Windswept,12x16, oil, Experimenting with paint, Rockport Massachusetts homes, Old Garden Path, beautiful homes of Cape Ann, perennial gardens, paintings on copper, Maryanne Jacobsen art , Impressionisnm

Windswept, 12x16, oil on copper

This is a favorite house to see in summertime, whenever I am visiting Rockport, Massachusetts. The gardens are lush with perennials- Black-eyed Susans, purple coneflowers and Russian sage. The flowers grow tall and proud on this little hillside, where the house, appropriately named "Windswept" proudly looks out across the lawn to the sea beyond.

This is my second time painting this house. I painted it over a year ago with a restricted palette of about 4 colors (I don't remember which ones) and here was the result:

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

And here is the house itself on the Old Garden Path in Rockport in June, with peonies and irises blooming:

There are things that I like about both of the paintings, so if I were to choose one that I like better, it would be hard. I like the loose, impressionist feel of Windswept , and the harmony that was created by using a limited palette. In "Summer Garden, Rockport", I like that there are little places where the copper peeks through, (hard to see in a photograph) especially in the stone walkway, giving it the burnished orange tone that you can see in some of the walls and rocks in the typical Rockport garden. As a matter of fact, you can see little bits of that orange in the image of the rock wall in the photo above!

So perhaps I should do a third painting of this house, using copper , but limiting my palette and trying to keep it looser and more impressionistic. In other words, kill the detail.

What do you think? Which do you prefer? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

If you are interested in purchasing either of these paintings, please send me an email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com.

"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.

"On a Clear Day you can See Forever", 9x12, oil on panel, trees, water, tiger Lillies, Rockport Massachusetts, Cape Ann, Old Garden Path, Captain's House, MArmion Way, plein air

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"On a Clear Day you can see Forever", 9x12, plein air

The painting above was done during my recent trip to New England.

Once again we stayed at the lovely"Captain's House" on Marmion Way in Rockport, MAssachusetts and the sun came out to greet us after 5 days of dismal rainy weather in Maine. So I took the opportunity to go down to the Old Garden Path and find a spot to paint.

I had always admired the twisting trees that you see at the beginning of the path and so I didn't find a need to go much further down the path to create my painting.

Here's the scene that I decide to paint:

As you can see, there was a strong pattern of light and shadow, and the design, along with the lyrical trees, was what attracted me to the scene. I decided to omit the bench, because I didn't think it was necessary. A couple sailboats went by as I was painting, and so I decided to put one in, instead of the bench, for interest.

My hubby came by while I was painting, and took this photo of me as I painted:

If you ever visit Rockport on Cape Ann in Massachusetts, be sure to take the scenic walk along the ocean at the Old Garden Path. It begins on Marmion Way and winds past lovely ocean "cottages" to the headlands, where you can see the scenic village of Rockport and Motif#1 below.

If you are interested in "On a Clear Day", just send me an email at maryannejacobsen@com.