Open Studio May 4, 5 11-5pm ICB

I will be unveiling my latest book, Omo Valley: Vanishing Tribes, at my Open Studio, Saturday and Sunday, May 4-5 from 11am to 5pm. It will also be available on Amazon.com starting April 20, 2013.

Omo Valley is in the Southwest corner of Ethiopia and I traveled there this past January to visit the tribes and document their way of life while they are still living in their remote villages.

My travels in the last eight years have primarily been to experience non-Western cultures. The impact of what I learned on these travels has changed my focus from painting back to photography, which I did in the late 60's and 70's. I'm also creating videos; my first video, Painting with Elephants, will be on Marin TV this summer. With this new direction of mine, I'm doing less painting and more editing so I'm moving my studio to my home, making this my final Open Studio at ICB.

Hope you can stop by and visit the first weekend in May:


Industrial Center Building, Studio 330B
480 Gate 5 Road,
Sausalito, CA

Omo Valley: Vanishing Tribes

My new book will be available on Amazon.com on April 20, 2013

This is a paper back version of my photos of seven different tribes in the Omo Valley, Ethiopia.

The Omo Valley tribes I visited (Mursi, Hamer, Desanesh, Dorze, Konso, Tsemay and Ari) are still very primitive. The people live in one room huts with no electricity or water.

I got my BA in Cultural Anthropology and visiting these tribes was an amazing experience and something I had long dreamed of. I'm planning on returning to make a documentary  about the changes happening in this area because of the influx of foreign agricultural investors to this fertile area.

Omo Valley Tribal Markets

Through out the Omo Valley, Ethiopia, there are weekly tribal markets where the different villages come together to trade vegetables, milk, beans, snuff and colored earth that is used for decorations.

There also is a small section in each market where they sell hand crafted items or items they no longer use to the few tourists that come to these markets.

I bought the tortise cow bell from this vendor.

Carved figures for tourists.

Desanech Tribe, Ethiopia

In January, I went to Ethiopia to visit and photograph the tribes in the Omo Valley.
This is about the Desanech Tribe, near the Kenya border.

To get there we had to cross the Omo River in dugout canoes.

When we arrived to the other side, village boys were playing.

The village has no water supply, no electricity and the people still wear traditional dress.

This woman is carrying a water jug on her head. Her house is in the background.

The people get creative with their personal adornment.

These girls are using bottle tops.

This child has a watch band as decoration.

This village is very remote, no shops nearby, so almost everything is made by hand. Below is a village elder making a milk container.

There are no clinics nearby, so injuries, such as the bite on the boy below, are cured using natural remedies.

In college and graduate school I studied Cultural Anthropology so this trip was an amazing adventure for me, to actually visit tribes I had read about in school. The trip has also inspired my art work. I have already created a photo book of the different tribes I visited and am now working on incorporating my photos into my art.

My art can be seen at www.caroljacobsen.com (disclaimer: I now blog my newer paintings as it's easier than updating my website!!)

Winter Open Studio, Dec 1-2, 2012

Please join me at my Open Studio Saturday December 1 and Sunday December 2 from 11am to 2pm at Studio 330B, ICB Building, 480 Gate 5 Road, Sausalito. 70 artists studios will be open and there is free parking

I will be showing my latest series, Across Space and Time. The series continues my exploration of imaginary interactions of people from photographic images, this time expanding to include the tribes of the Omo Valley in Ethiopia. I was so inspired by these people that I'm going to visit them in 2013 for further inspiration.

I'm also trying to get the larger version of my 16 panel work completed. The existing piece is composed of 16 8"x10" birch panels.

I'm working on doing this same piece using 16 canvas panels, each 16" x 20". So far I've completed half of the panels. Will I get the rest completed by November 30?

And a final surprise will be two collaborative pieces painted by Thompetch (a six year old male Asian elephant) with me and Tom Russen. I'll be talking about the process at my show. You can see how the two pieces differ, depending on the artist who collaborated with Thompetch.

Hope to see you at my open studio, December 1 and 2 from 11am to 6pm. And I'll also be open Friday night from 6 to 9 pm. Address is ICB Building Studio 330B, 480 Gate 5 Road, Sausalito. 

Here's a video of Carol painting with Thongpetch
http://youtu.be/AHwrUGKDQqo

Elephant painting

I finally did it! I made a collaborative piece of art with an elephant. From the first time that I saw a youtube of an elephant painting in 2009, I was inspired to witness the process first hand.


 After my 2010 trip to Maese Elephant Camp near Chiang Mai, Thailand to watch elephants paint, I found out that the camp offered Basic Mahout Training Camp. Mahout's are the people who train the elephants. In 2012 I arranged to go back to stay at the elephant camp and do a collaborative piece of art with an elephant




Here is Thongpetch and me with our finished piece.





An elephant has to be trained to paint. To find out more of the process, read When Elephants Paint by Vitaly Komar. Thongpetch, a six year old 'modern' elephant could not only paint but play soccer! After spending three days learning elephant commands, riding and bathing Thongpetch, we were ready to paint together.

Step 1 is placing a paint filled brush into his trunk.

Because I was asking Thongpetch to paint in a style he was unaccustomed to (he normally paints dots), I had to use my finger to point where I wanted him to make his strokes.












This is Thongpetch applying the final stroke which was a dot. He was really focused during the entire painting process and his trunk quivered sometimes with his intense concentration.

Way to go Thongpetch!!

Chance and Choice - Delhi Night # 2

My first night in India I was driving through the streets of Delhi and saw this small child begging. At first I was shocked by the sight. After two weeks in India, I came to a difference awareness of the people and culture of India. There is such a strong spirituality in the country and strong sense of community and I saw the strength in the child. Delhi Night # 2 is my interpretation of this feeling.