Billy Jacob's - Rural American Countryside Painter

Billy Jacob's - "Spring Morning"

I remember years ago buying a couple of wall calendars that featured Billy Jacob's pictures, I didn't know much about him but liked his style, it had that primitive feel but was a little different from the Warren Kimble folk art style that I've always loved and still do.

I became reacquainted with him thanks to my Mum who about a year ago found his pictures in a catalog she gets and began buying his pictures. After looking at his work again I thought it was time to feature him in a post.

Billy Jacob's - "Red Barn Summer Days"

A long time resident of Ohio he began as a designer and woodcrafter, producing products in the country/primitive style. He pursued this career throughout the 80's and 90's until turning his attention to painting in 2000. Being self-taught he began painting in acrylics until around 2006 when he switched to watercolors and began his journey of painting the rural American countryside.

Billy Jacob's - "Autumn Leaf Quilt Block Barn"

Focusing on simple American landscapes, his work invokes the traditionally rustic look of Americana and imbues it with subtle colors and stimulating contrasts. His inspiration comes from actual landscapes and places throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Billy Jacob's - "Christmas Trees For Sale"

He has become a highly sought-after artist, with his depiction of the simple American lifestyle and days gone by providing a nostalgic kind of comfort to art enthusiasts across the country.

As mentioned I am a Warren Kimble fan and have quite a few pictures but I'm also the proud owner of two pictures by Billy Jacob's. "A Casual Conversation" was a real surprise birthday gift from my Mum last year then another surprise was receiving "Autumn Afternoon" from one of my daughters for Christmas and if you might be wondering "Yes, I like Crows".

Billy Jacob's - "A Casual Conversation"

Billy Jacob's - "Autumn Afternoon"

If your not familiar with this talented artist but love primitive decor it's well worth looking into Billy Jacob's works. I absolutely would love to own more of his paintings, in fact I mentioned recently to my husband that I want to buy the Autumn Leaf Quilt print for Mothers Day as a gift from Me to Me.

Billy Jacob's - "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day"

Sorry, I had to add just one more. My Mum and I both love this one I wonder who will own it first.

It's Apparently Spring - Well You Could Have Fooled Me

The 20th of March was the official start of Spring and to that I say "Phooey" why so harsh, well it's now the 25th of April and it's just beginning ( I'm talking minute ) to show some signs of the season. Now I've heard all the excuses "It's New England" - "We've had cold Springs in the Past" - "At least it's not January and 20 below"  yada, yada, yada I don't care, I'm sick of snow, sleet and most of all the cold.

Funny part about this is that the actual Winter months were better than the Spring we are supposed to be experiencing right now, go figure.

This rant has been building since March (you know when Spring officially arrived) when I began talking about sprucing up our front porch. The porch is enclosed and the main entrance to our house, now I didn't want to do a complete makeover or anything just a few little things, starting with putting away the boots, shovels and containers of salt.

The problem was that every time I mentioned this to my husband it would snow, I'm not kidding every time within 24hrs the white stuff would fall. Guess I really need to learn to keep my thoughts to myself.

Well, I was not going to be defeated so I held back on removing the snow removing stuff and focused on what I wanted to purchase (As I'm sure you've guessed this was also a mistake) and I decided on just a few simple items. The first was an adorable little white resin bunny and a mini boxwood candle ring for him to sit in, this was going into a large black candle lantern that hangs next to the front door.

Of course you already know that as soon as I ordered these items it snowed and the day after they were delivered it snowed (this could have been the plot of a new comedy sitcom) again. But hang on it gets even funnier (well maybe to you not me) I decided to wait just a bit before ordering anything else and eventually decided it was safe (that's turned out to be a real "Duh" for me) so I purchased two new pillow covers for the wicker chairs and a new rug and if you guessed that it snowed again well ding-ding you win the prize.

OK so let's fast forward to a week ago, we went to Wal-Mart and I bought stuff to make a new wreath for the front door and two small clay pots to put in the windows (please keep in mind that it has not snowed for a bit up to this point) and the next day said "That's it, I'm cleaning and fixing up the porch".

So this is what I did, spent the entire day washing windows, washing the walls and baseboards, vacuuming, putting on the new covers and making the wreath oh, before all of that I put all the snow stuff (except for one container of salt) in the basement. It was actually a pretty nice day I even had the windows open, I was tired after everything was completed but it was fun and everything looked really good.

Unfortunately my happy mood didn't last because (and again I'm not kidding) the next day it got really cold again and we had sleet all day. My husband thinking he was funny said to me several times that day "Gee, wish I had a shovel" you can trust me when I say I didn't see the humor but in the end I have to admit I did laugh what else was there to do.

I have to say that so far this week it has been nice, the sun has been out and we've had the windows in the house open (I probably should not say anything) and also did a little work on the flower beds. I'm going to try and stay positive and hopeful that Spring really is finally appearing but who knows. All I do know is that I'm still watching the sky with skepticism.

 Happy Spring - Maybe

This Post Is Long Over Due - Lets Catch Up

Not sure what you think but I personally think seven months is a long time for a post. So you may ask "What's your excuse" umm - I'm thinking - OK, the answer is "I don't have one" other than the truth which is I just simply got out of the habit.

When Did A Simple Trip To The Grocery Store Require A Battle Plan

It's been quite some time since I ranted but yesterday's trip to the grocery store just screamed "Rant".

My husband and I made a trip to the grocery store here in town on Friday, it was a little later in the afternoon than we would normally go so quite possibly the time of day could have added to what we encountered. Before going forward with this story I will say I realize it was a Friday afternoon and people are stopping after work and anxious to get home but not an excuse for pushy rudeness.

Looking Forward To The Fall Season - If You Decorate It Will Come

 

I don't know about anyone else but I'm tired of Summer, here in the Northeast we have had way too many humid days and its got to go. I decided that the best way to move on to Fall was to start decorating so a couple of weeks ago that's just what I did.

Let Color Speak To You - Nature Inspired Paint Palettes

If by some chance you've been contemplating making a change to a room in your home - of course we all know changing the paint color is the easiest - but are finding yourself stuck, look to nature for some inspiration.  Because if there is one thing we all know nature never gets it wrong, so on that note the following are some nature inspired color palettes from Better Homes & Gardens.