February Exhibition at the Boone County Historical Museum

One of the largest exhibitions of my watercolors will be on display at the Walters-Boone County Historical Museum in Columbia MO, from Feb 3rd-28th. More than 60 original paintings, representing several different phases of my work will be assembled for this unprecedented exhibition.

The show is in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of Boy Scouting. (I think I was the only artist/eagle scout they could find to fill such an enormous space on very short notice)

The Exhibition opening is Sunday, February 7th from 2-4pm, (leaving plenty of time to get to your Superbowl party).

Regular hours of the Boone County Historical Society are:
Wed, Fri, Sat & Sun
from 12:30 - 4:30 pm

Please visit if you can, and definitely pass along to anyone else that might be interested!

"Notre Dame" demo

How we accomplished this complicated painting in three days is still a
bit of a mystery. It was a fun-filled race the entire way, but we got
it done. The participants all created equally successful pieces too.
Some of those folks are simply amazing! Don't bother to inquire about
the original on this demo...Muriel, pictured here with me, laid claim
to it before I laid down the first brushstroke. That's what you call
faith! No pressure though! Good call Muriel!

Great workshop in Tyler TX!

This weekend's architectural watercolor workshop was a blast! The
great folks in Tyler made it almost too much fun! It was certainly way
too short of a visit. We've already time-warped back to the frigid
Midwest and are dreaming of the 70 degree weather we enjoyed this week
in TX. I am already looking forward to heading south again!

"Liquid Light" 22x36" watercolor by Paul Jackson

My reclusive time in the studio was well spent, but sadly it was all
too brief. This piece has been waiting to be painted for some time
now, and finally I stole the time to do it. Now it's time to hit the
road for a bit. More workshops to teach, friends to visit and
adventures to be had!

"Sea, Earth & Sky" 22x36" watercolor by Paul Jackson

As an artist I find myself constantly bombarded by ideas that don't seem to fit my current direction. However, I also find it is important to pursue these ideas occasionally so that I can grow and stretch artistically. Personally, I just enjoy the surprise on people's faces when I break out of the expected.

Surprise! Happy New Year!

"I Heart NY" 40x26" watercolor by Paul Jackson

I started this piece in January 2009, following a particularly fun visit to New York (Way back when you could still drive through Times Square) . Although I didn't have time to finish it in one studio session, I worked on it a little at a time all year. It's nice to see it finally come together! Now I'm anxious to go back!

"Uncommon Angel" 40x26" watercolor by Paul Jackson

It's been a busy year and I've not had all the studio time I wanted, but have stolen the last month to stretch myself artistically and reach for something completely different.

This idea has been rattling around my head for a while and I just had to unleash it this holiday season. I am reminded constantly that there are angels amongst us everywhere and they come in all forms. I am reminded never to judge a book by it's cover. Please take some time this year to be an angel for someone less fortunate.

Have a very merry Christmas!

Paul

Gifts Galore

With the holiday season now upon us, you'll need unique gifts for the special people in your life. I hope that you'll visit my Zazzle site and check out all the custom-printed cool stuff they have to offer with my artwork on it.

I guarantee that you can find a gift for any personality. Check it out and see for yourself!

Paul Jackson 2010 Watercolor Calender by PaulJacksonart
View more Paul jackson Calendars

Featured Artist at the Gateway Gallery in Clayton MO

If you find yourself in the vicinity of St Louis soon, please drop by
the Gateway Gallery in Clayton. Some of my latest work will be on
display until Dec 31 as one of the featured artists in an exhibition
entitled "Paris and other Delights". I did include a Paris piece, but
most of my work falls into the "other delights" category. The opening
is Friday, Nov 20th, 6-9 pm. Please come! The gallery website: http://www.gatewaygalleryonline.com/

Same subject, individual approaches

In a room full of artists you'd expect a load of originality. I gave
them all the same project to work on, same building and same
perspective. The different approach each artist took to this demo was
impressive. Their artistic voices came out loud and clear! Great work
y'all!

Great Friends in Baton Rouge

I always have fun in Baton Rouge! The food is way too good, and the
friends here are way too much fun. This is one of the most talented,
hardest working and most entertaining bunches of artists I've ever
encountered. They make us feel like family. We can't possibly get back
to Baton Rouge often enough!

Baton Rouge Architectural Watercolor Workshop

My workshop friends in Baton Rouge had a ball with this demo. It was
challenging for all, and barely completed in time. We raced to a big
finish on Sunday afternoon. My demo painting was a fight, but I was
pleased with the results. We had so much fun in our cavernous ballroom
studio that there were even cartwheel attempts.

The Walter Anderson Museum of Art

Whenever you find yourself in the vicinity of Ocean Springs,
Mississippi, stop in to the Walter Anderson Museum and see the works
of one of my inspirations. Anderson painted some of the most
incredible watercolors on typing paper. He spent much of his time on
Horn Island, off the coast of MS. I too spent some time of my
formative years on this uninhabited barrier island. It is a great
escape and I hope to get back there someday. Walter Anderson's artwork
transports me back there every time I see it.

Pensacola Glass workshop

Great group of participants! Very talented, colorful and expressive!

We had a grand weekend painting a glass still life, ate way too much
good food, and wore ourselves out on Halloween candy!

I can never get to Pensacola often enough!

"Stalking Monet"

"Stalking Monet" 40x26" watercolor by Paul Jackson.

Having just spent a wonderful workshop adventure in France and a
fantastic time in Monet's Gardens in Giverny, I couldn't wait to get
back in the studio and translate my love for this magical place. Enjoy!

Holiday Gift Ideas!

Hi Friends!

The Shameless Commerce Department has reminded me that the holiday season is soon upon us and I should encourage you to shop at the Paul Jackson Zazzle store for cool gifts for your best friends and family. It's an easy find for some great stuff you won't find anywhere else, and you'll benefit the artist a little bit in the process. In this economy being an artist is rather a tough gig, but I am so unqualified for much else.

My artwork is available custom printed on all sorts of neat stuff like Ked's shoes, postage stamps, mugs, calendars, t-shirts, notecards, bags, mousepads, posters, ties and even skateboards!

Please check it out as you shop for the holidays, and support the arts as much as possible! It's a sure bet that your friends and relatives don't already have this gift, and I've painted enough diverse stuff over the years that I can almost promise there is something for every personality.

Here's the link that magically transports you there: http://www.zazzle.com/pauljacksonart*

Thanks for your support!

Paul

Adventure on pause

Our adventure in France could not have been more fun! The workshop was flawless and the participants were fantastic. We are weary from all the travel, but it isn't quite over yet. We're home for a short bit, but head south before the month is out. The dogs & kids are enjoying our company, and my studio needs some painting time for a spell. We have a busy year planned for 2010...check out the workshop calendar. We hope you can join us somewhere, sometime! Au revoir! Paul & Marla

One more sunrise on the Seine

What a grand adventure we have had, sketching our way thru France. I hate to go, but tomorrow we must return home and feed the dogs, kids, plants etc. There is mail to answer and paintings waiting to be painted. We have only days at home before we travel again. Deep south, here we come!

More Versailles

A day at Versailles

We had the best time sketching and playing in the gardens at Versailles! The weather was perfect and the company unbeatable. We watched the fountains dance, rented bicycles, and saw the entire place. We laughed so hard, so often that I had pain in my ribs all afternoon.

Painting at Place de la Concorde

This morning the rain soaked streets were shiny and the sun appeared just in time for a sunrise watercolor session in Place de la Concorde. Afterward we hiked up to the Eifel Tower, then caught the Metro to the Isle de Cite for a sketch session at Notre Dame. Busy day!

Napoleon's Carousel

I took my group on the Paris tour of art museums today. Lots of
walking, overload of art , but we stopped for a few hours to paint in
front of Napoleon's Carousel before tackling the Louvre. My group is
awesome, open minded and carefree. I love traveling with these folks!

Levee St Michel

The light at Mont St Michel depends entirely on the weather. This trip
we got all versions of light, mostly the wet kind, but occasionally
the sun shone through and we made the most of the time we had.

Painting in the Rain :)

Painting Mont St Michel

For the past three days I put this fantastic group through rigorous
exercises in sketching Mont St Michel in watercolor. We had a great
subject to work with and got a variety of weather conditions to render
in. It rained a bit, but gave us atmosphere and dramatic light. I was
so pleased with the experience and glad we took enough time to really
get to know our subject. Now we're off to Giverny to paint in Monet's
Garden!
Adieu Mont St Michel...until next time!

Marla knows where the rocks are

Pilgrims across the Quicksand

Only the brave or foolish venture out in the quicksand at low tide
without an experienced guide to lead the way. You really wouldn't want
to be caught out there when the tide comes roaring back in. It is a
beautiful sight to watch the pilgrims hike out for a better view

Storm Cloak

The rain might deter some from making the walk to the Mont, but I am
always in search of a stormy sky to add a bit of drama to the
landscape. We held class inside this morning as it drizzled, but later
went out and braved the elements for even better views.

The locals

Never the most cooperative subjects to paint are the local sheep that
feed on the saltgrass around Mont St Michel. They tend to wander in
and out of the view as we work. We did a bit of shepherding today to
get them to pose for us, and as thanks, we skipped the Rack of Lamb on
le Menu tonight.

The Magical Presence of the Mont

In every light the silhouette of Mont St Michel is captivating, but
with a dramatic sunset it is so breathtaking you can hardly look away.
Rising up from the quicksand of the surrounding bay, this rock and the
ancient city upon it are the inspiration that brought us here.

Mont St Michel

After more than a day in transit, we have arrived at Mont St Michel on
the Normandy coast of France. My Watercolor Sketchbook Tour of France
begins here and we'll spend the next few days exploring the area and
making liquid notes about it.

This is the view from our room at the Hotel Relais St Michel! Even if
we never ventured out we could paint this panoramic landscape for
days. Tomorrow morning we'll paint from this distance and then hike up
to the Mont for a closer perspective.

It's chilly and overcast, but visibility is good. My group of nine can
hardly contain their excitement, despite how tired we are from the
long journey.

Escape the winter and come paint with me in Paradise!

Winter is on it's way and I was already dreaming of warm, sunny places to escape the winter chill when I got a call from Hawaiian Art Journey asking if I'd like to have a workshop in January at the Kona Village Resort, an all-inclusive private resort set on 82 acres of the most beautiful tropical island paradise. It really didn't take me very long to agree...maybe about a half second. The timing couldn't be better for a relaxing trip to a serene place to paint.
After they described the resort and all of the amenities it offered I assumed it would be an expensive workshop, but I was very pleasantly surprised at how affordable they have made it.
Come relax and thaw out with me, learn to paint, or improve your watercolor skills with the best, most inspirational scenery imaginable. An opportunity like this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience! Jan 9-16, 2010 in Hawaii!

If you'd like to join me for this fantastic trip, email Marla: marlamjackson1@aol.com

Catching up, then goin again.

We've been all over the country this year, teaching workshops and exploring for inspiration, and only a couple of weeks at home is barely enough time to catch up, but it will do. In three weeks we depart for France for a watercolor sketchbook tour of some of my favorite places there.

Mont St Michel is one of my top 10, but I haven't been there in almost a decade. I assume it is pretty much the same; still magical and awesome to paint. This trip we'll have three days to soak it in, the a day painting in Monet's Gardens in Giverny, a day in Versailles and five days wandering Paris. Hopefully I'll find enough wifi to update the blog as we go.

I have most of this week to reacquaint myself with my dogs, maybe squeeze a painting out of my studio, then I'm off to Cape Girardeau for a weekend workshop. Afterwards I'll start packing for France!

Kendalls Restaurant, Noble OK

Just south of Norman, OK, if you get off the interstate, you'll find a
little town named Noble and a fantastic meal with great company at Kendall's Restaurant. Try the lemon pepper or the blackened fish but make sure you save room for their decadent signature cinnamon rolls.
Tell Dee and De we said Hi!

Gallery Main Street, Tyler Tx

Wow! My opening at the new Gallery Main Street in Tyler was
overwhelming! It seemed the entire city showed up! It was a little too
crowded, but the turnout for such an event was impressive! Many thanks
I owe to our host, artist Debbie Cannatella, who made the whole event
happen for us. I know there were a ton of other people who gave and
worked to make the gallery a reality, but I met too many of them to
remember all their names! Thank Y'all!

The gallery was built by the City of Tyler, an incredibly forward-
thinking gesture from city government. This place will make Tyler a
cultural magnet for the rest of the region. It is most certainly a
model for other cities to follow. Way to go Tyler Tx!

"Wading Sausalito" 20x26" watercolor by Paul Jackson

Among the floating houses in Sausalito I watched an egret stalking breakfast. The reflections of the houses made for a surreal, constantly morphing backdrop.

"Landing Patterns" 20x26" watercolor by Paul Jackson

We sat on the jetty at the end of the runway on Orcas Island to watch sunset. Every 15 minutes or so the antique bi-plane would land after a quick aerial tour. Each time he would approach the runway the seagull would take off and race the plane to a landing. It appeared to be a competition for dominance of the airspace. Turned out to be an awesome sunset and a fantastic memory.

Finally I found a couple of weeks to paint in my studio!

Sunrise Ocracoke

One more walk on the beach at sunrise before catching the ferry to
Cedar Island.

Ocracoke Island

We ferried the van over to Ocracoke Island for a sunset walk on the beach, but had such a good time that we missed the last ferry and got to spend the night. Walking the beach by moonlight was great! The full moon gave us enough light to watch the ghost crabs fishing in the surf. I found one that wasn't camera shy and photographed him with my iPhone, using Marla's iPhone for illumination.

The Cape Hatteras lighthouse

The conquest of flight

Kitty Hawk, NC is where Orville and Wilbur Wright launched their first
airplane. On that very hill stands a monument to their conquest of the air.

Petite Tour de East

You'd think that after a month on the road we'd be ready to stay home for a bit. This is not the case. We only needed a couple of days to do laundry, recharge batteries and pay bills. Those tasks complete, we made a b-line for the east coast. Our first stop was a tour of Duke University in Durham, NC. It is a beautiful, wooded school with Gothic architecture everywhere. We stayed the night here, then headed for the Outer Banks.

Adventure on pause briefly

Being on the road for a month means obligations at home. We turned toward Missouri to pay bills, do laundry, feed the dogs, and pick up at least one kid. On our drive through South Dakota we passed thru the stormfront twice. It was beautiful, but violent. We stopped to take photos and watched a tornado form. Time to go!

Heading East thru North Dakota

Yellowstone was magical and we hated to leave, but the rising sun reminds us we have to head East. We took the NE exit out of Yosemite toward Red Lodge. Back into Montana we stopped in Billings, then proceeded NE to check out Pompeys Pillar, where William Clark chiseled his signature. After a climb to the top and a walk along the river, we headed for North Dakota and Theodore Roosevelt National Park to check out the painted canyon.

Taking Commissions

I just received a memo from our Shameless Commerce department
informing me that if we wanted to keep this job I would now be
accepting commissions to paint from any of the incredible places we've
been. I'll be in the studio for only a couple of months before we go
again, so take advantage of this rare opportunity to direct my
creativity. If I can paint your favorite place email me at wowrealart@aol.com
. If you would like to support our continued adventures and aren't
ready at this time for an original watercolor painting then please
visit our new gift website pauljacksonart.com. Treat yourself or a
friend to a tshirt, coffee mug or many other products featuring my work.
Thanks for joining us on this amazing inspirational adventure! Stay
tuned for more...we're still 1200 miles from home.

Full Steam

Old Faithful finally gave me the gusher of boiling water and steam. It
only took me three tries to catch the fairly unpredictable geyser.

Waiting on the Faithful

It was finicky last night and didn't erupt until after dark, so we
stayed for another chance to catch an eruption at sunrise. Old
Faithful is just not that faithful. She blows every 90 minutes, give
or take a half hour. This morning we are firmly planted and will catch
her yet!

Old Faithful sunset

Like clockwork, Old Faithful is not. Predictions are off by 10-30
minutes average. Waiting for a sunset eruption was one of those "oh
well" moments. Just didn't happen. It was still a great place to watch
sunset. Maybe sunrise will be more faithful.

Yellowstone!

After a quick stop at the headwaters of the Missouri River, we made
our way down to Yellowstone through Gardiner, Montana. This is the
first entrance to Yellowstone and has the big stone gateway. Only a
couple of hours til sunset and so many options to choose from!

A day in Glacier is not enough

The gravity of home is pulling stronger, having been gone over three weeks now. There are bills to pay, dogs to feed, treadmills to walk and stresses to have that I guess I'm just not ready to resume just yet. It's hard to pass by these incredible places and not stop. We've been giving each as much time as possible, but it never seems enough. We hiked a little in Glacier, but barely scratched the surface. It deserves months, but we could only spare a day this time. After all, Yellowstone is just to the south!

Beautiful Obstacles in the road

Apologies to anyone who gets behind me on the road. I'm slow moving and paying attention to everything at once. I do manage to keep one eye on the road so as not to have a wildlife "encounter" or rub fenders with the cool old cars they shuttle folks around in, but I do have a tendency to stop at every pullout, and occasionally when there isn't one!

Glacier Wildlife

Somehow the wildlife didn't seem very wild, as if they had perhaps seen folks with iphone cameras before. :)

Glacier National Park

We took the "going to the sun" highway as slow as humanly possible, taking every pullout along the way. Every turn brought a new array of sunlight through the clouds and trees. We started early enough to avoid any crowds so it was as peaceful as it was picturesque. There was construction at the top where snowmelt had washed out the road, but that just offered me a chance to drive even slower. It's a 50 mile drive in total, climbing to 6500 feet and plunging back down again. Somehow it took us all day and we never noticed.

Glacier Sunrise

The clouds are parting as we approach the "drive to the sun". We
stopped in Apgar for Huckleberry pancakes before we attempt the climb.
The "No-Stress Express" has 207k miles on her, so we are a bit timid
about taking her up the 6500 ft climb on the narrow, winding road.
She's roaring to go though! Time to climb!

Big Fork, Montana

After a boat ride on Lake Pend O'Rielle with new friends, Curtis,
Travis & Kayla, we drove Northeast to Big Fork, Montana to catch the
beautiful views over Flathead Lake. Big Fork has a cute downtown area,
but views of the lake are best found out of town. It started raining,
so we pushed on to West Glacier for the night.

Sunset Hope Idaho

Thanks to a recommendation from friend, Mike Zimmer, we set our sights
on Sandpoint, Idaho. For sunset we made our way around Lake Pend
Orielle ( pronounced: pondoray), to Hope, Idaho and the Hope Marina
with the Floating Restaurant. What an awesome end to the day!

Northern Exposure in Roslyn, WA

If you are a Northern Exposure fan, Roslyn, Washington is a must-
visit. The remains of the set can still be found, from KBER radio, Dr
Fleischman's office and the Brick to the infamous Roslyn Cafe sign.
It's a cute town otherwise. We had a beer at the Brick and got our
Northern Exposure fix.

Pikes place market, Seattle

Marla loves it! Not only do they have the original Starbucks, but
great food and flowers galore. It was crowded, but colorful and tasty!

"Neon Rain" accepted into NWS

The National Watercolor Society's 2009 Exhibition will include my
painting, "Neon Rain" among the 90 or so paintings selected. This
piece hasn't been shown anywhere yet. What better place to make it's
debut?!

Seattle

I've always liked Seattle, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to live here. It's crowded and busy and there are already enough weirdos here. Yesterday we made a pilgrimage to the Original Starbucks at Pike Place Market, visited the Space Needle and the Seattle Music Experiment. The Seafarer's Parade is going on this weekend, so it is extra busy and the atmosphere is electric. Last night a group of 30-40 nude bicyclists past us on the street. It may be time to head for home!