trees

Autumn in the Pumpkin Patch

/ Jodi / 44 Comments
Autumn in the Pumpkin Patch 9x12 Watercolor

Autumn in the Pumpkin Patch 9×12 Watercolor

Autumn is so leisurely lingering
and thoughts of pumpkins and trees in shades of oranges and red and yellow
are ever present.

I truly can’t remember when I have enjoyed the Fall season more.
The weather has been so beautiful.
Work has been busy.
Life has been full of exciting changes and anticipation.

One late evening this past week,
I felt the need… the urge…  the desire… to paint.
I opened my palette and wasn’t sure what to do.
So I searched my Pinterest inspiration and found and amazing artist, Herry Arifin,
whose style totally intrigued me!

The looseness, the light, the brightness, the bold strokes and color
totally captivated me.

I used one of his paintings as an exercise to practice and created this.
It doesn’t even come remotely close to the talent of Herry, but it was sure fun to try.

And I made myself do it from memory and imagination and with freedom and abandon as opposed to looking at and copying.

It’s been fun watching friends post photos of their little “pumpkins” in pumpkin patches and dreaming of our little pumpkin.  In fact, it is getting hard to think of much else!

This grandma-in-waiting is ready to take on the official role and title.  Just a few more weeks to go!

Happy Autumn!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

 

Autumn Glow

/ Jodi / 38 Comments

september-sunset-mars-pa

Autumn Glow September Sunset, Mars, PA 9/26/16

The Autumn Glow

Thick, heavy clouds part briefly
revealing glimpses of glimmering gold

and twinkling sapphire skies
above the emerald carpeted lawn

sprinkled with the first fallen leaves
that will soon crunch beneath our feet

as we walk the familiar lane…
on a sweet September sunset.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

Quest

Watercolor Landscaping

/ Jodi / 59 Comments
monochromatic-fall-landscape-raw-and-burnt-sienna-quin-gold-10x12-300lb-fabriano-artistico

monochromatic-fall-landscape-raw-and-burnt-sienna-quin-gold-10×12-300lb-fabriano-artistico

I have really grown to have great respect for landscape, seascape, naturescape, and plein air watercolor artists!  I find these scenes very challenging, but often get the itch to try.

Most attempts have been less than stellar, but I keep trying.

One of my favorite watercolor artist bloggers, Debi Riley, recently shared a simple monochromatic landscape that was so striking in a blog post she called, “Start Easy (and don’t poke the bear).  I had to give it a try.

I mainly used Raw Sienna in various tones using the simple design Debi created.  I couldn’t resist adding a bit of Burnt Sienna and Quinacridone Gold and having it resemble Autumn (with some falling leaves made from my unavoidable “Jodi splatters,” but this was a great step  in building landscape confidence.

Doing this one gave me the confidence to give landscape another try.

This time I followed the style and tutelage of Terry Harrison, an amazing watercolor artist from the UK I recently discovered through the ArtistNetwork.tv site.

Country Lane Late Summer Landscape Watercolor 11x14 Artistico

Country Lane Late Summer Landscape Watercolor 11×14 Artistico

I had fun painting the rolling hills and trying a different way with trees using more of a stippling effect.  I really didn’t have the right  brush and subbed a scrubber instead – not quite the effect I wanted, but confidence-building nonetheless.  I am fascinated with what a difference adding shadows makes too.

I may not be a pro at this yet, but I am up for the challenge, and I am going to keep on landscaping!  Watercolor that is.  I’ll leave the tree pruning, mulching, and grass-cutting to hubby.  As long as I provide a cold iced tea every once in a while, there are cookies in the freezer, and I bake a pie now and then, I think I can get away with it…

Happy Landscaping – whichever kind you prefer!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

 

I’ll Meet You There

/ Jodi / 49 Comments

walk in the woods

“Out beyond ideas
of wrongdoing and right doing,
there is a field.
I’ll meet you there.”

-Rumi, 13th Century

I took a walk this past weekend.

Not the usual path…
Not the usual road.

I took a walk in the woods

behind the house
where I rarely go.

It made me wonder

why I don’t spend more time there
out beyond the daily routine.

Beyond right,
beyond wrong.

I’ll meet you there.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Truths from the Tree

/ Jodi / 52 Comments
truth from trees nature lessons maple tree mars pa

Maple Tree, Mars, PA

Truths from the Tree

Stand tall and proud,
and reach for the sunlight.

Grow deep roots where you are planted,
and you will be braced and secure from threatening winds.

When those winds do blow,
bend and be flexible, and you will survive.

Stretch out your arms far and wide,
and welcome those that rest in your shade.

Delight in sharing with nature’s creatures
with nests and burrows and nourishment.

When your life is over,
give back to what gave life to you.

This is in follow-up to yesterday’s post – Reflections from the River – and a continuation in Lessons from Nature.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Pure

The Other Side

/ Jodi / 57 Comments
dogwood blossoms looking up

Dogwood Tree Blossom, The Other Side, Mars, PA

As you stretch and reach
and open yourself

to the sunshine
after the rain

I admire your beauty
from underneath

And wonder if its really much different
on the other side?

 

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

 

Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge:  Earth

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

Autumn Trees – to doodle or not to doodle

/ Jodi / 49 Comments

autumn trees watercolor doodle card

Happy First Day of Fall!

The other day – as I continue to convince myself how much I love Fall (and it really is happening!) I dabbled with a couple abstract watercolors of Autumn trees.  One I “doodled” up and the other I didn’t.

autumn trees watercolor card

Interesting what a different effect it gives.  And more interesting – I kind of like both.  (what do you think of that Charlie O and Laura!?!?)

So I asked my guys that evening, “Which do you like better?”

Hubby picked one… and my son, Nick, picked the other.

I knew that was going to happen!

Which one do you pick?

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

Winter Morning Moon over Mars

/ Jodi / 21 Comments

winter morning moon over mars

Dawn yesterday morning brought a fresh dusting of snow, single digit temperatures, and the brightest beautiful full moon.  I threw a coat on over my pajamas, slipped my feet into my rubber crocs, and set my tripod up on the side porch to capture the scene (and oh what a scene it would have been if you would have seen me!).

When my dad called for our daily chat at approximately 7:05ish (he’s a school bus driver in his retirement, and we are making up for lost time, so we talk every morning between his high school and middle school run), he commented on the beautiful moon he was looking at while we were talking.

It made me smile to think we were chatting and sharing the same moon together, if even for only a few moments.  Our morning chats are so special.  Sometimes I talk the whole time, and sometimes he does.  Sometimes we have lots to stay, and sometimes not so much, but it always makes me smile and is such a wonderful way to start my day.

Dad reads my blog every day, but since he gets up at 4:30am and is on the road before my blog posts each day at 6am, he always comments about the post from the day before.  I think it’s sweet that he always reads it (and sometimes finds typos for me to fix).  But it makes me smile, because he reads every single word – even every ingredient in my recipes (wondering if he would like it as he’s a pretty picky pop).  I’m so fortunate to have him in my life as one of my guys.

Hopefully he is smiling reading this (and hopefully there are no typos).  🙂

Happy Friday everyone!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

PS Look for a yummy cookie recipe post tomorrow: Chocolate Sprinkle Cherry Kiss Cookies!

The Road to a Friend’s House is Never Long…

/ Jodi / 1 Comment
r1

looking down our driveway to the road

 

r2

the fence across the street from our driveway

 

r3

the path of the power line along the country road

 

r4

along the country road to our house

 

r5

private lanes on country roads

 

r6

country road … take me home…. to the place… I belong

 

r7

Mikey walking to his buddy Halo’s house on the path through the woods