"Inspiration Point", 10x20, oil on linen, paintings of Yosemite, Inspiration Point, Maryanne Jacobsen art, palette knife

"Inspiration Point", 10x20, oil on linen

It was rather daunting to attempt to paint a place that has been imortalized by the likes of Albert Bierstadt, Ansel Adams and Thomas Hill, but after some coaxing from my husband, I decided to go ahead and give it an effort.

We visited Yosemite National Park back in April, and spent three lovely days there hiking and enjoying the beauty of this incredible place. Normally the road leading up to Glacier Point is closed in April because of snow, but there was very little snow in Yosemite this winter, so we were able to go all the way up and enjoy the splendor 7,000 feet up!

Inspiration Point is a popular spot to stop as you drive into the valley because from there you can see El Capitan, Half Dome, Yosemite Falls and other highlights of the park. I forced my husband, son and daughter-in-law to stop there each time we went through in order to capture the different light effects throughout the day.

This was a morning shot and although pretty, it was harder to see the falls. We did miss the wildflowers unfortunately, because the Meadows were still closed, but there's always next time!

The painting was painted with a palette knife and has nice impasto throughout. I hope you enjoy it and if you've never visited Yosemite, put it on your bucket list!

"Afternoon Serenity, China Cove", 12x12 ,oil on canvas, Maryanne JAcobsen fine art, California impressionism, China Cove, Point Lobos

"Afternoon Serenity, China Cove", 12x12 ,oil on canvas

I was very honored last week to have my painting of China Cove receive a first place ribbon at SRQ Plein Air Painters 1st Annual Off Season Juried Exhibition  hosted by the Rennaisance School of  Art in Sarasota.

The exhibit was judged by renowned watercolor artist Vladislav Yeliseyev as well as Christian Stakenborg of Stakenborg Fine Art Gallery. It also received the gallery award by Christian. 

It was an honor to receive this award among so many fine entries and a fun time was had by all!

"The Penniman House", 9x12, oil on linen, the Penniman House, whaling industry, Cape Cod, Eastham, Cape Cod National Seashore, American Women Artists, Addison Gallery, Maryanne Jacobsen art, French architecture

"The Penniman House", 9x12, oil on linen

Last summer I was in Orleans, Cape Cod, for the American Women Artists exhibit at The Addison Gallery. We had some free time and as luck would have it, we came upon the  Penniman House, perched on a hill off the main road in Eastham.

The Penniman House is a fine example of French second empire architecture. It was built on Cape Cod in 1868 by Captain Edward Penniman, who made his fortune through the Whaling Industry. He would travel across the world many times, hunting the massive "leviathans of the deep".

If you are in the Eastham/Orleans area this summer, stop by and see this once magnificent house. There are daily tours and nearby and up the hill is a lovely spit of land overlooking an inlet, where you can picnic, or paint! Read more about the home and the whaling industry here .

I will confess that this little painting almost drove me nuts. I don't often paint architecture, and the perspective involved in this one was rather daunting. I almost wiped this one down half a dozen times, but I kept at it and finally finished it.

This morning I was reading the bible and I opened up to Psalm 104. As I read it, I was enthralled by the beautiful descriptions of God's magnificence as demonstrated through the awesomeness of creation. I especially liked this verse: "There is the sea, vast and spacious,
    teeming with creatures beyond number—
    living things both large and small.
26 There the ships go to and fro,
    and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.

 I thought about that verse today as I considered the whaling Captain's house, and how the captain himself would smell the sea salt from the Atlantic Ocean and out of habit scan the white-capped horizon from the top of his hill in search of a whale's spout. 

I hope you enjoyed reading about the Penniman House. Thanks for checking in!  

"Hazy Beach Day", 6x6, oil on board, Maryanne Jacobsen, beach paintings, hazy day, little girls at the beach, red bucket, sand, waves, surf, impressionism

"Hazy Beach Day", 6x6, oil on board

I've been studying the paintings of the 19th century impressionists and the beautiful way in which they handled water and clouds. Water, like clouds, is something that is hard to paint from life, for the simple reason that both clouds and water are moving constantly.

The best we can do as artists is to try to paint the movement of water with some degree of passion and emotion, otherwise, the water has no movement and appears lifeless. The best we can do when painting clouds, is to try to portray their ethereal qualities with a light hand, as clouds have no borders. As Don Quixote said in Man of La Mancha, (though he wasn't speaking of clouds, but of the hem of Dulcinea's garment),  they are like gossamer, sheer, gauze-like, yet having substance that changes constantly through varying times of day and light temperatures.

In this painting, my goal was to create that warm hazy light that we sometimes get on summer days, when the sun is trying to break through, but isn't quite there yet.

I hope you enjoy this painting, because I enjoyed painting it!

"Window Sill Neighbors", 14x11, oil on canvas, left over paint, mud, impasto, palette knife floral, flowers, sunflowers, colorful florals, Maryanne Jacobsen art

 "Window Sill Neighbors", 14x11, oil on canvas

I didn't really have any intention on painting yesterday. Made a peach pie, did some other wifey-type things and then decided to clean out the refrigerator. Cleaning out the refrigerator/freezer forced me to address the paints that I store for weeks and often months in the freezer.

Paints being expensive, I am always reluctant to throw away what's leftover on the palette after a painting is completed. So I just keep scrape the palette and keep these piles of paint in two airtight containers in the freezer and take them out and use them as need arises.

Well, the paint clumps had become sticky, and the piles were getting really gross-looking. So on the spur of a moment I decided to do what I call a "left over" painting, meaning that I use all the left over paint and create a painting out of the piles.

I quickly foraged around the kitchen and then the garden and came up with this set-up:

I mentally edited out the toaster, blender and eyeglass case and painted quickly since it was getting dark and my eyes leave plenty to be desired in good light! Much of the paint was mud, which meant I could use some of the cleaner paint  to add color to the mud and still have some harmony.

I used a palette knife for the entire painting, as well as a canvas that was already sketched on. I love it when I don't waste anything! In this case the recycled paint was all used up, and I now have a freezer devoid of paints!

Here's a close-up of the impasto:

I do hope that  all that thick paint excites someone, because these window sill neighbors would love to find a new home!

"Peony Party", 10x20, oil on linen, paintings of peonies, Maryanne Jacobsen art, white peonies, pink peonies, summer flowers

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"Peony Party", 10x20, oil on linen

I always look forward to June when I know the peonies are blooming up north. That means that they'll soon be making their way to markets further south. It's a short season, so I have been on the lookout since May.

As soon as we came back from Boston, (where I saw dozens of peonies, by the way!) I found what I was looking for in a local supermarket.

So I've been painting peonies over the past few days. Here' my favorite of the three paintings that I did. I decided to call it "Peony party" because the brightly colored place-mats that I set them on gave the set-up a festive feel.

If you love peonies as much as I do, enjoy!

"Morning on Old Garden Path Road", 9x12, plein air, Rockport, Massachusetts, North Shore, Old Garden Path, Cape Ann, The Captain's House, Marmion Way, New England resorts

"Morning on Old Garden Path Road", 9x12, plein air

We just returned from a great trip to Massachusetts, where we attended our youngest son's graduation from the Harvard Kennedy School. Here I am demonstrating that I am one proud mama!

Although we were only there for a few short days, I couldn't travel to New England without my paints! The 5 days were filled with graduation dinners and various events, but I did find time one morning to venture out and put all my painting paraphernalia to use.

Whenever we travel to the Boston area, we stay at The Captain's House in Rockport, and this time was no exception. Our favorite B& B in the entire world, The Captain's House, (located on Marmion Way), has a backyard overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The sunsets and sunrises are equally marvelous, and although we were too busy to enjoy the sunrise this year, we did find time to take numerous walks along the Old Garden Path om between our travels back and forth to Cambridge.

The Old Garden Path is Rockport's answer to Newport Rhode Island's Ocean Drive. In truth , I much prefer the simplicity of design of the "cottages" along the Old Garden Path to the huge mansions along Ocean Drive in Newport. They all have beautifully tended gardens and many have a feeling of yesteryear, when life was simpler and preparing a fisherman or sea captain's catch for supper was the highest priority of the day.

I wove my way down to the very end of Old Garden Path Road, where the little path turns up over the rocks to the point called the Headlands, which provides a grand view of the lovely little town of Rockport and Bearskin Neck. If you look carefully, you can see Motif#1 in the distance.

So I set up my easel and painted this little quickie of the seaside house at the end of the path, flanked by the headlands on  one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other side. What a lovely place to spend a few morning hours!

The weather was perfect and as usual, I could only wish I had more time to enjoy this lovely little seaside town on the North Shore!

I've done many paintings of this lovely area; if you have any interest in my Cape Ann paintings, please send me an email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com.