"New Horizons" 11x14, oil, Rockport Massachusetts, fishing boats, Bearskin Neck, nautical, paintings of boats, harbor, Cape Ann

 "New Horizons" 11x14, oil

This fishing boat can frequently be seen in the little harbor of Bearskin Neck in Rockport, Massachusetts.

I was attracted to the contrast of light on the boat against the dark background of the seawall behind it.

I hope to someday return to Cape Ann and Rockport. We used to stay there every summer for many years until our favorite Bed and Breakfast, The CAptain's House was sold about 5 years back.

If you would like information about this painting, please email me at maryannejacobsen@aol.com.

"Grey Morning, Cortez fishing village", 11x14, oil on panel, paintings of boats, fog, old fishing boats, Cortez, Florida

"Grey Morning, Cortez fishing village", 11x14, oil on panel

For plein air painters in southwest  Florida, the tiny fishing village of Cortez is a little jewel tucked into the larger town of Bradenton on the Gulf of Mexico.  With a rich history, the tiny maritime town is only a few blocks long. Dozens of old fishing vessels bob up and town on the sleepy waters of the intracoastal and the ever popular Starfish and Company restaurant does a booming business during snowbird season.

Recently I spent the day there during a wonderful workshop with the incredibly talented plein air artist, Mark Boedges. We watched Mark paint on a foggy morning and by afternoon the skies had cleared and the dozen or so artists attending the workshop were free to paint on their own. I'll post the painting that I did in the afternoon over the next day or so, but here is the one I was really proud of, because it captured the atmosphere of the fog lifting that morning.

Mark has a way of softening his edges that is truly remarkable, and every single stroke that he puts down is very thoughtful. I think passive learning is very important for every artist, and the experience of watching Mark paint this same scene gave me the courage to try it as well. You can visit Mark's website here, to see his gorgeous paintings.

"Afternoon Light, Shem's Creek", 9x12, oil on board, paintings of boats, Shem's Creek, Mount Pleasant Island, Charleston, South Carolina, marshes

"Afternoon Light, Shem's Creek", 9x12, oil on board
(Note: painted with a palette knife, click on image for a better view of the impasto.)

I have not been painting regularly for the last 6 months. Life sometimes gets in the way of our dreams and aspirations, and unfortunately I have lacked the ability to pick up where I left off 6 months ago.

I recall that when I regularly attended ballet class some years back, my technique and overall physical condition improved dramatically. There was a saying amongst the dancers that if you hadn't been to class in a month, it would take you two months to get back to where you were. In other words, it takes twice as long to get back to the point where you last were.

I think art is probably the same way. Not painting regularly has taken its toll on my confidence level, that's for sure. I know that drawing and  painting from life are what is now needed to recoup my confidence and joy in painting. Easier said then done, especially the painting from life part, as the Florida summer has already begun it's almost unbearable oppression on anyone who is outdoors for more than 10 minutes.

Anyway, last fall I was juried into the American Impressionist Society's annual exhibit, and to celebrate my success I decided to take a workshop with premier impressionist Kenn Backhaus in Charleston. The whole week was amazing, the show (my juried painting sold the first night!) was lovely and I met many new friends during the workshop. On the last day of the workshop we painted at Shem's Creek on Mount Pleasant Island just outside of Charleston. It was an artist's paradise- big shrimp boats, golden marshes and glorious sunsets.

My last plein air painting of the day was of a meandering marsh that led right into the inlet where some old boats were moored. This was the painting that I did there back in October and you can read more about it here.

I love how different it is to paint on location. You can practically breathe life into the painting when the scene is right there in front of you! Unfortunately, the scene was not right in front of me when I painted the same scene last night in a horizontal format. But I tried to recall my thoughts about the color of the day and the  warm light that lay across the marshes, as I painted the new one. I used a palette knife to paint the entire thing so I wouldn't get too hung up on all the details in the boats.

I was reminded of a bible verse as I cleaned my brushes last night- "Do not despise small beginnings", and so even though I feel as though I am starting to learn to paint all over again, at least I did it. And you have no idea how many beginnings have failed me these past weeks!

So onwards and upwards. I'll keep trying, and hopefully my confidence will return and my work will begin to improve again.

Thanks for reading.

"No crabs today!"plein air, 11x9, oil on board, boats, fishing baots, snow crab legs, Osprey, Florida

"No crabs today!"plein air, 11x9, oil on board
(Note: Click on the photo to see the image better.)

This morning I went to Bay Preserve to paint with my friends. It was a zoo! I think the entire Sarasota County crew team was there, and with about 100 high school kids, boats going in and out of the water, no toilet paper in the bathrooms, and way too many cars going in and out near where I was painting, I decided to leave after about an hour of frustration.

I made my way over to Snook Haven, only to find the situation worse! There was a cop directing traffic and tram lines set up on River Rd, shuttling people (mostly Snow Birds, of course) to the newly renovated water front restaurant,which had always been a quiet, sleepy place whenever I had been there in the past. Bummer #2!

Disappointed but not willing to give up, I finally ended up at Blackburn Point, at the bridge that goes over to Casey Key. What luck! "Captain Jake", the snow crab boat was there, and with the water and air very still, it didn't budge even an inch for two and a half hours while I painted!

Here's a photo of my great spot but PSSST! Please don't tell anyone else about it!

I left a lot of the detail out on the boat, but I intend to go back there and try my hand at this one again, and maybe do a studio piece from it as well.

So happy it turned into a great plein air day in spite of the way it started!

"The Red House, Monhegan Island", 14x11, oil on canvas

SOLD

"The Red House, Monhegan Island", 14x11, oil on canvas
Note: You can click on the image for better viewing.

Two 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 rennovations and additions.

Over the weekend it was so cold here in Florida that I looked for something warm to paint, and found it in an unlikely spot! You guessed it- Maine! Here's my reference photo for the scene:

I took out some of the boats and figures in order to simplify the scene. I suggested the lobster nets and the tiny house across the water on the little island of Manana but tried to keep it simple so the eye would focus on the red house.

To learn more about Monhegan Island you can go here. To see my painting of Fish Beach Road on Monhegan you can go here. The painting took a second place ribbon last year at The Englewood Art Center.

"Old Boat, New Day", 12x16, oil on panel, old boat, fishing boat, Venice Florida, North Jetty Venice Florida, paintings of boats,

"Old Boat, New Day", 12x16, oil on panel

Last week my plein air group painted at the North jetty in Venice. I did a small 8x10 and was happy with it. So yesterday I decided to go back there and do a larger painting.

As luck woul have it,  a fisherman was just bringing in his boat as I was setting up! I was so excited! The boat was old and had tons of character. I kept hoping he was not docking the boat just to go to the bathroom or something! But the old boat stayed there for the next two hours and so I worked quickly to put it in.

It turned around a couple times in the current, but not before I had a chance to capture it.

The painting has lots of texture in it and I was pleased with how it turned out. Just goes to show you, sometimes returning to the same spot really helps. In this case, I felt that I had a better chance to study the tree mass to the left which had been a little vague in the first painting.

"The Colors of Venice", 8x10, oil on Raymar panel, paintings of Venice italy, canal, gondola, boats

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"The Colors of Venice", 8x10, oil on Raymar panel

Well, Chicago may be Frank Sinatra's kind of town, but I'll take Venice anyday! As an artist that loves color, what could be more heavenly than a summer day on one of Venice's many canals!

This painting is already sold, but you may also like this one!

"Purple Haze", 10x8, oil on panel, paintings of baots, sailboats, colorful boats, riviera boats, purple

"Purple Haze", 10x8, oil on panel

I made a conscious effort to make sure that the drawing on this painting was correct. After watching Calvin Liang's demo last week, it re-enforced to me the neccesity of good drawing skills in order to have a successful painting. So I took my time with this painting and carefully sketched out the compostion in a sketch book. That actually gave me a lot of confidence because there's a lot of perspective and foreshortening going on in this scene.

Then I did exactly what Calvin did, I sketched the whole composition out again on my panel with soft charcoal before beginning the painting. I do think the painting would have been much less successful if I had not taken these initial steps. I also tried my best to soften edges, as I saw him do. I was happy with the result and the photo does not do justice to the painting.

If you read this blog, please drop me a comment about what you think my painting style is predominantly- realism, expressionism or impressionism. I am just curious what you think so please let me hear from you!

"Early Morning Solitude", 36x48, oil on board, paintings of sailboats, Florida sunrises, sunsets, impressionist art

SOLD
"Early Morning Solitude", 36x48, oil on board

This is one of two commissioned paintings that I did recently for The Ritz Carlton Hotel in Naples Florida. I had to buy a new easel in order to accommodate such a large support , so I bought a St. Remy studio easel. You can read reviews about the easel here, if you are looking for a large easel that can accommodate very large supports. The down side to this easel is that the assembly instructions were very difficult to understand and it took my husband and I two days to put it together.

The painting was done with a palette knife and took a lot of paint! Then came the drying time and the problem of shipping! I'd love to hear how other artists ship large works as I found Fed Ex very difficult to deal with when I shipped this. They did not have a box large enough to fit the painting and insisted that it be crated. Am happy this is done and am looking forward to seeing it hung!

To see more of my original paintings, please visit my official website here.

"Solitude"-12x9, oil on Raymar panel-paintings of boats, sunrise, atmospheric paintings

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"Solitude", 12x9, oil on Raymar panel

I have been struggling for quite some time now to get comfortable with myself as my art has been evolving into a less colorful and more sedate style of representational art. My recent studies with David Leffel have convinced me that I don't want to just be known as a palette knife artist whose style borders on fauvism. Having not had the luxury of a formal art education, I often have questioned the validity of my art.

So as I struggle to find my voice- my NEW voice- please bear with me.

This painting was done with a brush in colors that were very deliberately muted. I had toned the canvas first with_wait- you won't believe this- dark muddy gray!My goal was to create an atmospheric effect- the kind one feels at the end of an old day or at the promise of a new one. Please tell me if I have achieved a semblance of what I set out to do here as it was much harder for me than smashing a palette knife laden with thick pure paint in a haphazard way across the surface of a support.

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Vencie Florida dog beach painting, impressionistic beach umbrella painting, contemporary impressions , paintings of pottery, inexpensive original oil paintings, Southwest art

Tranquil Sunset-La Jolla

SOLD
"Tranquil Sunset- La Jolla", 8x10, oil on linen panel

I did this last night after a couple failed efforts to create something on canvas that I actually liked. This one was going really well for a while, and then I got back into my indecision stage. Should I use a palette knife or brush? Should I use medium or Resingel? Should I paint the foreground as a colorist or a tonalist? A realist or an impressionist? Who the heck am I anyway? The questions about choices and my own insecurity as an artist were more than I could handle at 10:30 PM so I decided to call this done, though it could probably be improved upon in many ways. For me, trying to improve a painting on a different day than when it was started is usually a recipe for disaster. I'm not sure why- perhaps it's because I'm so moody. I was pretty down yesterday and hence I was painting in a highly charged emotional state. Today I feel kind of tired and low energy, but in a positive mental state nonetheless. (Go figure.) I think it would have been a disaster to try to go back into this one in a totally different mindset, so I'm leaving it alone.

Funny how experimenting with different artistic styles has left me feeling confused and uncertain. I think my best pieces are my colorist palette knife pieces, but that type of work doesn't sell here in Southwest Florida, so over the pasy year I have been trying to experiment with different styles and palettes and the result has been horrifying at times. Thanks to all my collectors who have been hanging in there with me. One of these days, I'll figure out what I want to be when I grow up.