"Early Morning View"- Valle Crucis B&B, plein air, 12x12, oil on board

"Early Morning View"- Valle Crucis B&B, plein air, 12x12, oil on board

There is a stunning view of the mountains from the porch of the Valle Crucis Bed and Breakfast in Valle Crucis, North Carolina.

On our trip back home from Pennsylvania we stopped there for the night and I knew I had to get up early and paint that scene before breakfast the next morning. It was a beautiful morning, not warm yet, but not cold enough for a jacket. There was a blanket of fog across the mountain ridge before I started the painting, but it dissipated quickly as I set up.

The Valle Crucis B&B is quite lovely and our "Mountain View" room was very comfortable. Our hostess Suzanne made a wonderful breakfast and the other guests were very congenial. Over all it was a wonderful stay and I recommend the Inn highly. Check it out if you are in the Boone area!

"An Invitation to Rest", 18x24 oil on board, Chanticleer, beautiful gardens, Wayne, Pa. blue adirondeck chairs

"An Invitation to Rest", 18x24 oil on board

Was very inspired by all the beautiful gardens at Chanticleer in Wayne , Pa. Be sure to visit if you are in the Main Line area. YOu won't be disappointed.

This painting can be purchased for $2000, plus shipping. Please send me an email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com if interested.

"The Pergola at Chanticleer", 16x20, oil on canvas, pergolas, Chanticleer, Main Line Gardens, palette knife paintings, Philadelphia MAin Line, gardens

"The Pergola at Chanticleer", 16x20, oil on canvas

Chanticleer is a lovely estate with beautiful gardens that are open to the public. It is a place that is heaven to artists! I took advantage of my recent visit to Pennsylvania to take some photos at Chanticleer.

This painting is of the pergola, and was done with mostly a palette knife. Chanticleer is such a lovely place!

To learn more about Chanticleer, please go here.

"Aging Gracefully", 12x16, oil on panel, plein air, old houses, Yellow Springs village, plein air, red maple, paintings of old homes

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"Aging Gracefully", 12x16, oil on panel, plein air

I painted this lovely old home during my recent trip to Pennsylvania. This old home beckoned me with its creeping ivy and red maple in the front yard. The house is located in the tiny village of Yellow Springs, where we stayed.

I will probably paint this again in the studio, where I can concentrate on the finer points of the scene.

"Silent Forever", plein air, 8x10, oil on board, paintings of sculptures, heronsYellow Springs village, plein air

"Silent Forever", plein air, 8x10, oil on board

In Florida we have beautiful big birds- herons, cranes, ibises, egrets- the sky is the limit. I always take these beautiful birds for granted until I go north.

Recently, I took a trip to Pennsylvania to visit family and paint in the open air in the beautiful Chester County countryside.

We stayed in Chester Springs, where I know the terrain like the back of my hand.

IN the small village of Yellow Springs is a metal sculpture of a great blue heron. It is next to the historic Washington Building, which served as a hospital during the Revolutionary War for George Washington's groups.

So I set up there early one morning and painted the metal bird, glad that I would be soon returning to hot, sticky Florida, where the birds are real.

If you would like to purchase this plein air sketch, please send me an email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com.

"Yellow Irises, plein air", 8x8, oil on board, Yellow Springs, PA., Yellow springs historic village, yellow, plein air, small studies, iris

"Yellow Irises, plein air", 8x8, oil on board

I enjoyed painting the irises at the Yellow Springs art studio earlier this month. I'm glad I did because a week of continuous rain last week, wiped them all out.

I always enjoy going back to the Chester Springs area to paint. I was not yet an artist when I lived there ten years ago, so it's a treat to return and paint the area, which is very beautiful.

The Yellow Springs village has a very colorful history. Some of the first American impressionists painted there at the turn of the century, over a hundred years ago. They would go to Paris and study with the French impressionists, then return to the Philadelphia area and study at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. It was there that they would form plein air groups that would travel the distance to the western suburbs and paint "en plein air" in the meadows and rolling hills of the Yellow Springs area.

I did this little study in the morning light as the sun hit the tops of the irises.

"Red Maple at Vixen Hill Farm", 9x12, oil on board, impressionism, red maple tree, colorist art, Pennsylvania art, Chester County art, Chester Springs

"Red Maple at Vixen Hill Farm", 9x12, oil on board

I have been loving the weather in Pennsylvania this week and using it as an opportunity to get back into painting outdoors, (en plein air).

Painting everyday on location gives an artist the opportunity to really hone their skill sets. The light changes constantly and one must be on their toes in order to turn out a decent plain air painting.

In this painting, I was attracted to the long dark shadows on the ground and the beautiful light on the red maple in the early morning hours.

I did a quick thumbnail sketch to zone in on the darks and lights in the scene, before attempting to transfer my concept to canvas. 

The lights atop the maple were a beautiful reddish orange color in the morning light and served as  the focal point for the composition. Here's the photo that I took before beginning the painting...

In the end, the only problem were the gnats that started attacking the painting as I finished it up after about an hour and a half. I plucked them out gingerly. Here's the finished painting:

I painted this one with a palette knife exclusively. I hope you enjoyed  seeing my concept from start to finish.

To see more of my paintings, please visit my website at Maryanne Jacobsen Fine Art.

"Feed the Birds", 11x14, oil on board

"Feed the Birds", 11x14, oil on board

This is a quick study that I did a while back of one of those old-fashioned birdfeeders that no one sells anymore. If I were a bird, I'd be rather finicky.

Nowadays, the best sellers look something like this:

What happens with the above, is that the birds are all competing with each other , as well as with the squirrels, for their food. If I were a bird, I'd be timid, since that's my human personality, and I'd hate to have to fight for my food.

So birdies, come to my little birdie home and I'll welcome you with lots of sunflower seeds!

"Yellow Frangipani in a glass bottle", 8x10, oil on panel, lemon, frangipani, glass bottles, reflections, summer still life, exotic flowers

"Yellow Frangipani in a glass bottle", 8x10, oil on panel

My yellow frangipanis are finally blooming and they are drop dead gorgeous this year!
I picked one and set it up in this arrangement below and I was struck by how much it looked like a fleur de lis.

I love painting glass bottles. While challenging, they are infinitely more interesting to paint with their myriad reflections and idiosyncrasies.

"Mission Morning Glories", 16x20, oil on board, morning Glories, Mission Capistrano, gardens,

"Mission Morning Glories", 16x20, oil on board (note: Click on the image to see the detail better.)


Mission San Juan Capistrano is located in southern California in Orange County, about an hour north of San Diego and just south of Laguna Beach. I have visited it three or four times and never grow tired of that beautiful place. It is a national treasure and historic monument, and most people have heard the beautiful legend about the swallows that return there every year to nest. To read more about the mission and the swallows , please go here.

If you would like to see more of my Mission San Juan Capistrano paintings, just insert the word Capistrano into the search box located in the left hand sidebar.


This painting was done with a palette knife only. It has thick, juicy passages of paint throughout.

Thanks for following my blog. To see more of my paintings, please visit my website here.

"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.

"Under the Tuscan Sun", 12x24, oil on canvas, paintings of Italy, Tuscany, palette knife paintings, impasto, colorist art

"Under the Tuscan Sun", 12x24, oil on canvas

This painting is available through Galerie du Soleil in Naples, Florida.

Please call (239) 417-3450 for more information.

"Catwalk", 8x10, oil on board, Vincent Van Gogh, Sunsets, cats, nasty cats, Cedar Key, plein air

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"Catwalk", 8x10, oil on board

What do you do when a cat struts into your plein air sunset painting?

You paint him, of course!  (Or her.)

In this case it was a "her" and what a character she turned out to be.

We rented a home on Cedar Key for a few days recently, just to get away from it all. Cedar Key is an Old Florida- type town that hasn't changed a whole lot in a hundred years.

There are gorgeous sunsets and sunrises each day, mud flats and oyster beds galore, and plenty of decent fresh seafood to boast of on Cedar Key. On one particular gorgeous Florida evening, we brought home a take-out of fresh oysters, clams and blue crabs from a local restaurant. That's when we met "Jill", the ugly and nasty cat that lived next door to our rental.

Sadly, I confess that I am to blame for the fact that we could not get rid of her after that night, because I was the one that could not resist that miserable face and so I fed her some seafood.

Jill then attached herself to me like a parasite, and after that, I literally could not paint or enjoy the sunset on the deck without Jill by my side. One particular night I decided to paint the sunset. The gnats were really annoying, and so I determined to do a quick little piece that would give me notes for a larger work in the studio.

My efforts, however, were interrupted continuously by Jill, who definitely wanted a piece of the action.

Jill made her way up the deck as though she owned it, like a model on a catwalk, showing off the latest Ralph Lauren masterpiece. Without warning, Jill suddenly dove onto my wet palette, and  with an equal lack of warning I unceremoniously dumped Jill off the deck and onto the mudflats directly below.  Lucky for her it was  low tide.

Jill was not to be deterred, however. She cleaned herself off, and made her way back to me, not to be put off by a little oil paint, mud, and rude human treatment. Eventually after being ignored, she settled down and made herself comfortable in a chair by my side, but not before I finally gave in and stuck her into my sunset painting.

The painting is rather Van-Gogh-esque, probably because the contretemps between myself and Jill was enough to make me want to cut off her tail and my own ear. The latter of which was a direct result of the meowing that occurred each night when I shut her out of our vacation rental without nary another piece of crabmeat to speak of.

I hope if you ever visit Cedar Key, you will enjoy its beauty, minus the benefit of a diabolical cat named Jill.

"White Bonnet", 14x11, oil on board, paintings of children, children in costume, Renaissance child

"White Bonnet", 14x11, oil on board

It's been months since I painted a portrait but this week I felt that I needed a change from the landscapes I had been doing. I enjoyed painting this darling child a few years back, when I painted "Renaissance Child" and so I decided to try her again this past week.

I used a very different technique this time, attempting a much more impressionistic approach than my previous attempt. I was very happy overall with her face, though I suspect I'll be continuing to work her costume a bit more in the future.

Here is a close up of her face. If you click on the image you can see the detail better. You'll see that there are many spots of broken color applied  and some very thick passages of impasto in the light passages:

I hope to try more experiments with this style in the future.

This past week I was very pleased to receive some samples of new art materials from Jerry's Artarama. In the box was a set of Pro Stroke Powercryl brushes in various sizes. After painting with these brushes all day yesterday I was shocked to find out that they were NOT Chungking bristle brushes at all! They were wonderful synthetic substitutes having all the same qualities of firmness, springiness and paint absorbancy that I normally find only in premium hog's hair bristle brushes. I went to Jerry's website and found that these brushes are recommended for acrylic painters. I can say with confidence that I would also recommend them for oil painters for the reasons mentioned above. Although these are synthetic brushes, they handled the paint with the degree of structure and firmness that I usually require in painting the opaque passages of my work. They also worked well for the transparent passages!They are currently on sale at 55% off at Jerry's. You can go here to read more about the brushes and place an order.I do recommend these fine brushes by Creative Mark!

In addition, I also rec'd some samples of Lukas oil paint. This is not a brand that I would normally think of using but I was very pleased with the overall consistency of the paint. I tend to switch back and forth between different brands of Titanium white because I am never perfectly happy with the overall consistency of the brands I have been using. Lately, I had been mixing Permalba white (which is extremely gooey and watery) with Winsor and Newton (which is far too dry in my opinion) in order to get the overall firm but not dry consistency of paint that I desire. With the Lukas titanium white, I found I had a perfect consistency! I also used some of the cobalt violet mixed with transparent oxide red to get some of the neutrals for the background and for the neutrals in her face. I really liked these paints and noticed they are very affordable and I will definitely purchase them in the future! Thank-you Jerry's Artarama! I look forward to trying the other materials that were sent to me in the near future.

To see the painting I did of this little child 5 years ago, please go here, and if you have a chance, please let me know which one you like better!

"The Sexy Lady", 8x10, oil on board, fishing boats, Cortez Fishing Village, Cortez Florida, old florida

"The Sexy Lady", 8x10, oil on board

I was out at Cortez Fishing Village today and decided to paint "The Sexy Lady" who never seems to leave her spot in front of the dock next to the Star Fish and Company restaurant.

It's the first time I ever painted this not-very-sexy boat, but it was certainly not the first time I've painted at Cortez.

I've painted a lot of boats there at Cortez, including Mr. Chris and The Rebel and Company. It's a great place to paint, and the seafood at the restaurant Star Fish and Company, usually is quite fresh, though expect a long wait during Snowbird Season.

It was good to be back out in the fresh air!