Fall

The Happy Flower

/ Jodi / 54 Comments
sunny-sunflower-watercolor-11x14-artistico-ex-wh-300lb-soft

sunny-sunflower-watercolor-11×14-artistico-ex-wh-300lb-soft

“As an artist, I’d choose the thing that’s beautiful more than the one that’s true.”

–Laurie Anderson, Composer, Singer, and Performance Artist

Sunflowers are happy flowers – aren’t they?
They are sunny and bright and cheerful.

I painted this version of a sunflower – that may not really look like a sunflower to you – but I fell in love with.  And I rarely say that about my own art, so it is super exciting for me.

It is 11×14 and painted on the most glorious Fabriano Artistico 300lb “Soft” paper that is so cottony soft and buttery, I love to just feel it!

When I came upon this quote by Laurie Anderson, it so resonated with my feelings about art.  I would choose beautiful over true too.

I choose to paint what I love and feel is beautiful over an exact likeness.  I can take a photo if I want an exact likeness. (And I do so admire artists who can create exact likeness with paint and brushes – don’t get me wrong – it’s just not where I find my joy – at least right now.)  But to create a feeling of beauty, that is what I choose to love about painting.

Happy Day!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Watercolor Landscaping

/ Jodi / 59 Comments
monochromatic-fall-landscape-raw-and-burnt-sienna-quin-gold-10x12-300lb-fabriano-artistico

monochromatic-fall-landscape-raw-and-burnt-sienna-quin-gold-10×12-300lb-fabriano-artistico

I have really grown to have great respect for landscape, seascape, naturescape, and plein air watercolor artists!  I find these scenes very challenging, but often get the itch to try.

Most attempts have been less than stellar, but I keep trying.

One of my favorite watercolor artist bloggers, Debi Riley, recently shared a simple monochromatic landscape that was so striking in a blog post she called, “Start Easy (and don’t poke the bear).  I had to give it a try.

I mainly used Raw Sienna in various tones using the simple design Debi created.  I couldn’t resist adding a bit of Burnt Sienna and Quinacridone Gold and having it resemble Autumn (with some falling leaves made from my unavoidable “Jodi splatters,” but this was a great step  in building landscape confidence.

Doing this one gave me the confidence to give landscape another try.

This time I followed the style and tutelage of Terry Harrison, an amazing watercolor artist from the UK I recently discovered through the ArtistNetwork.tv site.

Country Lane Late Summer Landscape Watercolor 11x14 Artistico

Country Lane Late Summer Landscape Watercolor 11×14 Artistico

I had fun painting the rolling hills and trying a different way with trees using more of a stippling effect.  I really didn’t have the right  brush and subbed a scrubber instead – not quite the effect I wanted, but confidence-building nonetheless.  I am fascinated with what a difference adding shadows makes too.

I may not be a pro at this yet, but I am up for the challenge, and I am going to keep on landscaping!  Watercolor that is.  I’ll leave the tree pruning, mulching, and grass-cutting to hubby.  As long as I provide a cold iced tea every once in a while, there are cookies in the freezer, and I bake a pie now and then, I think I can get away with it…

Happy Landscaping – whichever kind you prefer!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

 

Foreseeable Fall Frolicking

/ Jodi / 55 Comments

orange-chrysanthanum

Chrysanthemums in shades of orange and yellow.
Snuggly flannel shirts and cozy hooded sweatshirts.

Snapping and crackling of well-dried wood in the fireplace.
Sipping warm cinnamon apple cider spiked with bourbon.

Spongey pumpkin bread slathered with honey butter.
Crisp, tart apples with slivers of sharp cheddar cheese.

Brightly colored leaves swirling in the breeze.
Gingerbread and gingersnaps and ginger beer in Moscow mules.

High school and College and National and Fantasy football.
Soft socks, comfy crocs, and fuzzy slippers.

Roasted steaming cubes of butternut and acorn squash.
Popcorn munching during binge watching movie marathons.

Fleece blankets, tight hugs, and doggie snuggles.
Foreseeable Fall Frolicking.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

It’s That Time of Year

/ Jodi / 55 Comments
abstract fern watercolor 5x7

Abstract Fern Watercolor 5×7

It’s that time of year
when the colors and smells and heat of summer

with lush greens and fragrant flowers
and thick, heavy air

are making way for
the colors and smells and chill of autumn

with vibrant reds and scorching oranges and deep hues of yellow
and a refreshing “nip” in the air.

It’s that time of year –
a change in seasons

A time for new beginnings
and a time for sweet endings.

It’s that time of year
that wonderful, lovely, sweet time of year.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

Sprinkled with a Dash of Melancholoy

/ Jodi / 59 Comments

Morning Ride Home Fog 1

It’s that time of year…
that bittersweet time.

You can just feel it…
There’s a  nip in the air.

You can hear it…
The crickets croon.

You can smell it…
Drying leaves and withering grass.

There’s that knot in the stomach…
not sure if it’s nervous or excited.

It’s an ending…
but it is also a beginning.

Carefree days are left behind…
Structured schedules begin.

It’s brand new shoes…
and choosing just the right first day outfit.

It’s shiny new binders…
and backpacks with lots of compartments.

It’s one-subject and three-subject and five-subject
multi-colored spiral notebooks.

It’s freshly sharpened pencils…
and pens in red, and blue and black.

It’s fresh new crayons and assorted colored pencils…
and highlighters in neon shades of yellow and pink and green.

It’s the anticipation of seeing old friends
and the hope of meeting new ones.

It’s new teachers, new subjects, new classrooms…
It’s squeaky clean blackboards with fresh sticks of chalk.

It’s time to secretly pass notes
with important messages

like “Do you like me? Yes or No
Circle One”

It’s waiting with the neighbors at the bus stop
and sharing seats times three.

And then growing old enough
to be too cool for the bus.

It’s apples for teachers
and pictures with bus drivers.

It’s back to school time –
Can you feel it in the air?

And even though it’s been
quite a few years

since I sent my boys off
with ambivalent feelings of sadness and pride

and even more since it was me as that little girl
with butterflies of anticipation, fear, and excitement

I still get that feeling
this time of year.

Sweet joyful memories…
sprinkled with a dash of melancholy.

I can’t be the only one
that feels this way.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

Daily Prompt:  Learning

Swooning over Watercolor

/ Jodi / 62 Comments

watercolor card trees inspired by debi riley

One of my favorite, most inspiration watercolor artists is a sweet lady that lives on the entire other side of the world from me in Mars.

Debi Riley lives all the way in Perth, Australia, but because of a  chance connection through WordPress and the World Wide Web, I have the joy of following her lovely work and SWOONING daily.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that she may come to the U.S. some day to visit relatives and find a way to Mars to meet and spend some time showing me how she makes such beautiful magic with paint and paper…  I will cook and bake for her and serve lots of wine if only she will show me how to make such swoonable art as she does!

Debi makes it look so effortless, yet when I attempt to do the same…. ARGH!  No swooning!

I keep reading, though, and I keep trying to absorb, and I keep laying paint on paper.

This little landscape card, came after two frustrating attempts to do a full-sized painting and not liking what happened.  Then I realized I didn’t pay attention to cool colors for background and warm for foreground.  After a while, do these types of things become natural?  I just want to be loose and free and “do it” without thinking…..  but it seems there really is a lot of discipline – even in (if not especially in) abstract art, which ends up looking so effortless.

If you would like to see some truly beautiful art, please be sure to check out Debi Riley’s blog here.  Debi is an award-winning creative arts instructor with over 15 years experience who works  in watercolor, acrylic, oils, pastels, charcoal, mixed media, and photography.  She also has a beautiful Pinterest page here.

In the meantime, I’m going to keep trying, and I appreciate you humoring me by allowing me to share.

Happy Tuesday!  Happy Groundhog Day!  Happy day to do what makes you happy… at life in between.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Autumn’s Final Act

/ Jodi / 42 Comments

Autumns final act

Dancing in the Autumn sunlight
amidst coffee-colored trunks and wispy branches
with marshmallow fluff and smoky gray clouds floating
in an azure blue sky
above a carpet of fading green grass…

A few bright leaves hang on to life
in bold and brilliant bursts
of crimson and honey and marmalade.

Autumn’s Final Act.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

Photo taken 11/21/15 from my front porch (my blog cover photo) of the weeping cherry tree that has the only leaves left in the front yard.  

The Answer is Blowin’ in the Wind

/ Jodi / 22 Comments

autumn leaves in sunshine

Do you ever get a song stuck in your head?
A random song you haven’t thought about in a long time?

For days, I have had this one in my head – a classic I never tire of – and that withstands the test of time and ages: The Answer is Blowin’ in the Wind (written by Bob Dylan 1962 – sung by Peter, Paul and Mary).

“How many times can a man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn’t see?
How many times must a man look up before he can see the sky?
How many ears must one man have before he can hear people cry?”

My thoughts today:

Let’s not turn our heads.
Let’s look up and really SEE the sky.
Let’s truly listen to and respond to people’s cries.

Let’s listen.
Let us realize that we can make a difference…
One person at a time
by turning towards instead of away,
by looking at head on.

Let us be present.
Let us not turn our heads and pretend we just don’t see.

The answer lies within each of us.
We can make a difference – one person – one act – at a time.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

And the WINNER is…..

/ Jodi / 11 Comments

Ann Coleman!

Congratulations Ann!  You are the winner of the card give-away from Sunday’s post.

PP269 Let us Give Thanks Fall Theme Card

I asked hubby to choose a random number from all the lovely comments you left on my post, and he picked Number 37.

So Ann, if you will email me your address to mckinneyjodi@gmail.com, I have a package ready to send with this card and a few more goodies.

Thanks ever so much to all of you, and I’m sure we will do it again soon.

Happy Weekend!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

The Golden Glow of Indian Summer

/ Jodi / 28 Comments

golden glow indian summer

A gift to be cherished
like a rare and perfect gem

the glow of Autumn’s
final exhibition

against a backdrop
of molten sapphire

Glistening in the sunshine
the tree beckoned me

Breathing in deeply
I savored the golden glow

An Indian Summer afternoon
walk and respite
to warm my heart and soul.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi