Getting Geared up for World Watercolor Month in July

/ Jodi

world Watercolor month

 

I’m very excited to partner with my buddy, Charlie @ Doodlewash to announce July 2016 will be the first-ever annual World Watercolor Month!

I’m so proud of Charlie for making this happen!  Over 18,000 applications are submitted each year for “official days” to celebrate, and only 30 are added to the calendar.  Despite the odds, Charlie’s idea made the cut, and it is official! July is now and forever World Watercolor Month!

So what does it mean?  July will be a month to inspire people to paint with watercolor (watercolour, aquarelle) while raising awareness for the importance of art and creativity in the world.   Anyone can join in on the celebration – from master watercolorists to artists just starting out with watercolor!  You can play along via WordPress or on Facebook.  If you create a watercolor painting you’d like to share, simply tag your art with #WorldWatercolorMonth during the month of July!

And, best of all, in this first year of the celebration, you’ll be part of raising awareness for children in need of art supplies and art education around the globe!

MAKE A CHILD’S DREAM COME TRUE!

The Dream Zebra Foundation Logo - Donate art supplies to celebrate World Watercolor Month July 2016 worldwatercolor.com Research has shown that art education has a tremendous impact on the developmental growth of every child and has proven to help level the learning field across socioeconomic boundaries. Unfortunately, arts education programs are too often the first to be cut when cuts are necessary, so more and more children each year are missing out on the important benefits of art classes.

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Watercolor is the #1 needed art supply! Click Here to Help!

With your help, we can reverse this trend. To make this first ever month-long global celebration of watercolor affect real change, we’ve teamed up with The Dreaming Zebra Foundation, a charity providing support so that children and young adults are given an equal opportunity to explore and develop their creativity in the arts. Click here to shop the World Watercolor Month wish list of art supplies for kids! (hosted by Dick Blick) 

The Dreaming Zebra Foundation charity for Art supplies and art education for underprivileged children
Art education has a tremendous impact on the developmental growth of every child.

The Dreaming Zebra Foundation is unique in that they provide an art recycling program that is free to the public. Reusable art & music supplies that would otherwise be discarded, along with new or unsold materials, are donated by individuals and businesses and matched to recipients who have requested those materials for arts education purposes in communities around the world.

Have some beginner watercolor sets you no longer use, but still have some life in them? You can also support the cause, by simply sending your reusable art supplies to:

THE DREAMING ZEBRA FOUNDATION
5331 SW MACADAM AVE., STE. 258-522
PORTLAND, OR 97239

With your help, we can raise awareness for art education worldwide and provide much needed support for kids in need. Art is an important aspect of child development and paves the way for a successful future. What would the world be without art? Together, let’s make sure we never find out!

I am personally excited to delve a little deeper with a bit more discipline into this art form that captured my heart and soul about a year ago and that I still consider myself a very new student of.  It has brought such great joy to my life – not only in the activity of creating, sharing, expressing (and even selling!), but also in the wonderful friends (like Charlie) who I have made along the way in this wonderful art journey.

I hope you will join in on the fun in any way you like – whether it be by painting and sharing, contributing, or simply by enjoying viewing what we all share at #WorldWatercolorMonth.

world-watercolor-month-july-2016-primary-logo

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

72 thoughts on “Getting Geared up for World Watercolor Month in July”

  1. I’m hoping to participate as well. I say hoping because I’ll be Italy for half the month but I’ve got my mini journal and my travelling water colour set ready to go. I’m not sure how I’ll share my work because I didn’t want to take my computer with me and I don’t have a tablet but I might invest in one before I go.

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  8. Celebrating the first annual World Watercolor Month with you, Jodi! Thanks for sharing all of the information. Such a wonderful cause! I will share with all of my artistic friends, too. Thank you for adding such lovely colors to our days, Jodi! ♡

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  9. This is very exciting Jodi, and a wonderful idea to share watercolor to all and to aid in helping others. I am looking forward to World Watercolor Month and what it brings about! Thanks for sharing, appreciate you for all the colors you bring into my life! 🙂

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  10. Bravo Jodi, this is incredible!!!!! I am thrilled to see this movement launching worldwide to promote art with children, so so important! The world would be a sad, dreary, boring place without the oxygen artists provide to color the soul-
    Jenna

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    • Oh Donna if you have any desire at all, you should give it a try. I had not touched a watercolor paint since kindergarten until a year ago and the journey has been so amazing. Drawing painting art is just about doing it enjoying it and practicing

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    • Donna – for some reason your comment was showing up in my feed, so I am so glad Laura reached out. She was so instrumental in encouraging me to begin a year ago. Really it is just about enjoying it and practicing. If it is something you truly have an interest in, dive in! There are so many free and minimally priced resources right on line that you can do whenever you want from the comfort of your home. Youtube and The Frugal Crafter’s Lindsay were a great start for me. Simple and not costly. If we could encourage at least one person to find passion in art in July – it would be so rewarding! If you take up watercolor painting, you will never be able to ever claim you are bored a day in your life 🙂 – you will always have something you love to do!

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      • I will admit I took a watercolor class about 20 years ago. I framed my best one and still have it; but every time I look at it, I see so many flaws, lol. Maybe with time in my life now, I’ll start trying to sketch again. My Mom was very artistic and so is my daughter. I always felt I got skipped in the talent! LOL

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      • Oh we are always so critical of our own work. Sounds like you have an artistic family. And you are definitely artistic in your photography. Do it Donna! We are here to cheer you on and support you !! ☺️

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  17. What an incredible organization so thank you so much for letting us know about it! I am pretty sure my daughter has a bunch of unused art supplies lingering in her closet, so will see if she has some she is willing to let go to ZEBRA. And YAY, you have an entire month to celebrate your newfound love! ❤

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  18. Fabulous painting, Jodi!! Awww… thanks so much for spreading the word my friend!! 😍 It’s going to be such an amazing month! And triple thanks for including all the information for The Dreaming Zebra Project. Not sure anyone has attempted to combine one of these art challenges with a good cause before, so I’m really hoping people will help out by donating to this wonderful cause! (even if you don’t paint! hehe… there’s still a way to participate and create some good in the world!). Here’s to making the world a little (a lot???!) more beautiful in July!!

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  24. Congratulations to Charlie for getting watercolor month started! And how nice that you are helping support a program that makes sure all children have the ability to create art. I hate how the art and music departments are being cut in schools, as I think creativity, however it’s expressed, is essential to living a whole and happy life. I will definitely support this cause!

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  25. What a worthy, fun and lovely cause! Congratulations to Charlie ~ and you, Jodi ~ for stepping up to help kids everywhere.

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