"View from the Porch", 16x20, painting of flowers, hibiscus, red flowers, apples

"View from the Porch", 16x20

Available through Galerie du Soleil. Contact them at (239) 417-3450 for additional information about this painting.

"Spit up, Tossed about, Knocked around, and Left to Rot", 8x8, oil on gallery-wrapped gessoboard , old boats, Point Reyes National seashore, wooden boats, Pacific Ocean

"Spit up, Tossed about, Knocked around, and Left to Rot", 8x8, oil on gallery-wrapped gessoboard (No frame necessary)

I have been wanting to paint this old boat ever since I saw it almost a year ago at Point Reyes National Seashore.

The old boat has seemingly been there for ages. Grounded  by low tide and unable to escape its inevitable destiny, the boat will most likely stay there and rot until some very wealthy conservationists decide to tow it off to a maritime museum for display

My visit to California last spring was full of light and inspiration. We started in Napa, spent time in the Carmel area and finally ended up in San Diego. It was a great trip and I have great memories of it.

Here's a picture of me painting at the Point Reyes National Seashore:

Anyhow, the old boat at Point Reyes was painted today because this year my family has been thrown a couple of lemons. In the end, I know that all the lemons will be used to produce amazing recipes- the zest, the juice, even the rind.

I just wish the problems had not all happened at once.

That being said, I am looking forward to the day when everything that the canker worms and the locusts have tried to destroy, will be returned one hundredfold.

Thanks for reading my blog. I hope that you enjoyed this post.

"Bartlett Pears with Grapes, 12x16, oil on board

"Bartlett Pears with Grapes, 12x16, oil on board

I've enjoyed working on a couple "academic" pieces this week. Here's one of them.

I concentrated on values and edges on this one. In retrospect, this study would have looked dynamic with a white tablecloth, but I wasn't thinking about the colors of the tablecloth when I started it.

It was a good effort and I'm happy with it.

"Grapes and Old Treasures", 9x12, still life, brass ,bottle, milk glass, grapes

SOLD

"Grapes and Old Treasures", 9x12

I haven't done an academic still life like this one in a long while, but yesterday I borrowed some family antiques from a friend and decided to have a go at painting them.

I must confess I felt very rusty! It needs more work, but I decided to put it away for now.

Here's my reference:

"West Meadow", 11x14, oil on Raymar panel, Chester Springs, Yellow Springs, pennslyvania, historic mineral springs, vibrant color, Maryanne Jacobsen Fine art., impressionism

"West Meadow", 11x14, oil on Raymar panel

This is a painting from my old home town of Chester Springs, Pa. There is a long , winding road that leads out of town into the tiny village of Yellow Springs, where the warm mineral springs flow and the historic significance of the place is best told by the website and not by me!

In the past, I have painted many scenes of this area which is an area that will always be near and dear to my heart.

This is a summer scene with black-eyed Susans and purple Coneflowers in the foreground to add to the colors of what comprises a truly a beautiful meadow!

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

"On the Way Home", 8x10, oil on panel, plein air, Florida eucalyptus, trees in Florida, small studies

"On the Way Home", 8x10, oil on panel

I have been away from painting outdoors for a few months now. Today I decided to venture out and get back into the fresh air while the weather in Florida is still beautiful.

I've passed this clump of eucalyptus trees quite a few times on my way home, but today I decided to stop and paint them. It was a very therapuetic way to spend a few hours.

Here was the scene:

The entire painting was painted on site. If you have any interest in this little study, just send me an email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com.

"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.

"Morning in Umbria", 12x24, oil on canvas, vineyards, paintings of Umbria, Italy, Tuscany, rolling fields, plaette knife landscapes, maryanne jacobsen

SOLD

"Morning in Umbria", 12x24, oil on canvas

On the knolls where the vineyards and fruit-gardens are
There's a beauty that even the drought cannot mar;
For I noticed it oft, in the days that are lost,
As I trod on the siding where lingered the frost,
When the shadows of night from the gullies were gone
And the hills in the background were flushed by the dawn.

-from "Above Eurunderee" by Henry Lawson

There is something lovely about a vineyard in the morning light. The earth breathes out color and abundance and the promise of the ripened vine, which will bring forth the delightful wine that helps celebrate our victories while comforting our sorrows.

This painting was done with palette knife and brush and has passages of brilliant color interspersed with the neutrals of the receding hills.

This painting is available through Gallery 444 in San Francisco. You may contact them at  for pricing information at (415) 434-4477.

Thanks for visiting my blog today. Please check out more of my work at Maryanne Jacobsen Fine Art.

"Nature's Fading Glory", 12x12, oil

SOLD

"Nature's fading Glory", 12x12, oil

Back in the fall I painted at Winterthur for the Brandywine Valley Plein Air to benefit the Children's Beach House in Delaware. You can read my blog post about the event here

Last week, I decided to do a different version of the scene in a square format and the painting above was the result. I enjoyed painting the scene again, even though I was indoors and not privy, as I was the first time, to the glorious colors of nature all around me, and the bite of winter in the frosty air that morning.

Available through Gallery 444.

"Summer Waterwheel", 9x12, oil on panel, Eastern University campus, St. Davids, waterwheel

"Summer Waterwheel", 9x12, oil on panel

The campus of eastern University in St. Davids, Pennsylvania is very beautiful. It is one of my favorite places to paint whenever I return to Pa.

I am hoping to go back this spring and catch the dogwoods and forsythia blooming.

"Her Garden", 24x24, oil on canvas, paintings of gardens, women in gardens, summer gardens, florals, romanticism, art for romantics, Maryanne Jacobsen

"Her Garden", 24x24, oil on canvas

My garden has always been very special to me. A sanctuary for birds, a place to write down my deepest thoughts, a sunny spot on a cool day, and a shady refuge on a warm day.

I've had many gardens throughout my life. My favorite garden was in my last home in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania. The geese would parade through the denser parts as they headed for the pond behind my home. The deer would gather in droves in the winter months, looking for berries as they sauntered like dancers among the brambles.

From my office, I would stare through the window at the abundance of wildlife proliferating in own back yard and yearn for the day when I would no longer need to be trapped at a desk, but would be free to spend time to my heart's content just tending the roses, pulling weeds from the throats of the holly hocks and wallowing in the splendor of the velvety grass beneath my feet.

Today, my garden is different. The pastels of the north have been replaced by the warm , sultry palette of tropical flowers, and palm trees have replaced the deciduous trees that housed blue jays, hawks and robins.

It hardly matters where I have my garden. I will always treasure the gift of the flowers' scent and the birds that warble in different notes of bird languages.

Very happy to be represented by Gallery 444 in Union Square, San Francisco. This painting is available through the gallery by calling (415) 434-4477

"The Dancing Tree at Red Lake", 11x14, oil on canvas, paintings of trees, Florida landscapes, naturalist art, trees, water, Gulf of Mexico, Galerie du Soleil

"The Dancing Tree at Red Lake", 11x14, oil on canvas

Back in 2007 I was a brand new baby painter and  excited to explore many new subjects! I was totally a novice at plein air painting, but one day I decided to go out and try my hand at it with a local plein air painting group in Venice, Florida.

I remember sitting along side pro plein air painter Karen Hitt, who was painting the same scene with ease and purpose while warning me, a new Floridian, of the dangers of alligators in the immediate area.

This was the painting that I turned out that day:

In some ways, this painting is altogether engaging in its naivete. I truly had no idea how very immature it was at the time! That being said, my love for color was evident, and that is the one thing that I have had to work the hardest at bridling over these last few years.

Although I consider myself a colorist, for artists who do not care for color in the same way that I cherish it, my color palette is a handicap- a drawback to my progress. Workshop teachers have often called my work "garish", and the kinder of the bunch have called it "overly saturated". So I have worked hard over the past couple years to reign in my love for saturated color, usually to the detriment of my passion.

The painting I did last week reflects that restraint, and although I find it rather boring, I admit that it is certainly more accomplished in its restraint than the earlier version!

Last week was a turning point for me in my life and in my art walk. I have been going through some challenging times in my personal life, and that has hampered my creative juices to the extent that I was not even sure I'd be able to turn out a painting for the annual "Light-Chaser" plein air event,
which culminated last week in Sarasota, Fl.

Last year I could not wait for the event! I was stoked! Even painted out in the rain and received an honorable mention for my efforts by juror Morgan Samuel Price!

But this year, it was all just a burden-too much for a spirit that had been squashed by events that were totally out of her control.

Nonetheless, I was encouraged by the fearless leader of the group, Terry Mason, who said I should follow the advice of artist and Florida naturalist Mary Erickson and just "Paint through it!"

So I went out last week on the only sunny afternoon of the entire week and attempted to paint through the sorrows and pains of the last 7-8 months of my life.

The sun was gentle, the colors I saw more subtle, less brilliant. Yet, in it all, I persevered knowing that I have been given a gift by the Creator to create and capture tiny slivers of His creative hand at work, and so that is what I tried my best to do.

There were few people uiing the canoe launch that day at Red Lake, and there were no alligators to be seen. Only the constant presence of that special tree that had inspired me to paint it, as a result of its fresh beauty and total uniqueness.

The waters of the intracoastal carried a gentle rythmn as they flowed past my dancing tree- a name I gave it way back in 2007, when I first discovered it's uncommon beauty.  A dancer amongst the straight and stoic! A stoic itself amidst the relentless heat and constant storms of a Florida summer.

Thank-you for reading my blog. I hope that you enjoyed this entry, as much as I enjoyed writing it.

"The Dancing Tree at Red Lake" is available through Galerie du Soleil.

"Majestic is His Name", 8x10, oil on panel, paintings of sunsets, clouds, scrub pines

SOLD

"Majestic is His Name", 8x10, oil on panel

 Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory

in the heavens.

2Through the praise of children and infants

you have established a stronghold against your enemies,

to silence the foe and the avenger.

3When I consider your heavens,

the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars,

which you have set in place,

4what is mankind that you are mindful of them,

human beings that you care for them?^c-

.-Psalm 8

Sunsets speak volumes about God's majesty. I never grow tired of the ever-changing colors, shapes and majesty of God's Sunsets. This was painted from a photo that I took at Venice Beach Florida, recently, just as the sun was in its final descent. There are two pine trees there that have been dubbed the "Twin Sisters" because they seem to be interlocked in an eternal embrace due to their proximity to each other. I love looking at the different shapes that they make at different times of the day. Sometimes eagles nest in their branches. God is good.

Please email me at maryannejacobsen@aol.com, if interested in purchasing this painting.

"Three Muses', 14x11, oil on linen, dancers, ballerinas, pink, tuts, Maryanne Jacobsen art

"Three Muses', 14x11, oil on linen

First painting of the new year. It's are-do of  a painting I did of the same scene a while back. Not sure which came out better, but it was certainly a good exercise for me.

"Persimmons and Winter Roses", 12x12 , oil on board, persimmons , white roses, roses, winter fruit, impressionist still life, MAryanne Jacobsen art

"Persimmons and Winter Roses", 12x12 , oil on board

Amid the Christmas chaos of shopping, baking, wrapping presents and preparing the house for holiday visitors, I managed to sneak in one more painting before the year ends!

This has been a wonderful year for me- art wise. I was juried into three prestigious national shows, took workshops with 2 amazing artists- Morgan Samuel Price and Kenn Backhaus, and was juried into two wonderful out-of state plein air events as well. In addition, I've sold numerous paintings throughout the year, many through my favorite gallery- Galerie du Soleil- a work of art unto itself!

Since I know I will not have time to visit this blog again before the New Year, I would just like to wish all of my collectors, past , present and even future a healthy, happy, prosperous and blessed new year!

Thank-you from the bottom of my heart for collecting my work and for letting me know time after time how much my  paintings have meant to you! I hope the new year brings the opportunity to expore new channels of creativity so that I can continue to bless and be blessed through the joy of painting!

Joyeaux Noel!