"Jenny's Peonies", 12x16, oil on panel, peonies, Brandywine Conservancy, Farm to Table Plein Air, Brandywine valley, Chadds ford, Pennsylvania, land art events, chester county , plein air painters

"Jenny's Peonies", 12x16, oil on panel

I recently returned from a trip to Pennsylvania's beautiful Chester County area, where I painted beautiful fields, streams and local farms that are part of the Brandywine Conservancy.  The Brandywine Conservancy protects and conserves the land, water, natural and cultural resources of the Brandywine-Christina watershed. As someone who spent the majority of her years in this beautiful area, I'm so happy to be able to be participating in a plein air event that benefits the conservation of these valuable resources!

Of the many places that I got to paint on this trip, I do feel that the Fenton Farm in Chadds Ford was possibly my favorite, maybe as a result of charming Jenny, the owner and gracious hostess who made us artists feel enormously welcome as we painted on her grounds while she tended to her beautiful gardens, goats and other animals and birds. (even a peacock!)

Also exciting for me, were the peonies in bloom in the garden in the front of the main house. Peonies are a favorite flower of mine, and since you can't grow them in Florida, and they have such a short life span, I felt incredibly lucky to snag a spot to paint while they were still blooming.

The painting in progress....

This painting will be included in the Farm to Table Plein Air event in October, featuring an art show and locally grown food- a true palette to palate extravaganza! More info about tickets to the event at my website under "upcoming events".

"Autumn Vista at Granogue", 12x16, oil on panel, plein air, Du Post family, Granogue, Plein Air, Brandywine Valley, Hagley Museum, PABV, Paintings of autumn, barns, color, Brandywine Valley, Maryanne Jacobsen art

"Autumn Vista at Granogue", 12x16, oil on panel, plein air

This is another painting that I did during Plein Air Brandywine Valley back in October. I realize that I've been a little late in posting all of these, but I've been busy with some commissions and Christmas preparations.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day when I painted, at Granogue, a Du Point estate in Wilmington known by residents  all around for the water tower landmark that stands on the outskirts of the huge property on Smiths Bridge Road and Montchanin Road just west of the Brandywine, where Eleuthere Irenee Du Post  built a gunpowder mill about 200 years ago. 

Folks can still visit the mill today, called Eleutherian Mills, which is near the Granogue estate, along with Winterthur and the Hagley Museum- all beautiful museums which house much of the history of the storied Du Post family.

I always consider it a privilege to paint here at this beautiful place. Rolling hills,  barns, workers houses, a railroad station and undulating cornfields are just small parts of the estate. The Country House is perched on the top of a hill overlooking the beautiful Brandywine hillside.

Towards the end of the painting, I had to turn my canvas away from the barn because of the sun, but you can see the beautiful cornfields that were behind me as I painted.

I've done a couple paintings at Granogue in the past, and they are all sold. If you would like to purchase this one, it is loaded with thick paint and beautiful autumn colors! Just send me an email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com for purchase info.

Thanks for visiting my blog and come back again!

To read more about Granogue, here is a neat article by the Washington Post, of a party hosted at Granogue by the Du Post Patriarch.

"Wyeth's Muse", 12x16, oil on panel, Andrew Wyeth, Chadds Ford, Brandywine School of Art, Maryanne Jacobsen art, Keurner Farm, Ring Farm, historic places, N.C. Wyeth, original oil paintings, Brandywine Valley

"Wyeth's Muse", 12x16, oil on panel

It is said that the Keurner Farm in Chadd's Ford, Pa. served as inspiration for at least a third of the works by the late Andrew Wyeth. Andrew discovered the farm on one of his boyhood walks and over the years, the farm and its occupants, Karl and Anna Keurner developed a deeply satisfying albeit complex relationship. It was here at the farm that Andrew met Helga, a German immigrant, who also became the controversial subject of many of Wyeth's paintings.

Having spent the greater part of my adult life living in the Brandywine Valley, and treasuring the legacy of the Wyeth's, it is not unusual that I still gravitate to scenes of rural farms with old stone walls and fence lines that dot the hillsides, whenever I visit Pennsylvania.

 Recently, while painting in the Plein Air Brandywine Valley painting event, I had the opportunity to paint at the Kuerner Farm, which was generously donated  by the Keurners to the Brandywine Conservancy and Museum. It was a gorgeous autumn day, and although I really wanted to paint the white farmhouse from the bottom of the hill, another artist had already set up there.

So I painted the Springhouse instead, which is closer to the barn, and I'll post a better picture of that painting in another blog post.

All and all it was quite a moving experience to be able to walk the same well-worn dusty paths of the Wyeth's, Howard Pyle and other masters of the Brandywine School of Art, but I was still disappointed that I didn't have the chance to paint the farmhouse.

So this week I used my reference photo and set out to portray the old homestead in the dramatic mid-day light. I wasn't unhappy with outcome, but I do hope that someday perhaps I'll have the chance to paint the scene again- this time on location.

Plein air versus studio! "Country Road, Take me Home", 9x12, oil on linen

"Country Road, Take me Home", 9x12, oil on linen

I decided to take my plein air painting of the "Cornfields at Granogue", and use that and my reference photo to conduct a little experiment.

Over the years, many collectors have fallen in love with my work, as a result of the colors and palette knife work that I used in my first  few years of painting. Over the past few years, however, I have moved more towards the representational, replacing many of my fauvist colors with colors that more accurately describe the subject at hand. I also began favoring more brushwork in my paintings, as I felt there were more ways to be descriptive with a brush, while the palette knife limits how you can render certain subjects, like clouds or cotton.

So today I decided to recreate the "Cornfields at Granogue", using a palette knife and the palette of colors that I used to use exclusively- which is after the Cape Cod School or Hensche method. This was my reference photo:

I think the thing that hampered this experiment of "which is better", is the fact that the first painting was exclusively plein air- it was finished on site and therefore had more immediacy and freshness to it than the studio as piece, as well as truer color.

On the other hand, I was able to be more thoughtful about the trees in the background in the studio piece and they are probably more accurate than the plein air painting for the simple reason that by the time I got to them that day the light had changed dramatically.

The cornstalks in the foreground were definitely in shadow when I began the painting that morning. Yet I was aware that I was starting to "Chase the light" by the end of the 2 hour session, adding more and more light to those foreground cornstalks and thus rendering the light direction confusing.

So overall, both methods of working have their pros and cons, with different results and I feel that this was a good experiment in thinking about things that will help me paint better in the future.

Would love to hear your comments on which of the two paintings you like better and why!

Thanks for visiting my blog.

"Cornfields at Granogue", 9x12, plein air, Brandywine Valley, DuPont estate, farms, cornfields, autumn landscapes

"Cornfields at Granogue", 9x12, plein air

This is another painting that was done during Plein Air Brandywine Valley. For me it was the best day of the event, as I simply loved the setting, and I think it was reflected in the way that the painting turned out-my best of the week.

Granogue is the country estate of Irenee Du Pont and the mansion sits high on a hill overlooking the beautiful Brandywine Valley.

Although Granogue remains a family residence, much of the land is preserved, in keeping with the DuPont tradition of conservationists.

It was a clear beautiful day, on the day we were allowed to paint there, and it was difficult choosing from farmland, old barns, cattle, ponds and the rolling hills that cascade down the valley toward the Brandywine River.

I chose to stand at the carriage house, where I had unmitigated views of the rolling cornfields ,and a farm and fall foliage in the distance.

I only wish I had the option to paint such beautiful scenery every day of the week!

This painting is available through Galerie Du Soleil.