“The Journey” Abstract Acrylic
The Journey
Difficult roads
might lead to
beautiful destinations.
Cherish the moments.
Enjoy the journey.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
The Journey
art
Celebrating Summer Solstice
Mixed Media watercolor and acrylic magenta and gold – “Summer Solstice” – 9×12 300lb Arches Cold Press
I was splashing around with my paints this past weekend and decided to try mixing it up a bit by starting with watercolor and throwing on some acrylic to create some mixed media.
I really had no idea where I was going with this when I started… it simply evolved.
And then I realized maybe Mother Nature was speaking to me preparing me for the beginning of Summer Solstice which arrived in the Northern Hemisphere yesterday, June 20, 2016 at 6:34 pm EDT.
I think it started as a flower and ended up looking a bit like the sun – so I decided it is my Mixed Media Summer Solstice!
With summer beginning here, that means our friends in the Southern Hemisphere have just begun Winter Solstice, so may this piece be a reminder of warmth and flowers and sunshine to those entering or ending the season.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Getting Geared up for World Watercolor Month in July
I’m very excited to partner with my buddy, Charlie @ Doodlewash to announce July 2016 will be the first-ever annual World Watercolor Month!
I’m so proud of Charlie for making this happen! Over 18,000 applications are submitted each year for “official days” to celebrate, and only 30 are added to the calendar. Despite the odds, Charlie’s idea made the cut, and it is official! July is now and forever World Watercolor Month!
So what does it mean? July will be a month to inspire people to paint with watercolor (watercolour, aquarelle) while raising awareness for the importance of art and creativity in the world. Anyone can join in on the celebration – from master watercolorists to artists just starting out with watercolor! You can play along via WordPress or on Facebook. If you create a watercolor painting you’d like to share, simply tag your art with #WorldWatercolorMonth during the month of July!
And, best of all, in this first year of the celebration, you’ll be part of raising awareness for children in need of art supplies and art education around the globe!
MAKE A CHILD’S DREAM COME TRUE!
Research has shown that art education has a tremendous impact on the developmental growth of every child and has proven to help level the learning field across socioeconomic boundaries. Unfortunately, arts education programs are too often the first to be cut when cuts are necessary, so more and more children each year are missing out on the important benefits of art classes.
With your help, we can reverse this trend. To make this first ever month-long global celebration of watercolor affect real change, we’ve teamed up with The Dreaming Zebra Foundation, a charity providing support so that children and young adults are given an equal opportunity to explore and develop their creativity in the arts. Click here to shop the World Watercolor Month wish list of art supplies for kids! (hosted by Dick Blick)
The Dreaming Zebra Foundation is unique in that they provide an art recycling program that is free to the public. Reusable art & music supplies that would otherwise be discarded, along with new or unsold materials, are donated by individuals and businesses and matched to recipients who have requested those materials for arts education purposes in communities around the world.
Have some beginner watercolor sets you no longer use, but still have some life in them? You can also support the cause, by simply sending your reusable art supplies to:
THE DREAMING ZEBRA FOUNDATION
5331 SW MACADAM AVE., STE. 258-522
PORTLAND, OR 97239
With your help, we can raise awareness for art education worldwide and provide much needed support for kids in need. Art is an important aspect of child development and paves the way for a successful future. What would the world be without art? Together, let’s make sure we never find out!
I am personally excited to delve a little deeper with a bit more discipline into this art form that captured my heart and soul about a year ago and that I still consider myself a very new student of. It has brought such great joy to my life – not only in the activity of creating, sharing, expressing (and even selling!), but also in the wonderful friends (like Charlie) who I have made along the way in this wonderful art journey.
I hope you will join in on the fun in any way you like – whether it be by painting and sharing, contributing, or simply by enjoying viewing what we all share at #WorldWatercolorMonth.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Fun Flowers
I recently made this “fun flower” watercolor painting inspired by a stamp I had seen for my BFF Jill’s birthday.
Jill loves bright colors, but is not a fan of cut flowers, because when you cut them, they die.
I thought a painting of brightly colored flowers that can’t die would be a fitting gift.
I am also thinking of another BFF today – my friend Bubby, whose father recently passed away and whose funeral we attended this week. And then I learned of another BFF – my longest time, dearest friend, Janet, whose Dad was hospitalized yesterday.
I hope these flowers will cheer them for even a moment in their time of grief and worry.
May these flowers brighten your day in some small way.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Wisdom in the Wind
Abstract Wind in Acrylic – 6×6
Wisdom in the Wind
Wherever you go…
carry seeds that spread and plant joy and beauty.
Recognize that some seasons call for soft and gentle whispers…
while others call us to blow strong and loud and bold.
And the same breath that creates a cool and gentle breeze
can also fuel a fire.
Realize that adjusting your sails
will allow you to sail smoothly and dance freely.
And when you aren’t sure what the question is,
consider that the answer just might be blowing in the wind.
This is my third and final in the series of Lessons from Nature.
It follows Reflections from the River, and Truths from the Tree.
The “art” above is my first attempt with Acrylic Paints after about a year of watercolor adventures. I am still learning to master watercolor, and it is still my first love, but I’ve been itching to try Acrylic after seeing so much beauty created by other artist friends and the encouragement of Laura at CreateArtEveryday. For this piece, I simply wanted to feel the paint and see how it moved, so I decided to create “Wind.” It is done on a 6×6″ Aquaboard, and the beauty of that is, I can just wash it off and create something else over it. I must admit, it was fun to be able to “over”work with acrylic paint and even add white!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Blue Heron with Purple Feathers
blue heron with purple feathers – original watercolor- 9×12 arches – 300 lb cold press
Why be simply an “ordinary” Blue Heron
when you could have Purple Feathers too?
It’s #DrawABirdDay! Why not?
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Lilac Love
lilac love watercolor painting arches 300 lb cold press 10 x 14 diaxozine violet
The purple lilacs around here are done for the season,
but the white lilac tree in my yard is crazy full of tiny white flowers
that are filling the entire yard with such an amazing fragrance!
While my poor son is sneezing like crazy from all the pollen in the air right now,
I don’t dare pick and bring a bouquet into the house as much as I’d love to….
But I was inspired to paint some lilacs (purple is more fun!)
with that sensational scent wafting through my brain down to my fingertips
as I dripped and dropped and splashed and splattered Dioxazine Violet.
Can you almost smell them?
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
I’m joining my friend Charlie with these sweet smelling flowers for his #NatureDoodlewash challenge.
Sunny Sunflower
I found some time to splash in puddles this long holiday weekend…. Puddles of paint that is, because the sun was a shinin’ most of the weekend!
I watched a video on painting sunflowers done by Joanne Thomas, who is a queen of loose splashy watercolor. I’ve really admired her style ever since I started watercolor painting about a year ago, so I decided to give her sunflower a try.
I painted it on a 10 x 14 sheet of Arches 300 lb cold press. I put it in a matted frame to see what it would look like. Such a difference it makes when you mat and frame a painting – eh?
Sunny sunflowers is going in our McKinneyx2Designs Etsy Shop – the original painting, prints and greeting cards.
Fluttering my “artist” wings, and enjoying the sunny, sunshiny summertime weather!
Happy Tuesday and short work week for many of us.
Cherish the moments.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Because of your Memory
A day to pay tribute
A day to remember
A day to honor
Those who gave all
those who gave their lives
Those who are our heroes
America is Beautiful
America is Free
Because of your Memory
In Honor of Memorial Day – May 30, 2016
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
My Watercolor Journey
I really enjoyed watching a watercolor blending and shadowing tutorial recently on ArtistNetwork.TV by Sterling Edwards. For someone who never studied art or even took a high school art class, what a great way to learn this is!
After experimenting and playing with watercolor for a about a year so far now, I still have so much to learn, and I learn something new every time I watch a video, read a blog or book, or chat with other artists. (Charlie O – did you catch that? I said “other” artists 🙂 )
At the recommendation of my artist blogging buddy, Laura @ CreateArtEveryday, I checked out ArtistNetwork.TV mainly with the goal of watching some great abstract pastel videos by Debora Stewart (and wowza – did she ever blow me away!). I was then compelled to check out some watercolor videos when I came across a great exercise in color blending and shadowing called Color Techniques for Expressive Watercolors by Sterling Edwards.
In the above exercise, I did a quick sketch of the two old barn-type buildings on a 10″ x 12″ sheet of Arches 140 lb Cold Press Paper. Then, in about 20 minutes using only four colors of watercolor paint, (Raw Sienna, Windsor Violet, Azo Yellow, and Cobalt Blue), I blended these colors to create many shades of colors (a yellow and purple to make brown, various combos of yellows and blue to make greens, dropping in purple onto the newly created brown to create depth!) and shadowy neutrals for this simple scene.
I feel like you can really see the light and life in this painting. It’s certainly not perfect and was only meant to be a practice, but I rather like how it turned out and really learned a lot about blending, creating neutrals, working with a flat brush, and the all important white space.
If you are looking for a way to self-learn, I surely recommend ArtistNetwork.TV. I watched the tutorial one evening and did the painting the next. I can’t wait to find time to watch and learn more! Does anyone else wish there were more hours in the day to do all the fun things we want to do?
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
the creative life in between 