Lion, Pittsburgh Zoo, October 2017
To Roar or Not to Roar.
Even if you have
the ability to ROAR,
It is important
to discern
when it is best
to remain silent.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
To Roar or Not to Roar
animals
Klaus the Mouse and his friends have become a Book!
Klaus the Mouse and his friends have become a Book!
Some of you who have been hanging around here for a while at TheCreativeLifeinBetween may remember Klaus the Mouse, who lived in a teeny tiny house.
You might also recall Hedy the Hedgehog who didn’t like to go to bedy.
Then there’s Chuck the Duck and Pam the Lamb. There’s an Otter named Potter and Mig the Pig.
Adele the Gazelle has a smell that casts a magic spell, and what a phenomenon is a Fawn named John!
Chippy the Chipmunk, Rooty the Rooster, Hal the Colorful Cow, a Bumble Bee Named Buzz, and Gail the Snail.
They all joined together in this sweet little collection of watercolors and silly rhyming tales.
Thanks to so many of you who encouraged me along the way. You helped make it happen!
My first published book! A collection of silly tales for children 3-103.
If you would like to purchase, here is a link: KLAUS THE MOUSE.
Happy Reading, Happy Sharing, Happy Laughing.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
A Snail’s Tale
Snail Tale Gail Watercolor 8×10 140lb Arches Cold Press
Slithering along the rust-colored earth and shale,
a beautifully bright snail
whose name was Gail
set sail.
Gail was on her way to a sale –
she hoped she would make it without fail,
but it really was to no avail…
Do you know how slow a snail does travail?
But who needs to fight tooth and nail
when you already blaze a trail
that is off the scale…?
Look at you Gail – you will prevail!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
This is one of a series of fun animal watercolor paintings and rhymes I am pursuing.
See the others:
A Rare Hare with Flare
A Duck Named Chuck
A Fawn at Dawn
Rooty the Rooster
A Precocious Pink Pig
Hal the Colorful Cow
A Mouse named Klaus
Pam the Lamb
An Otterly Awesome Otter
Earl the Squirrel
Adele the Gazelle
PS – This one is for you Dena! 🙂
Painting inspired by the beautiful work of Tilen Ti
An Otterly Awesome Otter
An Otterly Awesome Otter.
Near a barn was a body of water.
In it lived an otterly awesome otter.
This particular otter
had the distinguished name of Potter.
Potter loved when the weather got hotter,
for he loved to swim and was quite the yachter.
One day while sunning, with a glimpse he did spot her,
he believed her to be his Dad’s friend’s daughter.
He shuffled about trying hard not to totter,
and he hoped his wave and wink did caught her.
It worked! She was smiling, his mind was a flotter.
An otterly beautiful otter for Potter.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
This is one of a series of fun animal watercolor paintings and rhymes I am pursuing.
See the others:
A Rare Hare with Flare
A Duck Named Chuck
A Fawn at Dawn
Rooty the Rooster
A Precocious Pink Pig
Hal the Colorful Cow
A Mouse named Klaus
Pam the Lamb
#WorldWatercolorMonth
A Duck Named Chuck
Chuck the Duck Watercolor 8×10 140lb Fabriano Cold Press
There once was a duck
named Chuck
who never really had much luck.
When a tempestuous storm struck,
he was stripped of his cluck.
It really did suck,
and he felt like a schmuck.
But not one to pass the buck,
he simply smiled and said,
“Oh F……..antastic!”
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Just a little fun with negative watercolor painting and silly rhyming!
The Rest of the Gang from Moonbeam Farm
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 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 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
Tug – A Charlie Guest Post
Charlie & Jager Playing Tug – April 2017
Tug.
There is nothing better really…
than a good game of tug in the Spring sunshine.
Especially after a long walk with my best buddy, Jager,
smelling and snacking along the way on all the goodies nature leaves for us.
We allow Mom and Tracy to come along too…
They think we need them so we let them follow behind us with leashes so we don’t lose them or they don’t go running off.
Sometimes we have to tug them along.
They don’t seem to enjoy tug as much as we do….
What’s up with that??!
Woofs & Wags,
Charlie
Charlie is an adopted dog with brown eyes and a white-tipped tail who brings joy and laughter to his family and friends. Charlie is a gifted writer, raving food critic, cat, chipmunk, and donut lover, and exceptionally photogenic model. Some of his best friends are Mike the UPS Man, Cliff the Mailman, Jager the neighbor dog, and ANYONE who delivers pizza to the house. If you would like to read more guest posts by Charlie, simply type “Charlie” into the Search box at the top right hand corner of this link: thecreativelifeinbetween.com. If you would enjoy a companion like Charlie, please consider pet adoption.
Percy the Panda
Percy the Panda Watercolor 9 x11 on 140lb Fabriano Artistico
My recent imaginary watercolor safari adventure took a detour to cruise across the Indian ocean to the bamboo forests of China to visit the beautiful endangered giant pandas. After all, only about 1,600 live in the wild, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (with another hundred or so living in zoos around the world.) Definitely worth the 8,000+ mile trip – wouldn’t you say?
Today, I present Percy the Panda.
Percy LOVES bamboo. In fact, he munches on it about 12 hours a day. As much as he loves bamboo, however, it is sadly low in nutrients, so he also feasts on protein-rich rodents, fish, insects and birds.
Percy, like most giant pandas, is a loner. Apparently, giant pandas dislike being around other pandas so much, they have a heightened sense of smell that lets them know when another panda is nearby so it can be avoided. And, if another panda gets too close, the two will end up swatting and growling or biting each other. The only time pandas seek each other out is during mating season.
On average, a giant panda’s territory is about 1.9 square miles (5 square kilometers). To mark their territory, giant pandas secrete a waxy scent marker. Other giant pandas are able to discern the sex, age, reproductive condition, and social status from this scent marker. Must be some smell!
I was itching to play with some tubes of Daniel Smith Primatek pigments I acquired a while back that are made from natural minerals and semi-precious gemstones, and have amazing granulating effects. Percy is made from genuine Hematite, Mayan Blue, Jadeite, and a touch of Quinacridone Rose.
I really enjoyed “visiting” with Percy and learning more about him and his friends.
Where will this adventure lead next? Your guess is as good as mine!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Giant Panda facts from: http://www.livescience.com/27335-giant-pandas.html
Genevieve the Giraffe
Genevieve the Giraffe – Watercolor 10×11 300lb Fabriano Artistico
I’ve been wanting to do a watercolor painting of a giraffe.
Not sure why.
I’m hankerin’ to do an elephant too…
Must be all this back to school reflection and memories of field trips to the zoo….
Unless you can think of a better reason!
Anyway, I went in search of an image on the web to paint from, and I ended up coming across a nice little tutorial from Alison at Eastwitching, and gave it a go. Here she is. I’ve named her Genevieve.
Genevieve the Giraffe. Isn’t that a lovely name?
Alison does lovely whimsical animals that many of you may enjoy.
Thanks for the tutorial, Alison! It is so lovely when artists share their tips and tricks and talent. I appreciate you!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Making the Bed: A Charlie Guest Post
Before I came to live here about 8 months ago, my mom used to think making the bed was a chore.
She is really glad I am hear now, because I make it a fun game!
I play “jump on the bed” when she is pulling up the bedspread or sheet or blanket, so I get a fun “ride,” and she gets a little extra upper body strengthening workout.
When she is changing the sheets, I jump on the mattress so she can fluff the sheet over me and I have to wiggle my way out.
I love to try to bite the pillows while she is trying to stuff them into fresh pillowcases.
And when it is all done, it’s a BLASSSST to grab my donut, get a really fast running start from the living room, and jump up on the bed and skid across it to the other side and jump off. This fluffs things up a bit more comfortable than having the bed covers being all flat and tucked in. That’s NOT comfortable!
It’s great fun, and there is nothing like playtime FIRST thing in the morning, before Mom has her coffee or has time to get dressed or brush her teeth. Morning is PLAY time! Well – after MY breakfast of course. But then… it is all about playtime.
Isn’t my mom lucky to have me to turn a mundane chore like making the bed into a really fun game?
She’s not so sure, but you get it – right?
Woofs & Wags,
Charlie
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