Painting

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

Favorite Pairs

/ Jodi / 50 Comments

pear watercolor

A partial list of favorite pairs:

  • Bert & Ernie
  • Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup
  • Simon & Garfunkel
  • Wine & Cheese
  • Lucy & Ethel
  • Chips & Guacamole
  • Falling Snow & Warm Fires
  • Gin & Tonic
  • Movies & Popcorn
  • Beaches & Sunrises
  • Beaches & Sunsets
  • Dark Coffee & Italian Sweet Cream
  • Paint & Paper
  • Milk Chocolate & Caramel
  • White Chocolate and Peanut Butter
  • Dark Chocolate & Raspberry
  • Hugs & Kisses
  • Friends & Laughter
  • Family & Time Together
  • Chubby Cheeks & Tiny Toes
  • Wrinkled Cheeks & Words of Wisdom

After practicing a few more watercolor skies last evening (and feeling frustrated!…  Why are skies so hard for me??!), I decided to do something that made me happy, so I just took a small piece of watercolor paper and did a quick, free and easy abstract pear in some of my favorite colors – letting the colors blend and do their thing.  I could then relax happy, and it made me think of some of my favorite pears pairs.

Do you have some favorite pairs?

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Conneaut Lake Snowy Sunrise

/ Jodi / 84 Comments

conneat lake snowy sunrise watercolor

My sweet buddy, Oh Rob, recently posted a beautiful photo of his morning view waking up at Conneaut Lake, PA on his Facebook page.  It really drew me in, as it is one of my favorite places to be, mostly because it is with him and his sweet wife Joyce who are very dear to us.

I tried painting it in watercolor.  Need to loosen up more.  But I had fun thinking of them and this beautiful place on earth.  There have been so many beautiful pink skies this winter.  Am I just noticing it more, or is there more than usual?

conneat lake snowy sunrise photo

Wishing you beautiful sunrises.

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

Do More of What Makes YOU Happy

/ Jodi / 40 Comments

do more of what makes you happy watercolor card

Painting, drawing, creating….

Cooking, baking, feeding….

Eating, exercising, relaxing..

Reading, writing, rhyming…

Exploring, photographing, dreaming….

Celebrating, experiencing, observing…

Singing, laughing, talking…

Watching, crying, listening..

Loving, sharing, growing…

Working, playing, enjoying time with family and friends…

It isn’t that hard!

Do More of What Makes YOU Happy!

#CherishTheMoments

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

A Song Sparrow Watercolor for Draw a Bird Day

/ Jodi / 51 Comments

watercolor song sparrow 01 2016

It’s #DrawABirdDay with my blogging friends (officially April 8th, but we like to do it on the 8th of EVERY month), so I decided to give a go at a beautiful photo I saw of a song sparrow on Instagram taken by Lisa Snow in Vancouver, British Columbia.

I love the sparrows that come to our back deck feeders – especially in the winter when the snow is falling.

Thanks for your ongoing inspiration Laura @ CreateArtEveryday!  This sparrow is in honor of you and your generosity and support.  (She is the one who did the sweet painting of Charlie and surprised me for my birthday!)

Enjoy all that nature has to offer today and everyday, and maybe go ahead and create some art from it!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

PS  This month’s #DrawABirdDay is hosted by our friends Kerfe and Nina @ MethodtwoMadness.  A sweet, artistic blog of two friends.  Thanks Ladies!

Painting Puddles of Violet, Gold, and Turquoise

/ Jodi / 48 Comments

violet gold turquoise abstract watercolor

I have just discovered

that I am in love

with Violet, Gold and Turquoise

combined together in every way.

It started when I randomly created this bird with some leftover paint when designing my pine tree Christmas thank you cards.

purple gold and turquoise bird watercolor

And my son, Nick, told me it would be more interesting if I had a set or a series of three paintings.

Well – that is all it took to get me splashing in puddles of violet, gold and turquoise last evening.

purple gold and turquoise butterfly watercolor

He and hubby like this butterfly best.

I love the color block abstract.

violet gold turquoise abstract watercolor

It was so fun splashing it on and turning it around and shaking it and watching the watercolor paint do it’s magic.

To me – it is pure artistic magic.  The colors tell the story, and the story is unique to each individual viewing it.

After a couple of days of frustration trying to recreate some scenes I thought would be easier than they were, I just allowed myself to splash and see what happened.

And it felt good.

This is what is great about snowy, cold January evenings after the holidays.

Embrace them, and do what makes your heart sing!

I may not be a great artist, but I’m a girl with a paint brush and an easel and time at the end of the day to cherish,

and that is what I’m doing.

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

Charlie’s New Year’s Resolution

/ Jodi / 33 Comments
Charlie watercolor by Laura

Charlie – by Laura @ createarteveryday

Hi Friends!  Charlie here.

Have you missed me?  It’s been a while since Mom has let me guest post.

What do you think of this beautiful watercolor painting of me a very dear and talented friend gifted us with for Mom’s birthday?!

Thank you so much Ms. Laura @ CreateArtEverday!  We really surprised Mom when the card showed up addressed to “Mom” with no postmark or return address except for my paw print!  Thanks for helping me make her birthday even more special! You are the best!

I must tell you, I am kind of glad the holidays are over.  We had FUN – lots of parties, lots of food, lots of friends and family over, but I am POOPED!

I stayed up the latest I have ever stayed up in my life on New Year’s Eve!  Company didn’t leave until after 1:30 am, and I didn’t want to miss a crumb moment of the festivities, so I stayed up way past my usual 8 pm bedtime.

Santa came to our house too!  He must have received my letter and agreed that I WAS a good boy, because my stocking was overflowing with new toys.  He even remembered the FIVE GOLDEN Bones I asked for!  YIPPEE!  Thank you Santa!  Four are already gone.

Mom tells me this is a New Year and a time when many make resolutions to be better.

I have decided I am going to do my best to make my family feel loved and appreciated.  I think that is one of the most important jobs of a family pet.  Don’t you agree?

Unconditional love is so easy for me to give, and it sure makes my Mom and Dad happy.

Happy New Year to all of you (and your family pets!)

Woofs & Wags,

Charlie

 

January

/ Jodi / 88 Comments

snowy tree landscape watercolor

January

a time to
nest and rest,
recharge and reinvent,
watch and listen,
contemplate and create.

January

a time to become.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

Watercolor done on 300 lb cold press paper following a tutorial posted on ArtistNetwork (I truly have a long way to go with trees, but cherishing the time spent on the journey!)

Hand Painted Snowman Mugs

/ Jodi / 34 Comments

painted snowman mug 2

One of our Christmas celebrations last week was our annual McHendy Christmas get-together.

For this celebration, I painted some snowmen mugs and filled them with Rolo chocolate caramel candies, mini marshmallows, and the recipe for Rolo Hot Chocolate that I featured here a few weeks ago to give to everyone.

painted snowman mug

On white ceramic mugs purchased from the Dollar Store, I painted little snowman coal eyes and carrot noses with Sharpie Oil Based Paint Markers on one side, and wrote McHendy Mug and the year on the other.

painted snowman mug 3

After painting them all, I let them cure for 24 hours.  I then placed them in a cold oven, set the temperature for 350 degrees F and “baked” for 30 minutes.  I turned the oven off after 30 minutes and let them cool completely in the oven without opening it.  I hope this works as it is the first time I tried.  They are supposed to be able to go through the dishwasher.

Wondering what a McHendy Christmas Celebration is?

Well – when you take two besties and their families that have so much love they actually form one big family, you combine their last names to create a new one.

jill and jodi mchendy christmas 2015

And you celebrate every year watching the “kids” grow, marry and add to the family, and count your blessings dearly!

Mchendy family 2015

My BFF Jill not only had these shirts printed for all the McHendys this year, she even created the McHendy family crest, which is full of love and meaning to both of our families.

McHendy crest

We can be born into families, and we can be loved into families.  No matter which way it happens, celebrate it, and cherish the moments!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

 

Oh Christmas Tree

/ Jodi / 46 Comments

Christmas Tree Watercolor Card Minimalist 2015

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas tree,
How lovely are your branches!
In beauty green will always grow
Through summer sun and winter snow.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
How lovely are your branches!

Are you singing with me?

Only a week until Christmas Day, but it’s time to begin celebrating already.

I think it’s more fun to spread the fun out over the next two weeks, so partying and gathering with friends and family is what we will be doing!

This is another of my little minimalist watercolor Christmas cards I was able to print and duplicate.

Just a simple little tree,

but filled with lots of joy and love and happy wishes.

Have a great Friday!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi