art

Best-Ever Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps & Lettuce Art

/ Jodi / 44 Comments

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Last week, I made these YUMMMMMMMMMY Chicken Lettuce Wraps.   They are so delicious filled with fresh vegetables and chicken coated in a sauce with a little kick and a peanuty hint.  Wrapping them in crunchy lettuce just makes everything SING together.

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps 2

I am sure this recipe can be adapted with changes to any veggies you like and making the sauce as spicy or sweet as you like.  However you do it, I believe you are going to really enjoy these.   They are nice for a light summer supper and elegant enough to serve to guests.

And since it is July and #WorldWatercolorMonth, I thought I’d try painting some lettuce from my garden to share with this recipe.

lettuce watercolor

Watercolor Lettuce Leaf -140# Arches Hot Press – Lemon Yellow, Green Gold, Sap Green, Burnt Umber

Here’s the recipe.  Enjoy!

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps*

Ingredients:Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

1 head romaine, butter, bib, or iceberg lettuce to get approximately 8 large leaves (whatever kind you like best)

 Filling:

  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 1/2 lbs chicken breast, diced
  • 1/2 cup sweet or green onion, diced
  • 1/2 cup diced red bell peppers
  • 1/2 cup matchstick carrots
  • 1/2 cup diced celery
  • 1 cup diced fresh pineapple

Sauce:

  • 4 Tbsp hoisin sauce
  • 2 Tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 Tbsp chili garlic paste
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp dry basil
  • 1 tsp cornstarch
  • 1/4 cup water
  • Add at end:
    • 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
    • 1/4 cup peanuts

Directions:

Dice and chop all Filling ingredients.

Whisk together all Sauce ingredients in a medium bowl except peanut butter and peanuts. Set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large wok or skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook just until no longer pink, about 3 mins. Add onions, peppers, carrots and celery and saute for 2 more mins. Stir in pineapple chunks and Sauce and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter until smooth.   Top with peanuts.

To serve, fill lettuce leaves with desired amount of filling and enjoy!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
*Slightly adapted from another amazing recipe by Jen @ CarlsbadCravings.com! 

A Hummingbird in Watercolor – Draw A Bird Day

/ Jodi / 74 Comments
hummingbird watercolor 8 x 10 300# Arches Cold Press

Hummingbird Watercolor 8 x 10 300# Arches Cold Press

For #DrawABirdDay this month, I decided to paint a Hummingbird – the smallest bird of all.

I adore the sweet little hummers that visit our backyard every summer.

I take special care to assure their feeder is full of fresh nectar each week as I know they count on and need it to support their ultra-fast metabolism.  I have read that their heart rate can reach as high as 1,260 beats per minute, and they have a breathing rate of 250 beats per minute, even at rest.  During flight, oxygen consumption per gram of muscle tissue is about ten times higher than that measured in elite human athletes.

Amazingly, these tiny birds fly all the way from Mars, PA to Mexico, the Caribbean Islands or Central America every winter and return each Spring.

After I painted this, I realized I had painted one about a year ago, shortly after I took up watercolor.  I recall thinking my hummer was one of my best paintings I had done at the time as I had only been painting for a few months.  Looking back, I still like it, and I am also surprised at how different the two look.  I can’t decide which I like better.  I question if my art has even improved over the past year.

One thing is for sure, the splatter is one thing I have always loved!  🙂  I believe my strokes are more confident, my use of white space more defined, and my splatters a bit more refined and controlled.

Another thing I know for sure….  I am having FUN!  Painting to me is relaxing.  It is a way to unwind after a stressful workday or energize an early morning.

If you have ever thought about giving watercolor or any kind of painting a try, DO IT!  Discover that inner artist just bursting to express your individual creativity.  You will never have a dull, boring moment again in your life.  You will always have something fun to do.  You will always have a way to express yourself.  You will always be able to create something beautiful to someone.

Happy #WorldWatercolorMonth!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Geraniums on the Cranium

/ Jodi / 36 Comments
Watercolor 5x7 potted geraniums

Watercolor 5×7 potted geraniums

Our southern-exposed deck always welcomes potted geraniums in the summer time.  They flourish in the heat and sunshine, and they flower prolifically all summer long until the first nip of Autumn’s frost.

I love the pop of bright color they add to all the beautiful browns and greens in our surrounding woods the deck overlooks.

Here’s a quick little 5×7 splash of watercolor potted geraniums inspired by my view on the deck for today’s #WorldWatercolorMonth painting.

Happy Day!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

A Slice of Pineapple in Watercolor

/ Jodi / 69 Comments
pineapple slice

Watercolor Pineapple Slice 8 x 10 140# Hot Press Arches

I had so much fun painting my pineapple for my Be Like A Pineapple post about a week ago, that I wanted to do pineapple again.

This time I decided to do a juicy slice.

Pineapple is such a wonderful summertime fruit.   It is delicious to eat all by itself, but it also pairs well with so many things – like the Pineapple Blueberry Salsa recipe I shared last month that I made to go with Fish Tacos.  It’s delicious in rice and chicken dishes (like my Crock Pot Hawaiin BBQ Chicken Wraps with Pineapple Slaw), fruit salads, in upside down and Hummingbird Cake (oh do I love that!), and frozen in sorbet and sherbet.

What is your favorite way to eat pineapple?

I painted this pineapple slice on Arches Hot Press like I did the other as I love how fluid it allows the watercolor paint to flow when painting this luscious fruit.  The colors I used were Lemon Yellow, Azo Yellow, Cadmium Yellow, New Gamboge, Raw Sienna, Burnt Umber, Green Gold and Sap Green.

Have a sweet day!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

#WorldWatercolorMonth

The Colors of Summer – In Watercolor

/ Jodi / 46 Comments
orange and yellow zinnia 5x7 watercolor 140# Arches Cold Press

orange and yellow zinnia 5×7 watercolor 140# Arches Cold Press

Some of you may remember a photo I shared of the first day of Summer of an Orange Zinnia I have on my back deck that I called The Colors of Summer.

A few of you suggested I should try watercolor painting it, so here it is…

The Colors of Summer in Watercolor.

Hope you are feeling the sunshine and warmth of Summer – if not where you live – at least in this little painting.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

#WorldWatercolorMonth

 

Hope Your Fourth of July is a Splash!

/ Jodi / 32 Comments
watercolor fireworks 5x7 fourth of july

watercolor fireworks 5×7 fourth of july

Happy Independence Day!

Not much time for painting this weekend since we are busy celebrating, but had to at least splash a little red, white and blue (with a touch of quinacridone gold too) for #WorldWatercolorMonth!

watercolor abstract fourth of july flag 5x7

watercolor abstract fourth of july flag 5×7

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

The Answer is Blowing in the Wind

/ Jodi / 51 Comments
Flower seed pods blowing in the wind watercolor in violet and raw sienna

Flower seed pods blowing in the wind watercolor in violet and raw sienna

In case you forgot…
In case you were looking…
In case you are wondering…

Just remember

the answer, my friend,
is blowing
in the wind.

Just look for it.
Just feel it.
Don’t complicate it.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

#WorldWatercolorMonth

Be Like a Pineapple

/ Jodi / 54 Comments
pineapple

9 x 12 watercolor pineapple loose arches 300# hot press


Oh if we could all be
more like a pineapple…

confident and proudly
wearing our crown

with a thick outer skin
that protects the sweetness inside.

Be like a pineapple!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

#WordWatercolorMonth

But a Speck…

/ Jodi / 48 Comments
But A Speck Mixed Media 9 x 12 300# Arches Cold Press

“But a Speck” Mixed Media Watercolor 9×12 300# Arches Cold Press

This painting
I decided to feature
for the first day
of July

and the first day
of the first ever
World Watercolor Month

began as a field
of daisies
gone wrong….

So following the advice and experimentation
of my mad scientist artinista mentor, Laura,
at CreateArtEveryday

I slapped and slathered
white Gesso on top
and started over

feeling free
and loose
and creative.

I wanted to express
how I am but a speck,
in a huge universe

but a tiny speck
can also have
a rippling effect

that creates art
and magic
and joy
and beauty.

I am
but a speck.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

This abstract watercolor mixed media piece was created using Brusho Watercolor Crystals in Black and Orange, Splatters of Rubbing Alcohol and water, hints of InkaGold and Golden Brand white acrylic, a straw, sunshine, and a free mind.

 

 

Rustic Barn Weddings

/ Jodi / 35 Comments
Gable farm Matted

Gable Farm in Watercolor – 10×14

It’s June, and wedding season is in full swing!

Rustic barn weddings have become very popular in our area.  As a matter of fact, our son and daughter-in-law had a barn wedding three years ago next month.   I had fun creating this watercolor version of Gable Farm, which was their wedding site and a place they have now turned into a venue for others to hold their weddings and receptions.

Colleen has been busy stocking our McKinneyx2Designs Etsy Shop with fun rustic wedding signs made from reclaimed pallet wood.  They are super reasonably priced from $10-14.

Wouldn’t these be great little accents for a rustic barn wedding?

il_570xN.1038891309_sr57

 

il_570xN.1030871711_4eep

 

il_570xN.992353680_itwk

 

il_570xN.993623044_2x33

 

il_570xN.993581300_numd

 

il_570xN.1033502811_1lp7

If you or someone you know is looking for rustic wedding signs, hope you will check out our ETSY shop.

We have lots of other great rustic home and nursery decor, as well as some of my watercolor art, prints and greeting cards.

Happy Wedding Season and Happy Weekend!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi