I always have a good time when I'm painting ladies with hats.
I painted this one during the Covid lockdown, and took it out today and reworked it a bit.
Special thanks to Short Dog Studio and Beth Bathe for allowing me to use their reference photo.
Mission San Juan Capistrano is a place of quiet peace, lush, fragrant gardens, as well as ghostly whispers of the past.
Echos of long ago struggles can now hardly be detected in this place of serene fountains, gracefully curved arches and seasonal flowers, yet the missions stretching along the California coast have a long controversial history that profoundly shaped the culture and founding of California and the history of its ethnic peoples.
Mission San Juan Capistrano, in Orange County, is probably the most beautiful of the many missions that defined California's history. The Great Stone Church, built by the Juaneno Indians beginning in 1797, was destroyed by an earthquake in 1812, yet today it is still one of the biggest tourist draws in the county*. Mission Capistrano is one of my favorite places to visit whenever I am in Southern California, and over the years I've painted dozens of paintings of this crumbling, yet still beautiful structure and its lovely gardens. I never tire of seeing its enduring beauty amidst the ruins, which are a solemn reminder of nature's fury and lack of favoritism when destruction comes.
As the anniversary of Hurricane Ian approaches, I can say that the Mission and its history cause me to reflect on life's roller coaster rides. The painting reflects a bit of both- hope and despair, beauty and ruin, and the light and shadows cascading over the stones of the ruined original church, remind me of Matthew 6:19. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy (insert earthquakes), but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven."
It's always joy to visit the Mission, so be sure to visit it if you are in Southern California.
This painting is available. Contact me at maryannejacobsen@aol.com for purchase information
* information from the LA Times
I love old cars. They are so classy and fun to paint. I haven't painted any old cars in a really long time, so yesterday, I decided that I wanted to paint something different from my usual, and I chose to try my hand at painting this beautiful old classic car.
The car depicted is an Auburn Speedster from about 1936. In the world of classic cars, there are few that can match the sheer elegance and style of this one. With its sleek lines, powerful engine, and undeniable charisma, this iconic automobile remains a symbol of luxury and sophistication to this day. These cars made a social statement with their beautiful lines, and were fitted with a supercharger, the engine output measuring 150 horsepower. This allowed the Speedster to reach top speeds of over 100 miles per hour!
That's pretty remarkable for a car built in 1936!
These cars were the brainchild of Auburn Automobile company, located in Auburn, Indiana, and you can still see some of them today at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum.
The 1936 Auburn Speedster is more than just a classic car; it's a symbol of an era when automotive design reached new heights.
If you are an old car buff, interested in owning a version of your own Auburn Speedster, this little gem is available through my website. You can purchase it directly here.
Thanks for visiting. I hope you enjoyed this short history of the enduring allure of classic cars, and the shining example of luxury and elegance imbued in the Auburn Speedster!
Odette is the tragic heroine in the classical ballet Swan Lake. Odette is a princess turned into a swan by the evil sorcerer Von Rothbart's curse, who wants his evil daughter Odile (the Black Swan) to wrestle the handsome Prince Sigfried's heart away from the gentle Odette. The ballet is a love story of enchantment and tragedy, as only the Prince's undying love can break the curse and free Odette and the other swan maidens of the sorcerer's curse.
When I was artistic director of my ballet company back in the 1990's, we performed a full length Swan Lake 2 or 3 different times. The challenges of staging a ballet of this magnitude on a small company were tremendous, but I was ambitious and the rewards of re-creating the magic of that ballet eventually overshadowed the work that was involved. I have painted this scene before, but had the urge to paint Odette again in memory of the many hours of love I put into the restaging of that ballet !
Ballet, art, and music are all similar passions. When one has an artistic passion, it dictates their lives for that particular season. Luckily for me, I no longer need to do an entrechat quatre in order to fill my passion.
May every creative person continue to fill the world with beauty, through music, dance, art, and poetry!
