St. Augustine- "Bottom of Bridge Street", 20x16, oil on linen

"St. Augustine, Bottom of Bridge Street"- 16x20 , oil on linen

This is a view of the doorway into the courtyard of The Sanchez House, in St. Augustine, a lovely old historic house that was built by Jose Simeon Sanchez, one of the Spanish colony of Florida's first and foremost statesmen. Crafted of coquina stone, the house hosted the prosperous and distinguished Sanchez family until the 1950's.

The gesture of the bougainvillea (which is the focal point of the painting) directs the eye towards the palm tree, which leads the eye to the little sailboat. Hence the viewer's eye is led through the composition in a circular fashion.

Bridge Street in St. Augustine is one of my favorite streets. It has a couple of real old quirky homes on it with wooden doors that just seem to scream out, "Paint Me! Paint Me!"

So I did just that. I painted this old wooden door, set in stone at the bottom of Bridge Street on the site of the old Sanchez House, and crowned with a garland of bougainvillea for good measure. I happened upon this gorgeous scene while out for an early morning bike ride while visiting St. Augustine. The camera was set on some sort of weird setting, but no matter. I was determined to paint the scene regardless of my lousy photography!

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If you would like to purchase this painting, please contact Leah at Collector's Gallery and Framery at 941-488-3029 for purchase information, or send me and email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com.

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The Getaway Cottage-Florida cracker style house

SOLD
"The Getaway Cottage", 9x12, oil on wrapped canvas

I visited St. Augustine this week and it seems I never get tired of the quirky architecture in that ancient city. You can pass a gorgeous Victorian mansion on one corner, turn down a side street and be greeted by an old ramshackle house with a tin roof . The main style of architecture in the historic district was strongly influenced by the Spanish for a time. The later colonial period brought the architecture of colonial America into play, and the two and three story wooden houses with the second story porches is the style that I most readily connect with St. Augustine. Whatever style you prefer- St. Augustine homes are old-very old- and like fine wine and mature women, their facades are filled with character and a comfortable familiarity that borders on déjà vu.

Even though the heat was practically unbearable this week, (96 degrees with very high humidity) I got out and painted for a few hours yesterday. This cute little house with a tin roof and wooden shutters was the result. I think it looks inviting, don't you?

This was painted with palette knife only and has thick passages of paint. To see the impasto better, check out the photo below, in which I photographed the painting outside and the impasto shows clearly: (You can also click on the photo to see it better)

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a Painting a day, Daily painters, original art , affordable original art, home decor art, colorist art,contemporary impressionism, art blogs, Saint Augustine paintings,Florida historical paintings,Maryanne Jacobsen paintings, impasto paintings of Florida.