"The Gift Basket", 16x20, orchids, fruit, fruit basket, still life, eggs, wine, Leonard Cohen, MAryanne JAcobsen art

"The Gift Basket", 16x20

This is a re-do of a painting that I did awhile back. Not sure if I'm happy with it but I did enjoy painting it. Listened to the Essential Leonard Cohen CD while I painted. Now that man was a true artist!

If you are interested in this work, please contact me at maryannejacobsen@aol.com.

"Esperanza Roses and Watermelon", 16x16, oil on wrapped canvas, esperanza rose, hybrid rose, white, pink roses, watermelon, fruit, impressionism , still life with watermelon, Maryanne JAcobsen fine Art

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"Esperanza Roses and Watermelon", 16x16, oil on wrapped canvas

I recently discovered a new hybrid rose variety that I absolutely love. They are called esperanza roses.

They are delightfully pink on the top and then have shades of cream and apple green on the petals. I picked up a bunch of the in the supermarket and painted them recently in a green vase which i converted into a pitcher for artistic reasons. The watermelon was a nice compliment to the set-up and I was really happy with the way the painting turned out.

The painting is available through Galerie du Soleil in Naples, Florida. You can contact them at (239)417-3450 if you are interested in purchasing this painting.

Thanks for looking and happy New Year to all my collectors and artist friends!

"Poolside", 18x24, oil on canvas, paintings of pools, fruit , flowers, pink roses, Florida gardens

"Poolside", 18x24, oil on canvas

I've been taking a perspective class recently from a fabulous Russian -trained artist . The class has been hard for me since I failed geometry in high school. Here's a visual note from Wednesday's class:

My artist friends and I have been having a really good conversation on Facebook about how much perspective an artist really needs in order to be a successful painter.

I especially loved the comment by my friend and fellow plein air painter Diane Mannion who wrote the following,  "Linear perspective: The very words themselves seem to strike terror into students, it's no wonder when they hear such terms as 'multiple vanishing points' and 'conical projection'. Well, just forget them, all that is necessary for a landscape painter to have, is a sense of perspective and an eye for the obvious. Just remember these simple rules:
*Objects diminish in size as they recede from the viewer.
*The horizon is always at the eye-level of the viewer.
*Parallel lines on such things as buildings tend to converge in distance, usually on the horizon.
Whole books have been written about the laws of perspective but as with legal laws, you need only enough knowledge of them to be able to keep out of trouble."
-Trevor Chamberlain (OIL PAINTING PURE AND SIMPLE)

Thanks so much Diane! Your words gave me the courage to paint this scene without measuring a single thing!  And whether right or wrong, it was painted with passion and energy, (and a little sweat.)

"Three Roses, a Lime and a Love Letter", 6x6 oil on panel, roses, lime, love letter, small paintings

"Three Roses, a Lime and a Love Letter", 6x6 oil on panel

Sometimes we just have to take the sweet with the sour and the thorns with the petals. It is a testament to the human spirit that we are able to weather the ups and downs of life, and even grow from negative experiences. This is called resilience.

According to Psychology Today, "Resilience is that ineffable quality that allows some people to be knocked down by life and come back stronger than ever. Rather than letting failure overcome them and drain their resolve, they find a way to rise from the ashes."

I suppose that these are some of the things that were on my mind when I created this little set-up and painted this little painting today.