art

Watercoloring Week 5

/ Jodi / 41 Comments

watercolor poppies

How did it become Monday already?!?

I hope you had a nice weekend.  We sure did!  And there is so much to share…  I’m certain it will take all week.

Our “Best Book Club Ever” started up again for this year, and Hubby got to choose the book and lead the discussion.  He rocked it talking about one of his favorite real-life adventure books, “Touching the Void.”

It was so great to see friends we haven’t seen for a few months, spend time at one of our favorite places on earth with some of our favorite peeps – the hosts – my cousins Joyce and ‘Oh Rob,” and drink wine and share some good food and discussion.

watercoloring

Joyce is another one of my artistic mentors, so the poor thing hardly had a chance to open her eyes and have a sip or two of coffee Sunday morning…after a very late night…. before I started drilling her with watercolor questions.  We sat in her studio for a couple hours yesterday morning (while the guys went out to breakfast) where she shared with me about the type of paper she uses, brushes and paints she likes, and a chest full of books she has used through the years for inspiration.  My discouraged passion was re-ignited, and I wasn’t home long before I was perusing the books and mixing paints and at it again.

watercolor poppy

To top that off, we arrived home to find an amazing package in the mail from a fellow blogger – and artist extraordinaire – Jill Kuhn @ Jill’s Art Journal – with a special drawing in it that I fell in love with and an extra gift to boot (I’ll be sure to share soon!).

AND to top the whole weekend off ….. we arrived home to an egg in the cardinal’s nest!  WOOHOO!!!

The sun was shining, the air was crisp, trees are budding, flowers are bursting open, and we thoroughly enjoyed our weekend.

I took about an hour to paint these two little paintings.

After reading through some of my newly-borrowed books and watching a YouTube video by Art TV, I did these two poppy watercolor paintings.  The fun thing about these is that I did NOT sketch them ahead.  Simply took water and paint to paper and created.  It was quite liberating and enjoyable!

These will become thank you cards for a few special peeps I need to thank.

Happy Monday my friends!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

Watercoloring – Week 3

/ Jodi / 61 Comments

watercolor 5 magenta wildflowers in field 0415

Oh how I wish I had more time to play with this medium I am growing to adore!  I am thoroughly enjoying it.

watercolor 3 clover daisy buttercups 0415

Here are a few wildly varied samples of what I played around with this week with drawing and watercoloring.

watercolor 4 flower whimsy 0415

Do you have a favorite?

Thanks for visiting!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Discovering the FUN in Art

/ Jodi / 59 Comments

watercolor 2 tulip 040415

Can you tell what it is?

This is Watercolor #2 on my journey to learn watercolor painting.

So I have to admit……   I found myself struggling to post this….  Not feeling it is good enough…..  Starting to take this “art” business much much much too serious!  And then one of my sweet bloggie friends, Laura at CreateArtEveryDay, inquired about how my painting was coming.  I told her I was struggling with whether to post or not… what everyone would think…. not wanting people to feel obligated to “Like” or comment….  Wondering if it was “better” than my first  (hubby said yes – son said he liked first better…) Oiy Vay!  Then I worried – Does anyone care about my “art?”  Will they stop visiting my blog if I share less than lovely art work?  Sheesh!

Then wise, sweet Laura encouraged me.  She said (and she gave me permission to share):

If I let those feelings stop me, my blog would be private. I think the point here is encouragement and support and FUN, not perfection. I’ve done all of that second-guessing, but part of making something every day is really forcing me to not worry about what anyone thinks and just post it. Your first flower was really good, I thought. You definitely have talent. It just takes lots of practice to be happy with watercolor paintings (in my experience) and I’m still not there yet. I’ve come to the point that it’s about fun. FUN. And Relaxation. And DE-stressing. Forget everything else. If you painted it and you enjoyed it, that’s all that counts. Your followers love you and they want to share in your experiences and experimentation. At least, that’s how I see it. Otherwise, I’d post nothing, ever.

It’s all about fun. I just want to see you have fun with whatever you do. No one would expect to sit down at the piano and play Beethoven, but people put such high standards on their artwork. (I’m preaching to myself too, believe me.) But for me, this is about growth and happiness and relaxation and healing, more than anything else. So I just can’t take it seriously. I won’t. And I really hope you don’t either. If it’s not fun, it’s not worth it. I really hope you fly and just set yourself free, Jodi! 🙂

How lovely is that?!

Thank you, Laura!

And then I remembered WHY I started this blog…. not for “likes” (though I certainly LOVE your LIKES!)….

Not to “prove” anything….

It is a hobby…. It is my space to share the stuff I love to do at life in between!

So I’m posting it – and you know what?  It was FUN to do!  Fun to watch water and paint create something on paper.

Gallery worthy?  No!

Fun?  Yes 🙂

So last week for my first watercolor, I drew the flower with a pencil first.  For this one, I just “drew” the basic shape with water and paintbrush.  This was another tutorial by Lindsay at The Frugal Crafter.  Lindsay makes it look so simple!  She just whips these up in about 5 or 10 minutes while chatting away and being funny and relaxed and silly.

Wonder if I’ll ever be able to get so free and loose and relaxed while doing this?   I’m a bit “heavy handed” with the paint.   I want to just touch the paper with the brush and watch it “move.”   This watercolor stuff is HARDER than it looks!  (FUN Jodi – FUN!)     I have a new appreciation for some of the talented artists I know that do this now!

Thanks for sharing the journey with me my friends!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

P.S.  Hope you’ll visit Laura’s blog too – she shares a fun new creative experiment every day @ CreateArtEveryday

Discover – Reaching for a Better View

/ Jodi / 22 Comments

https://dailyrecord365.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/p1110678.jpg

As some of you may recall, my “One Little Word” this year is Discover.

This is the year for me to Discover… more about myself… and more about the world around me.

I am honored and privileged to share a very special piece of artwork with you today from my friend Jo Freehand at Daily Record 365. 

Jo created #Two Hundred Two: Discover just for me and my word!

I have been slowly taking it in since Jo kindly created and posted it several weeks ago; and every time I look it, I discover something new.

Here is how I first saw it:

The microscope is mammoth and massive and complex (like life), and it is examining the hole in the record (the “in between” part – the part where we have the freedom to do and be what we want). The lady is REACHING – almost as if for the stars and then embraces and takes in that light. And the microscope reminds me of the Discovery Satellite too – exploring the universe – and that is what the lady is seeing and feeling and it is filling her heart, and she is happy and excited and fascinated. And it is saying that what you see with your eyes (or at least on the surface or at first glance), might not be the “be all /end all.” You have to look closer, you have to feel it, you have to let it fill you, and it will bring you joy. There is a better view if you reach, stretch to look closer or look at a different way, and you need to look “in between.”

Jo elaborated:

Discovery is an individual experience. However this image speaks to you is right for you.  For me, the microscope is focused on a watch, an everyday object. Or perhaps it represents time or a moment.  She’s “reaching for a better view.”  Does she realize the view right there beneath her skin? The entire universe right there? (Or has she been focused outwardly, watching hands move around the clock.) Can anyone else interpret her universe?

Deep stuff – eh??!!  🙂

What do you see when you look at it?  What does it say to you?  I would love to hear your thoughts.

And I urge you to discover Jo’s blog.  It is always fun to see each Daily Record and interpret what it speaks to you.  Comments are usually as diverse as the people sharing them, which make it that much more fun and interesting.

I hope you are discovering more about yourself and the world around you – every day – because there is a lot of “good stuff” in and out there!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

Joyful Christmas (& ‘Smart Ass’ Trivia Answers)

/ Jodi / 10 Comments

Joyful Christmas FMS163

It’s a Christmas Card TGIF Post.

And heck – before you know it, I’ll be mailing these cards out!

I love when I come across a sketch challenge, and it just speaks to me and a design comes so easily.

Such is the case with this week’s Freshly Made Sketches Challenge FMS#163.  I just loved the design.

FMS163Whatchya think?

Joyful Christmas FMS163

I’ve been itching to use my SU Joyful Christmas Poinsettia stamp (from last year) and also dying to do some water coloring.  I wanted to do something different, and water coloring on newspaper print DSP was just the ticket to feed my creative Christmas card crazies for this week.  🙂

For this card done on SU Crumb Cake with Under the Tree Specialty DSP Paper, I heat embossed the poinsettia in white on the newsprint DSP, and then used my Koi Watercolors to paint it – not worrying about “staying in the lines.”  A couple of pearl embellishments and a cheery pop of festive red with a cherry cobbler sheer linen bow finished it off.

I love it when an idea comes together easily.  🙂

So – anyone that follows my blog regularly is just dying to know the answers to yesterday’s Smart Ass Trivia questions – right?  (Even though most of you “Smart Asses” figured them out already)  🙂

Well – How long did it take you to figure out the “What Am I” is a Tea Bag?

And the “Where Am I?”  Well, that is the River Thames.

Wishing you all a joyous weekend!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

 

 

 

Painting with a Twist

/ Jodi / 9 Comments

“Who has more fun than us?”  That’s what my buddy, Oh Rob, always says, so I try to live up to it as often as I can!!  🙂

painting with a twist 14I was so fortunate to be invited to the Grand Opening and Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony of the new Painting with a Twist in Wexford from a dear friend, Matt, who’s sister, Amanda is the proud owner of and that he will be managing.  I was allowed to bring a guest, and since Marty declined, my BFF, Jill, was my fun date for the night.

painting with a twistWe got to be the very first artists to break in the easels.

painting with a twist 2Look at this gorgeous cake.  And the Food!  Ooooo  Laaaa Laaa!  They outdid themselves.  I feel bad I forgot to get a photo.  Matt made the MOST AMAZING Pesto Penne Pasta with Feta and Roasted Red Peppers.  I was much too busy eating it to remember…  (ooops!)

painting with a twist 3 Amanda was such a gracious host, and I am so happy for her and her family.

She couldn’t find a pair of scissors to “cut the ribbon,”

painting with a twist 4so she used a knife!  WHACK!

painting with a twist 5What started like this….

painting with a twist 9Ended list this.

painting with a twist 6So much fun to have Jill by my side while we simply enjoyed ‘creating together.’

painting with a twist 7It was unbelievable how different each canvas looked doing the same painting with the same instructions.

painting with a twist 8Talent – Schmalent – I think it has more to do with the amount of wine….

painting with a twist 10Amanda was just radiant, and I smile looking at this photo of her.  Isn’t she a doll?!

painting with a twist 11So I’m not an artist – but I sure had fun.

painting with a twist 12And we even got PRESENTS!

painting with a twist 13

Thanks Matt and Amanda for a very fun and memorable evening!  Congratulations on a beautifully executed grand-opening celebration.  I know you are going to be a huge success, and I look forward to coming again soon.

If you would like to learn more about Painting with a Twist, check out their website and/or Facebook page.

And tell them Jodi sent ya!  🙂

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

 

 

Dazzling Dahlia

/ Jodi / 2 Comments

dahlia

Is there any more beautiful art than that created in nature?

(Thank you Gary for the beautiful bouquet!  Your dahlias are stunning!)