"Gloucester Pink", 8x8, oil on panel, Rocky Neck, Gloucester Massachusetts, ice cream shop, Amy's Coffee and Cones, pink house, small study

"Gloucester Pink", 8x8, oil on panel

This little pink building was a little ice cream shop in Rocky Neck, in East Gloucester back in 2010, when I photographed it. I have no idea if it's still there (the ice cream shop), but the pink building was adorable to look at, and filled with pink flowers in the front yard. It was directly on the water in Rocky Neck, which is an artsy community in the seaside town of Gloucester.

Although I took the photo years ago, it took me this long to paint it! It was just a quick little 2 hour study. If you like it leave a comment. I'd love to hear from you!

"Restoration in Progress"12x16, oil on panel, MAryanne JAcobsen art, Gloucester MAssachusetts, old boats, The Flight, paintings of old boats, welders, New England boats

"Restoration in Progress"12x16, oil on panel

Last spring, while up in Boston for my son's graduation, we took a day to visit Gloucester, one of the country's oldest fishing ports and a favorite haunt of mine whenever I'm up that way.

I always enjoy seeing all the old boats, and on this particular day "The Flight" was out of the water and being restored. I watched a man carefully welding her sides and I determined I had to paint her.

This one took mustering some courage before I even got started with it. I had to really concentrate on getting the details of the drawing correct, before I could move on to worrying about the paint application.

I also made some changes to the composition  in order to take some of the frivolous dock debris out of the background and replace it with the simpler suggestion of water and  distant shore.

Hopefully it doesn't look labored, but in truth it was a laborious task from start to finish!