Doorway in Provence

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"Doorway in Provence", 12x16, oil on canvas panel- Purchase for $450.00 by using the Paypal button below. (Note: Click on the photo to see the detail of the impasto)

About a year ago I painted a little 5x7 inch painting that I called "Front Entrance". (Go here to my website if you wish to see it.) I was delighted that it sold for a very good price, and have often thought about painting another one like it. This week I had the chance to do just that when another artist friend who recently sold her farmhouse in Provence and moved back to the states, provided this photo that she took of another front entrance taken in St Paul de Vence, a hilly little Provencial village on the French Riviera. As you can see from the photo below, the building had a similar doorway and a potful of those lovely orange nasturtiums cascading playfully over the pots. My dilemma was whether or not to subdue the nasturtiums in order to make the purple bougainvillea the center of interest. I don't think either one won, frankly. The painting is a bit busy , but filled with luscious , juicy paint and thick texture from my trusty palette knife. Here is the reference photo that I used:



If you are interested in purchasing this painting, please use the Paypal button below, and

thanks for looking at my work. Keep looking for outside beauty in these troubling times that we live in.

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Dr. Jekyll's Hyde-away- a very creepy painting

"Dr. Jekyll's Hyde-Away", 12x16-oil on canvas panel

This painting, which I titled "The Hideaway" was a spontaneous adventure for me. I had no idea what I was going to paint one day, and I just started massing in shapes , until an impression of something began appearing on the canvas. Then as I started adding odd colors like purple and orange, the whole painting began to take on a Halloween-like atmosphere. In truth, this is one heck of a mysterious Creature of Jekyll Island kind of painting. I've been to Jeckyll Island by the way, and I have no idea how the supposed wealthy conspirators and their fussy wives could put up with the heat, humidity and mosquitoes long enough to concoct a conspiracy! Whether or not you believe in conspiracies, or have faith in the Federal Reserve System is irrelevant to me. I'm just trying to sell an ugly painting. By the way, Jekyll Island is actually a very nice getaway, in spite of the bugs, and although I didn't stay in the upscale Jekyll Island Club Hotel, I found the Villas by the Sea Resort quite nice, with a lovely beach covered with interesting vegetation and gorgeous old oaks. Anyhow, if this painting does not sell this week, I'll probably enter it into Art Center Sarasota's upcoming exhibit titled: "Masquerade, Mystery and Mischief"-"In this exhibition artists are invited to submit works of art in all media exploring mysteries, disguise, the theatrical, mischief, frivolity adventure, the strange and forbidden. In this exhibition as in the Masquerade… normal rules don’t apply! "

I doubt that I'll ever be able to paint anything this creepy again, so if you want this painting to hang in your own personal hideaway, please contact me at maryannejacobsen@aol.com and make me an offer I can't refuse.

Note: "Dr. Jekyll's Hyde-Away" has been juried into Art Center Sarasota's newest exhibit, "Masquerade, Mystery and Mischief", which runs through July 3rd. Opening reception is May 14th. Hope to see you there!


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High on Poppies

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"High on Poppies", 11x14, oil on canvas panel
Note: Please click on the photo to see the detail better.)

A lot of thick paint went into this. It's a fun piece, pitting the two complimentaries (red and green) against each other, with a fairly neutral background. This painting will liven up any room in the house, and although the colors are vibrant, I used a little restraint in the neutrals, so it's not too overwhelming.

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Tranquil Sunset-La Jolla

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"Tranquil Sunset- La Jolla", 8x10, oil on linen panel-$99

I did this last night after a couple failed efforts to create something on canvas that I actually liked. This one was going really well for a while, and then I got back into my indecision stage. Should I use a palette knife or brush? Should I use medium or Resingel? Should I paint the foreground as a colorist or a tonalist? A realist or an impressionist? Who the heck am I anyway? The questions about choices and my own insecurity as an artist were more than I could handle at 10:30 PM so I decided to call this done, though it could probably be improved upon in many ways. For me, trying to improve a painting on a different day than when it was started is usually a recipe for disaster. I'm not sure why- perhaps it's because I'm so moody. I was pretty down yesterday and hence I was painting in a highly charged emotional state. Today I feel kind of tired and low energy, but in a positive mental state nonetheless. (Go figure.) I think it would have been a disaster to try to go back into this one in a totally different mindset, so I'm leaving it alone.

Funny how experimenting with different artistic styles has left me feeling confused and uncertain. I think my best pieces are my colorist palette knife pieces, but that type of work doesn't sell here in Southwest Florida, so over the pasy year I have been trying to experiment with different styles and palettes and the result has been horrifying at times. Thanks to all my collectors who have been hanging in there with me. One of these days, I'll figure out what I want to be when I grow up.


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Roses for Mama

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"Roses for Mama", 9x12, oil on acid free Belgian linen panel-$99

The roses in my garden all decided to bloom at once, and I picked some of them for this arrangement. Here's a photo of them posing for their portrait:



With Mother's Day around the corner, this painting would make a special gift for mom. Give her a gift that makes her think of you all year long! Also available framed and ready to hang for an additional cost. If you would like to purchase the above painting, please use the Paypal button below.

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Tuscan Poppies

SOLD "La Dolce Vita-poppies of Tuscany", 12 x16, oil on panel

This painting was done with palette knife only and is sold. However, if you would like to commission your own poppy painting, please email me at maryannejacobsen@aol.com. No two paintings are ever alike that I do, but I can do something similar to the above for you. The cost for a poppy painting, (which requires tons of thick expensive cadmium scarlet paint by the way) is $150 for an 8x10 and $250 for a 12x16. Shipping is additional and is $5 for the smaller size and $8 for the larger size. Please check out my official website to see more of my original oil paintings.

"Blowin' in the Wind"- abstract floral

SOLD
"Blowin' in the Wind", 5x7 , original oil on Ampersand Gessoboard- $39

I am discovering that I love these Ampersand panels for palette knife work. So much sturdier than canvas. And I love the way you can just cut right into them and draw with your knife. Check out my signature- exacted by cutting through the paint with the knife! I thought this was totally cool since I hate signing my name with a rigger!

Purchase on Paypal for $39 by using the button below...

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"Very French"- green w/red roses-art helping children

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"Very French", 8x10, original oil on canvas- $9.99 starting bid
Note: Click on the picture at the bottom of this page to see a close up of the very thick paint that was used to create this painting, which was done with knife only.

Being a lover of God's earth, I naturally wanted to paint something green today. But unlike some people who feel that the earth deserves to be worshiped, I prefer to worship the creator of the earth instead of the creation. All that being said, I had totally forgotten about Earth Day until I started seeing and hearing green reminders of it in every possible news outlet.

Since I am an advocate for children, and the increase in violence against children has increased dramatically in these difficult economic times that we live in, I decided to use my Earth Day daily painting as a venue to do something charitable today, so here goes. I am offering this very French Impressionistic and very green still life original oil painting for auction on ebay. ALL of the proceeds of the sale will be donated to the Children's Defense Fund, and handled directly through ebay's charity program, which sends the funds directly on to the non-profit.

If you would like to bid on this painting, and support art helping children, please go here to bid. Bidding starts at only $9.99.

While you are at it, please take a moment to vote for the Children's Defense Fund video which has been nominated for a non-profit award. Vote here before April 24th, and please check out their website to see why I support the Children's Defense Fund. Their mission statement includes the following:

"To ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. CDF provides a strong, effective and independent voice for all the children of America who cannot vote, lobby or speak for themselves. We pay particular attention to the needs of poor and minority children and those with disabilities. CDF educates the nation about the needs of children and encourages preventive investments before they get sick, drop out of school, get into trouble or suffer family breakdown. Read more..."


Thanks for your support of my artwork and your support of the Children's Defense Fund!

Note, this painting was done with lots of thick, juicy paint, using a palette knife only, please click on the image below for a better view of the impasto.

Forsythia Along the Brandywine

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"Forsythia along the Brandywine", 12x16, original oil on canvas panel- $245
(Note: You can click on the picture to see the detail better)

Having spent 50 years of my life living near the historic Brandywine River in Chester County, Pa., I can say that there is no prettier time of the year than springtime! Everything starts coming alive in late April and by end of May the area is just downright ravishing! One of the first signs of spring in the Brandywine Valley are the forsythia. These bushes are downright boring for the majority of the year, but when it's their annual time to be reborn, the sight is truly spectacular. I can't recall how many times, I would round an unexpected bend in the typically winding, hilly roads typical of the Chester County countryside and have my breath near knocked out of my chest at the site of a blooming forsythia- it's golden branches twisting and turning as though performing a sun-kissed ballet as they dance towards the sky. The shrub has vibrant golden blossoms for about two weeks in early spring, and then it goes back into the realm of the merely ordinary for the remainder of the year.

The Brandywine River tends to be more burnt sienna in color than I depicted it here, but that's what artistic license is all about. I wanted to depict Wyeth country in the springtime the way I remember it best- filled with pastel pinks from the dogwoods, verdant pastures gushing gold from the forsythia, and purple hills sprinkled with Queen Anne's Lace. How I miss that gorgeous classy weed in gawdy Florida! I hope Andrew Wyeth will forgive me for displaying his countryside with my overly-gushy palette- God rest his soul!

The American Road Magazine is featuring a story about the Brandywine Valley in their current issue. The magazine is a terrific place to begin to plan a road trip, and features cool road trips around the country . To take a peek at the article about the Brandywine, just click here. Perhaps, you'll want to pay a visit to this area yourself! The Brandywine River Valley is the home of The Brandywine River Museum, Longwood Gardens, Winterthur (the Dupont museum and country estate), The Chadds Ford Winery, not to mention the gorgeous rolling hillsides dotted with horses and ponds, gentlemen's estates and so much more. Guess you can tell I'm still a fan!

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Burnished Glory

SOLD "Burnished Glory", 11x14, oil on canvas panel-$79



This is soft and subtle, coppers mixed with shades of purple.

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Riverbend-Abstract Landscape

"Riverbend"- 11x14, oil on wrapped linen- $125 (Note: Please click on the picture so you can see the texture and color within the painting.)

I painted this plein air abstract landscape a while back and was pretty happy with the beautiful pure colors I was able to produce within the water layers. I was standing on a bridge that day, making a mess as usual with all my paints and palette knife. Two teenagers walked by and said, "She must think she's Picasso". Show's what kids nowadays know about art!

Here was my view as I painted:

I left the kayakers out, as you can see.
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Inn on the Alameda- Santa Fe landscape

"Inn on the Alameda- Taos, New Mexico"- 11x14, oil on canvas-$295

The Inn on the Alameda is located in the heart of downtown Santa Fe, walking distance to galleries on Canyon Road and other Santa Fe/Taos attractions. To read more about this beautiful bed and breakfast, go here. This painting was painted with palette knife only and has thick impasto. Click on the photo to see more detail of this original oil painting.

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Orange blossoms, abstract miniature

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"Orange Blossoms", 3x5, oil on wood panel



I have no idea how people can paint small with a palette knife. I found it extremely restrictive. This is the smallest size support that I have ever worked on and I hated it. I did love the gessoboard surface that I painted on, however, which I wanted to try out. I'll definitely buy more of these panels in a larger size.

Giverny Rooftops, 11x14

"Giverny Rooftops", 11x14, oil on canvas panel-$640

Yesterday, my friend Sally and I painted in her garden. Sally had a photo of this scene from Giverny, so that's what we decided to work on. It was a gorgeous day. Today, it's been rainy all day and dark in my studio, but I went ahead and finished this anyway. I love the way that it came out, though it definitely needs to be photographed under better lighting conditions. I didn't overwork it and the flowers are sumptuous. It looks much better in person. I'll wait until it's completely dry and add some shadows under the eaves of the roof, but I didn't want to mess with them with so much thick , wet paint all around. Here's the photo that I worked from. It was hard to see most of it, so that left much to my imagination, which was a good thing!

If you would like to purchase "Giverny", please use the Paypal button below.

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"Blessings"

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"Blessings", 12x16, oil on canvas panel- $99

I'm still having trouble getting a good photograph of this one, but it's better than the one I took last night. I priced this to sell, as I need to make space in my studio for new paintings.

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Purple pitcher and orange-Happy Easter!

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"Purple Pitcher and Orange", 11x14, oil on canvas panel-$175
(Note: Please click on the image to see the detail).

Our electricity went out this afternoon right as I was preparing to start a new painting. Although I didn't haven't much lighting, I decided to paint anyway. So my palette looks different, I'm sure. Actually, it's very different! I like it. It's not too in your face, yet it's still vibrant. If the power grid goes out again, I'll probably light candles. Then, we'll see what sort of palette candlelight reveals!

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Grapes and Gratitude

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"Grapes and Gratitude", 11x14, oil on canvas panel
(Note: Please click on the photo to view the detail and texture in the painting.)

This painting, which I titled "Grapes and Gratitude", has an airy abstract quality, and has lovely passages of thick impasto. Painted with palette knife only in pinks, lilacs, blues and muted greens, it would make a wonderful addition to your contemporary art collection.

Field of Gold

"Field of Gold", 12x16, oil on canvas panel
(Note: Click on the photo to see the thick passages of impasto)

I decided to do another sunflower painting today, since nothing makes me smile more than a bunch of sunflowers jumping right out at me. They are natural smile-breakers- with their golden color and sunny nature- shaped like the sun itself, but crafted under the Master's own imaginative hand.

This time I went for a modified limited palette and I did not tone my canvas. Interesting- the pros and cons of both methods. Toning the canvas makes painting much easier- there is no question about that, but I feel it does impact on the vibrancy of the color overall. Any way, this one was done a little larger and in a vertical format. Lots of very thick, juicy paint in this one. A happy painting overall, just waiting to make some wall very happy!

This painting is currently in an exhibit. Please email me if you wish to have purchase information about this piece.

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Missy's Beach- Holiday Week special!

"Missy's Beach", 8x10, oil on canvas panel- $89, -frame is included in the price! (See photo below)


A little girl daydreams by herself in the sand as she gazes out to sea. A sailboat drifts lazily along the horizon as the sun warms the beach into peachy tones to calm the senses. The sky looks like marmalade to this little girl and indeed the rhythm of the waves is the only sound to break the gentile solitude of the little girl's thoughts. Welcome to Missy's beach.

This week to celebrate Easter and Passover I'll be selling a few paintings very modestly priced and ready to hang for the collector's convenience! "Missy's Beach" is the first of the specials. A complimentary gift card from my greeting card series will also be included with this piece as my way of saying thank-you to my collectors. Please use the Paypal button below if you would like to purchase this painting.

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Spring Illusion

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"Spring Illusion"- 5x7, oil on canvas panel

I had a few people email me recently who had requested that I do more palette knife abstract miniatures, so here goes another one. Hope it makes someone happy today!

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The Dancing Rose

"The Dancing Rose", 5x7, (framed size is 8x10) oil on canvas panel- $45.00 plus $8.00 shipping Note: This price includes the lovely wooden frame as shown.

Last week the local gallery where I am represented hosted a "Meet the artist" event. It was a lovely event with an excellent turn-out and wine and tapas refreshments. Gallery owners Leah and David Sherman outdid themselves, even having little chocolate palettes made for the occasion!

One of my special friends came to the event and brought me a lovely rose wrapped in tulle. It was so pretty that I had to paint it, and so I did. That is why I decided to call this painting "The Dancing Rose".


Doesn't the rose look like she's wearing a tutu and getting ready to waltz away?

I loved the way the rose looks in this frame, so I am offering it framed and ready to hang. It would make a lovely Mother's Day gift, for those people thinking ahead!

Please use the PayPal button below, if you wish to purchase The Dancing Rose for $45.00, framed, and ready to hang. Shipping is 8.00.

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"Sunflower Heaven"

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"Sunflower Heaven", 11x14, oil on canvas (Note: Click on the photo to see a close up of the impasto)

I have been reading a book by famous plein air painter Kevin MacPherson. He advocates painting with a limited palette. In fact , he only uses the three primaries and white. This seemed a little radical to me, but since I am in an exploratory phase right now, I decided to try it.

I was actually shocked at how many colors one can make from only three. I did tone the canvas first with a deep dusty rose color, so that also influenced the color somewhat, so I'll have to say I used 3 primaries on a rosy mud plus and white. For this, I used burnt sienna, cad yellow pale and ultramarine blue. It was a good experience and I can see that it definitely unifies the painting overall. I'll be doing more limited palette work in the future as it certainly helps you to learn to mix quickly, which is very helpful for plein air painting.

This painting is very free and loose with an almost abstract quality, and has a good deal of impasto (very thick paint).

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Bad Hair Day, 11x14

SOLD "Bad Hair Day", 11x14, oil on canvas

Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. We all have days like this.

Here's the story behind the painting, in case you're interested.

We have these gorgeous trees here in Southwest Florida called Tree of Gold. Well, I'm sure that's not their real name, but that's what people call them. They only bloom for about a week and then they're done until the following year. Truth is, they aren't very pretty without their big gold blossoms. Well anyway, I went and set up my paints in front of one of these trees not far from my home. It was hot and humid, so I set up on the sidewalk of a county street so the red ants wouldn't chew on me as they would if I painted in the grass. It was also very windy. My easel blew over twice, but no problem. I kept going. A kid on a skate board came whizzing by and almost knocked me over. Then a woman on a bike came by and chided me for blocking the sidewalk because "golf carts need to go through here". "There is abundant grass on either side of the sidewalk in which the golf carts can pass beside me, and in fact one has already done so", I explained to the woman. "You just shouldn't be here!" she screamed at me.

Well, so much for my "Tree of gold" Within seconds it became "Bad Hair Day", as I took my palette knife and just took out all my anger on the poor canvas. It's full of thick, expensive, wasted paint, by the way. Just click on the painting and you'll see how much paint I wasted on this sucker!

If you'd like to purchase this gem of emotional expression, please contact me at maryannejacobsen@aol.com

Note: "Bad Hair Day" has been juried into Art Center Sarasota's newest exhibit, "Masquerade, Mystery and Mischief", which runs through July 3rd. Opening reception is May 14th. Hope to see you there!

Teacher's Pet

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"Teacher's Pet", 12x16, oil on linen panel

I don't think I was ever the Teacher's Pet. Were you?

Well, wait a minute now.

Maybe I was a bit of the teacher's pet to Mr. Sell in 10th grade English. Mr. Rodney Sell was his full name and he really got me hooked on fine literature. I do think he liked me because I was a very good student. In his class we read a lot of Thomas Hardy. I remember "Return of the Native" very well. That book led me to "Tess of the D'urbervilles", (which was pretty steamy for 1967), which led me to "The Mayor of Casterbridge". I think Mr. Sell was a rather odd duck, much as Thomas Hardy was. A mixture of agnostic with a touch of spiritualism thrown in, and loving the concept of illicit love affairs and rejects in society that are somehow elevated to a hero/heroine status through the expertise of the author. That's how Mr. Sell struck me. I'm betting Mr. Sell is a Joyce Carol Oates fan, too. She's a contemporary author that makes you think about subjects that you normally don't want to think about. I've read a lot of her books, over the years, though lately I find them too disturbing.

I wonder if Mr. Sell is still alive? He was young when he taught me so he might be. Hopefully if he is, he won't read this and discover that I've called him an odd duck. Actually I had a bit of a crush on Mr. Sell, and he was probably the best teacher that I ever had, as he instilled a true love of fine literature in me. In his class, we also read the classic Greek poem "The Odyssey" , and I'll never forget how traumatized I was by the first few pages of that book. Were we really expected to be able to understand this odd prose? But by the end of the book I had become accustomed to the style of writing of Homer and couldn't wait to read more challenging works of literature.

I also recall reading Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter", some Shakespeare, and a lot of Sinclair Lewis in his class. I felt like a more mature, worldly young person by the end of the school year thanks to Mr. Sell, and a great deal smarter than I had been about controversial topics in the world of literature!

I wonder if young people today have English teachers that challenge them the way that Rodney Sell challenged me. I truly hope so.


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