"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.

"Rocky Cove", 16x20 , oil on canvas, Cape Ann paintings, seascapes, Rockport, Massachusetts, Impressionism, rocks, Atlantic, Maryanne Jacobsen art

"Rocky Cove", 16x20 , oil on canvas

Sometimes I enjoy painting a scene so much that I can't wait to try it again! In this case, it was the scene overlooking Gap Cove in Rockport that I wanted to try again. I painted it en plein air when I was there a couple weeks ago, and so the scene was fresh in my mind.

Once again I decided to make the pretty house on Gap Head Road my focal point, and I decided to define the rocks a little more carefully than I had done the first time.

I will concede that painting en plein air is challenging because you must work very fast to capture the elements, and retain the original concept even as the light is changing. The benefit, however, is that the artist does not have a chance to mull over decisions regarding color mixing, value, composition- anything! You either nail it or you don't! That is why plein air work can either look incredibly fresh and spontaneous, or else be a disaster!

In the case of the painting that I did that day, I was very happy with it, so I thought it would be fun to try a bigger version. What I noticed was that I found myself overthinking decisions that I had made instantaneously the first time I'd painted the scene. I found myself playing around with the greenery in the foreground to the extent that it made the foliage seem more strained and conspicuous than the first time I'd painted it. I also had too many color choices, whereby I had substantially  limited my palette when I'd painted it that day on location.

In short, I have slowly but surely become an avid proponent of plein air painting, as a result of understanding its benefits. It has taken me 6 years to get comfortable with painting on location, and I will admit that once you get there, painting in the studio is always a little bit of a disappointment. Without the sound of the seagulls screeching in the background, and the waves lapping the rocks, the music that I normally play while painting didn't quite do it for me any more. Without the warm sun playing over my shoulders and the crisp blue sky above me, the mixture of light sources in the studio become almost confusing.

In short, although I was somewhat happy with this painting, I know the first painting was better even though it only took me one hour and this one took me 5 hours. I can't wait until the heat of this Florida summer breaks somewhat, so I can get back outdoors and paint another tiny piece of  God's glorious creation. Thanks for reading.

"Straitsmouth Cove, Rockport"-plein air, 9x12, oil on panel, Rockport Massachusetts, Cape Ann, New England seascapes, impressionism, rocks, Atlantic Ocean, American Women Artists,Maryanne JAcobsen fine art

"Straitsmouth Cove, Rockport"-plein air,  9x12, oil on panel

I recently attended the American Women Artists Show at the Addison Gallery in Orleans, Massachusetts. Cape Cod is a wonderful place for an art exhibit as there is beauty everywhere and lovely shops and art galleries throughout Cape Cod.

A very special thank-you to Helen Addison, of the Addison Gallery for hosting the AWA show. The exhibit was breathtaking and I was very honored to be included in this prestigious national show for the second consecutive year. The show will run through September 15th, so if you are on the Cape, please stop by and view this magnificent show. There are still many lovely pieces available for purchase, too!

After returning to the Boston area, we spent some time on Cape Ann, in Rockport, long known by impressionist artists for its incredible light and dramatic scenery. My husband and I return here every summer to enjoy the best weather and scenery that New England has to offer!

The weather was more than cooperative this past week and I was able to do some plein air painting every single day. The painting above was done a few days ago at Straitsmouth Cove, right off of Marmion way in Rockport. I was attracted by the beautiful cool blues in the ambient light and used the house on the hill as a focal point.

A perfect plein air morning!

"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 View", plein air field study, 9x12-Cape Ann, Rockport, waves, rocks, seascape with lighthouse

"Thatcher Island View", plein air field study, 9x12

This is the second painting that I did of the Thatcher Island Lighthouses on Cape ann. It's amazing how one can paint the same view at the same time of day and still see a completely different scene. Compared to the day before, there was a strong light on the upper left hand side of the water and yet the rocks were more golden and less orange. See below:

The wonderful thing about painting water is that nothing is ever the same. The moment is spontaneous, when a wave crests and falls, and one must use their memory to record it on the canvas. I only wish I had had more time in that lovely place to hone my wave-painting skills.

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

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"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!