"First Light, La Jolla Shores, 11x14, oil on linen, La Jolla shoreline, La Jolla California, Sunrise, paintings of La Jolla, lifeguard station, beauty of California

"First Light, La Jolla Shores, 11x14, oil on linen

Artists talk about capturing an "Ahah!" moment. I recall feeling that excitement of discovering an ahah moment during our last trip to California. My husband and I often stay in La Jolla because of the early morning walks that we so love to take along the shoreline. One one such morning, it was pretty early and as the sun broke through the horizon, it cast a beautiful light on the Lifeguard Tower. The rest of the landscape was still dark, only the Lifeguard station and the distant waves became lit up like firecrackers.

Here's the photo that I took:

We usually start our walk down by the caves, and here's a photo of the trees over the caves that morning:

 When things go back to "normal", I can't wait to return to California to see my loved ones, take beautiful scenic walks, and paint, of course.

"First Light, Rockport Harbor", 12x16, oil on panel, paintings of Rockport Massachusetts, Maryanne JAcobsen art, Rockport harbor, sunrise, baots, clouds

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"First Light, Rockport Harbor", 12x16, oil on panel

My husband and I discovered Cape Ann back in 2011 and have gone back since almost every single year. I think it is my favorite place in the entire world. The light is like no other and there is so much charm in the seaside villages that dot the North Shore peninsula. Over the years it has become home to hundreds , if not thousands of famous painters, who also discovered it's charms and chose to either live there, or escape there.

When we visit there, we have developed a habit of getting up just before sunrise, grabbing some coffee and then head over to Rockport harbor to watch the sunrise. It's always a beautiful sight, and afterwards, we get to watch the fishman loading their boats with bait, as the gulls circle around, waiting for breakfast. Then they head out, to catch the delicious fish that New England is famous for.

I've taken many photos of those sunrises over the years, but this week, I finally decided to use one for for a painting. I'm not sure it captures the actual beauty of the scene, but then again, only the Creator can do that.

If you have any interest in this painting, it is available. Just send me an email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com.

"The Long Walk Home", 16x20, oil on Ampersand Panel, Maryanne Jacobsen art, home, Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, Prodigal Son, sunset, sunrise, spiritual art

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"The Long Walk Home", 16x20, oil on Ampersand Panel

This was an experimental piece for me in that I was adjusting to the weird light in my new north lit studio, as well as playing with a theme straight from my imagination. The girl in the painting is tired, yet buoyed to keep walking by something that the viewer can only imagine. She is walking towards the light- it could be sunrise and the dawn of a new day, or even sunset where mistakes of the day can be laid to rest with the promise of  a better tomorrow. The shadows are long and the colors are muted yet vibrant in areas touched by the warm light.

The scene is reminiscent of both The Prodigal Son and The Wizard of Oz. In the first story, the prodigal makes his/her way back home after discovering that money and pleasure are fruitless, and a path to eventual destruction. In the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy discovers that all her notions of magical faraway places, filled with adventure and excitement, can also be fraught with danger and sorrow. In the end, Dorothy realizes that there is "no place like home".

So I invite the viewer to make up his own story about this young woman, and enjoy your journey into her mind!

Contact me at maryannejacobsen@aol.com, if you have any interest in this painting.

"Shrimper's Sunrise", 10x20, oil on linen, Shem's Creek, Palm Avenue Fine Art, Charleston, South Carolina, American Impressionist Society, shrimp boats, bleu boats, Maryanne Jacobsen fine art, sunrise

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"Shrimper's Sunrise", 10x20, oil on linen

This painting was done from a photo I took of the shrimp boats at Shem's Creek in the early hours of daybreak. I was fortunate to have had a painting juried into the prestigious American Inpressionist Society show at the M Gallery in Charleston, South Carolina, and I made the most of the opportunity by taking a workshop from fabulous Master Impressionist Kenn Backhaus. Kenn took us over to Shrimp Boat Lane at Shem's Creek on Mt. Pleasant Island where we painted all day and I fell in love with all the magical nautical scenes.

The plein air sketches I did that day have sold- which is a good indication that I loved the scenery!!!! This one was painted later, from a photo, and it sold recently through the fabulous Palm Avenue Fine Art Gallery in Sarasota, Florida.

I used a limited palette of Yellow ochre, Lemon Yellow, Napthol Red, Permanent Magenta, Ultramarine Blue and Viridian, plus white for this one.When I commit myself to a limited palette I'm always successful and need to do this more often!

"Sunrise, Gully Point", 11x14, oil on linen, Rockport painting, Gully Cove, sunrise, Impressionist painting by award-winnig impressionist, MAryanne Jacobsen fine art, Cape Ann art, North Shore

"Sunrise, Gully Point", 11x14, oil on linen

One of my favorite moments in time is a sunrise in Rockport, Massachusettes. I don't normally get up at 5 in the morning to see the sunrise, but when I'm in Rockport I always do!

This was painted at or near Gully Point, off Marmion Way in Rockport. The sunrises there are usually dramaticly gorgeous throughout the summer months.

Send me an email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com if you are interested in this painting.

"Early Morning Light, Shem's Creek", 16x 20, oil on canvas, Charleston, fishing boats, shrimp boats, scenic places in Charleston area, Maryanne Jacobsen art

"Early Morning Light, Shem's Creek", 16x 20, oil on canvas
Note: you can click on the image to see the detail in the painting.

I finally got around to going through some of my reference photos from my trip to Charleston in October. Painting at Shem's Creek was the highlight of the sights we painted during my workshop with Kenn Backhaus that week, so I gravitated back to those photos.

The shrimp boats there were fabulous with their old green nets hanging in the sunshine, and the sun glistening off the sides of the boat in the early morning light. The two shrimp boats in this painting are the Captain BTS and the Sea Horse. Both boats are a beautiful cerulean blue so as Ina Garten would say, "What's not to like about that?"

"Catch the Wind" 8x10, oil on Raymar panel, Maryanne Jacobsen paintings, paintings of Maine, harbor, Sailboat, sunset

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"Catch the Wind" 8x10, oil on Raymar panel

After I painted "Morning Whale Watch", I had a request to do another one. So here it is. This is a scene of the schooner that sails off of Frenchman's Bay in Bar Harbor , Maine. I love the burnt orange color of its sails and coordinated the rest of the palette around that. I named it after an old Donovan song, "Catch the Wind", which was popular in the 60's and which I still enjoy hearing today.

CATCH THE WIND
Donovan

In the chilly hours and minutes of uncertainty
I long to be in the warm hold of your mind
To feel you all around me and to take your hand across the sand
Ah but I may as well try and catch the wind

When sundown pales the sky I want to hide a while behind your smile
And everywhere I'd look your eyes I'd find
For me to love you now would be the sweetest thing, 'twould make me sing
Ah but I might as well try and catch the wind
Dee dee dee dee etc

When rain has covered leaves with tears
I want you near to kill my fears
To help me leave all my blues behind
While standing in your heart is where I wanna be and long to be
Ah but I might as well try and catch the wind
Ah but I may as well try and catch the wind 

"Sun-kissed", tropical island, palm trees, beach sunset painting

SOLD"Sun-kissed", 10x8, oil on canvas panel

Lately, I have been feeling as though my artistic journey was stagnated. I couldn't see any progress in my work and felt as though I had reached a plateau in my painting ability. With that in mind, I knew I needed some help and a change in my approach to painting. So today I took a class with award-winning, nationally recognized artist and illustrator, Ron Sanders. Ron really helped me approach this little painting in a brand new way. He helped me look at composition, values, color and brushwork in ways I had not considered or understood before. I feel I am going to make a breakthrough , if I continue to focus more on these critically important aspects of a successful painting. I am very pleased with the way this came out, as I feel it shows definite improvement over my most recent landscapes. I am looking forward to learning more from Ron, and building upon what I am learning!

Note: I worked on this until almost 10PM and need to try to photograph it tomorrow in better lighting. Hopefully, I'll still like it in the morning light!

A Fisherman's Sunset

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"A Fisherman's Sunset", 12x16, oil on canvas panel

Sometimes an event will happen in our lives that leaves us unnerved, off balance, and totally out of control. I now understand what it's like to literally "See red". This happened to me a few days ago. Without repeating the incident, suffice it to say that a person whom I love very, very much, hurt me deeply. The feelings that I felt after a one minute phone call left me feeling simultaneously empty, incredibly sad, and trying to control an anger that was beyond my ability to control.

I had been painting when the phone call came. I can't even remember what I had been painting. After the phone call, I couldn't think of anything other than trying to deal with the anger and pain that I felt. I picked up my palette knife and began smearing paint all over my canvas. Red paint. Red, hot, orangey strokes plastered on the canvas like flaming embers. I just kept smearing and smashing red and orange cadmiums onto the canvas, without even being aware of what I was doing. Not long afterwards, the phone rang again and it was someone else. We talked and I became calmer as a result of this voice of reason and grace. I cleaned off my palette knife and stuck the canvas in a place where the cats would not walk through it and make cadmium red footprints all through the house. (Yes, that has happened before, as a result of not having a studio and painting in one's kitchen where everything is accessible and paintings are as vulnerable to cat-paws as mosquito-landings. )

The next day I was still upset. But by the end of the day I had settled myself, knowing that only God can change people and things, and there is nothing I can do to change or help a loved one once they've reached an age where they are capable of making their own choices- be they bad or good. Nothing, that is, except to continue to pray and have faith that God will touch that person and change them from within.

I took out the painting with the red strokes of flaming anger written all over it and looked at it again. I decided that I wanted to create something soothing out of the chaos I had rendered the night before. Recently, I had read something on the Daily Painter's forum about the deep pervading loneliness that can ensue for a fisherman's wife, when the husband goes off to sea. Fisherman, or sailors, especially those in the military who are submarine sailors, leave home and often are not heard from for months at a time- and the fear and loneliness that ensues until their return can be heart wrenching.

So with that thought fresh in my mind, I decided to make my angry painting into something much different- hopefully a reminder of how wonderful it is when a loved one returns home after a period of absence and darkness, and an example of how inevitably hope reigns eternal in humans that in the end love and goodness and mercy for all- even the lost- shall prevail. I guess the story of The Prodigal Son comes to mind here, and I sincerely hope that God in His infinite mercy can truly forgive all the prodigals in this sad world of ours.

This red hot painting of anger, frustration and sadness has hopefully evolved into something a little more peaceful now that I've re-worked it. The globs of red paint dried overnight for some weird reason, since I live in Florida

But life is filled with challenges. Each day is a new day and we must try to love to the best of our abilities, even when the loved one has hurt us deeply, or the paint has gotten dry and unwieldy, and hope becomes dimmed by repetition of failure. I hope this painting has some beauty in it, despite its origins. And I hope that anyone reading this who can identify with the deep emotions that render us helpless at times will realize that we are only human, and judgment of others is foolish in view of one’s own human frailties. Luckily for me, I have an outlet for my emotions. I am very grateful for that.

Thanks for listening. Now you know how some paintings come about....

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