"Moonstruck", 5x7 , oil, white rose, painting of a white rose, small studies, little gems, small affordable paintings, paintings of roses, Maryanne Jacobsen fine art

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 "Moonstruck", 5x7 , oil

Recently I decided to challenge my painting skills by attempting a white rose. Now that may sound like an easy task to some artists, but for me, painting a white rose was always a challenging thought. 

It was a "thought" because I never actually tried to paint one. I just assumed I couldn't do it.

Roses are so very complex. Their beauty is astounding, but mastering the painting of roses takes a great deal of skill. I have painted roses before. Some came a little easier than others, depending on what I was thinking at the time.

Our thoughts have a great affect on how we approach life, especially painting. I have often condemned myself before even starting! Such was the case with rose painting, and in particular white rose painting.

So last weekend I bought 6 lovely white roses that opened gradually over the course of a few days.

I picked one (they are all unique!) and put it in a bud rose vase and set about to paint it. Here was my reference and what struck me most about this photo is how very little you could actually see! Which is why we are always told to paint from life. Duh.

Anyhow, I must have wiped this thing out at least a half dozen times before I finally started to see the flower develop.

It's not perfect, but I felt like I accomplished something! The white rose was always a big bogey man in my mind. But now I feel better. Do you have any painting challenges that you may or may not have overcome? I'd love to hear about them!

"Fish Beach Road", 12x16, oil, paintings of Monhegan Island, the Fish House Monhegan, summer vacations, Maine vacations, island trips, Maryanne Jacobsen fine art

 "Fish Beach Road", 12x16, oil

It's been quite a while since I posted anything new. It's hard sometimes to get back into a routine after you've been out of one for a long time.

I used to post on this blog everyday. And I often even found nice comments afterwards. It was great. That was about ten years ago.

The years fly by before we know it and then we suddenly find ourselves in a whole new era.

In this case, it became the era of social media. Instead of blog posts, artists started just posting photos of their new paintings on Facebook, Instagram, etc. 

While I am just as guilty of doing that, I discovered that it wasn't  very satisfying. I used to really enjoy creating stories about my art within the blog post. It was another level of creativity to write and explain in a blog post the inspiration and process behind the painting. it was fun and  for me, at least, very rewarding.

I often sold my work through my blog posts. And people around the world got to know me a little and began to recognize my work on sites like Daily Painters, when the "painting a day" phenomenon" took root and flourished.

Anyhow, now I'm just mumbling, if it's possible to mumble on a blog.

This is a new painting of a scene that I painted a couple times in the past. It is Fish Beach Road outside the Fish House eatery at the height of summer on Monhegan Island, Maine. My colors are more sober and muted now, and I think my change of palette simply reflects my overall mood anymore. My mood is not buoyant and positive and colorful and quirky like that of the Maryanne of the past.

Life with Covid has changed us all in new and different ways, and many are not positive additions to our fragile little personalities. That being said, I can look back with longing and appreciation for those carefree days when travel was almost effortless (at least compared to today's so called travel), and life seemed to be bubbling with possibilities. Indeed, on Monhegan Island, there were new possibilities lurking behind every corner, every turn in the road, every change of seasons. So I know that if things ever return to the way they were, we will all find ourselves ever so grateful for those freedoms and carefree attitudes of the past that no longer define our lifestyles, but hopefully will surface again.

Well, whether or not, I'll ever travel to lovely Maine again, I can still enjoy my memories of those happy painting trips, and hope and pray there are some new ones still to be found within my lifespan.

Stay well, and feel free to comment about your own experiences!