Ned Jacob (1938-2025)

My first teacher and mentor Ned Jacob died this week.

I met Ned in 1992 at a workshop in Maine. My husband Steve and I chose that week because it fit our vacation schedule. I confess I did not know about Ned or his work, but I was trying to reignite my nascent desire to make art, after a useless BFA (except for the art history) and years in another profession. Ned, quite simply, changed the course of my life that week. We painted landscapes, we drew from the model, we looked at slides of artist’s work like Levitan, Maynard Dixon and Sorolla, that despite my art history background, I knew nothing about. Ned delivered lessons in brilliant one liners that I still remember today. “It’s warm in there.” (color temperature). “Corner to corner, it’s an orchestration.” (composition). “Drawing sets you free”. And I came home knowing that I wanted to do this, and only this, for the rest of my life.

Over the next decade we saw a lot of Ned. He visited our home in Florida for several years and then later in New Mexico. He critiqued my work and gave advice on everything from framing to galleries. We painted Ghost Ranch and took a road trip to Utah to see a Maynard Dixon show. Steve helped him move his stuff out of storage in Colorado and to Santa Fe. He painted Steve on his horse Cochise. And he introduced us to the late, great Hollis Williford, who became a friend and mentor.

For all of this, and much more, I am forever grateful.

For more about the art and life of this extraordinary artist visit  https://online.flippingbook.com/view/778128377/