Nature

The Old Porch Swing

/ Jodi / 41 Comments

porch swing winter

The Old Porch Swing

The Seasons you have endured…
Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall.

The Generations you have supported…
Great-Grandparents, Grandparents, Parents, Children, Grandchildren.

The Conversations you have held…
Politics, religion, love and hope and promise, arguments unresolved and resolved.

The Moments you have cherished…
First kisses, proposals, joys and heartbreaks, celebrations and sorrows, announcements and secrets.

Memories of a family.
Memories of an old porch swing.
Harmony.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

Seasons

/ Jodi / 36 Comments

icy branches

Your outstretched branches reach far and wide
as you bear the harsh, cold winds
and weight of frozen snow.

You wait,
and you withstand the torture.

Then,
when the breezes become gentle again
and the sun shines bright and warm,

you peek out
with little buds

that become leaves
and bear fruit and flowers.
You provide beauty and nourishment and shelter.

And when you can take no more,
you let go.

You drop your leaves,
and you welcome the chill.
And the cycle of seasons starts over again.

Swooning over Watercolor

/ Jodi / 62 Comments

watercolor card trees inspired by debi riley

One of my favorite, most inspiration watercolor artists is a sweet lady that lives on the entire other side of the world from me in Mars.

Debi Riley lives all the way in Perth, Australia, but because of a  chance connection through WordPress and the World Wide Web, I have the joy of following her lovely work and SWOONING daily.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that she may come to the U.S. some day to visit relatives and find a way to Mars to meet and spend some time showing me how she makes such beautiful magic with paint and paper…  I will cook and bake for her and serve lots of wine if only she will show me how to make such swoonable art as she does!

Debi makes it look so effortless, yet when I attempt to do the same…. ARGH!  No swooning!

I keep reading, though, and I keep trying to absorb, and I keep laying paint on paper.

This little landscape card, came after two frustrating attempts to do a full-sized painting and not liking what happened.  Then I realized I didn’t pay attention to cool colors for background and warm for foreground.  After a while, do these types of things become natural?  I just want to be loose and free and “do it” without thinking…..  but it seems there really is a lot of discipline – even in (if not especially in) abstract art, which ends up looking so effortless.

If you would like to see some truly beautiful art, please be sure to check out Debi Riley’s blog here.  Debi is an award-winning creative arts instructor with over 15 years experience who works  in watercolor, acrylic, oils, pastels, charcoal, mixed media, and photography.  She also has a beautiful Pinterest page here.

In the meantime, I’m going to keep trying, and I appreciate you humoring me by allowing me to share.

Happy Tuesday!  Happy Groundhog Day!  Happy day to do what makes you happy… at life in between.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Patient enough to wait

/ Jodi / 28 Comments

rose of sharon winter flower pod

Even in the shadows

of cold, gray winter days

the Rose of Sharon seed pod

glows with vibrant light

and hope

and promise

of pink and purple petals

and green leaves

and summer sunshine

if only

we are

patient enough

to wait.

 

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Why Can’t We Be Friends?

/ Jodi / 77 Comments

Charlie and Kitty

Hi Friends!  Charlie here.

I was really anxious to introduce you to one of my new BFFs, so Mom let me guest post again today.   Yippee!!!

“Kitty” is one of my friends I look forward to seeing on my walks with Mom.

We met about two weeks ago, and now we look forward to seeing each other almost every day.

charlie and Kitty 2

We live about a mile or so apart, but I know when I am getting close to Kitty’s house.  I start pulling Mom looking to the other side of the street where Kitty lives, and Kitty comes running out from the porch to the edge of the yard to see me.

Oh how fun it is to sniff and cuddle and visit my friend!

I’ve heard some people say silly things like “fighting like cats and dogs,” and I just don’t get it….

Who wants to fight when we can be friends?!

Cat/Dog… Black/White… Male/Female…Republican/Democrat… Christian/Jew… Rich/Poor… Young/Old… Tall/Short… Thick/Thin…

Why can’t we all just be friends?!

Woofs & Wags,
Charlie

(For more blog posts from Charlie, go to https://lifeinbetween.me/ and enter “Charlie” into the SEARCH bar.)

OPTIMISTIC

 

Sing Anyway

/ Jodi / 47 Comments

black and white monochrome bird in snow

Some days there won’t be a song in your heart….
Sing anyway!
                                                                                                 -emory austin

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Optimistic

Weathering the Storm

/ Jodi / 43 Comments

Winter snowy gold finch

Hang on…

or fly free?

Either way –

You can weather the storm!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

The Backyard Snow Globe

/ Jodi / 73 Comments

bird on snowy railing 011216

For a few moments
yesterday afternoon

in my little corner of the world,

the backyard
became a great big snow globe.

And I thought to myself….

“What a wonderful world!”

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

A Song Sparrow Watercolor for Draw a Bird Day

/ Jodi / 51 Comments

watercolor song sparrow 01 2016

It’s #DrawABirdDay with my blogging friends (officially April 8th, but we like to do it on the 8th of EVERY month), so I decided to give a go at a beautiful photo I saw of a song sparrow on Instagram taken by Lisa Snow in Vancouver, British Columbia.

I love the sparrows that come to our back deck feeders – especially in the winter when the snow is falling.

Thanks for your ongoing inspiration Laura @ CreateArtEveryday!  This sparrow is in honor of you and your generosity and support.  (She is the one who did the sweet painting of Charlie and surprised me for my birthday!)

Enjoy all that nature has to offer today and everyday, and maybe go ahead and create some art from it!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

PS  This month’s #DrawABirdDay is hosted by our friends Kerfe and Nina @ MethodtwoMadness.  A sweet, artistic blog of two friends.  Thanks Ladies!

Pink Clouds and Puddles

/ Jodi / 34 Comments

pink sky and puddles

One day last week

when it seemed to rain all day

the sky cleared up just enough

right before dusk

for Charlie and I to walk to the mailbox

at the end of the driveway

for a bit of a stretch

and the chance to deeply inhale

the damp, crisp, clean air.

When we turned around

to head back home

my jaw dropped open

and a gasp escaped

when this was the sight

that awaited our return.

Pink clouds and puddles

shimmering in the day’s last light.

No white Christmas,

but what is wrong with PINK?!

Cherish the moments of now.

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi