A view from atop the hill of the road I walk most every day – Mars, PA – April 1, 2018
A Different Perspective.
For the past 17 years,
I’ve walked the same road.
Each day,
I look for something new.
But sometimes,
we need to veer from that same road
And look at it
from a different perspective.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Crossroads Original Abstract by Jodi McKinney 11×14 140lb Cold Press
Crossroads.
When we arrive at a crossroads,
it is an opportunity to let go of the past
and who we have been.
Which way will we go?
Who will we decide
we want to become?
This recent acrylic abstract painting I created is called Crossroads.
Lately, I am driven towards abstraction and experimenting with acrylics.
It is fun to try something new…
An opportunity to discover who I want to be.
And my art is helping me find me…
the direction I want to go
at a crossroads of life.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
PS This original painting as well as prints and note cards are available at McKinneyX2Designs on ETSY. Hope you will take some time to browse our watercolor paintings, original art, and handmade rustic signs and decor.
Fuzzy Cattails ( Typha) – March 2018 – Mars PA
Fuzzy.
When life gets fuzzy,
don’t try to squint it clear….
Embrace the beauty
of the fuzziness.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Weaving through the River – 11×16 Mixed Media Art
World Water Day – Weaving through the River.
Today, March 22, is World Water Day.
World Water Day is about focusing attention on the importance of water.
The theme for World Water Day 2018 is ‘Nature for Water’ – exploring nature-based solutions to the water challenges we face in the 21st century. It is about looking for ways we can reduce floods, droughts and water pollution by using the solutions we already find in nature.
Damaged ecosystems affect the quantity and quality of water available for human consumption. Today, 21 billion people live without safe drinking water at home, affecting their health, education, and livelihoods.
The next time you brush your teeth and let the water run down the drain or fill a glass of water to drink and pour half of it down the drain or take a 20-minute shower, think about what a privilege it is to have a dependable source of fresh water and how many in this world do not.
Wherever you are and whatever you do today, make a point to consider nature and water.
And if you want to do something about it, consider visiting www.we.org where you can donate $25, which can provide one person with clean water for life.
This original mixed media art I created is being dedicated to World Water Day. It was done using ink-dyed tissue paper and drops of ink on Arches 140lb watercolor paper. I added torn pieces of some old sheet music for “Weary River” sealed down with gesso. I purposely tore the title words to form the word “Weaver.” It makes me think about how water and art and music weave through our lives and make an impact.
I’ve named this piece, “Weaving through the River.”
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Projecting Beauty – 18×24 Acrylic Abstract on stretched canvas
Every baby is born beautiful.
It is what we project on them
that makes them ugly.
-Ruth in Small Great Things
Sharing this quote today from the book I’m reading that I mentioned yesterday –Small Great Things By Jodi Picoult.
The quote is spoken by a labor and delivery nurse, Ruth, talking about the most beautiful baby she has ever seen born. The baby was born with severe birth defects that led to him not having a face. A small mouth with one tooth was in the place of where an ear should have been and the face was just a mass of skin. A student nurse screamed upon seeing him. Ruth shared how she would never forget the transformation that occurred as a result of the love the mother, and eventually the father, projected onto this sweet baby for the short time they were blessed with his presence on earth. The love in their eyes saw his beauty. The love they projected on this baby made him beautiful.
This really spoke to me. Of course there is the old adage that beauty is only skin deep, but isn’t it so true? I have known people who were absolutely flawlessly attractive in physical appearance, but had such ugly hearts and souls that it blinded the beauty. I also know people that aren’t necessarily physically attractive, but beauty just shines from them. The beauty that is deep within their being. It just consumes the space that surrounds them. And when you look at them, all you see is that beauty.
As parents (and grandparents), we have the power to project this beauty on our children. We have the responsibility to teach them they are beautiful – not because of the color of their hair or skin or the shape of their bodies or the unique intricacies of their personal appearances… They are beautiful because they are loved for just exactly who they are.
Let us love our children by projecting beauty on them. Let us teach our children to project beauty.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
This painting is quite a diversion from my usual watercolor art. I worked on it for a few days as a special housewarming gift for my oldest son and daughter-in-law, who just moved into their new home. This abstract acrylic was inspired by the beautiful work of Osnad Tzadok. I did it using a palette knife, paper towels, a spray bottle of water, and a brush for a few strokes. All paint by Golden. I may just want to stretch and try some more of this type of work.
I’m calling this painting “Projecting Beauty.”
Not everything that is faced
can be changed,
but nothing can be changed
until it is faced.
James Baldwin
I started a new book yesterday on Audible to listen to while I walk with Charlie – Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult.
The weather is getting a bit nicer, the daylight longer, and we need to get moving!
Nothing makes the time go faster than when I have a good book to listen to.
I was hooked from the first paragraph.
And when I heard this quote as I was listening on my walk, I almost stopped in my tracks. I backed it up a bit, and I listened again as the brief quote spoke to my soul.
I am facing a time of change in my life.
I’m guessing many of us are.
The changes we are going through are vastly different I’m sure.
Mine is career-centered.
Yours might be a relationship change or news about your health.
It could be the death of someone close to you.
It could be a change in the place you live.
Your change might have to do with your children leaving home or returning home, getting married, or perhaps the end of their marriage.
It could be a pregnancy or the ability not to be pregnant.
The changes each of us are going through can be as vastly numerous as the number of us reading this.
If you are going through something that is causing change in your life, I hope this quote resonates with you. I hope it helps you face it.
And when you face it, may you feel empowered, and may this change bring joy and enlightenment and peace to your life.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Cranberry Township, PA – March 2018
Broken Road.
It can be easy
to breeze through life
when you are cruising along
on the wide open, straight path of the highway.
But often times
it is the bumps and dips and obstacles
on the broken roads
that lead to the best and most beautiful things in life.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Live the Questions Now Rilke Quote – Abstract Circle Watercolor 11×14
Live the Questions Now.
“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart
and try to love
the questions themselves,
like locked rooms and like books
that are now written in a very foreign tongue.
Do not now seek the answers,
which cannot be given you
because you would not
be able to live them.
And the point is, to live everything.
Live the questions now.
Perhaps you will then
gradually,
without noticing it,
live
along some distant day
into
the
answer.”― Rainer Maria Rilke
One evening I just felt like painting watercolor in a circle wet in wet to create a fun kaleidoscope effect. After doing the negative painting I shared last week, I wanted to paint “inside the lines” this time.
And then I heard this quote (which just so happened to be shared by Lendon Noe in that class I spoke about in Sunday’s post), and I had to write it around the circle.
Live the Questions Now.
Don’t live your life waiting for the answers.
There is so much that you will miss.
Live everything every day,
and then, along the way,
you will likely live the answer.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Daniel Smith Watercolors Used: Cascade Green, Mayan Red, Quinacridone Gold
Frozen Stream – Backyard – Mars, PA – January 2018
In Time – Seasons of Change.
Isn’t it so comforting?
Doesn’t it fill you with hope?
To know…
that the brittle frozen stream
will once again flow
with soft warm life…
in time.
Seasons of Change.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Owning our story can be hard, but not
nearly as difficult as spending our
lives running from it. Embracing our
vulnerabilities is risky, but not nearly
as dangerous as giving up on love
and belonging and joy – the experiences
that make us the most vulnerable. Only
when we are brave enough to explore
the darkness will we discover
the infinite power of our light.
One of my favorite Christmas gifts (heck – every gift is my favorite), but this one really speaks to my heart and was from the heart of someone who really gets me. It is a quote from a favorite book – Braving the Wilderness by Brene Brown.
It is hanging in a place where I will read it every day, and this will be my mantra – to own my story, to embrace my vulnerabilities, and to not be afraid to explore the darkness, so I can discover my authentic light.
Will you make a New Year’s Resolution? Do you have a mantra or a life verse? Do you choose One Little Word each year?
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
the creative life in between 