Thursday, April 14, 2011

"Allegro", 11x14, oil on linen by Maryanne Jacobsen



"Allegro", 11x14, oil on linen-Not for Sale

Sometimes you just feel like dancing! Or leaping for joy- or jumping in the air! That's how I have been feeling this week.

In ballet class, the petit and grand allegro were always my favorite part of class. The petit allegro occurs towards the end of class when the dancer is sufficiently warmed up enough to do very quick, but small and precise jumps to a sharp, fast tempo. I always loved the petit allegro because of my musical background. The faster and more syncopated the rhythm, the quicker and more precise the jumps need to be, and I loved that challenge. I think I was best at the petit allegro because it did not require long gorgeous lines and extensions as the adagio did, and which I did not have. The grand allegro was also a series of jumps and leaps across the floor, only performed typically to a grand waltz tempo since the combination would always incorporate the biggest jumps, such as a saut de chat (leap of the cat) that required a longer phrase of music.

This has been a good week for me, so that's why I'm in the mood to dance. I sold a large painting early in the week, and also found out that I received a first place ribbon in The Venice Art Center's "Abstraction" exhibit. The reception for the exhibit is tomorrow from 5 to 7 , so if you are in the Venice area come by for wine and hors d'oeurve and check out the exhibit. When I dropped off my painting, "Hobbit's Hide-Out" last weekend, I marveled at all the beautiful artwork already on the walls, so imagine my surprise when I received the phone call that I'd won first place!

Then yesterday, British novelist and new collector Deborah Lawrenson, wrote a beautiful piece about my artwork on her blog! I was so excited to see all the wonderful comments and read Deborah's rich, glowing description of my painting, "Long Shadows-Provence"!

Please take a moment to stop by Deborah's beautiful blog, and be sure to read the post about her new book, "The Lantern", due out this summer.

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1 comment:

Deborah Lawrenson said...

What a wonderful sense of movement you've captured in this painting, Maryanne!

I'm so delighted to have contributed to your week of success. I hope you have positively relished all the admiring - and extremely well-deserved - comments on Long Shadows-Provence. And thank you for your kind words, too.