Gold

The Happiest Happy of All

/ Jodi / 55 Comments

The Happiest Happy of All

I know we live in a world
that says do what makes you happy,
and I get that…

But the happiness you get
from making someone else happy
might just be the happiest happy of all.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

P.S.  This photo is a section of a 3-foot tall piece of art I created for a special young lady who has a few of my other abstract pieces in her home and asked me to make another to complement them.  I can’t wait to give it to her and then see how it looks in her home.  I sure hope it makes her as happy as it made me creating it for her.

Breaking Free

/ Jodi / 64 Comments

Breaking Free in Blues Abstract 11×14 Arches 140lb Cold Press

Breaking Free.

Three months ago,
when I lost a job I loved
that I thought would be my last,
I was devastated.
I was broken free.

Two months ago,
I started a new job that I now love
and hope will be my last,
and I am so energized.
It is like breaking free.

Over the past few months,
I’ve started exploring new art mediums –
in my “life in between”
from watercolor to acrylic to mixed media.
I am breaking free.

This painting,
done over two days this past week
combining these old and new mediums
feels like I am expressing
the elation of breaking free.

And I love it….
The painting….
The joy…
The freedom…
Yes – I’m breaking free!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

This original painting – as well as high quality prints and card sets – is available at our McKinneyX2Designs ETSY Shop!

AND PS  I’m so excited to let you know the Yellow Canary McKinneyX2Designs World Watercolor Month Limited Edition Pouch is NOW AVAILABLE!!!   Here is the link to order yours!  Hope you will help support Dreaming Zebra –  a nonprofit encouraging children to embrace their individuality to express themselves creatively and follow their artistic dreams.  100% of the proceeds for the sale of this Limited Edition Pouch will help provide art and music supplies to underprivileged children throughout the world.

Free-Flowing Fluid Art

/ Jodi / 73 Comments

“From a Distance” Abstract Acrylic 12×12

Free-Flowing Fluid Art.

This past weekend, I experimented with another form of art using an acrylic pouring method to create these abstract pieces.

These are my first efforts, and there is so much more you can do with this technique using different tools and surfaces and colors.  I’m longing to find time to try again and create “cells” in the pour by adding oily products to the paint and pouring medium.

The main objective is to create a pouring texture of paint using an additive like Floetrol (used by house painters to improve performance and reduce brush marks as well as allow latex paint to spray like oil-based paint, and ultimately to save money by “stretching” the paint).   You can also purchase pouring medium products from many acrylic paint companies like Golden or Liquitex.   Some people use Elmer’s glue!  Water will even do the trick (though may dilute the paint a bit more).

“The Heart of the Stream” Abstract Acrylic 8×8

These are done on artist quality canvases and sprayed with a gloss varnish to seal the paint and make them shine.

What a joy to let loose and create magical mysteries.

Wishing you a day ahead that is sprinkled with magic and mystery.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

Golden Angel

/ Jodi / 45 Comments
Golden Angel Watercolor 11x14 140lb Cold Press

Golden Angel Watercolor 11×14 140lb Cold Press

Golden Angel

I recently read an adorable quote that stuck in my head, made me smile, and has me thinking about angels.

The question is not
“Will you find your wings?”

It’s “What are you going to wear
with all of those magnificent feathers?”

Curly Girl Designs

You know – we all have wings…  Some are flashier than others… Some are easily seen…  some are tucked in and hidden.

Let’s wear them magnificently?

I haven’t had much time for painting lately, but I was really in the mood the other evening.  I really felt like I needed to.  So I decided to try something different, and this angel evolved.  I think I will be doing more.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

This painting is available at McKinneyX2Designs and Berry Vine Gifts – original, prints, and greeting cards.

Watercolors used: Daniel Smith Quinacridone Gold, Raw Sienna, Lunar Black, and a splash of Cadmium Red. (Because every painting should have at least a hint of something red!  Right Joyce?)

In Love

/ Jodi / 36 Comments
pink-orange-gold-abstract-watercolor-with-hearts-11x14-on-300-lb-arches-cold-press

Pink Orange & Gold Abstract Watercolor with Hearts 11×14 on 300 lb Arches Cold Press

In love with…

Pink and orange and gold
and dots and lines
and hearts and swirls.

In love with…

Fridays with my little C
and smiles and snuggles
and happy times.

Happy Friday!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Abstract Watercolor done using:  Opera Pink, Quinacridone Rose, Cadmium Orange, Dr. Ph. Martin’s Iridescent Copper Plate Gold, and Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleedproof White, Salt, Twine, and Black Micron Pen.

McKinneyX2Designs

Reality

/ Jodi / 40 Comments
abstract-blues-purple-gold

Abstract in Blues Purple & Gold 10×16 300 lb Arches Cold Press

“Reality is what we take to be true.
What we take to be true is what we believe.
What we believe is based upon our perceptions.
What we perceive depends on what we look for.
What we look for depends on what we think.
What we think depends on what we perceive.
What we perceive determines what we believe.
What we believe determines what we take to be true.
What we take to be true is our reality.”

– David Bohm

Abstract Watercolor done playing with products:  BRUSHO Watercolor Crystals in Turquoise, Ultramarine Blue and Purple, Dr. Ph. Martin’s Iridescent Copper Plate Gold, Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleedproof White,  Winsor & Newton Iridescent Medium, Salt, & Saran Wrap.

Oh Christmas Trees – In Pink & Gold

/ Jodi / 35 Comments
pink-orange-gold-christmas-trees-card-2016

Pink Orange Gold Watercolor Christmas Trees 5×7

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy leaves can be so changing;

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
They need not be unchanging;

Not only green like everyone;
But you can be whatever you want.

O Christmas Tree!  O Christmas Tree!
Pink and Orange and Gold look good on thee!

Embrace the magic!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

#itsnotthistimeofyearwithout…

The eARTh without ART is just…. “eh”

/ Jodi / 46 Comments
Acrylic Abstract Painting 16x20 Jodi McKinney

Acrylic Abstract Painting 16×20 Jodi McKinney

On a recent evening out with friends, we passed a little ‘hole-in-the-wall’ diner in the Bloomfield section of Pittsburgh that had a sign above it saying, “The earth without art is just ‘eh’.”  It caught our attention, and it has been in my mind ever since.

This crazy acrylic painting evolved over the course of several days.  While far from fine art, it was a fun, creative experiment.

It started out being blue and brown and white to match a recent bedroom redo.

The next day it became an ocean and sky scene… then back to an abstract the following day with drips of gold.

Around the fourth day, I decided it needed some red.  The red was too bold, so I added white to tone it down and “pink” it up a bit.

And on and on it went until I splattered white and tar gel with a toothbrush on and decided it was time to quit.

It has all kinds of crazy things going on over many layers, but there is something about it in the end that I kinda like.

Maybe because it reminds me that….
the earth without art is just “eh!”

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

Autumn’s Golden Glow

/ Jodi / 50 Comments
Autumn's Golden Glow - 9x12 Watercolor Painting

Autumn’s Golden Glow in New Gambouge and Cadmium Yellow – 9×12 Watercolor Painting

Along our usual lunch time walk, Charlie and I pass a house we refer to as the one ‘where the kids live. ‘

There are not many little ones that live on the street we walk on (much to the dismay of the sweet kiddos that recently moved into this home).

But when we do pass this home, if we are lucky and the kids are home and out playing, they come running to visit us.  What a joy that is for both Charlie and me.

When the family first moved in and Charlie was newly adopted, he would cower when they came running.  These day, he looks for them with anticipation when we pass.  What a difference a year makes.

This watercolor painting is my very loose interpretation of the beautiful trees that line the street in front of “the house with the kids.”  It was such a beautiful sight this past week that I had to take a picture with my phone as I knew I wanted to paint it.

Soon all the leaves will be gone, but this day they glowed golden in the Autumn sun.

Wishing you a day that is bright and golden and glowing.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

Autumn Glow

/ Jodi / 38 Comments

september-sunset-mars-pa

Autumn Glow September Sunset, Mars, PA 9/26/16

The Autumn Glow

Thick, heavy clouds part briefly
revealing glimpses of glimmering gold

and twinkling sapphire skies
above the emerald carpeted lawn

sprinkled with the first fallen leaves
that will soon crunch beneath our feet

as we walk the familiar lane…
on a sweet September sunset.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

Quest