paint

Independence Day

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Abstract American Flag Watercolor by Jodi McKinney 11×14

Independence Day.

“May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right.”

– Peter Marshall

Independence Day* (the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence of the United States on July 4, 1776. The Continental Congress declared that the thirteen American colonies were no longer subject (and subordinate) to the monarch of Britain and were now united, free, and independent states.  The Congress had voted to declare independence two days earlier, on July 2, but it was not declared until July 4.

In honor of this special day, I painted a very abstract version of the American Flag in watercolor for #WorldWatercolorMonth.

Have a fun, free, righteous, independent day!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

*Wikipedia

An Enthusiast in Life

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Spring Floral Fantasy Watercolor 11×14

An Enthusiast in Life.

I LOVE this quote by Roald Dahl, and it sparked my enthusiasm to paint boldly and brightly and enthusiastically in watercolor recently.

“Listening to my father during those early years, I began to realize how important it was to be an enthusiast in life. He taught me that if you are interested in something, no matter what it is, go at it full speed ahead. Embrace it with both arms, hug it, love it and above all become passionate about it. Lukewarm is no good. Hot is no good, either. White hot and passionate is the only thing to be.”

Roald Dahl, My Uncle Oswald

I feel a bit out of practice as I’ve been doing other projects lately, but it was fun to splash watercolor again.

My daughter-in-law, Colleen and I are enthusiastically embracing a new project, which I’ll update you on as we go, but we are expanding our McKinneyX2Designs space at the local gift shop where we display our products, Berry Vine Gifts in Bradford Woods.

For today, however, I hope you will consider this quote, and enthusiastically embrace whatever YOU are passionate about!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

 

I’m O-Fish-Ally Hooked on You Daddy!

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I am O-Fish-Ally Hooked on You Daddy!

If you are looking for a cute and easy, creative Father’s Day Card to make from a child or grandchild to his daddy or grandpap, how about this cute little hand print fishy?  (Especially if Daddy or Pap enjoys fishing!)

My little granddaughter and I made this for her Daddy for his first Father’s Day.  On the inside, we wrote:  “You are the best daddy in the whole sea!”

A great little gift idea to go with the “theme” that we did was a gift bag full of fish:  Swedish Red Fish and Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Crackers, which come in at least a dozen different flavors ranging from Vanilla Cupcake, S’mores, and Fudge Brownie to Pizza, Chedder, Pretzel, and Honey Mustard and Pretzel Blends.

Hope all the Daddys and Grandpaps out there are o-fish-ally recognized and surrounded with love on their special upcoming day.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Idea inspired by:  gluetomycraftsblog

Be Bold

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Pink Rosebuds Watercolor 5x7 140 lb Cold Press Saunders

Pink Rosebuds Watercolor 5×7 140 lb Cold Press Saunders

Be Bold.

Be bold…
in doing what you love,
in doing what feels good,
in doing what makes you happy.

Be bold…
in making your own kind of beauty,
in being your own kind of beauty,
in seeing the beauty in others.

Be Bold!
Be You!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Quick, loose painting done on Saunders 140lb cold press watercolor paper using Daniel Smith Rhodonite Genuine and Sap Green watercolor paint.

My Favorite Color

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color-palette

My Favorite Color…

My favorite color is yellow
for sunshiney summer days
and chirpy gold finches
and the tartness of lemons.

My favorite color is blue
for the beauty of the sky and the ocean
and robin eggs
and star-shaped bachelor buttons.

My favorite color is red
for hearts
and raspberries and strawberries
and dark, dry wine.

My favorite color is pink
for lipstick
and nail polish
and my granddaughter’s cheeks.

My favorite color is green
for springtime grass
and soft, feathery hemlock trees
and arugula.

My favorite color is black
for yoga pants
and nighttime skies
and patent leather peep toe pumps.

My favorite color is brown
for the smell of the earth
and rich, creamy gravy
and the color of my morning coffee with cream.

My favorite color is purple
for sweet smelling lilacs
and intricate irises
and Barney the dinosaur.

My favorite color is white
for the first blanket of snow
and the stars that twinkle in a midnight sky
and marshmallow fluff.

How does anyone choose one favorite color
when there are so many reasons
to love every color?

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

PS  It was so challenging for me to choose only 20 colors to fill my new watercolor palette from the 55 colors I have in my stock.  But oh how fun it is to start fresh with a new clean palette and all the possibilities it can create.

Do you have a favorite color?  However do you choose?

 

 

Chalk Paint Shabby Chic Dresser Makeover

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dresser-after-chalk-paint-and-wax-in-room-1

I am having a lot of fun creating a special room in our house for our new granddaughter.

How fun it is to be able to create a “girly” room in one of the bedrooms previously occupied by one of our sons.

I hope to show you more as we finish; but for now, I’m excited to show you what I did with this beat up old little dresser we have had hanging around forever that has served many purposes through the years.

dresser-before-1

It is a little funny that I’ve taken something beat up and transformed it into another “beat up” look.  (The guys just don’t get it at all that I PURPOSELY rubbed and chipped off the paint!!)  But I’m loving this “Shabby Chic” look achieved with White (Magnolia) Chalk Paint, sand paper, and some Clear and Antique Wax.

I had planned on painting it white, but then saw a friend show on Facebook how she transformed a piece with Chalk Paint and decided that is exactly what I wanted to do.  Considering I had this little dresser already, supplies cost about $15.  I only used half of the container of paint and just a small amount of each of the jars of wax, so plenty more for other projects.  Other than the paint and wax, all that is needed is a paint brush and some fine sand paper.

dresser-after-chalk-paint-and-wax-1
I watched this series of brief Youtube tutorials while doing this, and it only took a few hours to complete.

Looking forward to sharing more as we progress… like how I turned bumper pads from a gorgeous bedding set I acquired into window valances (because bumper pads are now a “no-no” in cribs) — but I couldn’t pass up using the gorgeous pink and green paisley luciousness!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

 

Pink Flamingo

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Pink Flamingo Watercolor 8x10

Pink Flamingo Watercolor 8×10

Happy #DrawABirdDay!

On the 8th day of every month, many of my fellow artistic blogging friends and I enjoy sharing our drawings and paintings of birds.  Thanks Laura at CreateArtEveryDay for hosting!

I painted this pink flamingo a week or so ago and have been saving it to share for today.  I have to admit, I think this is my favorite watercolor painting I’ve done to date.

And I have to thank Laura again for calling my attention to a tutorial on the Artist Network done by one of my favorite watercolor artists, Jean Haines, who inspired this flamingo.

I just couldn’t wait to see what it looked like framed.  Doesn’t it make such a difference to see it matted and framed?

pink flamingo 2 original watercolor 8x10 matted and framed to 11x14

Pink Flamingo in Watercolor -8×10 matted and framed 11×14

I also thought it would make beautiful note cards, so I printed some up for our McKinneyX2Designs Etsy shop.

pink flamingo 2 watercolor card set

Pink Flamingo Watercolor Card Set

I love pink….
I love birds….
I love watercolor…
So creating this painting was pure joy for me.

Wishing you a day filled with joy and love and moments to cherish!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Paint

Brown Eyed (or Black or Purple Eyed!) Susan

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Brown Eyed Susan Watercolor 5x7

Brown Eyed Susan Impressionistic Watercolor 5 x 7

Work and life have been very busy and exciting around here.

And even though it is all good, sometimes the busyness can be stressful.

When I need or want to unwind, I have truly found peace and joy in watercolor painting.

A year ago, I would have told you I enjoyed it, but I sometimes found it stressful as I wanted to be so good and realized what a truly challenging medium watercolor is.

About a year and a half into this new artistic love and hobby, I can truly say I now enjoy it for what it brings to me…  The way it relaxes me watching the water and paint flow and mix and mingle…  The joy in creating something completely unique and original…

And I no longer stress over perfection (well – most of the time!).  I am an artist (finally calling myself that!) who finds more joy in painting than sketching, so drawing before painting is tedious to me.  I can’t wait to get to the paint, so I would so much rather just skip the sketching stage.  Don’t get me wrong, though…  I GREATLY admire those that can sketch and draw creating almost exact likenesses to objects!  I marvel and appreciate it so much!

I now realize I want to create things for my own joy…  my own impression…. my own interpretation… and if someone else likes it – good.  If not, that is okay too.   I  have developed my own little style, and though I will never be Vincent Van Gogh, I enjoy my painting.

So here’s one of my latest – a simple study of a single brown-eyed susan – Jodi’d up with a purple center, loose strokes and a few splatters!

Here was the photo I took of the flower from our front yard garden.  As you can see,  I didn’t try to replicate it exactly as is, but used it as a reference to create my impression or interpretation from.

brown eyed susan flower

I rather like this one, and I couldn’t wait to see what it looked like framed.

brown eyed susan watercolor 5x7 matted and framed to 8x10

I think I’ll add this one to our McKinneyX2Designs Etsy shop.  I love it as a print and think it will make lovely greeting/note cards too.  It still amazes me that people have bought my original artwork, prints and cards.  Every time the “ding” of the cash register alerts me that someone has bought something from our Etsy shop, I get so excited to see what they liked.  Whether it was a beautiful rustic sign or piece of home decor made by my daughter-in-law and partner in artistic fun, Colleen, or a piece of artwork or set of cards that I created, it is such an honor, and I feel such joy.

brown eyed susan watercolor card set

Tomorrow I am going to be sharing what I think might be my very favorite painting I have done to date.  I am excited to share it.  You may or may not like it, but that’s okay.  Thanks for traveling along this journey with me…. cherishing the moments… at life in between.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Paint

Funsie Onesies

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onesie party my crib 2am bring a bottle

One of the fun little activities we had at Jackie & Matt’s baby shower was an opportunity, for those that wanted, to create a hand-painted onesie for Baby Ben.

onesie ladies I have arrived bow tie

Since I knew I’d be busy at the shower, I made a few ahead of time.  A quick search on Pinterest offered tons of cute ideas.

onesie dad you got this

If you are looking for an inexpensive, but unique, creative and personal gift to welcome a new bundle of joy, consider creating your own little funsie onesies with a little fabric paint and a pack of cotton onesies.  (Be sure to pre-wash the onesies before painting.)

onesie lil stud muffin

There are so many cute and creative possibilities!

20

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi