Soooo- here’s the big pitch- Tune in to The Bachelor Pad on August 8th- Monday, 8pm on ABC!

A little tweaking and VOILA! Well, not quite that easy But the Rhode Island oceanfront certainly inspires beautiful artwork. Why do I live in NYC again?

xo, Jackie

Jackie Gordon

Here are some pics from the show. Thanks to all who came out to support

Um, who knew Salt Lake City was so gorgeous?  Maybe everyone but me? I have got to to pull a Fievel and Go West!  Ok, geographical expedition impulses aside . .

Episode 4 finds Benjamin and his entourage venturing outside of their comfort zones and into the great outdoors. Come to think of it, the dates are mostly activities you’d find at a summer camp: horseback riding, hiking, canoeing, fly-fishing, roasting marshmallows, being lowered into caves.  (Ok, the last is less summer campy and more token bachelor face-your-fear-of-heights-datey.)  Ah, the things we do for love.
Let me start with this: If a guy ever took me fly-fishing on a date, I would be one happy girl. No joke! I loved this date! Simple and out-doorsy.  Not to mention, you put every girl in terribly oversized overall waders and it levels the playing field. And assuming no off-camera boozing took place in the river, Ben gets to see the girls without his wine goggles in an environment more challenging to catch his attention than half nakey in a hot tub.

Speaking of hot, this is NOT:

“Catching a fish probably isn’t much harder than catching a man. I’ve done that before.”

The first one-on-one of the week was New York City-slicker Rachel.  Here, the girl that usually has a heck of a lot to say has us literally listening to the crickets around she and Ben.  If not for the helicopter ride, I would have totally forgotten all about this date.  I don’t doubt the same stands true for them! Listening to their conversation was excruciating! Rachel, girlfriend, did you really talk about wrinkles and crows feet during the highly coveted one-on-one time? Ay ay ay, lady!  But somehow, you mustered up just enough charm to snag that rose. Kudos.

The second one-on-one date is with cute-as-a-button Jennifer. Glad she got
the chance! We see a refreshingly normal and sweet girl who puts on a brave
face, drops into the cavernous waters below, and gets the ultimate prize- a
Ben F kiss. Swooooon!

Back at the house, Courtney is winning. She’s winning all the time, everyday, in case you may have thought she was losing. She always wins. Don’t forget it. Ben literally took the bait on this one. Sigh.
Okay so who really likes Ben? Who is there for the “right” reasons? Here’s what I got:

1. Kacie B: She is genuine in her feelings, so much so that she is already in tears at the thought of not getting another one-on-one date soon. And I mean real live tears!

2. Nikki: More real tears!
3. Jennifer: Clearly truly likes Ben, and a-to-tha-dorable.
4. Emily: Down to earth.
Speaking of Emily, this week brought us a whole lot-o-honesty. While
it is the basis of every relationship, new and old, it can also be a gift and a curse when the girls start to be honest on The Bachelor. This episode, we see poor Emily fall victim to this “being honest with the bachelor” curse. We as the viewers think, “how could Ben not appreciate the only girl that is brave enough to be honest about the resident hell raiser?” If this does in fact lead to Emily’s demise, I will turn off my TV and not watch the bachelor again!

. . . until next week, of course.  What? I need my fix!  =)

Can you imagine if this imaginary land actually existed? Yikes! Think of all the constant kissing, girl hissing, and tears that would flood the streets daily . . .

I love how the play that Ben and the ladies put on for the community centered around Bachelorville. At the tender age of 12, these kids got the G-rated (thank goodness!) glimpse intothe 10women– on- 1man dynamic (and subsequent antics) that make the Bachelor so entertaining! Even better, this time dressed as friendly, furry, silly fairy tale characters. I like it! And as is true in the “real” Bachelorville, there was a parade of interesting characters, kissing, and we even saw the bachelor stripping down to his skivvies. Wowwy! Time to put the kids to bed!

Side note: Jenna deserves her own separate line here because as much as she may be scrutinized for her emotional outbursts, girl ROCKED that 80 year old wizard costume! You became my idol this episode with your ability to rock that white ‘stache. A+!

Ben’s Brownie Points:

It’s probably no secret if you follow my tweets, but I’m a Ben fan. I have to hand it to the guy- there are a few things I’m EXTRA loving so far in this season and episode. For one, Ben’s “real” dates are reflecting his normalcy. There are very few bells and whistles, which leads me to believe that he is less into impressing the girls, and more into letting them into his life and like him for who he really is. His favorite local spots, picnics, his dog/son “Scotch”- they are all reaffirming what I had already believed to be true: that Ben is one cool, normal, laid back and genuine guy. It’s no wonder these girls are getting a bit ‘involved’…

But, let’s get back to the girls.  Who makes it into the Bachelorville hall of fame tonight? Well, in answering the age-old question of blondes vs brunettes, it’s clear that the brunettes won their way into the wino’s heart tonight.

Bachelorville Brunette Bomb # 1

My favorite girl, my new Bachelor Bestie- Kacie B. Now this girl is a breath of fresh air! She’s normal, down to earth, sweet, genuine, AND adorable. Thank you for allowing me to devote the rest of this blog to the other girls! I don’t need to even comment on your performance, other than you and your baton twirling are safe in our Sonoman’s heart. Bravo!

And in those infamous words uttered weekly by Chris Harrison, “ As for the rest of you…”

First of all, thank you for being you. You all bring something quite unique to the table. It’s a tough situation to be in, all vying for such a cute and nice fella’s affection, but I state the obvious here when I say that the personalities here were like a spark to gasoline.

Bachelorville Brunette Bomb # 2

Blakely certainly won the award for turning the most girls off to her. But, the fellow brunette charmed Ben as she admitted, “ (I) believe in my kissing skills, 100%.” Gingerbread man or not, Blakely captured Ben’s interest and secured her lasting fate.  At least to next week. I wonder how Monica was feeling about this. Has her interest in Blakely dwindled?

I love, love, love Ben’s reasoning behind giving Blakely the rose on the group date. If this doesn’t sum up a man’s desires, I don’t know what else does. He begins to say the rose “goes to someone who made the most of her time with me and conversation.” What more could she do to make more of their time than to make out all night and follow him around like his shadow? In normal girl world, that may be considered stalking, but in Bachelorville, it is not only acceptable, but expected and rewarded! Well done.

Bachelorville Brunette Bomb # 3

And lastly, our LA model Courtney secured the final safety rose of the evening, giving Ben’s blonde haired beauties some- umm, ‘healthy’ competition. But, I’d really like to know, why has she been so picky in the past, and yet pretty sure about Ben being so close to perfect on their first date? I’m smelling some sweet talk, Ben..  and can’t help but be a bit skeptical when she says she doesn’t get asked out often. Kind of thinking that maybe he’s a little bit of a conquest to her- just saying. Let’s not forget, she did say she usually gets what she wants.

Bachelorville Exiles.

Ah yes, as in every society, there are those that are forced out / exiled. Tonight, we must say goodbye to Shawn and Jenna. The latter, we will most certainly miss! But I think it’s for the best. Any more days on this show might have put her over the emotional edge… plus I’m happier having the old wizard image as my last memory of her. In all seriousness, I really enjoyed her, think she’s very pretty, and far better off being back in NYC and just writing about relationships, rather than publicly experiencing them.

“Family Matters.”

So what is making this season so unique? Apart from the girls’ unusual amount of cat fights and jealousy, Bachelorville this season is all about families. So far, we’ve seen old kiddie home videos, local children, a grandma and Ben’s “son” of sorts, Scotch. If there’s any other way to show that Ben is a family man, he’ll be bringing his sister out on his next date. Hmmm….. maybe that’s not such a bad idea?

36″ x 48″ Oil on canvas, 2009

“Jackie’s World” was one of the most organic paintings I’ve ever created, in the sense that it’s development from start to finish was unplanned and evolved entirely by chance. While most of my paintings are premeditated in their subject and composition, this one resulted from a real life experience a couple of summers ago while in the New York Hamptons. The original photo was taken by my then boyfriend, following a three hour bus ride to our summer getaway. Once off the bus, I ran into the field you see in the painting, so happy to finally be free, off that bus and out of the city to breathe in the clean air.

I remembered in that moment how happy I felt, thinking that this was what life is all about- these moments of appreciation for what you don’t have everyday. In my case, being a city girl living amidst a sea of concrete, I found the plush grassy field to be the perfect reprieve from my busy, stressful life. My boyfriend just started taking pictures of my enjoying that moment, and voila- once I got home and uploaded them, I realized how my mood was so accurately captured in our photos. I just had to turn it into a large scale painting, where that moment and those feelings could be immortalized.

Artistically, the piece worked well, from the placement of the figure in the foreground, to the relatively gloomy sky and vast field in the background. It raised some questions for people- where was I? Why was this girl (me) so elated to be in the middle of seemingly nowhere? And most importantly, the vivid opposing colors of my bright yellow dress smiled brightly as the dark and naturally green grass around and behind me made the figure even more dramatic.

I’ve often heard that my painting reminded people of the very famous and beautiful “Christina’s World” by Andrew Wyeth. While he is one of my favorite realist painters, I decided to title my piece “Jackie’s World” and obviously play off of this connection. While “Christina’s World” may have been lonely and tormented, “Jackie’s World” is happy, appreciative and full of life.

Tune in at 8pm Monday, August 8th on ABC for a little fun, where yours truly will be competing for $250,000 on Bachelor Pad 2!

I will be live tweeting during the show- you can follow me on Twitter at @jackiegordon! Or, go to http://thebachelor.warnerbros.com/bachelor-chat/ to chat along with us, and see what your favorite Bachelors and Bachelorettes have to say!

36″ x 48″ Oil on Canvas, 2010