"Last of the Peonies", 8x8, oil on board, peonies, orange, pink blooms, impasto, palette knife floral

"Last of the Peonies", 8x8, oil on board

I set up a couple of vases of peonies outdoors last month, with the intention of painting them the next day. Well, the next day never happened because it rained continually for a week.

I did manage to take a photo of the arrangement before the rain completely destroyed al the blooms and I used that photo as a reference for this loose, almost abstract palette knife rendition of the bouquets.

Lots of thick paint in this one. Email me if interested in this painting at maryannejacobsen@aol.com.

"Vixen Hill Springhouse, plein air sketch", 11x14, oil on panel, Chester Springs, Pennsylvania, quaint cottages in Chester County, springhouses, Chester Springs, Yellow springs, stone, fieldstone

"Vixen Hill Springhouse, plein air sketch", 11x14, oil on panel

The last time I stayed at the Vixen Hill Cottage, I took photos of the springhouse in the afternoon light, and painted it when I got home. That was two years ago, and I posted a photo of the painting on my blog here. 

I  recall that the first time I painted that structure, I was struck by how inexperienced I felt mixing the paints for all the earth colors that I saw in the stones.

This time around was much easier and the painting came together much quicker for me, even though it was plein air and completed in its entirety outdoors. What that tells me is that in two years I have grown as an artist, and grown especially in my comfort level of painting on location.

If you look at the photo below, you'll see that I tried to stay true to the colors that I saw in my surroundings, rather than pushing the color as I had done in my earlier attempt.

Am I growing as an artist? That is a question that every good artist will ask himself/herself as time goes by, and although I feel that I've had some major setbacks this year, I do see improvement as well. Whew!

If you are interested in purchasing this plein air sketch, just snd me an email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com.

Thanks for reading!

"Morning Pasture, Misty Hollow Farm", 9x12, horse, paintings of horses, Springhouse, meadow, Chester Spings, Pennsylvania, horse farms

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"Morning Pasture, Misty Hollow Farm", 9x12

One of the things that I love about Chester Springs and Chester County, Pa, is that there are about a jillion horse farms there. So, for an artist, there is a painting around every corner. Whether it be a springhouse, a farm, a barn with a red roof, horses grazing in a meadow- it all adds up to a painting!

I caught this horse grazing in the meadow at Misty Hollow Farm one morning. The springhouse was in shadow, and the low morning sun washing the meadow in light created a lovely juxtaposition of lights and darks in the composition.

The vivid orange tiger lillies were just starting to bloom when I left the area, so I took a little artistic license and made them bloom a little ahead of time to add a splash of color to the virgin greens of late spring.

Thanks for reading!

"Porch Peonies", 8x10, oil on board, pink peonies, blue vases, porch paintings, plein air, impressionist paintings, flowers, Vixen Hill Cottage

"Porch Peonies", 8x10, oil on board

During my trip to Pennsylvania a few weeks ago, I noticed that the peonies were in full bloom. I absolutely adore peonies so I determined to pick some, set them up outside out Vixen Hill Cottage, and paint them.

So one night I went out and picked a ton of them, determined to begin my painting the very next day.

I found vases in the cottage and set them up on a table outside and arranged all my paints the night before so I could get started first thing in the morning.

Instead of awakening to the usual slice of sunrise coming through the windows, I noticed that the skylights were being battered with heavy rain. So I sighed and figured it would stop before the day was over.

Well, the rain continued, and continued and went on and on and on. After 5 days, my peonies were almost completely spent by the rain. That was when I decided to collect the survivors and set them up in the porch. The sun was trying valiantly to peek through, but by now I didn't trust it!

In the end, the sun did in fact make a comeback that day, but I finished my painting on the porch, unperturbed by the prospect of another downfall.

Please send me an email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com, if you would like to purchase "Porch Peonies".