"Mary's Garden", 12x12, oil, gardens, relaxation, women in hats, mothers day, sunflowers, table in the sun

 "Mary's Garden", 12x12, oil

I've painted this little scene a number of times. It was from a photo that my husband took of me reading a book in our back garden. 

In this one, I gave myself brown hair for a change, even though I'm a blonde. I loved the bright sunlight on the table and flowers, while I myself sat fairly sheltered under an old oak tree.

This could be any wife, mom or daughter on her day off-just enjoying the sunshine, a good book, and a glass of white wine!

Feel free to contact me at maryannejacobsen@aol.com, if you are interested in this work.

Thanks for visiting my blog!

"Bakers at Red Lion", 12x12, oil on panel, French bakery, Kennett Square Pennsylvania, Galer Estate Vineyard and winery, Fresh baked bread, Chester County Pennsylvania, hidden gems

"Bakers at Red Lion", 12x12, oil on panel, Note: click on the image to see the painting better.

"When the flag is out, the bread is ready!" The French flag at the entrance to this little gem of a bakery, is a welcome sign on weekends for residents of the Kennett Square, Chadds Ford/Longwood area of Pennsylvania. Because it is in this place, called the "Bakers of Red Lion" that the most sumptuous breads , boules and brownies are created by two talented and jovial women named Nancy and Barbara.

I painted this about a year ago, but never posted it because I could tell that the perspective was a little wonky. (Funny how our artistic egos are.) And although the perspective might be a little off, I finally decided it was well worth sharing this painting for the sake of introducing people in the Chester County area to this incredible hidden gem .

This is what the locals look for on the weekends... the French flag indicating that the bakers are open for business and that the bread is ready!

I discovered the Bakers at Red Lion by accident. We were having a nice little mini vacation at the beautiful carriage house on the Galer Winery estate. The Winery is located right across the road from the French bakery in Kennett Square, and as we pulled our car into the Winery's driveway, I noticed the beautiful little home with all the flowers and awnings and French flags outside calling out an invitation to explore!

And so I did, and I discovered the most incredibly delicious bread I had ever tasted!

Here are the bakers themselves hard at work turning out delectables!

My favorite was the cheese bread and even now, a year later, the thought of it makes my mouth water.

If you are ever in the area, stop by and see these ladies, grab a baguette, and then head across the street for a wine tasting on the idyllic Galer Estate Vineyard and Winery.

Here's some pics from our stay at the charming carriage house, which coincidently , is only about a mile or so from the beautiful Longwood Gardens! A little piece of Provence, right in the midst of Chester County, Pa.!

This setting was inspiring for me. If you look towards the window in the bottom photo, you'll see  the fresh peonies on the table that inspired the painting below , "Wish you were Here" .

Now that you've seen my pics and heard about the fresh baked bread and local wine, don't you wish you were there?

"An Evening in Zurich", 12x12, oil on panel, Cityscape, nocturne, Switzerland, Zurich, Maryanne Jacobsen art , Münsterbrücke, Zunfthaus Zur Meisen, vacations in Zurich, Fraumünster Church, lamplight

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"An Evening in Zurich", 12x12, oil on panel

I painted this scene to reflect the warm glow cast over the Swiss city at dusk as the sun is setting. A streetlight casts additional warmth onto the bridge in this fall scene, reflecting Old Town Zurich's quietness after the summer tourists are gone.


A couple walks hand in hand on the old Münsterbrücke, grateful that for now, at least, the bustle of traffic is gone and only pedestrians share the bridge with them.

Warm lights from the windows of the elegant old Zunfthaus Zur Meisen cast warm reflective light onto the Limmat River, and it is fabled that ghosts of ancient guildsmen, artisans and vintners still traverse the hallways of the museum where their collections are kept.

Across the street stands The Fraumünster Church, another historical relic in Old Zurich's history. It is built on the remains of a former abbey for aristocratic women . The monastery buildings were destroyed in 1898, and the church building today serves as the parish church for one of the city's 34 reformed parishes. A landmark in Old Town, the Church's clocktowers reflect the time on every side of the spire.

I painted this in muted tones to reflect the atmosphere of a nocturne in Old Town Zurich. If you have ever traveled to that beautiful city, perhaps this painting will evoke some special memories for you. I certainly hope so!

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"Home Scream Home", 12x12, oil, surrealism, owls, The Scream, Eduard Munch, fantasy art, homeless, snowstorm, weird art, paintings with a message, hurricanes, drama

"Home Scream Home", 12x12, oil (framed as shown) Click on the painting for a better view.

Sometimes you just have to paint something ridiculous. I painted the above with the intentions of putting it into an upcoming show with a surreal theme. In the end, I totally forgot to enter it thanks to a hurricane!

My thoughts when painting it were probably focused on injustice in general, with good people losing their homes due to catastrophic problems- illness, rising healthcare costs, job loss, etc. And with our homeless population increasing at an alarming rate in this country, it's as though everything is somehow turned upside down. The things we used to take for granted as Americans, job security, affordable healthcare for all, and home ownership, are now a thing of the past which cannot be depended upon.

I used the iconic figure in Edvard Munch's painting, "The Scream" to depict an outsider, locked out of his own home during a snowstorm, staring in horror at the fact that a family of wise old owls had taken over his residence.

While birds taking over our homes is certainly not a possibility in our current world, there are currently  plenty of catastrophic events occurring on a daily basis to make one wonder how secure our feeble securities truly are. Hurricanes have recently made many thousands of people homeless here in the United States and Caribbean  Islands. There have been earthquakes of the magnitude of 7 and 8 in recent days in Mexico, horrific monsoons in Bangladesh, and wildfires through the north eastern quadrant of the US as well as in Portugal.  In an unpredictable world, it's easy to throw one's hands up in the air like Chicken Little and scream that "The Sky is Falling Down!"

I recently went through my own scream moment. Holed up in a dark shuttered home during Hurricane Irma with winds howling outside and no way of knowing how it was all going to turn out, this claustrophobic individual that happens to be me just wanted to go to the door, open it up, and scream back in horror at Nature's rant. In the end, I realized it was all out of my control and I was at the mercy of a Higher Power. I had two choices- I could either surrender to terror or to trust. I chose the latter, and retreated into a small room to pray and read Scripture.

There is no doubt that storms will erupt throughout our lives, but storms can also have a silver lining as well. In looking for the silver lining, I realized that my faith has grown stronger as a result of this storm, which will hopefully build upon the next storms in my life.

Sorry  if this post offends anyone. I think I just needed to state in writing the things that were going through my head when I painted this silly painting.

If you have any interest in owning a weird painting, please send me an email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com. Thanks for visiting my blog!

"Winter Warmth", 12x12, oil on Ampersand panel, winter still life, snow, wine, candlelight, red pear

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"Winter Warmth", 12x12, oil on Ampersand panel

I was attempting to create a feeling of homey warmth on a cold night in this painting and I hope I achieved it. I thought it might be helpful to those who sometimes write and ask me questions about how I go about a painting to document my process. I never start a painting exactly the same way twice, and my process changes depending on my thoughts and goals at the time. But I often do use transparent washes in the initial stage, so I thought this would be a good painting to use as an example.

1. I typically set up my still life with whatever I can find nearby and try to make it a pleasing combination of elements, but in this case I had some specific things in mind, like the wine and the candle. In not having the window that would form the background, I knew I'd need to improvise, so I constructed the night scene with substitutes using my shadow box, some two by fours and a blue bathmat. My biggest fear was that the mat would catch fire so I only lit the candle for short periods of time.

2.The sketch- next I did a quick sketch in a notebook to get comfortable with the drawing, adding some notes that were relevant.

3. Next I stained the support with magenta and then sketched in the composition loosely, using a green pastel pencil. I like to use pastel pencils rather than charcoal, because I find that charcoal can dirty the color when I lay in the paint on top.

4. The initial color block-in: Next I blocked in the elements thinly, using only transparent colors and no opaques. I was not worried at this stage about either color or value, but instead was just trying to cover the entire support with a nice soupy mixture of transparent colors.

5. The next step is to go over the transparent washes with opaque paint,  and correct the values and colors of each object.

6. In the last step, I go back and try to harmonize color, refine shapes and correct anything that looks out of wack. Finally I attempt to create the atmosphere that I'm trying to achieve, softening edges  and checking highlights.

Overall, I wasn't displeased with this one. I think I was able to capture the feeling of being in a warm home on a cold night. Thanks for checking in!

"An Afternoon at China Cove", 12x12 , oil, California landscapes, MAryanne Jacobsen art, Point Lobos, China Cove, impressionism, colorist art

"An Afternoon at China Cove", 12x12 , oil

Beautiful is the only way I came describe the dreamy waters of China Cove, in Point Lobos. The water in the cove ranges from emerald to teal and falls into a violet blue in the deeper waters. The light in California is soft, calming and slightly cool compared to  what I am used to here in Southwest Florida, where the light is usually quite warm, and harsh  in its brightness.

The seals were out on the beach lazing about on the day that I visited last month. It was helpful to paint there that day, because once you paint in a location, you remember those subtle qualities of the scene, that you would never get in a photograph. There was some really magical reflected light on the rocks near the keyholes- light reflecting off the water.

I painted this with palette knife and brush and I hope you enjoy it!

"Pigtails and Teddy Bears", 12x12, oil, paintings of little girls, toys, teddy bears, braids, pigtails, award-winning paintings

"Pigtails and Teddy Bears", 12x12, oil

Was very happy to find out that my painting "Pigtails and Teddy Bears" received a merit award last week at the Venice Art Center's Portrait and Figurative Exhibit, "The Human Condition". This is the third year in a row that I have received an award in this show, so I am grateful. There are many, many talented portrait and figurative artists that live in my area and enter this show, including Hodges, Soileau, Bill Farnworth, Jeff Cornell and many others, so I am always a little in awe to find that my work has been recognized amongst such a talented group of peers.

Thank-you to judge, Jon Greeley, for the recognition.

This painting is beautifully framed and can be purchased through the Venice Art Center. Feel free to email me at maryannejacobsen@aol.com for additional information.

"Senior Stroll", 12x12, oil on board, figurative, three men walking, seniors, European cityscape, MAryanne Jacobsen fine art

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"Senior Stroll", 12x12, oil on board

Wow. It seems like it's been forever since I posted. Have been so busy I can hardly keep track of everything. I painted this one right before Thanks giving and never had a chance to post it. This is a color palette that I don't normally paint with, but I'll definitely be using it again as it lends itself well to the old buildings in Europe. I used Ultramarine Blue for the lights and Raw Sienna for the darks.

The last time I tried a combo like that was when I painted a doorway in St. PAul de Vence. It worked well for the that one, too.

This painting is available through Galerie Du Soleil. Please call 239-417-3450 for more information.

1969, oil on panel, 12x12, Happy days, paintings of the sixties, Chevelle, SS 396, Grease, memories, LA High School, Lansdowne, nostalgia

"1969", 12x12, oil on panel

This was truly a blast from the past.

I found an old picture of myself the summer that I graduated high school, which was..... ummmmm....you guessed it- 1969!

 I was wearing a tie-dyed shirt, culotte shorts and moccasins and sitting atop the SS 396 Super Sport Chevelle of my future husband, along with two friends, Dave and Ruth.

The days were carefree and high school was over. It was "We go together" all over again.

I had fun painting this. Maybe because times are less simple now. Maybe becaue it made me feel young again. And maybe it was just because those happy days were mine and  yours and ours....

Happy and free. (Oh Happy Days)
These days are ours
Share them with me.(Oh Happy Days)

Goodbye grey sky, hello blue,
'cause nothing can hold me when I hold you.
feels so right it can't be wrong,
rockin' and rollin' all week long.

Read more: Happy Days - Happy Days Theme Song Lyrics | MetroLyrics

Here's my shameless reference photo. Yeah it was a little blurry. But it still brought  back those happy days.

"Early Morning View"- Valle Crucis B&B, plein air, 12x12, oil on board

"Early Morning View"- Valle Crucis B&B, plein air, 12x12, oil on board

There is a stunning view of the mountains from the porch of the Valle Crucis Bed and Breakfast in Valle Crucis, North Carolina.

On our trip back home from Pennsylvania we stopped there for the night and I knew I had to get up early and paint that scene before breakfast the next morning. It was a beautiful morning, not warm yet, but not cold enough for a jacket. There was a blanket of fog across the mountain ridge before I started the painting, but it dissipated quickly as I set up.

The Valle Crucis B&B is quite lovely and our "Mountain View" room was very comfortable. Our hostess Suzanne made a wonderful breakfast and the other guests were very congenial. Over all it was a wonderful stay and I recommend the Inn highly. Check it out if you are in the Boone area!