"Petals and Coffee", 11x14, oil on linen, impressionist florals, roses, serenity, cherries, coffee, MAryanneJacobsen fine art, Impressionism

 "Petals and Coffee", 11x14, oil on linen

I am happy to say that this impressionist floral was juried into the American Impressionist Society's National Exhibit last fall, and has also just been juried into the American Women Artists annual online exhibit!

I enjoyed telling the story of these roses through paint strokes while evoking a peaceful atmosphere through the softly painted background. 

At the last minute, I decided to add the cherries to add more color harmony to the foreground.

For more information about this painting, please send me an email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com.

"Coffee Break", 12x9, oil on panel, coffee, chocolate, still life, painting ellipses, paint study, Ghirardelli chocolate, kitchen art, food art, kitchen decor

 "Coffee Break", 12x9, oil on panel

Lately, I have decided to work on improving my drawing skills, since drawing is such an integral part of painting well.

Today, I wanted to work on ellipses, because they are such an important part of still life painting. Actually, they are an important part of all styles of painting!

Take a lake filled with waterlilies, for instance. You simply cannot paint those waterlilies successfully unless you can paint an ellipse and understand how they change with perspective. Here is one of Claude Monet's famous waterlily paintings:

Notice how the shape of the flower changes as it goes back in perspective.

So I set up a still life with some ellipses in it, and worked on it all day. Yes indeed those things are hard to paint accurately! (At least for me.)

I love the little French sugar bowl and lid that my daughter-in-law gave me a while back, and so I included that in the picture as well as some Ghirardelli chocolate! Yum.

In the end, I think I made some progress in painting ellipses from an overhead perspective.

Maybe, I'll work on some water lilies next....

This painting is available through my website, under the "little gems" collection. Or send me an email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com if interested in purchasing a little coffee and chocolate.

"Coffee, Mohair and Moi", 16x20, oil on gallery-wrapped canvas, coffee, paintings for coffee shops, paintings of women in hats, beautiful women, collectible art, coffee break

"Coffee, Mohair and Moi", 16x20, oil on gallery-wrapped canvas

This painting was recently featured at the Haggin Museum's stunning show, "Full Sun, American Women Artists Illuminate the Haggin Museum".

It was an honor to have one of my paintings hang in a museum amongst the like of Henry Watrous, Mary Cassatt, William Merrit Chase, Albert Bierstadt and other greats!

We were asked to use one of the paintings of the old Master's as an inspiration for a new work of our own, and I chose Watrous' Sophistication as the vehicle for my inspiration.

Check it out:

In my essay for the exhibit, I wrote the following:
 In “Coffee, Mohair, and Moi”, a modern-day fashionista exudes perfume, glamour, and quiet sophistication as she sips her latte in a coffee shop. Seemingly overdressed for a coffee break, one wonders why she is there. Her ensemble indicates that it has been thoughtfully put together with incredible care, and even her manicured fingernails are color-coordinated to demonstrate her fashion savoir-faire. This painting was inspired by Henry Wilson Waltrous’s “Sophistication”, and is an attempt to portray his subject in a contemporary light. Painted about a century ago, in “Sophistication” Waltrous employed dark-colored clothing in his femme fatale against a light, superficial background. In the modern interpretation, the artist chose light-colored clothing against a darker background to demonstrate more starkly the contrast of the times. The title Waltrous gave his painting for its exhibition at the Nation Academy of Design in 1908 was “A Cup of Tea, a Cigarette, and She” - implying the presence of an unseen male admirer. The modern painting’s title reflects a play on words as well, reflecting the self- indulgence and personal absorption often attributed to American women of today, hence the use of the word ‘Moi’ in the title.

This painting is framed in a gorgeous designer floater frame and is now available. Please contact  me at maryannejacobsen@aol.com, if you would like more information on this work.

"Dark Roast with Cherries", 11x14, oil on oil paper, framed, award-winning paintings, color, Maryanne Jacobsen art, floral, coffee, roses, cherries

"Dark Roast with Cherries", 11x14, oil on oil paper, framed

I was very happy to receive a Third place ribbon at the reception last week at The Visual Art Center's "Color" exhibit.

The Visual Art Center is located in Punta Gorda and offers many wonderful classes, workshops and exhibits throughout the year. Check it out here.

This painting is available. Please contact me at maryannejacobsen@aol.com, for more info about the painting.

"Dark Roast with Cherries", 11x14 on Canson oil paper, paintings of roses, impressionism, Maryanne Jacobsen art, cherries, coffee, coffee break, morning coffee

"Dark Roast with Cherries", 11x14 on Canson oil paper

My old computer crashed last week, taking with it the photo editing program that I have used for years. I now am using a MAC, but have no idea how to edit or if the photos of my paintings look the way they are supposed to or not! This image looks dark to me, but I don't know how it looks to others! Very frustrating.

Anyhow, this painting was a nice break for me to do before I start a couple commissions next week. I love painting flowers and especially roses, and the Canson art paper is so much fun to paint on! Unfortunately, it's a little trickier to frame, but it can be done. I think this painting would look great with a linen border and that is probably how I'll frame it.

This painting won a second place Award in The Visual Art Center's "Color" exhibit. Please email me at maryannejacobsen if you have any interest in this work.