"Straitsmouth Island View", 9x12, oil on panel, plein air field study, rolling waves, New England, Straitsmouth Island, Rockport, Bearskin Neck, paintings of waves, palette knife paintings of waves

"Straitsmouth Island View", 9x12, oil on panel

Here is another painting that was begun out on the rocks during our stay at the Captain's House in Rockport, Massachusetts. We had a really good view of both Thatcher Island and Staitsmouth Island from the Inn which allowed me to go out on the rocks each day and paint to my heart's content.

I painted this in the afternoon of our first day there, and the weather could not have been any better!

Here's the view I had of the island from the rocks:

The waves kept changing every moment!

Straitsmouth Island has a light house on the other side as well as an old keeper's house that is partially boarded up now. There is a view of the lighthouse from Bearskin Neck as well as the headlands out on the Old Garden Walk. One of these days, I will try to paint the keeper's house and light house from the photo that we took from the headlands, but for now I am just trying to keep the memory of that view in my head for as long as I can!

I had to turn my easel away from the view as the sun was too bright on the canvas otherwise. It was a little weird at first, but I got used to it:

Overall, it was a challenging and yet satisfying experience to try to paint the crashing waves en plein air.

"Thatcher Island View", plein air field study, 9x12-Cape Ann, Rockport, waves, rocks, seascape with lighthouse

"Thatcher Island View", plein air field study, 9x12

This is the second painting that I did of the Thatcher Island Lighthouses on Cape ann. It's amazing how one can paint the same view at the same time of day and still see a completely different scene. Compared to the day before, there was a strong light on the upper left hand side of the water and yet the rocks were more golden and less orange. See below:

The wonderful thing about painting water is that nothing is ever the same. The moment is spontaneous, when a wave crests and falls, and one must use their memory to record it on the canvas. I only wish I had had more time in that lovely place to hone my wave-painting skills.

"Thatcher Island Twin Lights", plein air, 8x10, oil on panel

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"Thatcher Island Twin Lights", plein air, 8x10, oil on panel

We just returned from a lovely trip to New England where we spent a few days in Maine (York area), New Hampshire and Rockport , Massachusetts.If you follow my blog, you'll know I've been visiting Rockport for the past three years and I never get tired of the beautiful light quality there.

We were blessed with gorgeous weather, which gave me a chance to paint en plein air. The location of our accommodations could not have been any better, and I had the chance to paint out on the rocks every day. Our view looked directly over at Thatcher Island and so I did not have to look very far for subject matter!

As you can see, I could not have been much happier!

This was the first painting of the Thatcher light houses that I did on the first day of our arrival. One of the guests at the inn where we stayed walked past as I was painting and asked if I would sell the painting to her. Now don't you just love it when that happens?

I'll be posting my other plein air paintings that I did on the trip over the next few days.

I was so very happy to have the opportunity to practice painting large rolling waves and big boulders. Those are two things I never see here in Florida and boy did I need the practice!

"Three's Company", 8x10, oil on wrapped Belgian linen-paintings of roses, oranges, pink roses, impressionist roses, impasto, MAryanne Jacobsen

"Three's Company", 8x10, oil on wrapped  Belgian linen

I haven't done a floral in a long while and was in the mood to do one, so today I bought some reduced roses at the market and set to work!

Here's my set-up:

I got a late start and the light was rather poor so I had to work fast. I enjoyed doing these as a change of pace. I think it's good to mix things up periodically so as to not get into a rut.

"Three's company" has thick paint throughout. If you wish to purchase this, please allow at least two weeks for the impasto to dry before I can ship it. Also available in a gold plein air frame for an additional $40.

The Rat Boat, paintings of old boats, small boats, wooden boats, rat boats, Rockport, Rockport harbor

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"The Rat Boat", 5x7 oil on panel

I have no idea why this old wooden boat has a little sign on the back that says "Rat", but I'm guessing there's a good reason! Perhaps rats live in the boat and dance to the light of the moon when no ones looking? Or perhaps some villainous human rat stole this charming old boat from its original owners and in a fit of guilt the thief decided to name the boat after the ilks of himself? Or maybe like a  treacherous rat, this tiny little boat in the Rockport harbor sneaks up on unsuspecting fishing boats in the pre-dawn hours and  a boatload of cats sneak up on the unsuspecting fisherman and steal the fish to the horror of the fisherman who had no idea there was a rat on their tail!

Or maybe a family of hungry gulls man the boat and stalk the fishing boats while the fisherman are catching cat naps? (Not rat naps!)

Here's a photo of the rat boat in the Rockport harbor in the pre-dawn hours.

I know it looks small and inconspicuous but that could be a front for the rats.... or the cats...

We are going back to Rockport next week. I am going to see if I can get to the bottom of this mystery.

But in the meantime, if you want to own your own little rat boat, just send me an email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com.

"Low Tide", 9x12, oil on canvas, paintings of boats, low tide, Bay of Fundy, old wooden boats, Maine boats

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"Low Tide", 9x12, oil on canvas

The first time I ever visited the Maine area was a few years back. We stayed at a lovely Bed and Breakfast in Boothbay Harbor that boosted a room with a "water view". The day we arrived it was pouring rain and so sitting out on our porch and enjoying our "water view" was out of the question. The next day we woke up delighted to see that the rain had finally stopped! We rushed out on to our balcony to see our water view.

Low and behold all we saw were a bunch of boats laying on their sides , their keels dripping mud  onto the bare earth below. I was shocked. "What is that?", I asked my husband.

" I think that's our water view", he replied almost sadly. Weirdly by the evening, the harbor had refilled with water and the boats were once again floating gracefully on the water.

The more we saw of Maine's many harbors and inlets, the more we saw this same phenomenon over and over again. I understand that if you go a little further east into the Bay of Fundy, the tidal changes become even more dramatic! Each day 100 billion tonnes of seawater flow in and out of the Bay of Fundy during one tide cycle, which is more than the combined flow of the whole world’s freshwater rivers!

Anyhow, sorry to digress, but we certainly live in an amazing world, don't you think?

If you are interested in purchasing, "Low Tide", please send me an email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com.

"Cattin' Around", 8x10, oil on canvas panel-paintings of cat boats, Cape Cod cat boats, sailboats, impressionist seascapes

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"Cattin' Around", 8x10, oil on canvas panel

I am a total sucker when it comes to classic cat boats. They are elegant, efficiently constructed and comparing them to new sailboat designs is like comparing Jennifer Aniston to Grace Kelly.

In this painting I wanted to capture the feeling of movement in both the air and water.

Lots of thick impasto in this one, so if you are thinking of purchasing allow at least two weeks drying time.

"Morning on the Kennebunk River", 8x8, oil on Ampersand board, Maine, boats, Kennebunkport, autumn in Maine, small paintings

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"Morning on the Kennebunk River", 8x8, oil on Ampersand board

Another small painting of the boats on the Kennebunk River in Kennebunkport, Maine. I tried to keep this painting loose and impressionist with detail suggested rather than rendered.