Art

I Failed!

/ Jodi / 111 Comments

I failed…

I let people down.
I let myself get upset.
I got in over my head.
I took on more than I could handle – bit off more than I could chew.

And now…
I have to eat crow,
because I told everyone about it before I really carefully considered it,
before I really tried it,
before I realized the time and commitment involved.

You may recall I got all excited about some paintings I did for a sweet blogging friend, Carolyn, who is co-authoring a book with Colin.  Carolyn had challenged me to paint some characters in the book they are writing.  I did, with the full intention of gifting them to her, but when she fell in love with them (and Colin liked them too), they asked if I would be interested in illustrating their book.

In my enthusiasm, I eagerly accepted.

Then they sent me the first chapter to illustrate…

After three evenings’ attempts, my “illustration” didn’t even look good enough to turn in for a First Grade art project!

I grew frustrated and began to get nervous at how much time would be involved in creating 30 illustrations – likely through multiple iterations – and the time I had to do it in -considering I work full time (and then some), the time I love spending with my family, the time I enjoy on this blog, and the real creativity I enjoy.

What was I thinking??  I have no education or professional experience in this.  I am NOT an illustrator.  I love loose, expressive watercolor painting – painting flowers and birds and any ole’ thing that strikes my fancy.  I love turning them into cards and prints and sharing and selling them on my Daughter-in-Law’s and my little Etsy Shop.

But drawing and painting pictures and scenes….   Well – not only do I not (currently) have the talent  (I say that because I believe anyone can learn to do almost anything they want to do with enough time, practice, effort, and passion for it), but I honestly don’t have the time or the passion for it.

So I quickly told Carolyn and Colin this just wasn’t going to work for me.

It was HARD!

I do not like to fail…
I do not like to give up…
I do not like to break commitments…
I do not like to let people down.

But they were so understanding, and my four paintings were carefully packaged and mailed to Carolyn for her to always have as a small gift and remembrance from me.

And I have to admit a weight has been lifted from my shoulders,
and my heart is light and carefree again.
I failed, but I failed fast and am not beating myself up about.
I uncommitted quickly and decisively and before I got in too deep.

I painted this big red letter F.
I loosely painted a big red circle around it.

and I feel Free,
and I am Forgiving myself.
I am Focusing on what I love to do,
and I am having Fun…

at Life In Between.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

PS  Thank you Carolyn and Colin for your faith in me, for giving me this experience, for helping me realize where my heart is, and for forgiving me for letting you down.  I wish you the greatest success on your Moonbeam Farm books!  I know I’ll be purchasing and reading them – and admiring someone else’s illustrations! 🙂

 

A Rainbow of Umbrellas

/ Jodi / 31 Comments

A Rainbow of Umbrellas Shading the Sunshine at Pittsburgh Three Rivers Arts Festival - June 2017

A Rainbow of Umbrellas Shading the Sunshine at Pittsburgh Three Rivers Arts Festival – June 2017

A Rainbow of Umbrellas.

May the shelter you seek
from sunshine or rain
be as bright and cheerful
as this canopy of colorful umbrellas.

And may you always remember
even the most beautiful flowers
need both sunshine and rain
to bloom and grow!

Cheers & Hugs in Rain or Shine,
Jodi

#Pittsburgh #ThreeRiversArtsFestival
P.S. Got lucky and spent a beautiful sunny day at our local arts festival Saturday with a couple of my favorite girls.  The festival is sadly known for bringing the rain every year, and it has been living up to its reputation ever since. Poor vendors. Bring on the sunshine!

Blue Heron Taking Flight in Watercolor

/ Jodi / 38 Comments
Blue Heron Taking Flight Watercolor - 8x10 140 lb Saunders Cold Press

Blue Heron Taking Flight Watercolor – 8×10 140 lb Saunders Cold Press

Blue Heron Taking Flight in Watercolor.

It’s been a busy week and weekend, but I found a little time Sunday evening to do a some painting.

I saw a photo my blogging friend Jenna took and posted on The Painted Apron that really drew me in.  I mentioned to Jenna the photo looked like a “painting in waiting.”

Jenna doesn’t prefer to paint birds or people. (She says she can’t, but I’m sure that’s not true!  She is a very gifted artist!)  She told me she would love for me to paint him.  So here he is Jenna.   I could probably do a bit better with another try, but no time left this weekend.  That’s okay…  I’m still an artist taking flight, and I’m going to reach for that soar!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

The “Man-Servant” of Moonbeam Farm

/ Jodi / 53 Comments

The “Man-Servant” of Moonbeam Farm.

Another character from Moonbeam Farm has come to life!

Please allow me to introduce you to the “Man-Servant” who lives with his animal friends Odessa, Dewey, and Jaxon.

You may recall me introducing you to his friends this past week, beginning with a “just for fun” stab I took at painting Odessa the owl in watercolor at the urging of my blogging friend Carolyn at Nuggets of Gold, who is collaborating with Colin at A Dog’s Life on a children’s book.

Carolyn and Colin were so pleased with the painting of Odessa, they asked if it could be used as the cover photo for their first book, “The Odessa Chronicles.”  I am honored to do so, and I must admit quite flattered and thrilled!  I was then encouraged to paint Dewey and Jaxon, which they ended up loving too.

Then I needed to create the Man-Servant.  Unlike the others, which I created on a first-try, Man-Servant took four iterations before we all decided he was the one.  At first, I was a bit frustrated, but I grew to love creating this character.   The Man-Servant is a human in the senior years of his life, who actually believes he runs Moonbeam Farm.

It’s been fun bringing these characters to life.  I’m now going to venture into creating more to be included in the book.  It’s a fun journey, and I hope you’ll enjoy it with us.

 

 

 

 

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Pink Dogwood Blossoms in Watercolor

/ Jodi / 34 Comments
Pink Dogwood Blossoms Watercolor - 11x14 140lb Cold Press Saunders

Pink Dogwood Blossoms Watercolor – 11×14 140lb Cold Press Saunders

Pink Dogwood Blossoms in Watercolor

As we begin the month of June and the warmth of Summer is upon us,
I celebrate the end of Spring with this painting of Pink Dogwood Blossoms.

We only have white dogwood trees in our yard, but they are very old.
I wonder about their history as they were here on the property for likely many years before we built our house on the wooded 3 1/2 acre plot we’ve called home for 17 years now.

Some have died and had to be cut down this Spring.  Makes me sad to see them go, but maybe we can replace them with some new pink ones.  Maybe the old white ones can share stories with the new pink ones.  Do you ever wonder if the trees and other things in nature communicate to each other?

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Thanks Andrew Geeson for another inspiration Youtube tutorial!

The Rest of the Gang from Moonbeam Farm

/ Jodi / 62 Comments
Dewey the Cat from Moonbeam Farm in Watercolor 8x10 140lb Cold Press

Dewey the Cat from Moonbeam Farm in Watercolor 8×10 140lb Cold Press

The Rest of the Gang from Moonbeam Farm.

I found a couple hours yesterday afternoon after a glorious, long holiday weekend to paint the other two characters that live on Moonbeam Farm with Odessa the Owl, who you may recall from a post last week.

Above is Dewey the cat.  Dewey is always hungry and always getting into mischief on the farm with his friends.

Below is Jaxon.  Jaxon is a magical Jackalope who often comes to Dewey’s rescue, but other times gets him into more trouble.

Jaxon the Jackalope on Moonbeam Farm in Watercolor 8x10 on 140lb Saunders Cold Press

Jaxon the Jackalope on Moonbeam Farm in Watercolor 8×10 on 140lb Saunders Cold Press

And in case you didn’t remember, this is Odessa.  Odessa is the wise (and wise-cracking) owl.

Odessa the Owl on Moonbeam Farm in Watercolor 8x10 140 lb Saunders Cold Press

Odessa the Owl on Moonbeam Farm in Watercolor 8×10 140 lb Saunders Cold Press

It was fun painting the animal characters that live on Moonbeam Farm and in the imagination of Carolyn and Colin who are working on a children’s book for kids from 1 to 101.

They’ve been sharing excerpts they collaboratively write  on Carolyn’s blog, and it’s been fun watching the characters and plot evolve.  Hope you’ll check it out and join the adventures!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

A DIY Rainbow Clock

/ Jodi / 35 Comments

A DIY Rainbow Clock.

My BFF Jill is an “all the colors of the rainbow” kinda gal.

She loves color – bright, bold colors.

So when I came across this idea on Pinterest for a colorful clock made out of a wooden plant stand, I knew this was the gift for her birthday this year.

I found this approximately 12″ diameter circular plant stand on line at Ikea for under $10!  It came with wheels that could be attached so that you can use outdoors and move your plants around I suppose, but I just tucked the wheels away to save for some other use some day.

I simply divided the circle into 10 pie shapes from the center with a pencil and ruler and painted them with bright beautiful colors of indoor/outdoor grade acrylic paint I found at Walmart (Waverly Super-Premium Plaid).

I hit the whole thing with a spray of Krylon UV Resistant Clear Spray after the several layers of paint dried.

Then hubby came to the rescue to cut out a piece in the back and drill a hole in the center to add the battery-operated clock works.

And Voila!  A fun rainbow bright colorful indoor-outdoor clock!  It’s TIME to celebrate YOU Jill!  Where has the TIME gone?  I love our TIME together!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

 

 

 

A Sweet Baby Baptism Card

/ Jodi / 38 Comments
Baby Girl Baptism Card

Baby Girl Baptism Card

A Sweet Baby Baptism Card.

It has been a while since I’ve played with card stock and embossing folders and the Cuttlebug, but I wanted to make a sweet and dainty and special card for a very special baby who is being baptized today.

As she is surrounded by family and friends who love her dearly today, my hope is that she grows up feeling completely loved and blessed by these people and others who are in her life and as she grows.  I hope the love she feels today is something that stays with her through good and bad times, ups and downs, ins and outs, and all arounds.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

Odessa the Owl in Watercolor

/ Jodi / 41 Comments

Odessa the Barn Owl in Watercolor - 8x10 140lb Cold Press Saunders

Odessa the Barn Owl in Watercolor – 8×10 140lb Cold Press SaundersOdessa the Owl – A Wise Old Barn Owl in Watercolor.

A blogging friend, Carolyn, at Nuggets of Gold, challenged me to paint an owl in watercolor.  But not just any ole’ owl…

This had to be Odessa the very wise barn owl who is a character in a book she is collaborating on with another blogging friend, Colin, at A Dog’s Life.

I’m not sure if this is how she pictured Odessa, but this is how I do, so this is a little surprise for her.

If you want to learn more about the wise (and wise-cracking) Odessa and her friends at MoonBeam Farm, check out Carolyn’s blog to read the continuing saga that is soon to become a book!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

A 30th Birthday Money Flower Card

/ Jodi / 23 Comments

A 30th Birthday Money Flower Card.

If you are looking for a creative card and/or gift for a special 30 year old in your life, how about making them a money flower card?

I needed a special card for a very special young lady (my daughter-in-law, Colleen) who turned 30 this past weekend.  I was trying to think of something creative like the Happy Birthday Money Cake I made for my son (her hubby!) a few years ago.

For the card, I started with a piece of black (any color will do) poster board cut to approximately 20 inches wide by 10 inches high that I folded in half to form a large card.  I also used two pieces of white 8.5 x 11″ card stock, 30 $1 bills and 1 $20 bill, approximately 33 dimensional adhesive dots, Tombow Mono Multi Liquid glue, a small piece of ribbon, and some colorful Sharpie markers.

I rolled all of the dollar bills tightly and adhered the loose end of each with a dimensional adhesive dot to the first piece of white card stock in the shape of a flower.  I used the $20 as the flower stem rolling it the long way.  I then drew around the flower with colored Sharpie markers, added two leaves with “Happy” written in one and “Birthday” in the other.  I drew a big bold “30” in the center of the flower, tied a bow on the stem, and then glued it to the front of the folded poster board using the Tombow glue.

On the inside, I listed 30 things we love about Colleen.  (That was the really easy part!)

You could use this for other milestone birthdays too and create different shapes.  It might make a fun wedding, anniversary, or graduation card too.

It was really fun and super easy to make, and even more fun to give to her.

Make giving the gift of money fun and creative!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi