"5th Hole- Pebble Beach Golf Links"-8x10, Pebble Beach Golf Course, paintings of pebble beach, leaning cypress, ice plants, pacific coastal art, golf pro art

"5th Hole- Pebble Beach Golf Links"-8x10, $500

Pebble Beach Golf Course is world-renowned. The best golfers the world over have played this course, including Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods!  I could understand why after taking a drive along the famous 17 mile drive that stretches from Carmel to Monterrey and along the beautiful Pacific Coast that the Pebble Beach Golf Course calls home. As we passed the course, we ran into a couple deer that were taking their time sauntering among the holes along with the golfers!

There was an abundance of gorgeous objects for an artist like myself to feast my eyes on, in addition to the deer, which included the wind-blown cypress tress, the spreading pink ice plants and golden poppies as well. Overall, the Pebble Beach area is not just a golfer's paradise, It is an artist's paradise as well!

PS: I'm now thinking of taking up golf!

If you have a dad or hubby who is a golf enthusiast, this painting would make a great Father's Day Gift! If he can't play at Pebble Beach, he can at least imagine it! Right?  (Sigh.)

Send me an email if you would like to purchase this painting for $500, plus $10, shipping and handling. My email address is maryannejacobsen@aol.com, and please check out my website here.

"Eventide" 12x24, oil on panel, eucalyptus trees, California impressionist art, California art, sunsets, colorist art

"Eventide" 12x24, oil on panel

I definitely left my heart in California- among the ice plants and cypress groves and majestic parades of towering eucalyptus trees! I can't wait to go back!

In the meantime, I'll have to be satisfied with painting from photos of our vacation.

"Sarasota Bay View", plein air, 9x12, oil on panel

"Sarasota Bay View", plein air, 9x12, oil on panel

I painted this a couple months ago during the Morgan Samuel Price workshop but never posted it. I recall that during the critique Morgan said the painting had good depth.

This was what I was looking at that day, from the grounds of the Ringling Museum:

Must be nice to have views like that to look at every day!

Please email me at maryannejacobsen@aol.com if you wish to purchase this plein air study.

"Cypress Cove", 12x16, oil on board, Point Lobos, Cypress grove, cypress trees, Carmel art, Monterrey cypress trees

"Cypress Cove", 12x16, oil on board

This is the first painting that I did after returning home from California a couple weeks ago.  I never had a chance to post it because I've been busy with a large commission. I decided to take a break from the commission for a week or so, and now I need to catch up on my blogging!

Cypress Cove is a beautiful cove in Point Lobos where there are ancient cypress trees that literally hang from the cliff side! One of these is called Old Veteran. Here's a photo of Old Veteran that I took on the day we were there:

Note: Please do not use my photos with permission!

Further along Cypress Grove Trail are clusters of cypress trees rising above the headland above waters that are an almost unbelievable shade of bluish-green. That was the scene that was the inspiration for the painting above:

It's hard to appreciate the color of the water from a photograph, but even from the photo, you can see the strong viridian colors in the water!

It was a rather complicated scene to paint, but I did enjoy it , as it brought back such lovely memories of such a beautiful place! To learn more about Point Lobos State Reserve, you can read about it here.http://www.pointlobos.org/

"View from Cypress Grove Trail", 20x16, oil on linen

SOLD

"View from Cypress Grove Trail", 20x16, oil on linen

This is the same scene that I painted en plein air while visiting Point Lobos State Reserve last week. I did not have the plein air sketch since it had sold, so I wanted to do a larger painting of that beautiful spot while the subtleties of the scene were still fairly fresh in my mind.

It's funny how much harder this one was for me to do than the plein air sketch. Painting from a photo just doesn't cut it anymore, once you are used to painting from life!

If you are interested in this painting, please send me an email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com.

"Valley Sunset", 8x10, oil on panel, eucalyptus tree, California art, sunsets, mountains, Impressionist art

"Valley Sunset", 8x10, oil on panel

The third thing on my bucket list of things I absolutely had to paint while I was in California was a eucalyptus tree. In my mind, these tall, magnificent trees epitomize grace, mystery and resilience. Their wispy, lace-like leaves hang down in soft patterns, in much the same way that Spanish moss clings to the live oaks that we have here is the southeast.

On Saturday, we drove out to Julian, a western town  in San Diego county that came into being during the California gold rush. It hangs 4,000 feet above sea level and boasts bakeries, antique shops and old- Western style architecture  that attracts tourists. After walking around Julian and eating fresh baked apple pie, we drove back down the mountain to San Diego, just as a magnificent sunset appeared above magenta -colored hills. The sunset and surrounding countryside were breathtaking to behold and I did my best to memorize the moment as we traveled along the hillside.

On Monday, I went to Balboa Park to paint eucalyptus trees as there are literally dozens there. I only had an hour to paint so I wasn't able to complete the scene. Instead, I decided to encorporate my sunset memory with the wispy eucalptus tree  I had begun and what you see above is the result.

I cannot believe how inspiring the California landscape was for me. I do hope I can return there again before my days on earth are over!

If you would like to purchase "Valley sunset", please send me an email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com.

"Pacific Grove Ice Plants", 14x11, plein air, ice plants, Pacific Grove, Lover's Point, pink flowers

"Pacific Grove Ice Plants", 14x11, plein air

Another "must paint" on my bucket list while I was in California were ice plants. These beautiful pinkish purple flowers covered the coast like a plush carpet in Pacific Grove last week. It was extremely cold and windy on the ledge next to the ocean when I set up my easel, so I had to work quickly. I loved having the cypress trees in the background as well.

Eventually my bag blew off the ledge and my easel almost went with it, at which point I decided to call it quits. If you'd like to know more about ice plants, here's a good link. If you would like to purchase this painting, please send me an email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com.

"Lonesome Cypress, Los Lobos", plein air, 9x12, Point Lobos, Cypress, Monterrey Cypress, Carmel

SOLD

"Lonesome Cypress, Los Lobos", plein air, 9x12

I just returned from a 10 day trip to California where I had the chance to spend a few days in beautiful Carmel, on the Monterrey peninsula. The area is truly spectacular and boasts scenery that is guaranteed to whet the appetite of any artist!

We spent an entire day at Point Lobos Nature Reserve which is just a few miles south of the center of town which is called Carmel by the Sea. People wax poetic about Point Lobos and I could truly understand why! We took a nature walk  and tour with a very knowledgeable professor who helped us understand the botany of the area. The Monterrey Cypress tree is indigenous to the area and painting a cypress at Point Lobos was a must-do on my bucket list of things to paint while in California!  There was an abundance of these short, squat, bent and magnificent trees everywhere throughout the Reserve but it didn't take me long to find an area where I had a magnificent view of a cypress on a ledge above the ocean. Here's a photo from our tour of an ancient cypress called the Old Veteran, that literally grows from the rocks on the cliff wall:

We packed a picnic lunch and after our walk through the Cypress Grove we went down to China Cove to have lunch  and enjoy the beautiful weather. Afterwards I went back to Headland Cove and painted for the next few hours.

Just as I was finishing up a lovely couple came by and asked if I would sell the painting to them. They told me that they are art collectors and that they enjoy the spontaneity of plein air painting. Their daughter is a professional artist as well. So I sold the painting to them on the spot and was happy to know I had one less wet painting to worry about transporting!

I didn't get a photo of the final version, but my hubby took the photo at the top when it was pretty close to being finished.

I do hope I'll have the chance to return to Point Lobos again in the future. It was an incredible spot to paint, picnic and just enjoy the magnificent hand of the Creator!

.

"Midsummer Daydream", 8x10, oil on linen, paintings of women, Midsummer Night's Dream, Titania, garland, May Queen

"Midsummer Daydream", 8x10, oil on linen

The narrow bud opens her beauties to
The sun, and love runs in her thrilling veins;
Blossoms hang round the brows of Morning, and
Flourish down the bright cheek of modest Eve,
Till clust’ring Summer breaks forth into singing,
And feather’d clouds strew flowers round her head.
- William Blake

I painted this back in November but there were some passages in it that I wasn't happy with. So today I took the painting out and made some revisions to it. It's always a good thing when you can pinpoint mistakes in a painting. It's an even better thing when you can figure out how to fix the errors! I definitely came a little closer to achieving what I originally wanted in this portrait, so I am happy:0)

Thank-you William Blake for your beautiful poetry. I think the two work well together, don't you?

"Palm Parade at Ringling", 14x11, oil on linen Raymar panel

"Palm Parade at Ringling", 14x11, oil on linen Raymar panel

I painted this a while back but never posted it. I liked the the contrast of shadowed foreground against the brightness of the middle ground. But what initially attracted me to the scene was the varying shapes of the palm tress as they paraded from foreground to background.

The Ringling!, aka as the Ringling Museum, is located in beautiful Sarasota Florida, and the museum is a must-see for all visitors to this area of Florida. Beautiful grounds, a world class art museum and circus museum as well as a Venetian mansion are the legacy of John and Mabel Ringling. The estate passed to the state with John's death in 1936. John Ringling was one of the five original circus kings of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and blessed with entrepreneurial genius and through his success with the circus and other investments, he became wealthy enough to acquire the 20 acres of waterfront property in Sarasota, Florida in 1911.   In 1912 the couple began spending winters in Sarasota and later decided to build a home there, which was named Ca'd Zan.I have painted Ca'd Zan many times before, but this painting takes on a side view of the mansion.

To learn more about The Ringling!, please visit the website here.

If you are interested in this or other paintings of the Ringling Museum, please contact me at maryannejacobsen@aol.com, or simply type in the word "ringling " in the word search in the upper left corner of this blog. Thanks for looking!

"Me and My Teddy Bear", 8x8, oil on board, little girls, teddy bears, impressionist art

SOLD

"Me and My Teddy Bear", 8x8, oil on board

Sorry, this painting has been sold, but if you like it and would to commission something similar, jsut send me an email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com

To see available paintings, please visit my website here.http://www.maryannejacobsen.com

"Under the Old Oak Tree", plein air, 14x11, oil on linen, oak trees, Spanish moss, Kim English workshops

"Under the Old Oak Tree", plein air, 14x11, oil on linen

A few weeks ago I took a 3 day plein air workshop with fabulous artist Kim English. I've talked about the workshop a few times, but have not posted much of what I painted during the workshop. The main reason for this, was that Kim's objective was to get us to paint fast, and not worry about coming away from the workshop with any "Masterpieces" or refined works.

Now when I say fast, I mean lightning quick! No time to think about mistakes, no time to overthink anything, just spontaneous reaction. (Or should I say spontaneous combustion?)

The first day started with doing 5 minute oil sketches with a live model. As soon as the 5 minutes was up, we had to quickly wipe out our painting in 30 seconds maybe, and get ready for a new pose! By the end of the first day we were all totally exhausted. (Or at least I was!!!!!!!!!)

The first day was rainy so we had to improvise. We painted indoors in the morning at Spanish Point and in the afternoon at the Venice Art Center. So not only was there a lot of paitning and wiping out, there was plenty of moving around as well! I wiped out every single painting that first day except the last one, which I'll try to post in another blog entry after I photograph it. By the end of that first day, Kim gave us not 5 but 20 minutes to complete our little oil sketch! What luxury that felt like after those 5 minute poses!

The second day was cold but a beautiful day to paint outdoors at historical Spanish Point. Our model had some great outfits that she wore including a sea-foam colored gown and blue shawl.

Kim posed her in front of Guptil House and did a 20 minute demo, demonstrating how to get in all the information as quickly as possible. Here is a photo of his demo:

Our model was beautiful and typical of today's youth in that she was glued to her iphone in between poses. I loved the contrast of old world charm against modern technology in this photo of her using her iphone while in costume with the old building behind her:

 After Kim's demo, he set us loose to try to capture everything as well on own own! I should have had some smaller canvases with me, but I didn't so this was as far as I got in the first pose of the day:

 I felt I had gotten a decent start on this one, so I deemed it a "keeper" and put it away to finish at home. The above painting, "Under the Old Oak Tree" was the result.

I definitely learned to paint fast during Kim's workshop, and since then I have experimented with adding more figures to the landscape as well.

If you would like to learn to paint quicker outdoors, and/or add figures to your landscape work, do check out Kim's workshops which are listed here.

"The Rebel and Company", plein air, 9x12, oil on board , old wooden boats, Cortex fishing village, The Rebel

 

"The Rebel and Company", plein air, 9x12, oil on board

I painted this one out at Cortez Fishing Village last weekend for the Paint the Town Paint-out. I stood on a dock and was happy to have shelter over my head so that I didn't have to worry about the sun.

The day was chilly and windy, but that didn't stop the people from coming to this quaint little spot to enjoy an outdoor lunch from the famed Starfish and Company seafood restaurant.

I wrote a little bit about the Cortez Fishing Village and the Paint-Out in my last blog entry. 

The Paint-out involved about 30 of the area's best plein air artists and I was happy to participate for the second year in a row.

My hubby was with me that day and he walked around taking pictures and chatting with people as I painted. Here are some of the great photos he took  that day.

First up- me painting the boats depicted in my painting!

 The captain of "Half Awake" with his dog, Sylvia:

 Me painting:

Smelling the fish!

Oh Captain, my captain!

Pelicans galore!

 Heron looking for free lunch!

The history of Cortez:

As you can see, the old Cortez Fishing Village is a really special place and hopefully it will retain its old world charm for many more decades! (In spite of the tourists!)

"Mister Chris", plein air, 14x11, oil on linen

"Mister Chris", plein air, 14x11, oil on linen

I feel as though it's been ages since I have written in my blog! The past couple months have been a whirlwind of Paint-outs, paintings and plein air workshops, and I will confess that I am tired!

I truly enjoyed my back to back workshops with Katie Dobson Cundiff, Kim English and last week with Morgan Samuel Price, and I do feel that the expert teaching and all the plein air painting that I did has helped me gain confidence in my future plein air endeavors.

The above painting was painted this past Tuesday at the quaint old Cortez fishing Village in scenic Cortez, Florida. It is very hard to find a place with so many amazing birds, little islands with mangrove trees and fish shacks, and turquoise waters filled with old working fishing boats galore! There are scenic views of Longboat Key, Bradenton Beach, and Sarasota Bay (north end) and even a crazy restaurant (I say crazy because the rules are more in line with Seinfeld's Soup Nazi then a traditional seafood restaurant!) that serves some really fresh seafood straight off the dock! I will confess that eating at the Starfish Company restaurant is an experience, but not necessarily one I would want to repeat during spring break or snow bird season!

In order to paint this boat, called the Mister Chris, I had to stand for a few hours on a rickety old dock in the blazing sun, smelling gasoline fumes from the rags in the boat docked next to me, and hoping to remember that if I stepped backwards the wrong way, I'd end up in Sarasota Bay. Yeah, it was fun!

I am going to work a  lot more on water reflections in the future, but Morgan's workshop was very helpful in teaching us how to capture these tricky reflections. This painting is part of the "Paint the Town" Paint-out exhibit and can be seen along with many other gorgeous plein air paintings at  Art Center Manatee through May3rd. If you are in the area,stop by and see the paintings created by some of the area's finest plein air artists.

"Tuesday's at O'Leary's Tiki Bar", 12x16, oil, plein air, paintings of Florida, Tiki bar, O"Leary's Sarasota

"Tuesday's at O'Leary's Tiki Bar", 12x16, oil on gessoboard, plein air

I spent most of the afternoon at O'Leary's Tiki Bar and Grill in Sarasota. Now lest you get the wrong idea, I was painting, not drinking!

Twas another cold, windy day, which is why I tried to find the least windy spot on the bayfront to paint. Kids played ball in front of me, people came by and took pictures of me painting and one  inebriated fella tried to get a date with me.

When I got home I tried to pick some of the sand flies out of the paint, but after a while I gave up. I figured it's like having pepper with your salad- it adds a little flavor.

Here was the scene at O'leary's when I started:

 I wish that they had left the umbrella up as I liked it better that way, but it was undoubtedly too windy to allow it.

Please email me at maryannejacobsen@com, if you would like to purchase a piece of Leary's Tiki Bar, at Sarasota's Bayfront-complete with sandflies added at no extra charge.

Update:  "Tuesday's at O'Leary's Tiki Bar" received a merit award at The Venice Art Center's "Art of Everyday Living" exhibit. Reception Friday 5PM, April12th