"Summer Garden, Rockport",11x14, oil on panel, Rockport, Massachusetts, homes of Rockport Massachusetts, Cape Ann, summer gardens, Maryanne Jacobsen art, Windswept, Old Garden Path, paintings of homes in Rockport

"Summer Garden, Rockport",11x14, oil on panel

Rockport, Massachusetts on Cape Ann has long been a favorite haunt of mine. A favorite activity when my husband and I are there is to take the stroll along the ocean via the Old Garden Path. I have taken that walk dozens of times and never grow tired of it!

This is one of the gorgeous summer "cottages " that line the street called The Old Garden Path. Sitting high and stately  on a slight hill and with a long stone pathway leading to the porch, one can always count on beautiful perennial gardens in the summer. Black-eyed Susan, purple coneflowers, Russian sage- it's a delightful scene to behold as one walks down the street.

I took a photo of this house a few years back and decided to paint it. The home is called "Windswept". I'll bet sitting on that front porch facing the Atlantic Ocean, one can partake of the most marvelous of wind currents!

This painting is available. Please email me at maryannejacobsen@aol.com for more info and thanks for looking!

"Morning on Old Garden Path Road", 9x12, plein air, Rockport, Massachusetts, North Shore, Old Garden Path, Cape Ann, The Captain's House, Marmion Way, New England resorts

"Morning on Old Garden Path Road", 9x12, plein air

We just returned from a great trip to Massachusetts, where we attended our youngest son's graduation from the Harvard Kennedy School. Here I am demonstrating that I am one proud mama!

Although we were only there for a few short days, I couldn't travel to New England without my paints! The 5 days were filled with graduation dinners and various events, but I did find time one morning to venture out and put all my painting paraphernalia to use.

Whenever we travel to the Boston area, we stay at The Captain's House in Rockport, and this time was no exception. Our favorite B& B in the entire world, The Captain's House, (located on Marmion Way), has a backyard overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The sunsets and sunrises are equally marvelous, and although we were too busy to enjoy the sunrise this year, we did find time to take numerous walks along the Old Garden Path om between our travels back and forth to Cambridge.

The Old Garden Path is Rockport's answer to Newport Rhode Island's Ocean Drive. In truth , I much prefer the simplicity of design of the "cottages" along the Old Garden Path to the huge mansions along Ocean Drive in Newport. They all have beautifully tended gardens and many have a feeling of yesteryear, when life was simpler and preparing a fisherman or sea captain's catch for supper was the highest priority of the day.

I wove my way down to the very end of Old Garden Path Road, where the little path turns up over the rocks to the point called the Headlands, which provides a grand view of the lovely little town of Rockport and Bearskin Neck. If you look carefully, you can see Motif#1 in the distance.

So I set up my easel and painted this little quickie of the seaside house at the end of the path, flanked by the headlands on  one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other side. What a lovely place to spend a few morning hours!

The weather was perfect and as usual, I could only wish I had more time to enjoy this lovely little seaside town on the North Shore!

I've done many paintings of this lovely area; if you have any interest in my Cape Ann paintings, please send me an email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com.

"Reflections of a Rat Boat", 6x6, oil on board, paintings of rat boats, dory, old boats, wooden boats, rockport, Massachusetts, Bearskin Neck, colorist art, impressionism

"Reflections of a Rat Boat", 6x6, oil on board

The first time that I saw this little dory up in Bearskin Neck, Rockport, I took a dozen pictures of it. The old worn wood, the humble planks, even the name, "Rat" made me love this little boat as though it was an old friend or familiar piece of clothing.

So to paint it again today, for the second time, was a pleasure and not a chore. I looked at the photo that I had taken a few years back and asked myself why I wanted to paint this humble little boat again. What was the purpose or statement in my painting going to be? The answer came quickly. It was the reflections, of course, that grounded the boat to its home- the Atlantic Ocean in Rockport Harbor!

Without the water reflections, the boat would just kind of float in the air, without substance or a sense of grounding or place in space.

This is one of the things that I learned from Kenn Erroll Backhaus's workshop last week. Decide on a purpose , or statement, before you start a painting. I had never thought much about a statement before. Oftentimes I would just paint a subject, rather than a statement. This concept of "finding a statement before you begin"  made a world of difference in my approach to this little painting.

Why is it called a "rat" boat? I have no idea but maybe it's obvious. The boat is.... well.... a bit ratty!

Here is my first painting of the little Rat Boat.


THis painting was juried into Randy Higbee's annual 6x6 inch square show in Costa Mesa, California.

"Thatcher Island Twin Lights", plein air, 8x10, oil on panel

SOLD

"Thatcher Island Twin Lights", plein air, 8x10, oil on panel

We just returned from a lovely trip to New England where we spent a few days in Maine (York area), New Hampshire and Rockport , Massachusetts.If you follow my blog, you'll know I've been visiting Rockport for the past three years and I never get tired of the beautiful light quality there.

We were blessed with gorgeous weather, which gave me a chance to paint en plein air. The location of our accommodations could not have been any better, and I had the chance to paint out on the rocks every day. Our view looked directly over at Thatcher Island and so I did not have to look very far for subject matter!

As you can see, I could not have been much happier!

This was the first painting of the Thatcher light houses that I did on the first day of our arrival. One of the guests at the inn where we stayed walked past as I was painting and asked if I would sell the painting to her. Now don't you just love it when that happens?

I'll be posting my other plein air paintings that I did on the trip over the next few days.

I was so very happy to have the opportunity to practice painting large rolling waves and big boulders. Those are two things I never see here in Florida and boy did I need the practice!

"Humble Icon", 16x20, oil on linen, Paint America Top 100, american landscapes, Rockport Massachusetts, Cape Anne,impasto, colorful seascapes

SOLD

"Humble Icon", 16x20, oil on linen

This humble little red lobster shack is a national icon. It has been painted by thousands of artists over the years and has an endearing quality to it, by virtue of its humble stance at this location on a rocky wharf jutting into the Atlantic in the lovely little town of Rockport in Cape Ann, Massachusetts.

When we were in Rockport the past two summers we stayed at The Seaward Inn, an absolutely delightful Bed and Breakfast facing the Atlantic, a few minutes drive from the center of town. We stayed in a little room on the third floor, and we were told it is Whoopi Goldberg's preferred room when she stays at the Inn. The entire cast of A Perfect Storm, including hunky George Clooney, evidently stayed at this Inn during the filming of the movie in 2000, and I can say that both Gloucester, where the movie was filmed, and Rockport are worthy of a return visit. Rockport supports an active artist colony, and I hope to return there again in a few weeks to do some fall plein air painting in that beautiful golden light!

 "Humble Icon" was chosen as one of the Top 100 in Paint America's 2010 competition of contemporary American artworks, and now I am offereing the painting for sale at a reduced price. The painting has lovely color and thick passages of impasto throughout. If you are interested in purchasing the painting , just send me an email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com.

"Humble Icon", 16x20, oil on linen, Paint America Top 100, american landscapes, Rockport Massachusetts, Cape Anne,impasto, colorful seascapes

"Humble Icon", 16x20, oil on linen

This humble little red lobster shack is a national icon. It has been painted by thousands of artists over the years and has an endearing quality to it, by virtue of its humble stance at this location on a rocky wharf jutting into the Atlantic in the lovely little town of Rockport in Cape Ann, Massachusetts.

When we were in Rockport the past two summers we stayed at The Seaward Inn, an absolutely delightful Bed and Breakfast facing the Atlantic, a few minutes drive from the center of town. We stayed in a little room on the third floor, and we were told it is Whoopi Goldberg's preferred room when she stays at the Inn. The entire cast of A Perfect Storm, including hunky George Clooney, evidently stayed at this Inn during the filming of the movie in 2000, and I can say that both Gloucester, where the movie was filmed, and Rockport are worthy of a return visit. Rockport supports an active artist colony, and I hope to return there again in a few weeks to do some fall plein air painting in that beautiful golden light!

 "Humble Icon" was chosen as one of the Top 100 in Paint America's 2010 competition of contemporary American artworks,!