Big Sur, california impressionist landscpape, 20x16

SOLD Big Sur, 16x20,unframed, oil on canvas

I visited Big Sur a few years back and have fond memories of how gorgeous the wild Pacific coast was! We drove that gorgeous long winding highway known as Pacific Coast Highway 1 that skirts the mountain range through Big Sur, and the breathtaking scene translated to a painting as soon as I arrived home. Now that's what I call inspiration!

I certainly have fond memories etched into my brain of that place, and since I painted this one a while back, perhaps I will try to do another repeat scene in upcoming days. While we drove the scenic Pacific Highway, we stopped at a restaurant at the northern end of Big Sur, called Nepenthe, and enjoyed lunch on the mountaintop there. I took the photo below of a statue of the phoenix rising from the ashes that greeted us as we entered the restaurant terrace.

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"Swan Song", 14x18, oil on canvas, White Swan, Swan Lake, theories of black holes

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"Swan Song", 14x18, oil on canvas

What do Black Swans, black holes, LOST and CERN have in common, and should we be concerned?

I have been thinking of a lot of stuff lately. Probably enough stuff to create a big, black hole in my brain. It all started after I went to see the movie Black Swan on New Year's Eve. I remember looking around the theatre after the lights went up at the end of the movie and all I could see were faces filled with shock, awe and horror. For some reason, I didn't feel shocked about the movie at all. Granted, I have had plenty of experience with ballet, Swan Lake and directing productions. That helped a bit, I suppose. Yet, the more I thought about it, I just didn't get the reaction of everyone else. Why wasn't it as predictable to the other people in the audience as it was to me?

I think Black Swan events are much more predictable than people could ever imagine, because the signs are always out there in advance, if one has their eyes open a bit. What is a Black Swan event? Well you really need to read up on that yourself, by googling Nassim Nicholas Taleb or Black Swan Theory.

To sum it up quickly in case you don't feel like googling, Mr. Taleb is a Wall Street trader and hedge fund manager, who wrote a book about risk in 2007. The theory within his book, Black Swan, according to the author is:

1. The event is a surprise (to the observer).
2. The event has a major impact.
3. After the fact, the event is rationalized by hindsight, as if it could have been expected (e.g., the relevant data were available but not accounted for).

So to conclude, for the sake of simplicity, 9/11 and the assassination of JFK were considered Black Swan events. In my opinion, that movie also qualified as a Black Swan event on a Hollywood level, because :

1. The ending is a surprise (to the observer).
2. The end of the movie has a major impact. (people in the theatre were shocked and stunned and had to go home and talk about it)
   
3. After the fact, the end of the movie is rationalized by hindsight, as if it could have been expected all along in light of the negative influences affecting Nina's psyche (e.g., the bad influence of the mother ,company director and Lily were obvious, as well as Nina's acute sensitivity, yet not factored into the outcome).

So where am I going with all this?

I hate to say it, but I believe that the world is being prepared for a huge Black Swan event.
Hollywood is a master at gauging public reaction to horrifying events, and this is called predictive programming.

I have always been pretty smart about these things, but that's just because I read and observe a lot. All we have been hearing and reading about lately is doom and gloom. Notice that? It's birds dropping from the sky, massive fish kills, the slaughter of innocent citizens and that great big paradigm-changing POLE SHIFT that the Mayans all predicted on their ancient calendars, and that people keep talking about. Now I do agree that the pole has been shifting because my husband knows all about azimuths and stuff and he said that magnetic north has to be adjusted constantly depending on where you are, in order to get the azimuth right on important things like light beam angles on communication towers.

If you expected to read about my painting , I'll forgive you for not reading the rest of this post. But if you have any curiosity about all the weird phenomenon that's been going on, including Tampa International airport repainting its lines , because the poles are shifting, just hear me out for a bit longer. I had dinner with a friend last night, and weirdly, she was distressed that her zodiac sign could be wrong as a result of the magnetic poles shifting! Huh?

"You mean I'm no longer a Libra, either", I said?

;0)

I think that there are clues that can help us predict what's going to happen in the future, so that we are not surprised by a new Black Swan event. So if you're ready, I am going to give you some clues that have been on my mind, and then you can go home and think about them, just for fun.

Ready? Here are your clues :

Black Swan, LOST, CERN, large Hadron Collider, SHIFT, Cygnus.

Okay, if you never watched LOST, you might be lost by all this, so I'll give you one last big clue- BLACK HOLE. I actually have only watched the first 10 episodes of LOST, but it seemed pretty apparent to me that the plane had entered some sort of black hole which transported the people into another dimension.

Although I haven't gotten to season 2 yet, I found this map from season two on the Internet.

Now, I am no scientific genius, but this map from the series LOST (which I discovered by googling LOST), looks like constellations of stars to me. The arrow points to what seems to be a swan, of all things. Another word for swan is "Cygnet" and I just happened to find a really cool science site that talks about the star constellation "Cygnet the Swan", which is where I am guessing the black hole occurred on the series LOST when the plane lost its gravity, based on that map.

The site also talks about the large Hadron Collider and CERN, and the search for the God particle. Oddly enough, when I googled images for the series LOST, I discovered that there are similarities between the LOST logo of the Dharma Initiative and the overhead view of the Hadron Collider. Hmmmmmmmm.....

Predictive programming?

That's about all I have to say, folks. I think we are being set up for a global catastrophe and so we may as well get religious.

One last prediction. Tonight Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky will leave the Golden Globe awards a happy man. That seems pretty predictable to me, but maybe I'll be wrong.

Hope you liked my painting. Perhaps one of these days, I'll get around to painting a Black Swan.

"In the Secret Garden", 16x20, oil on linen

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"In the Secret Garden", 16x20, oil on linen

When I was a little girl, I read a lot. Those hours that i spent with books were some the happiest times of my childhood. I, along with countless other girls my age, were hooked on The Bobbsey Twins and Nancy Drew series. I couldn't read fast enough, and the fact that I developed bad eyesight from reading in bed during a nasty bout of measles is a testament to the fact that I couldn't stop reading, even when my mother told me not to. One book that I read as a child and cherished, was "The Secret Garden", by By Frances Hodgson Burnett. In the story, Mary Lennox, a spoiled little ten-year-old girl, is orphaned by the plague in India and sent from India to England to live in a big, lonely house on the Yorkshire moors with her unpleasant uncle. Here she discovers an invalid cousin and the mysteries of a locked garden, in a powerful story of compassion and friendship.

My son also had a lead in the musical version of "The Secret Garden" about ten years ago and I seem to recall that there was a movie version of the classic, as well.

I do believe that I was thinking of that old favorite book of mine when I painted this scene, as it is straight out of fantasyland, with the locked gate and the little girl with the swirling hair.

Usually it is very important to paint from life. But sometimes it's also fun to paint from what's in your heart and imagination. I think everyone should have their own Secret Garden in which they can wander when times get tough. What do you think?

"On a Mission" 16x12, oil on masonite-paintings of roosters, by Maryanne Jacobsen

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"On a Mission" 16x12, oil on masonite

I took a picture of a rooster during one of my many trips to Key West over the past 5 years, and this provided the reference photo for this new painting. This cock definitely looks like he's on a mission in The Conch Republic of the world! If you have never been there, Key West is a very interesting place to go for many reasons. Historically speaking, it seceded from the United States for one whole day and claimed a new name and flag- The Conch Republic. The islanders claim that they seceded where others failed, which is true according to this website of The Conch Republic.

Here's more from the site:
"The Conch Republic was established by secession of the Florida Keys from the United States of America, on April 23rd, 1982 in response to a United States Border Patrol Blockade setup on highway U.S.1 at Florida City just to the north of the Florida Keys. This heinous act effectively isolated Keys Citizens from the U.S. mainland since the blockade was on our only land artery to and from the mainland. This roadblock portrayed Keys residents as non-U.S. citizens who had to prove their citizenship in order to drive onto the Florida mainland! Hardly an American thing to do!

We protested! A totally American thing to do! Key West Mayor Dennis Wardlow along with a few other 'key' Conchs, went to Federal court in Miami to seek an injunction to stop the federal blockade, but to no avail. Upon leaving the Federal Court House , on the court house steps , Mayor Wardlow announced to the world, by way of the assembled TV crews and reporters, that ; "Tomorrow at noon the Florida Keys will secede from the Union!"

At noon, on the day of secession, at Mallory Square in Key West Florida, Mayor Wardlow read the proclamation of secession and proclaimed aloud that the Conch Republic was an independent nation separate from the U.S. and then symbolically began the Conch Republic's Civil Rebellion by breaking a loaf of stale Cuban bread over the head of a man dressed in a U.S. Navy uniform. After one minute of rebellion, the now, Prime Minister Wardlow turned to the Admiral in charge of the Navy Base at Key West, and surrendered to the Union Forces, and demanded 1 Billion dollars in foreign aid and War Relief to rebuild our nation after the long Federal siege!"

Okay, that's enough history. Google 'Conch Republic' if you want more. Roosters roam the streets freely there, and that is cool in a day and age where there are limitations on where roosters can roam!

I hadn't done another rooster painting since I'd painted the award winning Mr. Clucky of Miami so I enjoyed painting this new clucker. Interestingly, when I first painted Mr. Clucky and took him to gallery owner Leah Sherman at Collector's Gallery to be framed, I didn't know what to call him. Leah told me that roosters are icons in Miami, and that I should name him Mr. Clucky. It was not until today, while doing research on the Conch Republic, that I discovered that there is actually a REAL Mr. Clucky! He's a big celebrity, peace activist and a symbol for farm animal advocates. You can read more about Mr. Clucky of Miami here.

"On a Mission" was done with a palette knife only and has lots of thick , juicy paint and impasto color. Roosters are supposed to be good luck symbols so here's to good luck in 2011 for whoever buys this cocky painting!

"Birchrunville Springhouse", 8x10

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"Birchrunville Springhouse", 8x10, oil on wrapped canvas

I took a photo of this old springhouse a couple years back, after a trip back to Chester Springs, Pennsylvania. The dappled light across the springhouse and road was pretty stunning that day and that was what I sought to capture in this quick little study. The springhouse was just up the road from the old Birchrunville cafe and post office, and close to route 100. If anyone knows the exact road, just send me an email. It was north of Hollow Road, if I remember correctly. A dog was barking at us as we took the photo , so I didn't wish to loiter too long!

Here's my reference photo of the scene:




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"L'heure d'éte ", 14x18, oil on canvas

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"L'heure d'éte ", 14x18, oil on canvas

This painting was done with a palette knife only and has a lot of nice loose impasto. It is a scene from the little village in Provence, called Saint Paul de Vence.

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"La Bicyclette", 12x16, oil on masonite, by Maryanne Jacobsen

SOLD "La Bicyclette", 12x16, oil on masonite

Over the past weeks (and actually months! ) I have lost a lot of interest in painting. It definitely started with the BP oil spill back in April. Now there is so much bad news everywhere, and especially regarding the environment, that one wonders if it's the end of the world! The recent mass die-offs of whales in Argentina , as well as fish and birds in the US, and huge floods and earthquakes around the world, has had me thinking that the world that I have known and loved is changing in a negative way.

Today I decided to try to paint SOMETHING! Not an easy task when you have had the blues for a few weeks.

France has always been a place of magic for me, so I decided to start in that place that I love-Provence. I also have had a mean crush on Rod Stewart for the better part of my adult life. So I turned on a Rod Stewart CD (and hit the replay button on a couple of my all-time favorites) and just went into a happy zone. Although in shadow, the bicycle is the focal point of the painting, since it is the starting point in my effort to lead the viewer's eye throughout the painting.

"La Bicyclette" was painted with palette knife only, since I knew I was too lazy to attempt to clean paint brushes in my current lousy state of mind. Let us hope that the earthquakes, floods and massive deaths of birds and fish was just a weird holiday aberation and that the new year will be full of health and happiness for the planet.

Hope everyone has a very happy, healthy and blessed New Year, and thanks for staying with me as I've wandered around in the desert.

"Maui Magic", 18x24, oil on panel-$650, paintings of tropical islands, Hawaii, Maui, palm trees

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"Maui Magic", 18x24, oil on panel

This painting was done with both palette knife and brushes. Bring the islands into your home with this dramatic painting! It would make a wonderful holiday gift or vacation memento for someone special.

Please contact me if you are interested in this piece. My email address is maryannejacobsen@aol.com.

Happy New Year!

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"Mission Arch", Sale!- 9x12, oil on linen- Mission Capistrano

SOLD "Mission Arch" 9x12, oil on Raymar panel

This painting is a depiction of one of the old arches at Mission Capistrano in southern California, which I have visited numerous times, and never grow tired of!

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Motherhood, 16x20, oil on linen, by Maryanne Jacobsen

SOLD"Motherhood", 16x20, oil on linen

I had painted this same scene about a year ago, in a much smaller format, (9x12) Without going into a lot of detail about the circumstances, the painting ended up looking very different from my original intentions, thanks to the fact that I doubted my own abilities. So for a long time I had wanted to do another one, this time in a larger format, but the weeks and months just passed me by.

Always daunted by the prospect of attempting figurative work, I procrastinated until yesterday. Ironically, I was right smack in the middle of checking the values of the grisaille when the phone rang. It was my sister , informing me that my mother is not expected to live more than a few more days. It was the memories of my sweet, lovely mother than kept me painting late last night, long after I knew it was time to stop.

I finished the painting today, knowing that time was not on my side in terms of continuing to paint wet into wet.

Perhaps I'll eventually go back and refine it further. I do see some things that I'd like to change. But overall, I know it is a good painting in spite of the haste I exerted in order to complete it. I used David Leffel's palette because I have come to realize that there are times to push color and there are times when you shouldn't push the color. And I just wanted this painting to be soft and peaceful. David Leffel's palette consists of colors that I rarely use, like burnt umber, terra rosa, raw umber and naples yellow. Until I become an expert at flesh tones, these earth tones make it easier for me to do a more natural portraiture than using pure color.

Motherhood is not for the feint of heart. As a child growing up in Philadelphia, I recall that there was never one day in my childhood that I did not come home from school to a clean house, a healthy supper and freshly washed and ironed clothes. I feel very sorry for the children of today, many of whom know neither what it's like to have a home-cooked meal or to have two parents. It is not the fault of the mothers that must go out to work. But, it is where we have come as a society, as a result of circumstances beyond our control , that has brought us to the state where children rarely have the same luxuries that I myself experienced and that is very sad.

A huge thank-you to Sara and Ashley and Ellie. Without all three of you this painting could not have come about. That being said, I am dedicating the painting to you, mom, because I could not have painted it without thinking good thoughts of you throughout. Thank-you, mother, du fond de mon coeur, for all that you did to make me the person that I am today.

I love you.

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Untitled- mother and child

I started this painting today, not realizing how significant it would become.

I had no idea I would get this far with it in one day, but that's what happens when you are preoccupied with other things.

It's not completely finished. I'll write more later.

"Moody Bayou", 12x16, by Maryanne Jacobsen, paintings of bayous, atmospheric paintings

SOLD"Moody Bayou", 12x16, oil on canvas

A bayou is a body of water typically found in flat, low-lying areas, and can refer either to an extremely slow-moving stream or river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), or to a marshy lake or wetland. Bayous are commonly found in the Gulf Coast region of the southern United States, particularly the Mississippi River region, with the state of Louisiana being famous for them. A bayou is frequently an anabranch or minor braid of a braided channel that is moving much more slowly than the mainstem, often becoming boggy and stagnant, though the vegetation varies by region. Many bayous are home to crawfish, certain species of shrimp, other shellfish, catfish, alligators, and a myriad other species.

The definition above was taken from Wikipedia.

I painted this painting a few months ago, at the height of the Deepwater Horizon Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. The catastrophe shook me to the core, and for many months I couldn't paint due to depression and headaches that seemed as if they would never stop.

I am not completely over the trauma of the disaster. Although my headaches have certainly abated, just a few weeks ago my husband and I spotted a large bird, probably a heron, on the beach in our little town, it's legs high and stiff in the air and its head buried irreconcilably in the sand- dead as the dead zone off the Louisiana coast. In my heart I knew what had caused its demise, but I didn't dare focus on it anymore. The future is about hope, and faith and endurance, and without these things it is hard to move forward when the going gets tough.

I have never had it tough. I have never had to go without anything. Sometimes that makes me feel incredibly guilty. The inequity in this world is shameful, and yet I hold to the promises of the Sermon on the Mount, where the meek will inherit the earth and the poor in spirit will inherit paradise, and where those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled. Christianity is no longer popular on this planet. That is such a shame to me, because the world needs the teachings of Jesus Christ, the greatest philosopher who ever lived, more than ever before in the history of mankind.

I wish the followers of this blog, regardless of their spiritual proclivities, a very peaceful, joyous Christmas season, and I hope that humanity will someday be joined in total peace and love for each other and for the Creator of this great universe.

Thanks for listening.

If you are interested in this heartfelt painting, please contact Leah Sherman directly at Collector's Gallery and Framery at 941-488-3029.

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"Courtyard Hydrangeas", 9x12, oil on linen, paintings of hydrangeas, palette knife landscapes

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"Courtyard Hydrangeas", 9x12, oil on wrapped Masterpiece linen (Note: Click on the image for a better view of the texture.)

I am a huge fan of hydrangeas, but have not had much luck growing them here in a subtropical climate zone.

This painting sold last week to a repeat collector. I hope to do more paintings of blue flowers in the future, as blue is my favorite color:0)

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"Serendipity", bold color, palette knife floral painting, 12x12, texture by MAryanne Jacobsen

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"Serendipity", 12x12, oil on wrapped canvas-Add a frame for only $25 and receive the painting ready to give as a gift for the holidays! (Note: Please click on the photo to see a close-up of the texture.)

I haven't done one of these gooey paintings in a while. I call them gooey paintings because there is so much paint on the canvas in the end that it literally seems as though I was icing a cake instead of painting a still life floral! These paintings almost always start out as an attempt to conserve paint. since paint is expensive and I am cheap. I try to save what is left over on my palette from the day's painting session, so I spread all the left over paint on the canvas like icing. This usually results in a thick coating of neutral- colored paint, better known as "mud" to artists like myself who save it. But then my efforts to conserve paint go right out the window, as I inevitably have to start all over again the next day with fresh paint in order to finish the painting!

Here is photo of the painting framed:



Anyhow, this painting was done with a palette knife only and was fun to do. It was serendipitous that I had a bunch of flowers, glass vases and an orange at my fingertips when I started the painting, and so I didn't have to think too much about the subject. If you like thick paint and an abstract approach to subject matter, then you'll probably like this.

"Friendship Offering", 9x12, oil on gallery wrapped canvas, floral painting by Maryanne Jacobsen

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"Friendship Offering", 9x12, oil on gallery-wrapped canvas

After a busy couple of weeks, it was good to get back to painting today! It was wonderful spending time with loved ones and friends over the holidays, but it's always a bit of a relief to get back to normal , too.

This past week was a busy one, but one that will leave many cherished memories in my mind. Over the weekend we invited friends to the house for dinner and a special friend brought me some lovely autumn flowers. Today I decided that I could not let them go to waste, so I painted them, adding the tangelo and grapes, as you can see below:


This painting was done in earth colors, on gallery wrapped canvas.

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