"Les Fruits et Fleurs", 12x16, oil on linen, coral, mardi gras roses, apples, pears, floral art, Maryanne Jacobsen original painting oil

"Les Fruits et Fleurs", 12x16, oil on linen

I have fallen in love with these coral-colored roses. Sometimes referred to as "Mardi Gras" roses they certainly feel festive. I tried to keep them subdued in this painting, and like the way it turned out.

Thanks for checking in!

"Drama Queens", 8x10, oil on panel, coral, peach, roses, impressionist roses, drama, MAryanne Jacobsen art

"Drama Queens", 8x10, oil on panel

Yup, there's always one in a crowd- that person who wants all the attention. In this case, there are three of them, and they are aren't competing against each other. They're competing against the orange! Ha!

I have been working on notan and design recently and so I set this one up with that in mind. Hope you like it.

Thanks for looking.

"Morning Blues", 16x20, oil on canvas, blue, hydrangeas, blue florals, Maryanne Jacobsen art, impressionist florals, outdoor florals, blue bottles, blue flowers

"Morning Blues", 16x20, oil on canvas

Another backyard floral completed yesterday! I am having a ball painting florals en plein air as I have the luxury of completing them indoors through a photograph when the light changes too much to continue to work outside. As an avid plein air painter, this is a wonderful chance to paint objects in outdoor light under controlled conditions.

I recently experienced a very negative experience painting on a windy boat dock, with some of my valued stuff flying off the deck and into the water while continually holding onto the easel (and my balance) for dear life! For less experienced plein air painters, I highly recommend trying a floral set-up in your backyard, patio, deck or whatever. You can leave it there overnight and return to it the next day, (As I did with Au Printemps) or finish it up indoors when the weather gets too hot or the bugs get too nasty. Best of both worlds!

This one was begun last Friday in Katie Cundiff's back yard, and although the morning light was a little dull, the weather was altogether pleasant. The birds were singing, fish and frogs were flapping about in the pond, and every now and then a pair of sandhill cranes would stroll by. Katie has been mentoring a group of artists every Friday in the methods of painting florals after the syle of Ovanes Berberian. Overall, I am still struggling with the technique and the preparation time as well as the copious amounts of paint requred to paint this way. But enjoying it nonetheless. I finished this painting up in my home studio yesterday. Ever though the paint had dried I was able to finish it somewhat successfully and I wasn't displeased with the outcome.

To see Ovanes work, you can go here, and to visit Katie's website and see her beautiful work, go here.

"Au Printemps", 14x18, oil on canvas, springtime floral, oil , impressionism, red geraniums art, red apples and flowers, brass pot, begonias, impressionist florals, Florida plein air, Maryanne Jacobsen original art

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"Au Printemps", 14x18, oil on canvas, plein air

It's spring here in Florida and what glorious weather we've been having! So glorious that I recently decided to go out and buy this cute little bistro set and do some outdoor florals in my own back-yard. (In Florida they're called lanais, because they are screened in areas that prevent mosquitos from eating you alive.)

So I created this pretty set-up on my lanai last week with a huge pot of geraniums atop my new bistro set and another pot of begonias on the floor of the lanai and voila! -the fun began!

I painted the above set-up over a two day period as the light changed too fast for me to capture it all in one day.As you can see below, one of my three cats was enjoying the pleasant weather as well, and keeping me company as I painted..

I was happy with the outcome and hope to do many more little romantic florals like this one over the next weeks of beautiful Florida sunshine!

"Afternoon Light, Cortez Fishing Village", plein air , 11x14, plein air, Cortez fishing village, Bradenton Florida, fishermen, boats, bikes, tropical scenery, water, MAryanne Jacobsen art

"Afternoon Light, Cortez Fishing Village", plein air , 11x14

On the same foggy morning of yesterday's painting, by afternoon the sun had come out and much of the haze had cleared.

After first asking permission to paint of two men who seemed to be part of the place, I set up my easel right at the edge of the water, behind where you see the figure in my painting. I selected a great composition of two boats and the little fish shack that lies in the distance on the water as my composition, and had begun painting when someone came along and said, "Lady, you'll have to move so we can load the barge."

Well, of course! This is plein air and this is a working fishing village. So I packed up all my gear and moved to the foot of the walkway that goes up to the covered pier.

It turns out that the two men who I'd asked permission of were somewhat (I'm being kind) inebriated and had no work connection to the place at all. They stood nearby as I painted all afternoon and discussed politics, terrorism and how to change the world. It was different from listening to the gulls screech and I found after a while that I was kind of glad they were there. One even offered me a live starfish, which I dropped to the ground after realizing it was alive. You can see one of these friendly characters in my photo below.

This was 90% plein air. I added the figure after the painting had dried. Please visit Cortez fishing village if you are ever in the Bradenton, Florida area. You won't be disappointed!

"Grey Morning, Cortez fishing village", 11x14, oil on panel, paintings of boats, fog, old fishing boats, Cortez, Florida

"Grey Morning, Cortez fishing village", 11x14, oil on panel

For plein air painters in southwest  Florida, the tiny fishing village of Cortez is a little jewel tucked into the larger town of Bradenton on the Gulf of Mexico.  With a rich history, the tiny maritime town is only a few blocks long. Dozens of old fishing vessels bob up and town on the sleepy waters of the intracoastal and the ever popular Starfish and Company restaurant does a booming business during snowbird season.

Recently I spent the day there during a wonderful workshop with the incredibly talented plein air artist, Mark Boedges. We watched Mark paint on a foggy morning and by afternoon the skies had cleared and the dozen or so artists attending the workshop were free to paint on their own. I'll post the painting that I did in the afternoon over the next day or so, but here is the one I was really proud of, because it captured the atmosphere of the fog lifting that morning.

Mark has a way of softening his edges that is truly remarkable, and every single stroke that he puts down is very thoughtful. I think passive learning is very important for every artist, and the experience of watching Mark paint this same scene gave me the courage to try it as well. You can visit Mark's website here, to see his gorgeous paintings.

"Hen-Pecked", 11x14, oil on panel, paintings of roosters, palette knife paintings, colorful paintings of farm animals

"Hen-Pecked", 11x14, oil on panel

It's been quite a while since I did a palette knife painting, and it's been a really long while since I painted a rooster! So last week i took out my knife and painted this bird as a sort of Eastery kind of painting. I figured since people and kids dye eggs at Easter and have Easter egg hunts, I'd paint a rooster since you can't have any eggs with out a rooster being involved, if you get my drift.

The poor thing sort of looks like he's having a bad day, so I decided to title the painting hen-pecked.

Thanks for checking him out and just send me an email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com if you would like to purchase him.