"Windy Day at Winterthur", 16x16, oil on wrapped canvas, plein air, special sale, Winterthur Museum, gazebo, autumn, colorist art, impressionism, Du Post family

 "Windy Day at Winterthur", 16x16, oil on wrapped canvas

This painting was painted on location on a very windy autumn day in Wilmington, Delaware, at the beautiful Winterthur Museum, former home of the wealthy DuPont family. I recall it being windy because my easel blew over three times that day!

Below is an image of the brick overlook in Daffodil season. 

My favorite time to paint at Winterthur is in the fall when the colors are incredibly vibrant. 

In keeping with the scene, the colors in the painting are vibrant and warm, and the painting would add a sense of light and energy to any  room! It is being sold unframed, but framing options are available for an additional charge. 

Thanks for visiting my blog. I hope you enjoyed the artwork here!

"Bougainvillea Riot", 11x14, oil on panel, Mission San Juan Capistrano, Palette knife painting, colorist art, Maryanne Jacobsen art, The Mission Walker, Edie Littlefield Sundby, Hurricane Irma, Historic California Mission Trail, impressionist art

"Bougainvillea Riot", 11x14, oil on panel

Well we weathered Hurricane Irma without losing much, except our energy and a little patience.

One thing that the storm made me realize, as we boarded up the house and made plans to evacuate was this- I have too many paintings in my house!

I figured that they wouldn't last if they were on the walls and a 150 mph wind gust tore off our roof. They also wouldn't have faired well during a storm surge, especially since we are so close to the Gulf of Mexico. So I had a really hard time trying to figure out what to do with the many paintings that I have in my home. In the end, I vowed to offer some of my older works for sale through my blog after the storm passed.

This is a painting that I did quite a few years ago, in the days when I only used a palette knife. Many collectors prefer my older work to some of my newer stuff, so here's a chance to own one of my older works  that may have missed the cut in terms of shows or galleries.

This is a painting of the courtyard at the incredibly beautiful Mission San Juan Capistrano in California. I have done paintings of this mission many, many times, and the truth is that I never offered this particular painting to the public before because I think I forgot that I had it! Anyway, the storm helped me find it again, lol.

I have been reading "The Mission Walker", by Edie Littlefield Sundby. It is an amazing testament of faith and endurance that this woman, given only three months to live due to gallbladder cancer, refused to accept her diagnosis and went on to not only recover, but to walk the entire 800 mile Historic California Mission Trail! I have always loved the California Missions and have visited half a dozen of them while in California, but this book and this brave woman's story have re-affirmed my own confidence in the peace and serenity that these beautiful places imbibe into the spirits of those who partake of their beauty.

So I am now determined to paint a few more paintings of the missions, and hopefully do justice to their beauty along the way.

Thanks for your prayers during Hurricane Irma. It was a wild ride, but we are stronger in faith and happier to be alive now!

If you are interested in this painting, just send me an email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com.

"Weeping Willow Farm", oil, 22x30 on wrapped canvas, farms, colorist art, impressionism, Maryanne Jacobsen art, weeping willow, Pennsylvania landscapes

"Weeping Willow Farm", oil, 22x30 on wrapped canvas

I painted this a few years back, on a day that I was feeling nostalgic about my old home back in Chester Springs, Pa. The area is beautiful, dotted with rolling hills, horse farms and little springhouses atop babbling brooks. This farm was not far from my own homestead and I often went past it on my daily walks.

I depicted it in late summer, with a field of nasturtium in the foreground, and the willow tree just beginning to shed some leaves in preparation for the colder months.

If you are interested in this painting, please contact me at maryannejacobsen@aol.com, and thanks for visiting my blog!

"An Afternoon at China Cove", 12x12 , oil, California landscapes, MAryanne Jacobsen art, Point Lobos, China Cove, impressionism, colorist art

"An Afternoon at China Cove", 12x12 , oil

Beautiful is the only way I came describe the dreamy waters of China Cove, in Point Lobos. The water in the cove ranges from emerald to teal and falls into a violet blue in the deeper waters. The light in California is soft, calming and slightly cool compared to  what I am used to here in Southwest Florida, where the light is usually quite warm, and harsh  in its brightness.

The seals were out on the beach lazing about on the day that I visited last month. It was helpful to paint there that day, because once you paint in a location, you remember those subtle qualities of the scene, that you would never get in a photograph. There was some really magical reflected light on the rocks near the keyholes- light reflecting off the water.

I painted this with palette knife and brush and I hope you enjoy it!

"Wildflower Meadow", 11x14, oil on board, palette knife, mountain, colorist art, wildflowers

SOLD

"Wildflower Meadow", 11x14, oil on board

This was a color study that I've been working on for the past couple weeks. My goal was to make the color receed as it went back into space. It was painted with a palette knife.

Email me at maryannejacobsen@aol.com if you have any interest in purchasing this color study.

"An Invitation to Rest", 18x24 oil on board, Chanticleer, beautiful gardens, Wayne, Pa. blue adirondeck chairs

"An Invitation to Rest", 18x24 oil on board

Was very inspired by all the beautiful gardens at Chanticleer in Wayne , Pa. Be sure to visit if you are in the Main Line area. YOu won't be disappointed.

This painting can be purchased for $2000, plus shipping. Please send me an email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com if interested.

"Red Maple at Vixen Hill Farm", 9x12, oil on board, impressionism, red maple tree, colorist art, Pennsylvania art, Chester County art, Chester Springs

"Red Maple at Vixen Hill Farm", 9x12, oil on board

I have been loving the weather in Pennsylvania this week and using it as an opportunity to get back into painting outdoors, (en plein air).

Painting everyday on location gives an artist the opportunity to really hone their skill sets. The light changes constantly and one must be on their toes in order to turn out a decent plain air painting.

In this painting, I was attracted to the long dark shadows on the ground and the beautiful light on the red maple in the early morning hours.

I did a quick thumbnail sketch to zone in on the darks and lights in the scene, before attempting to transfer my concept to canvas. 

The lights atop the maple were a beautiful reddish orange color in the morning light and served as  the focal point for the composition. Here's the photo that I took before beginning the painting...

In the end, the only problem were the gnats that started attacking the painting as I finished it up after about an hour and a half. I plucked them out gingerly. Here's the finished painting:

I painted this one with a palette knife exclusively. I hope you enjoyed  seeing my concept from start to finish.

To see more of my paintings, please visit my website at Maryanne Jacobsen Fine Art.

"Under the Tuscan Sun", 12x24, oil on canvas, paintings of Italy, Tuscany, palette knife paintings, impasto, colorist art

"Under the Tuscan Sun", 12x24, oil on canvas

This painting is available through Galerie du Soleil in Naples, Florida.

Please call (239) 417-3450 for more information.

"Springtime in Umbria", 20x24, oil on wrapped canvas, Italian landscapes, Umbria, Tuscany, impasto, palette knife landscapes, colorist art, MAryanne Jacobsen art

"Springtime in Umbria", 20x24, oil on wrapped canvas

New painting in my Italian landscape series. This one has rich color and beautiful pieces of impasto throughout.

Available through Galerie du Soleil.

"Red House, Swim Beach", 6x6 oil on linen- MOnhegan Island, Jaime Wyeth, red house, red famous houses on Monhegan

"Red House, Swim Beach", 6x6 oil on linen
Note: This painting won Second Place in the Fall Member's exhibit at the Venice Art Center!

A few summers ago we visited Monhegan  Island on a hot August day. I couldn't believe that Maine could be so hot, especially some thirty miles out to sea in the cold Atlantic! Well, it was way too hot for me to want to paint outdoors, so instead I dragged all my paint gear around the island shooting photos wherever I went.

The Red House looks out towards the loading dock on the island. It is well known for its distinctive color and over the years has gone through numerous renovations and additions.


From what I understand, the Red House was first immortalized in paint thanks to the Wyeth family, who used to escape the Pennsylvania Chadds Ford heat ('scuse me for laughing!) by going to Maine in the summertime.


Most recently, Jaime Wyeth, son of Andrew Wyeth, spends winter months on the island as well, immersing himself in his paintings. One of those paintings- his depiction of Monhegan's Red House, fetched a whopping $973, 000 at an auction back in 2006. You can see what his painting looks like below:

Since I recently painted on Jaime Wyeth's "Point Lookout Farm" for Plein Air Brandywine Valley, I thought it was kind of cool to realize that there are a couple common interwoven threads in this story.

First off, the very first piece of art that I collected after my marriage in 1971, was a lithograph of the "Hay Ledge" by Andrew Wyeth, Jaime's father. That was  a very special piece that my husband bought for me as a gift after an out of town business trip forced us to be separated for a while. Secondly, I lived in the Brandywine Valley area for most of my life and have collected Wyeth prints for the better part of my married life as well. So painting a scene immortalized by the son of one of my favorite artists, at Monhegan Island- a location that I happen to love,( even though I can't live there!), and having just recently having had the honor to paint at Jaime Wyeth's own residence off of Smiths Bridge Road, just made it all seem serendipitous that I should paint this scene again.

Here's my first painting of the Red House, and I hope you enjoyed learning more about the painting and thanks very much for visiting my blog!

Plein air versus studio! "Country Road, Take me Home", 9x12, oil on linen

"Country Road, Take me Home", 9x12, oil on linen

I decided to take my plein air painting of the "Cornfields at Granogue", and use that and my reference photo to conduct a little experiment.

Over the years, many collectors have fallen in love with my work, as a result of the colors and palette knife work that I used in my first  few years of painting. Over the past few years, however, I have moved more towards the representational, replacing many of my fauvist colors with colors that more accurately describe the subject at hand. I also began favoring more brushwork in my paintings, as I felt there were more ways to be descriptive with a brush, while the palette knife limits how you can render certain subjects, like clouds or cotton.

So today I decided to recreate the "Cornfields at Granogue", using a palette knife and the palette of colors that I used to use exclusively- which is after the Cape Cod School or Hensche method. This was my reference photo:

I think the thing that hampered this experiment of "which is better", is the fact that the first painting was exclusively plein air- it was finished on site and therefore had more immediacy and freshness to it than the studio as piece, as well as truer color.

On the other hand, I was able to be more thoughtful about the trees in the background in the studio piece and they are probably more accurate than the plein air painting for the simple reason that by the time I got to them that day the light had changed dramatically.

The cornstalks in the foreground were definitely in shadow when I began the painting that morning. Yet I was aware that I was starting to "Chase the light" by the end of the 2 hour session, adding more and more light to those foreground cornstalks and thus rendering the light direction confusing.

So overall, both methods of working have their pros and cons, with different results and I feel that this was a good experiment in thinking about things that will help me paint better in the future.

Would love to hear your comments on which of the two paintings you like better and why!

Thanks for visiting my blog.

"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.

"Eventide" 12x24, oil on panel, eucalyptus trees, California impressionist art, California art, sunsets, colorist art

SOLD

"Eventide" 12x24, oil on panel

I definitely left my heart in California- among the ice plants and cypress groves and majestic parades of towering eucalyptus trees! I can't wait to go back!

In the meantime, I'll have to be satisfied with painting from photos of our vacation.

"Patterns of Light", 12x16, oil on board

SOLD

"Patterns of Light", 12x16, oil on board- sold through Galerie du Soleil

This was painted a few weeks ago and I forgot to post it!

"Walking to San Gimignano", 12x16, oil on board, Tuscany, paintings of San Gimignano, vineyards, Tuscan scenes, impasto

SOLD

"Walking to San Gimignano", 12x16, oil on board

I haven't done one of these palette knife, colorist paintings in a long while, and yesterday I just felt like letting the paint fly. It was fun to push the color in this Tuscan scene.

Note: You can click on the image to see the impasto better.

"Walking to Canyon Road", 14x11, oil on linen, southwest art, Sant Fe, New Mexico Bed and breakfast, Inn on the Alameda, adobe architecture

SOLD

"Walking to Canyon Road", 14x11, oil on linen

Canyon Road in Santa Fe , New Mexico is the ultimate destination for artists and art collectors  around the country. If you want to stay close to Canyon Road, I highly recommend the Inn on the Alameda, a lovely B&B at the north end of Canyon Rd.

This is my second time painting this Inn so  I bet you can tell that I like it! This painting was painted primarily with a palette knife and has thick paint throughout.

To see more of my paintings, please visit my website at Maryanne Jacobsen Fine Art.

"A Morning at Snook Haven", 12x16, oil on board by Maryanne Jacobsen, plein air, Myakka River, river scenes, Snook Haven, Old Florida

"A Morning at Snook Haven", 12x16, oil on board

Today the Light Chasers painted at Snook Haven, an Old Florida style park on the Myakka River that has canoeing, a restaurant, a stage featuring live music and , of course Snook.

Whether of not the snook were biting is beyond me as I was too busy painting the river scene below:

 I finished most of it onsite, but tightened it up a bit when I got home. You can see that I realized that I'd misjudged the lighted portion of the river towards the top and adjusted it at home once I saw the photo of the scene:

It was an especially great day, for two reasons!


Number one: Fellow artist Terry Mason and I got to see our friend Jane Sither again! We had met Jane at the Calvin Liang workshop back in March and Jane traveled quite a distance to paint with our group today! Jane, we are so happy you were there! Please join us again very soon!!!!!!!!!!




Jane is a fabulous painter! She adores plein air painting and her dedication is obvious. She nailed these two canoes in only two hours!

After we'd all painted we had some lunch at The Snook Haven restaurant. Although the service was slow, it didn't stop us from having some fun! Man, not only do we paint well: we dance better than the Broad Street Mummers , too!

                                                                                                    Here's the group of us relieved to have finally rec'd our lunch. Diane Mannion is sitting next to me and she just took the Top Prize at The Women Painter's of the Southeast first annual juried show for her painting, "Mahogany Woman". I was so happy to see Diane receive this award last Saturday night at The Course Gallery in Jacksonville!

The second exciting thing that happened today is that I am now the proud owner of an original Terry Mason painting! Terry is a wonderful artist, totally committed to plein air and representational art, and the fearless leader of the Suncoast Plein Air painters, aka The Light Chasers! Terry painted the same scene that I did from a different angle, and you can see she did a great job with that old boat they use in Terry's river cruises! (It's a different Terry, of course!) :

I love everything about this painting and it now joins my small collection of art of artists I admire, which includes Hodges Soileau, Clayton Beck, Julie Hanson and some of favorite fellow daily painters including Dreama Tolle Perry, Karen Brunson, Julie Oliver and Karen Margulis!

I just love days like this!

"Tall Trees, Spanish Point plein air study" 12x16, oil on board by Maryanne Jacobsen, plein air, alla prima, Florida art, Tall trees, Florida arbor

"Tall Trees, Spanish Point plein air study" 12x16, oil on board

I painted this morning with the Sun Coast plein air group again. It was a gorgeous day but the mosquitoes were very nasty. I think I have about 25 bites on me! I was not as pleased with this one as I was with last week's plein air attempt, but practice makes perfect and I am going to keep at it while the weather in Florida is beautiful and the temperature is bearable enough to paint outside.

This was the tree mass that I was painting:
I loved the contrast of light and shadow masses, but as the painting progressed, I'm afraid I lost some of the original intent. I may need to add something darker to my palette other than ultramarine blue and violet. It just doesn't seem to do the job on a painting with this much contrast. Would love to hear anyone else's suggestions on this one. I have indigo in my paint box, but I'm afraid to use it! So dark!

Historic Spanish Point is a very lovely place. It is a horticulturist's amd environmentalist's delight, and has a very long history. The grounds border Sarasota Bay, and include a sunken garden, a butterfly garden, old boats and a boat house, a few historic cottages, a shell museum, a chapel, and an Indian burial mound. I wanted to paint at the chapel, but the bugs were too nasty. Next time I'll bring Deet! I hope we get to paint there again soon! Thank-you Lord for such a lovely day!

This painting will be included in the upcoming show of the Venice Plein air painters in January.


a Painting a day, Daily painters, original art , affordable art, impressionist paintings,plein air paintings, Spanish Point oil painting,Sarasota Florida plein air,paintings of trees,Florida Art.>,plein air landscapes, palette knife landscapes, plein air study.

The Old Springhouse, 16x12, oil on board by Maryanne Jacobsen, paintings of old buildings, light and shadow, springhouse paintings

"The Old Springhouse", 16x12, oil on board

I have been so busy lately that I have found it hard to post regularly on my blog. I actually have quite a few new paintings that I have not had time to even post! Hopefully things are getting a bit calmer and I'll get back into a more regular routine soon!

This is a painting of an old springhouse that was up the road from my last house in Chester Springs, Pa. The building may be old but it has a tremendous amount of character, and with the dappled light cascading over it, I knew immediately that I wanted to paint it. I have painted a smaller study of it before, but this one I took my time on. Here's the smaller study that I did a while back:

In case you are not familiar with what a springhouse is, here's a definition from Wikipedia: A spring house, or springhouse, is a small building used for refrigeration once commonly found in rural areas before the advent of electric refrigeration. It is usually a one-room building constructed over the source of a spring. The water of the spring maintains a constant cool temperature inside the spring house throughout the year. In settings where no natural spring is available, another source of natural running water, such as a small creek or diverted portion of a larger creek, may be used. The main use of a spring house is for the long-term storage of food that would otherwise spoil, such as meat, fruit or dairy products.

a Painting a day, Daily painters, original art , affordable original art, home decor art, colorist art,contemporary impressionism, art blogs, impressionist Pennsylvania landscapes,plein air paintings,Maryanne Jacobsen paintings, colorful Chester County paintings,paintings of springhouses in Pennsylvania.

Dog Day Afternoon, paintings of dogs, beach umbrellas, the Gulf of Mexico

Sold

"Dog Day Afternoon", oil on linen

This is another painting that sold through the wonderful folks at Collectors Gallery and Framery in downtown Venice. I painted it about a year ago and right before the horrendous oil disaster struck on the Gulf of Mexico. I have been reading over the weekend that there are rumors that the so-called capped Deepwater Horizon well is leaking again. I certainly hope it is not true. There are way too many disasters hitting the planet these days, and I can only hope and pray that the Japanese disaster will be the last for awhile!

Speaking of which, if you have not checked out all the fabulous paintings at The Daily Paintworks' Challenge for Japan, please do so! Last I looked, about 150 paintings were being auctioned off for the benefit of the Japanese tsunami victims, including my own enty , "Bodacious Gossips". It's a wonderful opportunity to purchase an original work of art, while also supporting a very worthwhile cause! You can read more about my own entry here.

I have not been painting much lately. I lost my beautiful mother to brain cancer on the day of the Japanese earthquake. I believe that she is definitely now at peace and in a better place. I hope to resume my daily painting soon. Thanks for reading.