"Miller Road Springhouse", 11x14, oil on panel, Chester Springs, Pennsylvania, springhouse, forsythia, Chester County Pennsylvania, Miller Road, Foxhunt country, Dr. Don Rosato, antique carriages, red fox, plein air paintings, Maryanne JAcobsen art, country roads

"Miller Road Springhouse", plein air, 11x14, oil on panel

For many years I took ballet class on a daily basis. It wasn't a chore, it was something I absolutely loved to do. It refreshed and challenged and nourished  me. It conditioned my body and brought joy to that spiritual part of me that just wanted to soar. My favorite part of ballet class was of course the grande allegro. This is where I could soar through the air in leaps called grande jetes and attempt to move the way a bird travels across the sky!

At any rate, those days are well over, but I still recall when I would stop taking class for a week or two or even a month due to unpredictable circumstances- injury, vacation, family obligations.... whatever.

There was a saying amongst dancers that when you stopped taking class for three weeks, it would take you six weeks to get back into shape. So for example, if I were to try to go back to ballet class now, it would take me 30 years to get back to the condition I was in when I quit.

Lol. At 66, it's probably not worth it!

Anyhow, I experienced a little bit of the same thing recently, when I went back to plein air painting after taking about 6 months off.

It could have been a total disaster as I contemplated giving up over and over again in that first half hour as I struggled with paint mixtures and finding the right brushes.

But luckily, I happened to be in my happy place- Chester Springs, Pennsylvania, just a short mile or so from where I once lived, and I was not about to let the opportunity go to waste.

You see, I live in Florida now, and it's not often that I get to paint Spring expressing herself in bright golden forsythia bushes along a winding road with a stream and springhouse plopped along the way.

So I scraped the painting down and started again. The long afternoon tree shadows kept showing up on my canvas as I tried to paint and I had to keep turning my easel to get out of their way, which meant I had to look backwards at my scene.

As my neck got stiff from looking backwards, I finally gave up trying to avoid tree shadows and just turned the easel into the scene.

You truly never know what kind of treasures you'll see when you happen to be painting along Miller Road.

At one point, a red fox came strutting up the road, right past me, with a mouse or something tucked in his mouth. He was not in any hurry, so I had a chance to grab the camera and catch a quick shot as he headed up the hill.

Next, the storied Dr. Don Rosato and his friends came by in one of  the doctor's handsome carriages.

Dr. Rosato  is well known and respected in the fox hunt community. He lives nearby on St. Matthews Rd. and his colorful history and beautiful carriages are a permanent fixture in this tiny bucolic community. He waved as he passed my easel and I managed to get another quick shot in.

Jeez. Was I having good day or what? Imagine if I had given up, thrown my gear in the car and drove away?

So even though I was out of practice and discouraged at the outset I persevered and had an absolutely marvelous afternoon!

If you would like to purchase, "Miller Road Springhouse", just send me an email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com.

Thanks for visiting my blog!

"Along Flowing Springs Road", 12x16, oil on copper, Chester Springs, Birchrunville, Birchrunville Store Cafe, bucolic scenes, fall landscapes, Pennsylvania impressionism, paintings on copper, Maryanne Jacobsen art

"Along Flowing Springs Road", 12x16, oil on copper

This is my second attempt to paint on copper, and it went well this time around because I already had one painting under my belt!

Flowing Springs Rd. is a little winding road that weaves along Chester Springs near the border of Birchrunville where the old township building used to be located. It is quite scenic along there and I recall happy days riding my bike along there when I once lived in Chester Springs. I would bike from St. Matthews Road all the way up to the Sheeder-Hall Bridge at French Creek, passing the fabulous Birchrunville Store Cafe along the way.

There are very few homes along there, it is truly pristine rural countryside, and happily the residents of West Vincent Township have been able to maintain the bucolic countryside through their efforts to impede mass development.

I painted this scene en plein air two years ago when I was visiting the area for the annual Plein Air Brandywine Valley event. I stayed at a lovely little AirB&B right on Flowing Springs Road, which I painted recently and you can read about here.

I used the photo I had taken as well as the plein air sketch to create this new painting. Fall was in fall bloom and there is no better place to see the fall foliage than in Pennsylvania! Here was my view as I looked up the road:

If you are ever in the area, do make reservations at the Cafe.  It has been years since I was there, but I understand that the standards of culinary excellence have not changed!

If you are interested in this painting, please feel free to send me an email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com. Thanks for visiting!

"Dappled Light", 16x20, oil , Historic Yellow Springs village, Maryanne Jacobsen original art,, Yellow Springs Inn, the Washington Building, Chester Springs, Pennsylvania, Autumn landscapes, Pennsylvania landscapes, original art

"Dappled Light", 16x20, oil (Please click on the image for a better view)

During my recent painting trip to Pennsylvania, I had the opportunity to paint a couple times in the sweet little historic village of Yellow Springs, Pennsylvania. The weather was gorgeous and the trees were colorful and my only dilemma was choosing what to paint in the tiny village!

I decided to set up in the little courtyard between the Washington Building and the Lincoln Building, since the dappled light on the side on the Washington Building fascinated me.

As is usually the case with plein air, by the time, I set up my easel and got around to painting, the light on the building was gone and the building and courtyard were cast in shadow with the exception of the little bench.

Here is what it looked like in less than an hour's time:

Since I was unable to capture the dappled light that had first attracted me to the scene, I decided to paint the scene in my studio, using my field study and photo reference for guides.

 I was pretty happy with the outcome, and hope to do more autumn scenes in upcoming weeks from the trip to beautiful Pennsylvania.

This painting is available . Please email me at maryannejacobsen@aol.com if you have any interest in purchasing this work. And don't forget to visit my new website at Maryanne JAcobsen Fine Art.

"Snow Day", 8x10, oil on panel, snow study, winter scenes, winter snow art, sledding, Chester Springs, Pa. Pennsylvania impressionism, Maryanne Jacobsen art

"Snow Day", 8x10, oil on panel

The last day of 2016 I was feeling nostalgic and rahter homesick for my old homestead up in Chester Springs, Pa. So on New Years Eve I painted this little study of two of my sons sledding in front of our home. It was a great place to sled, lots of hills, and because it was pretty rural back then, there was very little traffic on the roads.

Hoping that all of my friends and collectors have a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year!

To purchase this little snowy study, please email me at maryannejacobsen@aol.com.

"Little Church in Moonlight", 6x6, oil on panel, church , moonlight, full moon, nocturne, St. MAtthews Church, Chester Springs, Roots CAfe

"Little Church in Moonlight", 6x6, oil on panel

The first night that we arrived in Pennsylvania we decided to have dinner in a fabulous little organic/sustainable restaurant in downtown West Chester called "Roots Cafe" You can check out their website here. They pride themselves on good locally grown and homemade food and the ambiance in the restaurant is intimate and charming. There is also local art on the walls! Yay!

We had a great dinner and on the way back to our cottage in Chester Springs, I noticed a full moon in the sky and decided it might be a good night, albeit chilly , to paint a nocturne. As we came up the hill on Route 401 (Horseshoe Trail) I asked my husband to pull into the parking lot of the little St. Matthews Church, (which sits on a hill and is incredibly pretty to look at) and so he did.

The night was really chilly for this Floridian, (about 37degrees) and so I decided that I didn't feel like painting a nocturne afterall. But the full moon was bright and straight above the little church so we both grabbed our cameras and decided to take photos of the scene.

We were gone from the car for all of ten minutes but we did leave the car doors open. When we got back into the car it wouldn't start! I couldn't believe it. The Plein Air Brandywine Valley event was due to start the next day and I didn't have transportation! It is a dark, middle-of-nowhere kind of location by most people's accounts, but happily we used to live just down the road so I wasn't too worried by the rural setting. My husband , always the level-headed one, called AAA and they were out in about an hour to jump the car's battery. I thanked God that it was just the battery and we knew we would have to replace it first thing the next day.

Not the best way to start a paint-out, but at least I got this little 6x6 inch painting out of the adventure!

"The Little Church in Chester Springs", 8x10, oil on panel, plein air, Chester Springs, Pennsylvania, fall foiliage, paintings of churches, St. Matthews Church of Christ, autumn landscapes, Maryanne JAcobsen art

"The Little Church in Chester Springs", 8x10, oil on panel, plein air

Last week the leaves in Pennsylvania were at their peak of glory. So it was with a happy heart that I went out each day and painted the beauty that was truly everywhere. When I lived in Chester Springs, I passed the little St. Matthews Church of Christ on the corner of 401 and St. Matthews Rd. almost everyday, but it wasn't until I left the area, became an artist, and then returned to the area, that I realized how much it needed to be painted!

It's an incredibly scenic little church, with a graveyard in the side lawn, and I knew I had to paint it while I was there.

Route 401 is a fairly busy country road, so I set up on the other side of the road, as far back from the highway as I could. The sun was on the left side of the building and so the light effect was really nice as it hit the tops of the trees.

Below, you can see how much the light had changed by the time I finished the painting...

When I got back home to Florida, I realized that I had forgotten the little red maple in the front yard, so I added it to the painting afterwards and tweaked some additional areas, but overall, it was done mostly on location.

I hope you like it! Send me an email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com if you have any interest in this painting!

"Vixen Hill Springhouse, plein air sketch", 11x14, oil on panel, Chester Springs, Pennsylvania, quaint cottages in Chester County, springhouses, Chester Springs, Yellow springs, stone, fieldstone

"Vixen Hill Springhouse, plein air sketch", 11x14, oil on panel

The last time I stayed at the Vixen Hill Cottage, I took photos of the springhouse in the afternoon light, and painted it when I got home. That was two years ago, and I posted a photo of the painting on my blog here. 

I  recall that the first time I painted that structure, I was struck by how inexperienced I felt mixing the paints for all the earth colors that I saw in the stones.

This time around was much easier and the painting came together much quicker for me, even though it was plein air and completed in its entirety outdoors. What that tells me is that in two years I have grown as an artist, and grown especially in my comfort level of painting on location.

If you look at the photo below, you'll see that I tried to stay true to the colors that I saw in my surroundings, rather than pushing the color as I had done in my earlier attempt.

Am I growing as an artist? That is a question that every good artist will ask himself/herself as time goes by, and although I feel that I've had some major setbacks this year, I do see improvement as well. Whew!

If you are interested in purchasing this plein air sketch, just snd me an email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com.

Thanks for reading!

"Red Maple at Vixen Hill Farm", 9x12, oil on board, impressionism, red maple tree, colorist art, Pennsylvania art, Chester County art, Chester Springs

"Red Maple at Vixen Hill Farm", 9x12, oil on board

I have been loving the weather in Pennsylvania this week and using it as an opportunity to get back into painting outdoors, (en plein air).

Painting everyday on location gives an artist the opportunity to really hone their skill sets. The light changes constantly and one must be on their toes in order to turn out a decent plain air painting.

In this painting, I was attracted to the long dark shadows on the ground and the beautiful light on the red maple in the early morning hours.

I did a quick thumbnail sketch to zone in on the darks and lights in the scene, before attempting to transfer my concept to canvas. 

The lights atop the maple were a beautiful reddish orange color in the morning light and served as  the focal point for the composition. Here's the photo that I took before beginning the painting...

In the end, the only problem were the gnats that started attacking the painting as I finished it up after about an hour and a half. I plucked them out gingerly. Here's the finished painting:

I painted this one with a palette knife exclusively. I hope you enjoyed  seeing my concept from start to finish.

To see more of my paintings, please visit my website at Maryanne Jacobsen Fine Art.

"West Meadow", 11x14, oil on Raymar panel, Chester Springs, Yellow Springs, pennslyvania, historic mineral springs, vibrant color, Maryanne Jacobsen Fine art., impressionism

"West Meadow", 11x14, oil on Raymar panel

This is a painting from my old home town of Chester Springs, Pa. There is a long , winding road that leads out of town into the tiny village of Yellow Springs, where the warm mineral springs flow and the historic significance of the place is best told by the website and not by me!

In the past, I have painted many scenes of this area which is an area that will always be near and dear to my heart.

This is a summer scene with black-eyed Susans and purple Coneflowers in the foreground to add to the colors of what comprises a truly a beautiful meadow!

 Contact me at maryannejacobsen@aol.com if you have any interest in this painting.

"A Marriage made in heaven", 11x14, oil on linen

SOLD

"A Marriage made in heaven", 11x14, oil on linen

This was the sunrise view that I could see from my backyard when I lived on Houndstooth Lane in Chester springs. I envy those two trees. They get to see the view each and every day, season after season!

"The Old Springhouse", 16x12, oil on gessoboard by Maryanne JAcobsen

"The Old Springhouse", 16x12, oil on gessoboard by Maryanne Jacobsen

This is a painting of an old springhouse that was up the road from my last house in Chester Springs, Pa. The building may be old but it has a tremendous amount of character, and with the dappled light cascading over it, I knew immediately that I wanted to paint it.

In case you are not familiar with what a springhouse is, here's a definition from Wikipedia: A spring house, or springhouse, is a small building used for refrigeration once commonly found in rural areas before the advent of electric refrigeration. It is usually a one-room building constructed over the source of a spring. The water of the spring maintains a constant cool temperature inside the spring house throughout the year. In settings where no natural spring is available, another source of natural running water, such as a small creek or diverted portion of a larger creek, may be used. The main use of a spring house is for the long-term storage of food that would otherwise spoil, such as meat, fruit or dairy products.

This painting is now available for purchase after being in an exhibit . Please send me an email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com if you are interested in this painting.

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