reach of me every moment she can possibly be. She is a comfort, an amusement, a source of joy, and an annoyance, all rolled up into one.

I don't know how I'd get through these days without her - and I venture that if she could talk, she'd say the same about me.

***

On another note entirely, I got a great boost last week when a lovely woman, Joanna Stenning, mentioned me in her blog - and not only that, said that my palette knife work inspired her to try the same.

She and her parents bought paintings from me at a Paradise City show - and I was just delighted to be mentioned.

Her work is lovely, her blog is really fun - so stop by and check her out!