Carrie’s Painting of the Week, 2/8/10
Good Sam II
By Carrie Jacobson
Late Thursday afternoon, I dropped by the Lighthouse Gallery, near our home here in Connecticut, to give a final look at “Places & Pets,” the show of my work and Carden Holland’s work, set to open Friday evening.
The show looked great – but there was an open place on the wall above the desk of curator Chris Rose.
On the wall was Good Sam I, a painting of one of our dogs. It is a big painting, 30×30, all in blues. It’s a painting that I love. (You can see it at the end of this posting).
The hole beside it was just about the same size. Chris wanted to know if I had another painting, another big one. Well, I do, but not one that I want to sell. And already, there were three not-for-sale paintings in the show.
So Chris gave me a challenge. Days earlier, he and I had been talking about the power and delight of painting fast, and he turned to me and asked if I could make another painting.
I took him up on it.
All along, I’d envisioned the Sam paintings as a pair. I mean, everybody needs a pair of giant oil paintings of a Samoyed, right?
So, on Friday morning, after a nearly sleepless Thursday night, I went out to the studio painted Good Sam II.
The pieces look great together! They are just about the happiest paintings I’ve ever made. And they were a wonderful omen for the opening.
It was a festive show, a true celebration, filled with family and friends – and strangers! There were children, teens, a dog, friends from my childhood and from this new life.
Carden Holland, the marvelous artist who was the “Places” part of the show, had not shown in years and years. Practically her whole family came to the opening, which made it even more special. We have many friends in common, and many of them came to support and celebrate us.
I’d like to say it was a high-selling opening, but it wasn’t; still, it was wonderful, and I had the chance, again and again, to watch as people saw and connected and engaged with my paintings. And that’s a huge, huge thrill! If you came to the opening, thank you. If you couldn’t make it, don’t worry. The show will be up until the end of the month.
Groton is on the Connecticut coast, near Mystic. It’s a wonderful day trip from the mid-Hudson. Generally, the gallery is not open on weekends, but Chris will be happy to open it; just give him a call at 860-445-7626, ext. 108. Commissions from all sales go to support the Lighthouse Voc-Ed Center, which offers educational and social opportunities for people with developmental disabilities.
For more information, see http://lighthousevocedcenter.com/TheGallery.html
For information on buying one or both of the Good Sam paintings, email carrieBjacobson@gmail.com
Good Sam I
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