Pittsburgh

Peek a Boo Giraffe

/ Jodi / 55 Comments

Peek a Boo Giraffe.

A fun monochromatic painting I recently did using all Sepia watercolor for this “peek-a-booing” giraffe.

Did it make you tilt your head?

Peek a Boo!

P.S.  I am pretty excited to be the “Artist of the Month” at a sweet, fun and delicious coffee shop near me – Wunderbar Coffee & Crepes.

Wunderbar serves Italian inspired coffees, French crepes and American grilled cheese sandwiches in a historic German town north of Pittsburgh named Harmony, PA.

If you are anywhere nearby, I hope you will check it out and  experience the wonder of Wunderbar.  It is not  your run of the mill cafe. Their focus is “to provide a fun and unique space where everyone is welcome to gather, connect and create relationships, for a moment or a lifetime. Where the collision of senses and caffeine fueled inspiration explode and splatter. An open minded destination where transcending concepts and ideas are explored in depth and shared with everyone to experience together and by themselves. A refuge from empty promises and meaningless stories. An escape from a suffocating environment full of pre-existing notions that condition us to be the soul-less product of our over commercialized world. A breathing, living, self sustaining space that is an embracing work of art in itself. A place you can’t wait to return to!”

Here I am Saturday after hanging up my art.  Thanks Wunderbar!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

McKinneyX2Designs
BerryVineGifts

Live Intentionally

/ Jodi / 28 Comments

Live intentionally.

Look with your heart
instead of your eyes.

Listen with your soul
instead of your ears.

Feel with kindness
instead of your hands.

Give unconditionally
without expectation.

Trust completely
without hesitancy.

Love incessantly
without inhibition.

Live intentionally.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

My “To Be” List

/ Jodi / 42 Comments

 

My To Be List.

Instead of a “To Do” List,
I want to focus on a “To Be” List.

I want To Be:

  • Kind
  • Loving
  • Tolerant
  • Healthy
  • Happy
  • Significant

What would be on your “To Be” List?

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Celebrating Friendship at Stony Brook State Park

/ Jodi / 28 Comments
Stony Brook State Park, Finger Lakes Region, NY - Girlfriend Camp GFC 2019 - August, 2019

Stony Brook State Park, Finger Lakes Region, NY – Girlfriend Camp GFC 2019 – August, 2019

Celebrating Friendship at Stony Brook Park.

Climbing stairs

Crossing bridges

Converging pathways

Circulating blood

Conversing thoughts

Circumventing hazards

Communing with nature

Connecting souls

Contemplating life

Considering options

Challenging opinions

Cooperating ideas

Confessing truths

Collecting memories

Celebrating friendship

#GFC2019 Stony Brook State Park, Finger Lakes Region, NY - August 2019

#GFC2019 Stony Brook State Park, Finger Lakes Region, NY – August 2019

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

Celebrating Friendship at Stony Brook State Park

Cherish the Moments

/ Jodi / 33 Comments
Sunset over Lake Ontario, Rochester, NY - August, 2019

Sunset over Lake Ontario, Rochester, NY – August, 2019

Cherish the Moments.

As the sun sets
and closes another day,

collect moments
to cherish as memories

on this page…
in this chapter.

For this time…
in this season.

For every day may not be good,
but there is something good in every day.

Find it.
Hold on to it.

Cherish the moments.
Treasure the memories.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Red Cardinal Watercolor

/ Jodi / 62 Comments

Red Cardinal Watercolor.

I was away this past week on a wonderful “GFC” (Girlfriend Camp) trip, followed by a couple days of grandie girls and family fun.

This past Sunday afternoon, after over a week away from any ARTing, I found a bit of time in my art studio to paint.

I always fear when I’m away from it for a while, I will “forget” how to do it.

I decided to do a bird, then chose a cardinal.  I had some Simon & Garfunkel playing.  I felt completely relaxed, and just painted.  No drawing.  No warm-up.  And I got lucky and loved the result.

Just in case it turned out, and because I’ve been asked about sharing my process and “teaching,” I took a few quick iPhone photos of the steps I took along the way to share with you.

I found a cardinal photo on my ipad and then started with the eye placed where I thought was about right on a 10×16 sheet of Arches Cold Press.  I used Daniel Smith Indigo and Quinacridone Gold, leaving some white for the highlights in the eye.

When painting loose, you need to have a focal point, and when a bird or animal, a good focal point is the eye and/or beak/nose.  So from the eye, I used a wet brush to outline the beak, then added some Daniel Smith permanent deep red and water to blend the colors.

I deepened some of the colors and added the crown shape of the cardinals head and the shape of its neck.  This is pretty much all the “detail” I wanted in this painting.

From here, I added some more of the red and some cadmium yellow.

Then I just got super loose adding some violet and blue and green gold, lots of water for movement, and more indigo splashes.  I held the painting up vertically to let the drips run.

And this is what resulted.  I’m happy with how it turned out, and so glad to know I didn’t “forget” how to do it after being away for a while.

This painting – as an original, prints, and greeting cards – is available in our McKinneyX2Designs Etsy Shop and at Berry Vine Gifts in BradfordWoods, PA.

Have a wonderful day, and don’t be afraid to fearlessly and joyfully go for whatever it is you love to do!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Be the Light

/ Jodi / 47 Comments

Summer Morning Sunrise – Mars, PA

Be the light.

Let the light
within you
shine as bright
as the morning sun
breaking through dawn.

Be the beacon
to those who
cannot see
through the thickness
of the misty fog.

Be the light.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Classic Oatmeal Scotchie Cookies

/ Jodi / 28 Comments

Classic Oatmeal Scotchie Cookies.

Cookie week continues!

I have been making these classic oldie-but-goodie cookies quite a bit lately and realized I have never shared the recipe here.  Not that you couldn’t likely find it elsewhere or directly on the Quaker Oats website, but I wanted to document it here as one of the classics I make and also highly recommend it to those who may have never heard of or haven’t thought about in a while.

They might seem a bit ordinary after the past two recipes this week (Toffee Coffee Oatmeal Cookies and Macadamia Toasted Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies), but I promise they are (still) an amazing cookie!

These are one of hubby’s faves.  A chewy oatmeal cookie bursting with bits of butterscotch yumminess.

Do you have a classic cookie recipe that takes you back to a place and time?  Takes you back to a great childhood feeling?  To me, these are that kind of “feel good” cookie.  They are simple, but delicious, and a sure crowd pleaser!

Hope you will give them a try…. or a try again!

Here is how I make them.

Classic Oatmeal Scotchies*

  • Servings: 3 dozen large cookies
  • Print

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 Pound (2 sticks) butter, softened
  • 3/4 Cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 Cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
  • 1-1/4 Cup(s) all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. Baking Soda
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 3 Cups Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
  • 1 package (11 oz.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Butterscotch Chips

Directions:

Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add baking soda, salt and flour; mix well. Add oats and butterscotch morsels; mix well. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto baking stone or ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes. Cool 5 minutes on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely.

These cookies freeze well. I simply store in the freezer in Ziploc Freezer Bags.

Enjoy!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Your Own Special Place

/ Jodi / 22 Comments

A Spider’s Home, Conneaut Lake, PA – June, 2019

Your Own Special Place.

Everyone has
their
own

special place
and time
and purpose.

Respect
each
others’.

Cherish
your
own.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Limes Smile

/ Jodi / 46 Comments
Limes Smile in Watercolor – 11×14

Limes Smile.

Did you know if you rearrange the letters in “limes,” you get “smile?”

Hope this watercolor painting of limes brings you smiles!

Happy #WorldWatercolorMonth!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi