Upon Closer Inspection.
It may appear
to be just a rock
sitting amidst the flower bed
Like so many
things we are used to seeing,
but fail to really notice.
Take some time…
Don’t overlook
the whole universe of activity.
Take the time
to notice the details
you’d otherwise miss…
Upon closer inspection.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Scout on a Scooter Original 8×10 Watercolor
Scout on a Scooter.
I was recently commissioned through an inquiry on our McKinneyX2Designs Etsy shop to paint a photo of a cute little puppy named, “Scout” on his “Mom’s” bright red scooter.
Here is the photo I was provided:
How cute is little Scout with his goggles ready to ride?! I can just picture the wind blowing through his curly locks.
What an honor it was to create this, and so glad Scout’s Mom was happy with it.
May we all find joy in life’s simple pleasures!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Flowering Crabapple Tree, Mars, PA – Spring 2018
All of the Sudden.
You wait.
You wonder.
You anticipate.
And then
one day
you blink.
And all of the sudden
the beauty and joy and delight
appears.
All of the sudden.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
A Time for Change – Abstract in Taupe 18×24 on Stretched Canvas
A Time for Change – Abstract in Taupe.
I’ve been working on this abstract acrylic painting on a stretched canvas for a few weeks.
I am having so much fun with this new medium. It is such a liberating experience and also such a challenge.
Before ever painting, I would have thought works of art like this were “easy!” Slap and splash some paint on a canvas and call it art.
But…..
If you’ve never tried, I challenge you to.
There really is more to it than you realize.
Composition…. Point of interest… Balance….
But really when it all comes down to it…. Are you happy with it? Do you like it? Does it make you feel good? Evoke emotions?
I have to admit…. This piece has been through so many iterations, I couldn’t decide if it was done. I couldn’t decide if it was “worthy” to share. I felt like I liked it, but I doubted myself, so I sent a picture of it to my youngest son, and asked: “What are your thoughts?”
He liked it, but he reminded me I should not need affirmation of my own art.
How humbling is it when your kids have to remind you of how to be a confident adult?
And then again, what pride do we feel when our kids remind us of how to be a confident adult?
So here is my latest abstract – A Time for Change.
And I like it!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
PS This original painting is available (only one – no prints) at our McKinneyX2Designs ETSY shop if you like it too.
Extreme Chocolate Cake.
For those times….
you know them…
when you just need chocolate cake.
I recently saw a question that made me think.
If you had to live without one of the following for the rest of your life, which would you choose?
For me, it would be chocolate. Though I adore baking and enjoy chocolate (and even crave it sometimes), if I had to give up one of these four, it would be the chocolate.
I can’t imagine not having coffee in the morning. A world without cheese?! I’m just not sure that is a world worth living in. And oh how I enjoy my glass or two of red wine in the evening.
How about you?
Now even though I would choose chocolate if I HAD to make the choice…. THANKFULLY I do not!
So here’s a chocolate cake I made recently (which is slightly adapted from this one I found at AllRecipes) – just because…
Because sometimes life is worth celebrating with chocolate cake!
Ingredients:
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour three 8-9″ round cake pans.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Mix for 3 minutes with electric mixer. Slowly stir in boiling water by hand with wooden spoon until fully incorporated. Pour batter evenly into the three prepared pans.
Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes in pans, then remove to cooling rack to cool complete.
Prepare frosting by beating butter with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Stir in the cocoa powder and powdered sugar, then milk and vanilla. Beat until fluffy and spreading consistency.
Spread frosting on each layer of cake stacked on top of each other and decorate as desired.
I shaved dark chocolate on top using a vegetable peeler from a large bar of Trader Joe’s 72% Cocoa Dark Chocolate and placed halved strawberries around the perimeter of the top.
Enjoy!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
In the Darkness.
Sometimes
the most
beautiful,
wonderful,
exciting
things
show up
in
the
darkness.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Goldfinch – Mars, PA – April 2018
Showing Your True Colors.
If you could show your true color,
what color would you be?
Yellow is the color of sunshine, hope, and happiness.
Yellow stands for freshness, happiness, positivity, clarity, energy, optimism, enlightenment, remembrance, intellect, honor, loyalty, and joy.
Bright yellow is an attention getting color, and when used in combination with black, it creates one of the easiest color combinations to read and see from long distances. This is why school buses, taxi cabs, and traffic signs are painted yellow and black.
If you were a color – would you be yellow?
If I could be as beautiful as this goldfinch that visits our backyard, I sure would be.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
My New Yellow Rubber Boots Watercolor 8×10
My New Yellow Rubber Boots.
It was great to get to spend some time in my art studio this weekend after getting through a handful of “have-to-do” tasks.
After recently painting some loose portrait-type figure paintings like this and this, I felt inspired to try some more “character” type illustrative work. I was inspired by some beautiful work I found on Instagram done by an artist in the Netherlands, Marleen Kleiberg.
My granddaughter got her first little pair of yellow rubber boots from the Easter Bunny last week, and even though they were two sizes too big, she fell in love with them. Her Mommy sent a picture on Easter morning of her wearing her new boots. She was decked out in a denim ruffle-bottomed top and peach/orange knit leggings with a matching bow in her hair (and a mouthful of jelly beans!).
I used some artistic liberty to create this painting, but Pap Pap and Mommy and Daddy knew just who it was when I showed them, and got a kick out of it.
A little over a year ago, I painted this little portrait of her. I can’t believe how much she has grown and changed in a year!
Oh the joy this little one brings to my world! And what a fun subject to inspire paintings.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Pine Squirrel in the Spring Snow – Mars, PA – April 7, 2018
If you
can’t stop
thinking
about it,
Don’t stop
working
for it.
This little cutie is an American Red (Pine) Squirrel that hangs out in our back yard with the birds and other bigger squirrels (and chipmunks and turkey and deer and Charlie of course). These little squirrels only stand about 6 inches tall, being just a bit bigger than a chipmunk, and weigh about a half of a pound (200-250 g).
Saturday morning, we awoke to another Spring snow with two or three inches on the deck railing. This little bugger was not giving up on his quest to get to the (ahem) “bird” feeder for breakfast. I caught him burrowing full force through the snow that was taller than him when on all fours, but he was determined…. and he got there.
He reminded me not to give up and not to stop working on what we want and where we want to go.
Thanks little buddy!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Coconut Dark Chocolate Dream Cookies.
Are you a coconut lover?
Is dark chocolate your chocolate choice?
Would you choose a Mounds bar even if you are a little nutty?!
Then these cookies are definitely your dream come true!
They didn’t last long in our house.
I used Moser Roth 70% Cocoa Dark Chocolate I purchased at Aldi. YUM!
Not a coconut fan?
Make them for someone who is…
You just might earn Betty Crocker Baking Super Star status .
Just sayin’…
Ingredients:
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Cream coconut oil and sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add in egg and vanilla, followed by baking powder, salt, and flour.
Stir in chopped chocolate and coconut.
Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto baking stone or cookie sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes until lightly browned and set. Cool completely.
Enjoy!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
* Original recipe slightly adapted from Add a Pinch.
the creative life in between 