Dance with Your Heart

Dance with Your Heart Pink Ballerina 11×14 140lb Cold Press

Dance with your Heart.
Your feet will follow.

There is something so fun about painting ballerinas.

I came across this idea and painting demonstration by Julie Hyde that uses cling wrap to create an ethereal effect of movement to the ballerina’s skirt.

Using a wet on wet technique, you apply crinkled cling wrap to the wet paint.  After allowing it to dry thoroughly, when you lift the cling wrap, a beautiful texture is created.

I also bought a book by an artist I recently discovered  – Ann Blockley, called Experimental Landscapes in Watercolor.  She also uses cling wrap and salt and ink and other various techniques to create dramatic expressive and interpretive landscapes.  I’m looking forward to trying out some new ideas from that.

In the meantime, I hope you will dance….

with your heart, with paint, while baking, while working….

whatever it is you are doing.

And Cherish the Moments.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

 

In Love

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

A Pretty Plenteous Pink Peony

Watercolor Pink Peony on 16 x 20 Canvas

Watercolor Pink Peony on 16 x 20 Canvas

Another thing I couldn’t wait to do after being away last week was paint!  I was just dying to splash with my watercolor.

Not to mention the fact that I got to actually visit a real live Blick Art Supply Store in Atlanta!  I have never been in one and almost fainted when I spotted it on a trolley tour I was taking one day while hubby was “conferencing.”

The next day, first thing on my list was an Uber ride to visit.  Oh what fun I had examining the super soft, beautifully handmade pure squirrel hair French Isabey brushes.  I bought two – a #4 Cat’s Tongue and a #4 Flat.  I used the Cat’s Tongue to do the entire painting above.

I often wondered how people watercolor on canvas, which is made for oil and acrylic.  Imagine my excitement when I discovered tubs of QoR Cold Press Ground – a pasty substance you can slather on most anything with a palette knife to create a surface that has the appearance of rough handmade watercolor paper and reacts lovely to watercolor!  I couldn’t wait to try it out – so covered an inexpensive 16×20 canvas with it, let it “cure” overnight and used my newest color  – the glorious Opera Rose, mixed with Permanent Rose and a bit of Quinacridone Magenta, Quinacridone Gold and Green Gold to create my pretty plenteous pink peony.

I bought some other goodies I’m looking forward to trying out that I don’t even know what to do with yet, but I’ll be sure to share when I do.

The greatest thing about the store was they matched all prices on the web too with my Blick Preferred Customer card.  The service was great, and the experience was wonderful.  The only thing that dragged me out of there was the call from my friends who said it was time to meet them at the World of Coca-Cola Museum (where I may or may not have bought an adorable polar bear hoodie for my soon-to-arrive granddaughter).

It was a lovely visit to Atlanta, but it’s always good to be home sweet home, baking and painting and doing all the things I love at life… in… between.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi