♥Spring Changes♥

Spring Changes 

Mixed Media on watercolor paper

9 1/2 x 11/1/2 inches

This is a watercolor/mixed media painting of my lovely crocuses peeping up around the snow.  

If you look closely at the earth in this painting, you can see the text printed on unryu rice paper and collaged on. 

The earth brings forth changes, bringing us the first sign of spring, growth and renewal.  Cheerful, I can hear the birds singing.

What a pleasure it was to see these delicate little flowers after a hard, old fashioned winter!  Check out my front garden...we were running out room to put the snow.  A week of rain helped clear most of it away.






I belong to the Passion for Painting Guild on Artfire. Every month we have a painting challenge, and for March the theme was "Changes". (All month I've had David Bowie's song Changes stuck in my head) I painted this one for the challenge. You can check out the guild page here: Passion for Painting Guild  Please "Like" the page to receive all the latest updates on the amazing artwork there.

Get Your Vitamin C Here...

What an awesome week it's been...The kids have been off school for March break, the mountains of snow have been melting like crazy, the sun has been shining and little plants have been poking their little heads out of the ground.  And I've been painting like mad.

For those that follow me on Facebook, you would have seen my status earlier this week...

My son and his friend were so disappointed yesterday. They were in the kitchen with me chatting and watching me cut up oranges. I put them on the kitchen table, artfully arranged them and started to draw..."Heyyyyy...we thought you were giving us a snack!" LOL I think they were hungry :-)
I've been creating loads of paintings of oranges!


This is one of my first paintings:

Watercolor on Paper 10 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches

This is another...

Watercolor on Paper 10 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches

The following two paintings are ACEOs.  For those that don't know what ACEO, it stands for Art Cards, Editions and Originals. They are miniature works of art, 2 ½ X 3 ½ inches that can be matted and framed to hang on the wall.

They are small enough to fit inside standard card-collector pockets, sleeves or sheets if you choose.

ACEOs can even be put into a greeting card as an extra surprise for a birthday, anniversary, or just as a special surprise.

Watercolor on Paper ACEO

Watercolor on Paper ACEO

I started posting Creativity Tips this week on Facebook.  If you are an artist or just love to create, click on the "Like" at the top of my Facebook page to receive updates on my artwork or my Creativity Tips.  Here is my page: www.facebook.com/jdmstudios Or, just click "Like" on the right hand side of this page.  One of the tips I suggested this week was to use crayon or wax as a resist. 

I used wax on the following two paintings as a resist.  Check out the highlight on these oranges.  After drawing these oranges, I used a white crayon and colored in where the light was hitting them. When I added my washes of orange color the area where I colored with crayon remained white.  Looks just like orange peel skin.

Watercolor on Paper 10 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches

 I used a white crayon on this painting, too but didn't quite turn out as well as the first one, unfortunately!   Too much paint and not enough wax. I ended up lifting color to create the highlights but didn't quite have the same texture as the painting above.

Watercolor on Paper 10 1/2 x 8 1/2

This last painting is an acrylic.  My youngest son kept raving about how juicy these oranges are especially if you peeled them and bit right into it!  Hopefully some of that came across in the following painting:

"Juicy" Acrylic on paper 10 1/2 x 8 1/2

Jingles the Wonder Cat (cuz we really wonder...)

I have to share this story about my latest addition, Jingles the Wonder Cat.  She is a grey tabby, still a kitten.  She will be one year old on May 11.  She is quite different from other cats we've adopted into our  family.  She is pleasant, but doesn't like a whole lot of cuddling, 30 seconds is quite long enough for her... unless my husband is on the laptop and she tries to sit in his arms.  He complains that he can't get any work done, but he secretly loves the attention :-)

Watercolor Painting of Jingles

Besides being standoffish, and I know that most cats are, she has this quirky little habit.  She does not like stuff on tables.  And will spend a fair bit of time knocking stuff on the floor.  Doesn't matter if its a pencil or a book.  One night she and I spent a half hour straight playing knock it down, pick it up with my youngest son's puffer. You would think I had nothing better to do!

So, this story begins with three straight weeks (seems longer) of having flus, colds, and ear infections in our house.  My husband was the only one spared.  After finally getting through the worst of it, it felt fantastic to go through the house vaccuuming, washing floors, dusting, just giving the house a good, thorough cleansing.  Exhausted, I sat down at night to watch a little TV with some nachos and salsa, one of my favorite snacks.

I do watch my weight, so I left some in the bag.  I left the bag on the table just in case I came back for more.  Now,  I am sure you can see where this is going.  I had my fill of the salty tortilla chips and went off to bed. 

I woke the next morning to my husband's hysterical laughter and "Ah, Jo-Ann...you've really got to see this!"

Now, our house is not small.  Its a century old home and from kitchen you have to go through the dining room and down a hallway to get to the front door, I'd say 25 to 30 feet.  From one end to the other, from the kitchen to the front door, was a huuuuge trail of tortilla chips.  And at the end of the trail, right at the foot of the stairs, was the huge, empty bag .  I have no idea if she ate them (judging by the amount on the floor, not likely) or if she just used the bag as a toy, but it sure looked like she had a fantastic time throughout the night!  And guess what I spent the next hour doing... vacuuming those darn tortilla chips.

Here's a picture of the little monster:

She's pretty cute, isn't she?

These are fresh of the press!  Well, not off the press, really, but fresh off my brush, if that makes sense. 

This first painting here I have been fussing and playing with for some time.  Might have gotten a little busy and I struggled a bit with which way to take it.   I took a photo in January on our trip to Petersfield Park (see blog post How to Remember Summer in January  I was playing with my new camera, and taking some closeups of leaves.  They were brown and broken, no longer the flashy reds and golds of autumn, but elegant all the same.

I find that I can get a little carried away when I am painting, and I am not very patient.  It drives me crazy waiting for a wash to dry, and I sometimes risk going back to work on an area too soon.  If its too wet, it's mud.  I usually like to have several paintings on the go at once, that keeps me busy while I am waiting for a wash to dry!  I started this abstract here:  Fun to do, it is painted on watercolor paper with watercolor paint.  I used some stamping from random objects and collaged some found material (can you guess what it is?)










And last but not least, I just finished this piece yesterday.  I had two paintings on the go...one was a complete disaster! lol  but I learned loads about working with my booboos.  I tried to fix it with gesso, acrylic paint, collage, and even gold spray paint.  It just got worse and I think it's time I let it go.  I might be able to save part for collage later....hmmm...Anyhoo... back to the painting that actually worked out:

It is a mixed media painting.  I drew the pears from life and added this quote:
"One day we will realize that the battle we are fighting is not outside ourselves, but within."

I am not sure if I made that up or heard it somewhere, but if anyone out there knows where it came from, could you let me know so I can reference them :-)



Thanks for stopping by and don't be shy...say HI!

One World, One Heart

Update:  Time to pick the two winners of my One World One Heart Draw! Drumroll, please.........

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

27
7

Timestamp: 2011-02-18 02:31:33 UTC

Congratulations to Cherry, from Thoughts of  Cherry Jane who posted #7 on my blog and

Cobblestone Creations who posted #27!  Wooohoo!

Greetings and welcome!  

Let me tell you a little about One World One Heart !  It was created and hosted by Lisa, also known as The Whimsical Bohemian!   Please visit Lisa's blog as she is amazing.  There, you will also find a complete list of all the talented bloggers who are participating in OWOH.  What a wonderful opportunity to meet  and greet so many warm and sharing people!  This is the very last year for the OWOH, sadly, however I am truly excited to be participating and look forward to meeting many new friends.

My name is Jo-Ann Dziubek-MacDonald, and to tell you a little about myself, I am married and a mother of two wonderful boys, ages 13 (almost 14*biting nails* :-) and 6 (almost 7 :-)

I am an artist...I paint in watercolor and acrylic, and I love exploring mixed media.  After my youngest was born, I got away from painting.  Fear kept me from going back to painting!  Yes, fear!  If I did happen to pick up a brush, it  just did not cooperate at all...there were several very disappointing experiences and I avoided my studio like the plague.  This fall, I decided I just wanted back in the saddle.  And I'm back full throttle!  Oh, did I mention, I am a Reiki Master, too?
I also work part time, and I feel extremely blessed that I have a pretty cool job, (I work as a medical laboratory tech in our local hospital). I am able to be home with the kids when they come home from school quite often, and I have time to paint when they are in school.

I hope you will enjoy exploring my blog!  Leave a comment (I love getting feedback)and you will be entered to win one of the door prizes shown below!  The draw will be held on February 17th by a random number generator.  make sure you either use your Google ID or leave an email address so I can contact you.

Set of 2 Angel card/envelope set

Set of 2 Sunflower Card/Envelope set

Angels Among Us

A five year old boy in our community needs our help. He has Neuroblastoma, a childhood cancer.   A local group has been formed to help with the financial cost associated with his illness.  There will be a concert and a cabaret auction held on Sunday, February 13 at the Membertou Trade and Convention Center Main Ballroom at 4:00 pm.   Tickets can be purchased at one of three places... Jimmy Dans Convenience on Cottage Rd, Stephen's Building Supplies Townsend St, or Home Hardware on Prince St

When I was asked if I would be willing to donate a painting to help raise money for this little boy, I asked what kind of painting would be best?  A floral?  Landscape?  The response I got back was Angels...yes, perfect! I said, why hadn't I even thought of that?

I went up to my studio where all my paintings were stored and looked for my angel paintings.  There were three left that I just didn't feel would suit such and important occasion.  I prepped some paper, and began to paint.

Friday I kept busy by working on these paintings.  That day I also helped a friend by doing a Reiki healing so I feel these paintings have also been infused with healing energy.  Here are two of the angels I painted:

Watching over

Always With Us

 

I am wondering which of these angel paintings do you feel should I donate to the auction?  I put a poll up to see what your opinion is, I appreciate your input.  Leave a comment, too!  I will keep you posted.

I will be framing one of these angels on Sunday, hopefully, to be ready for pickup.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

How to remember summer in January...

Yin Yang Mussels

On New Years Day, I knew I had to do something about about the mounds of turkey and chocolate that were gaining coverage on my waist and hips.  The kids needed exercise, heck, we all did!  They had been stuck going from house to house visiting family and friends for days now.  Not that there is anything wrong with that.  But it does get a bit tired after a while So, we packed up the truck and off we went to the fresh air and wide open fields of Petersfield Park.

 The kids moaned and whined as they flopped out of the truck and were dragged onto the nearest trails.   It was a gorgeous day, the glorious sunshine made up for the biting cold wind.  The woods sheltered us as we wound through the trails and over bridges.   We passed the Coast Guard College as the trail continued to wind around the shore.

My six year old found "the  tree"  That big old gnarly tree that just begs to be climbed.  He had a little help from his big brother.

We hunted for treasure on the beach.  My youngest found some cool rocks for his new rock tumbler and some really nice shells.  I got to play photographer with my new camera!  Everywhere I looked I saw more that I wanted to capture.  Sea shells washed up on the shore.  Left over fall leaves littering the ground.  Even sea weed!  The sun made everything feel great, and I just kept shooting.  Poor hubby did his best to stay out of the wind.

We found tons of treasures that day on the beach.  The best being the memories we created as a family, running and chasing and having a blast.  Okay, so the boys tormented each other but even that was fun!

We had  an amazing day though I am still working off the extra holiday calories!

Big Mussel, Little Mussel

Here are some paintings of the shells I discovered that day.  You can click on the images to go to my Etsy shop.

Yin Yang Mussels