My Favorite Pictures of 2014: What a year it was!

Did you have enough Art yesterday??   What??!  Can one ever have enough art? Well maybe.  Maybe there is a little life beyond the canvas. Today I wanted to share some of my favorite photos, maybe not award winning photos but pictures that brought me back through some of moments from 2014 that were special and worthy of a trip down memory lane. 

As I was going through each month (that's how I save my pictures), I realized that there aren't enough pictures of my everyday life. I have tons and tons and I mean tons of art pictures.  Not nearly as much of my kids, friends, family or from things we've done throughout the year.  There's a lot don't get me wrong, but I dare say it's a 20/80 mix.

That's something I'd like to change in 2015.  More everyday life memories captured.

Hmm...wonder how I can do that?  A picture a day challenge perhaps?? Or at least every other day?? It's something to seriously think about.

Well..without further adieu, here are some of my favorite photographs from 2014

1) This picture was taken last February,while I was with some friends at the Ferrington Village Folk Art Festival in Pittsboro.  We've managed to go for the last several years in a row and it's a lot of fun. The artwork can be primitive but no less intriguing and thought provoking. These beer bottle caps were on top of one of the artists vendors truck. You should have seen the rest of the truck!  

Taking time out to do fun things with friends other than going out for dinner or drinks is something I want to do more of as well. 

2)  Kicking off the year of teaching around the country, my first stop was at one of my favorite shops, Random Arts in Saluda, NC.  I love seeing all the smiling happy faces of my students and friends.  Hey see our 'guy' in the corner?? This year I had several men take several of my work shops which was wonderful, too!   It makes me happy that my teaching appeals to such a diverse group of eager and fun students.  

3) For the last several years I've taken a 'work' trip with two of my friends out to the Outer Banks in the late winter/early spring to deliver our new collections to our shops along the OBX. Here we are in Nags Head...what a view. Ya, hard job we have, right? :)  As much as I enjoy doing what I'm doing, when I can share the time and work with friends, talking about dreaming about all the things we are doing or could be doing, it makes it that much more enjoyable.  It's not a job, it's an adventure.

4)  This is one of my rare photos of me and my Mom (along with my stepfather, Craig; and my son Josh).   For Easter they treated us with a week at the beach.   Here we are taking a side excursion to see one of my artist friends, John Walters at his home in Georgetown, SC.  This is a view from his apartment roof.  Can you believe that?    My Mom lives in NY and of course we live in NC so our visits are to few and far between but this year we had 2 weeks together which we all cherished.  Lots of laughs and memories.

5) We made it back home in time to see the dogwoods blooming.  This picture makes me sad in a way because lightening struck my beautiful tree in my front yard and killed it. I probably should replace it with a new tree this year but I am so not skilled in the gardening and horticulture arena.  Did I ever tell you the story of the 80 dollar tomato and my crush on the man who owned the flower/vegetable shop I like to go to? lol  Another time, Maybe!

6&7)  Here's a glimpse of our first ReMe retreat on Ocracoke Island.   Just the fact that we realized a dream of doing something amazing and special for artists, students in a location that has so much meaning to us..well that in itself is a big check off the bucket list.   The friends and lifetime connections we made with our guests was worth all the work we put into this venture in itself.     I just love looking at the front porch of our historic inn and the students walking towards the great expanse of the Atlantic Ocean...through the dunes, magic and memories are made.

8) Josh is going to kill me if he sees this picture...but I had to share. My baby boy in his first tux at the end of year school dance for the 8th graders.  Did he have to wear a tux. No.  But the boy has always wanted to wear one  since he was a little kid. I had to talk him down from having his school pictures taken in one several years in a row. I told him he'd thank me one day for not letting him do that..lol.  Anyway, this is a favorite of mine because it really shows how mature Josh has grown...he's not my baby boy anymore. Well, he is..and always will be but both of my boys are becoming such fine young men. Proud Momma here :))

9)  Most years I go home to NY for 4th of July but this year we spent the day over at my friend Mary's lake house on Lake Tillery in NC.  We go there a lot and have so much fun, I really love the beach but growing up on Lake Erie, I have a soft spot in my heart for lakes, hills and mountains.  Mary and Richard's home have become a safe haven and a home away from home in the summer time to us, it's not just the beautiful setting, it's being around friends that we love so much.  

10)  July was a busy month for sure.  After the 4th, my friend Jean and I headed up highway 95 to go teach at Create Mixed Media Retreats in New Jersey.  This picture is from my last class of the week there, I don't have a lot of photos from me teaching so this snapshot Jean captured of me in action is special.  I can't tell you how much each and every student has touched my heart. It's wonderful when you can meet people in person and truly get to know them, see their work, and hear their story.  I find that we are a lot more connected to each other than we ever could imagine.

11) After teaching several days in row (and all the prep time prior to the event)...I'm pretty much spent for the next few days and can barely do anything.  Normally, I head right back home to unpack and jump back into the next big thing but I wanted to include this picture because one of the many things Jean has taught me is to stop and take a breather, even when you are more exhausted than you can imagine.  On our way home from New Jersey, we took our time heading back and spent the night in a quaint hotel in the town of Natural Bridge, Va.  Can you tell where it got it's name from?  

See, if we would have rushed home, we would have missed this stop along the way. It was breathtaking and awesome to say the least.

12) Just a few days after returning from NJ  I headed to NY with my boys to go to my nephew's graduation party.  Here's a shot of my Dad and his girlfriend, Nancy.  I don't have many pictures of my Dad either as he lives in Florida and we might get to see each other 1x a year if that.   Heading back home each year means a lot to me, it's hard living so far away from my family. I do feel my kids are missing out a bit, not having their cousins or grandparents right nearby to be around more often. The time we do have together means the world to us.

13) Most of the time when I travel and really pretty much all the time I teach, I drive to my destination.     This picture like the one from Natural Bridge was taken on the return trip from one of my teaching excursions. I actually drove. to. Dallas. Tx.  Do you know how many miles that is?? lol.  I'm insane.  Stopping in Mississippi just for a few, but at least I stopped to take a moment and enjoy the view.

14).  This isn't the best picture of us (myself and my friend, Jean) but the moment was spectacular....Jean is an amazing friend. On our way to Ct to teach at Art is You, she had made prior arrangements to get us tickets to a taping of "The Chew" which is my favorite daytime talk show..and I might have a crush on Michael Symon. :) She totally surprised me, can you believe that?   We had a ton of fun during the taping, I got to see...not hug or kiss unfortunately my crush..lol..I was in my glory!   We even got some parting gifts, that's another story altogether!

15)  After the taping of the show, we walked around Manhattan--what a spectacular place to be.  It's hard not to be inspired or stimulated by everything to see.  We didn't have a lot of time, so basically it was just a walking and eating tour as we had to head up to CT later in the day to get ready for several days of teaching.   See what I mean, Jean has really taught me or forced me to stop and enjoy life a bit, there's more to see and do beyond work even though I eat, sleep, and breath my life.  

16)  Once in Ct, I kicked off several day of teaching at Art Is You. This picture is from my class, Podtastic which I taught in person during a few events.   Such great memories from AIY, I've met so many people that I will never forget for many reasons.   This event is also one that gave me my first opportunity to teach on a larger scale, and for that, I'll always be grateful. I"m sad I won't be back in 2015 but hopefully down the road our paths will cross again.

17 &18)   It's October in these 2 shots and we are back in Ocracoke for our fall retreat of ReMe. I had to share this picture of Lynn, one of our guests as I think it says it all about how we all felt during the event...happy, smiling, having fun..and at peace.  Lynn took one of my very very very first classes I ever taught when I first started teaching workshops and has since taken many other classes from me and become one of my biggest patrons of my original art, she's also a dear friend. I have many individuals I can say the same about, I am very lucky to have made many friends in those that have taken classes from me.     We are all brought together for a reason I believe.

19) Okay so I had to share a little art....in November I received a copy of the book my work was featured in.  I've been very very lucky to have been published several times, but this particular publication is super special to me because I was recognized for having a top painting in the mixed media category for 2014.  And it's my pods, which I love doing. If you are interested in purchasing a copy of the book, it's called, Incite 2 .   One other thing I want to mention is the fact that I didn't just get picked, I had to enter into a juried contest so while I may not be the best ever in mixed media--it's still cool to have that recognition.  Plus, it just goes to show you that things don't just fall in your lap, you have to go after them! :)

20, 21, and 22)    Again, not the most profound pictures but certainly meaningful...the top picture is a view of my living room..nothing fancy but it's my first house and I'm still making it more of our home little by little as I can afford to make changes. This month we took down the mammoth entertainment center and replaced it with a new tv and stand.  It totally opens up the room. I love looking at our tree which is now filled with tons of handmade ornaments I've acquired through swaps from artists plus of course my boys ornaments from when they were little.  

The fact my art has allowed me to even buy a new tv and tv stand as well as host a Christmas and party for friends...plus donate many things for charity and angel trees...is just amazing. lol.  I'm grateful to YOU for helping us achieve dreams as well.  Anything is possible if you believe and work towards your dreams!

Middle picture--Zach just moved out of his Dad's house and is now on his own...so many of his gifts were to help him out get started in his first place.  Here he is opening up a kinda sorta joke gift but one that he can use...tons of spices.  :))

Last but not least....I can honestly say this has been a great holiday season. I have to admit, I had gone through a little slump in the past couple of years,  not truly enjoying the holidays as much as I used to but this year we tried to do things that really gave us much more than just gifts, our time with friends and family gave us the gift of memories.

I know everyone loves to open up gifts. Totally get that.  But beyond holding that shiny thing in your hand,  isn't it nice to be able to hold good memories in your heart forever?

Let's do more of that in 2015.

Jodi

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My Favorite Paintings of 2014

It's been a Monday or should I say my Monday type of day started yesterday when the worst thing that could happen to me while I'm working on a project happened...I'm not going to jinx myself and tell you what happened because I think I have it fixed but heart attack city (nothing I'm working on commission wise so no worries for the few that I have going on....it was technology related), but yes, I about had a total melt down and freak out over it.  The fix is going to take me many hours if not days to fix but at least it seems to be working. Phew. phew. phew.  Can you imagine months of work just poof?  See what I mean? lol  ya.  It's only 2:30 here but I think I need a glass of wine after about pulling an all nighter and then getting up early to continue working on my issue just to calm down :)

Here's me in a much better mood than I was yesterday!

It's another lesson that I have to really take to heart that I seem to be re-learning over and over again this year, you can't have all your eggs in one basket and you should always have a back up plan, system, and well, a plan b or c!  Even when I think I have a back up plan, things don't always go as they should so, another lesson learned that you have to be flexible and learn to think on your feet to make the best dang lemonade you can when the lemons are served up on your plate, right?  

Well enough talk of my little (BIG) crisis,  as I was checking the Facebook this morning, I came across my friend Nathalie Kalbach's post of her favorite paintings /memories of 2014 and I thought I'd like to piggy back off of her idea and share some of my favorites from 2014 as well throughout the week.  

(PS...if you haven't seen Nathalie's collaborative class for 2015 called "Creative Jumpstarts Summit 2015" you should definitely check it out! It's only 25.00 for 25 lessons during January.  

Onto my some of my favorite paintings from 2014.  It was hard to choose so I just picked one from each month, in sharing, I thought I'd tell you why it's my favorite or what I was thinking about while creating at the point in time.  What fun it was to look back in time and relive the journey of 2014 through my art.

1) Down by the River (sold) was one of the first pieces I completed back in January. It is one of my all time favorite pieces because it started me off the year working rather large again and extremely detailed. The theme of community, villages, houses, and water continue to be a major influence in most of my work, but this piece is quite different then others I have done...a very special piece indeed.  I completed most of this piece with a palette knife until I got to the very end where the smallest details were finished with a brush or pencil/charcoal.   

2) (Sold) Oh how dramatically  have my portraits changed since I first started painting several years ago! This piece was my sample painting for Extreme portraits class prior to filming my class.  I tend to favor contemplative portraits, maybe a bit moody with exaggerated color, but always with a sense of strength and resolve.  I love this piece because it really had the depth and richness I was trying to go for and taught me to truly never give up on a piece because there were many moments I was ready to throw in the towel.  The way I paint faces tends to take a long time because I do underpaintings and the under painting isn't always a pretty process to say the least..lol .   At the same time, if I can't follow through and make sense out of painterly chaos, how could I expect my students to?  I worked through the rough spots obviously and finished her:)

3) More Time (available) This piece is probably my favorite in my Grunge Ink series and ironically it was the first large piece I did in preparation for my class that I released later on in the summer during 2014. The colors are totally different for me as I am much more known to paint in bright contemporary colors, but I felt a need to shift my direction a bit and just get really raw and emotional last year especially early on. I had lots of doubts and questions at the time (and still do..probably always will) about my life both professionally and personally.  Just letting go and getting gritty was good for me and it led to my development of my class which I'm so proud of and had so much fun doing last year. (For you Grunge Ink fans, I'm working on a new release for 2015 behind the scenes!) 

4)  Wandering in the Wild  30 x  40 (sold) .  For the last few years, I've participated in a show locally called "Double Takes" hosted by Eye Candy Gallery which is run by Frank Pierce and Nancy Rawlinson (I used to work with Nancy back in my banking days). The show pairs up a photographer with a painter and as the painter, we take the photo and interpret it in our own way-it can either be exactly like the photo or we can take our own artistic liberties with the piece.  I chose to work fairly close to the photo as it was just amazing. My first thought was this was perfect for a more impressionistic style-which again, very different then my normal repertoire. I love this piece because it was different than what I normally do. The sky was another point of pride for me, I love how the clouds came out, you really feel like you are walking among the wild flowers towards something off in the distance.  This painting also was a winning entry in the Iprintfromhome.com  contest for their annual paper sampler advertising kit, which is thrilling for me as well. This is the second year in a row that one of my pieces won in their contest.

5) Answers Appear(sold)   As I was working on Wander in the Wild, I found that I loved the colors so much I did about 10 other pieces all in that same color family with this piece being the first of several that were to come over the next few months.  Over the last couple of years, I've taken my doodles and abstracts and combined them into pieces I call my Pods and Portals collection.  The process is so soothing and fun to me because you get lost in the process from background to the final details, it's like creating little worlds inside of each and every little area of interest. You can tell your story but at the same time, leave room for interpretation. The title itself might have been a breakthrough of sorts for me as I was painting....after many months of deep contemplation at the beginning of the year and I was finally starting to see the light again or at least find my way towards the light.  At the beginning of 2014,  I had found out that one of my pod pieces had been chosen for publication in the book, Incite 2, the best of mixed media for 2014. The fact that the collection was recognized was again, just an over the top moment for me and has led to several other pieces that have been born from a combination of several of my favorite techniques.   It also has led to classes I've taught in person and will be teaching online in January (have you seen my class, Podtastic, yet?)

6) Renew (24 x 30) available.   My word for the year in 2014...Renew came to have many meanings for me including the renewal of my faith in myself and confidence in what I was doing for a living.  It also is one of our brand phrases for my business venture, "ReMe" a retreat business with 2 other of my artist friends. Rest, Relax, Renew.... I did this piece as a sample for our very first retreat in May as our theme for the class  I taught was abstract word art...but more than just a class sample, I think this piece is one of my favorite abstracts because it incorporates all my favorite things: color, texture, geometric shapes mixed with organic shapes, words, and layers and layers of hidden words, phrases and meaning.   It also celebrates my love for the water and our NC coast line and...and this is a big and, it celebrates the new beginning of our retreat company which has taken on a life of it's own over the last year or so.  Let's just say its has touched everyone's life that has participated in many profound ways none of us could have every imagined.

7) Behind These Eyes (available for sale in March 2015-held for class at Random Arts in Saluda, NC). 

I wanted to include a beginning picture for this piece so you can get a glimpse at the transformation a portrait takes on in its beginning stages. This painting  was a piece I finished for my class Extreme Portraits in our 90 minute exercise--the students were supposed to let go of perfection and set a timer (other than their background work) for 90 minutes and just be loose and painterly with their strokes.  This is a favorite of mine because It's not perfect or too girly, it has the quiet resolve radiating from her just as I felt the same while painting, the story still unfolding of her and me.  Never give up but let go of perfection as its a fleeting goal. Learning and doing is a better way to approach life and art. 

8)  (sold) During the summer and actually pretty much most of the year in 2014 I traveled quite a bit. I had spent a lot of time the first 6 months doing very intense work, some of it dark, most of it very time consuming and large but by the summer I was ready to go back to my funky little houses and whimsical themes.  Alot of my pieces this year had the flags on the top of the painting, I don't know why other than I drive by this store near my house every day and they had pennants in their window for months and months and months and I just loved seeing them so I decided to add them as an element in my designs. I love these two pieces in particular because they just bring me back to my beginnings as an artist and also to my philosophy of every day is a reason to celebrate and to give gratitude for what we have.  

9) Stand in Love  (sold)   I love this piece because it is the transformation of one idea that has led to the off shoot of so many more ideas.  Angels, texture, color, love, graffiti writing..all combined to create my simple message of peace, compassion, simplicity, friendship, and strength.  The year before I did this piece, I had created a class called Texturize this (hence the textured marks on here that truly so fun to do and see)  and it was so popular I changed it up a bit  for 2014 and added a larger composition to the class after sampling the technique on smaller tiles).  I love doing angel paintings all throughout the year and this was the first of many other that were to come in 2014 that hopefully are touching others lives as they have touched mine.  

10)  Crazy Good Life  (sold)  The title sort of exemplifies how I feel about my life right now. It's crazy. It's good. It's a crazy good life working as an artist and teacher and for one's self.   One of the reasons I chose this piece as a favorite is because it was a custom order for someone that found me through Pinterest, a link from a link from a link of one of my older pieces similar to this one. Is not this world within a world of the internet not amazing?  Anytime someone asks me to do something special for them, its truly an honor and this piece was especially so as I was coming down from a long haul of traveling for quite some time, not knowing exactly what the future held for me other than I know I want to keep doing what I'm doing. I asked for a sign and I got this order. Maybe it was a coincidence, maybe not. 

11)  L-O-V-E   (sold) can you see what I mean, when I work in one color family I like to carry it on to other pieces as well?  This piece has one of my favorite words featured. I had (have) an idea of doing more pieces that just words, grunge, and lots of texture...but it's more than that.  Love...it's a theme I like to paint about, maybe because it's something I'm still searching for. After spending many years (and I'm trying to talk myself out of the belief I currently have that the years were wasted but I feel sad that they were)  with the wrong person and now several years alone...will it always be this way?  Will I find it again?  Or will I walk into the sunset without another soul beside me during my final years?  Time will tell I suppose so while I am by myself, I fill the time with focusing on my kids  (whom truly are the main love in my life) and of course, my art.

11)  Seasons of Change (sold)   Again, after many months of bright and colorful house paintings, I was ready to grab a great big warm swash of earthy colors and create a town that showcased in my own way how I knew it was time for a change in direction once again.  My career took a big hit when a few doors closed (Create Retreats announced they were no longer doing their mixed media retreats) and Art Is You could not use me in Stamford as they had in the past but wanted me in Ca which I could not do during 2015 due to a schedule conflict). So there it was...my seasons of change, I have to be honest...I went through a bit of depression over the loss of what was probably 50% or more of my income...but at the same time, it has made room for new doors to open that I had not even contemplated or had time for before.  November and December of 2014 I had the most sales of original paintings than I ever have for a non-show or class timeframe as well as many online class sales during that time...so yes this painting marks an ending to one phase of my profession but it also serves as the door opening to new adventures in the coming year.  I know that I am on the right path but it's also easy to go down the rabbit hole of perhaps I'm not doing the right thing and need to go back to something else.  Well...I'm still here and will continue to grow..and well...Flourish (which is my word for 2015 btw...more about that another day).

12)  Dirty Birds  (sold)   In fact the person who bought the above painting, bought this painting as well..which is my first piece of my series of my crazy talking,  snarky and  amusing birds --I love grungy color and texture and wanted to create my birdies in a little edgier style than my previous subjects. I love how this piece turned out in particular, it's like they are having a show down but at the same time, they are saying to eachother, despite it all...I Got You Babe.  That's all any of us wants, when it comes down to it. We want to know we have someone in our corner, someone that has our back and gets us despite our flaws or quirks.  We want to be loved, understood and accepted for who we are.

13) Faux Leather Feathers.    I'll end my favorites of 2014 with these little guys that I did for the holidays (and may do more beyond the holidays) as I love love love them.  They materialized after walking through an Anthropology store and I saw a beautifully decorated tree with leather and suede feathers....and so I figured out a way to create my own style  of feathers for not just a Christmas tree but really any place to hang little inspirational ornaments....so hopefully who ever has purchased or received as a gift, they are reminded to soar each and every day.

It's your time to fly...today.

And that's a wrap folks. I hope you enjoyed this journey of my favorite paintings of 2014, I know I've had a great time looking back. It's time to look forward now.  Here's to the new year. May you flourish and soar in it as well!

Cheers!

Jodi