"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!

"Low Tide", 9x12, oil on canvas, paintings of boats, low tide, Bay of Fundy, old wooden boats, Maine boats

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"Low Tide", 9x12, oil on canvas

The first time I ever visited the Maine area was a few years back. We stayed at a lovely Bed and Breakfast in Boothbay Harbor that boosted a room with a "water view". The day we arrived it was pouring rain and so sitting out on our porch and enjoying our "water view" was out of the question. The next day we woke up delighted to see that the rain had finally stopped! We rushed out on to our balcony to see our water view.

Low and behold all we saw were a bunch of boats laying on their sides , their keels dripping mud  onto the bare earth below. I was shocked. "What is that?", I asked my husband.

" I think that's our water view", he replied almost sadly. Weirdly by the evening, the harbor had refilled with water and the boats were once again floating gracefully on the water.

The more we saw of Maine's many harbors and inlets, the more we saw this same phenomenon over and over again. I understand that if you go a little further east into the Bay of Fundy, the tidal changes become even more dramatic! Each day 100 billion tonnes of seawater flow in and out of the Bay of Fundy during one tide cycle, which is more than the combined flow of the whole world’s freshwater rivers!

Anyhow, sorry to digress, but we certainly live in an amazing world, don't you think?

If you are interested in purchasing, "Low Tide", please 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

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,!