Day 6....One and Only..... and a SALE!

First off.....4 more days till Christmas!!!! whooooohooooo!  I can't believe it's almost here.  YIKES...I'm not ready! LOL  I'm excited though, can't wait to see the look on my boys faces as they open up a few special things. There is one gift each of them are receiving that i think is just so funny...the look on their faces should be priceless!  

I know that it may be a little late to send  gift to your special someone from my shop but you can ALWAYS treat yourself to an after Christmas holiday gift purchased at Sweet Repeats Studio Shoppe, my online shop!  Added bonus points...I'm offering a 25% off coupon off your entire purchase (not including commission work) from now until Christmas Eve.  So what are you waiting for?  Check out some of my NEW updates this week.....several new pieces loaded to the shop :)))

How to redeem?  Simply type Holiday2011 in the coupon code portion of your shopping cart and your purchases will be reduced by 25%  whoooohooo!  

Thank you so much for all of your support and encouragement all year long!!

Day 6 of my Morning After Challenge.....Can you guess what song I was listening to before and during the creation of this page??  I can tell you I was swoooooonnning over it. I love love love the song.  If you don't  know I will share a link at the bottom of this post. Wouldn't want to leave you hanging!

 I used watercolors, prismacolor pens, white gel pen, and I also incorporated Neocolor II crayons for the soft look of her skin and face.  

 She is just a character I created, no real portrait copy....just a pretty little girl waiting for her knight in shining armor to come and sweep her off her feet.

Hmmmm well she may be me after all :)  I have a little bigger boobs then her and curlier hair. haha!  

I'm so loving this challenge and hope you are too..I have more ideas swirling around my head.   The best thing is that it is allowing me to try things I've been wanting to try but haven't made the time.....making the time for things you love and the people you love is what life is all about.  Why wait?

Have a wonderful day, hold tight to the season.....hug those around you and create and live with joy. Life is too short otherwise.

Click here to view the song I was listening to....

With love and Gratitude,

Jodi Ohl

Happenings this week....

Dunwoody Show 2011, a set on Flickr.

See some more pics from my most recent show! I'm getting ready for another one next weekend in Aberdeen, NC. May 21st, 12-8 downtown. Hope to see you there!
Here's some new pieces I'll be featuring!

Yesterday we stopped by a local farm which was hosting a blues festival,  "Malcom Blue Farm"....had a lot of fun checking out the animals, the music, food...lots of fun. It was also really cool to check out their museum and see how the buildings and town of Aberdeen were back in the day.    Balconies on the shops down town, Western saloons,   historic hotels,, general stores and more. I hope the down town area revitalizes to some of it's early days of grandeur!

Ps...take a look at my Etsy shop, some new originals listed this weekend!
Sweet Repeats Studio Shoppe

Happy Sunday!

Full Circle

Sweet, one of my paintings "Full Circle" featured in an Etsy Treasury.  What has come full circle to you lately? 

Enjoy a bit of Sweetness on me!

 

I have to admit, Valentine's Day  hasn't been my favorite holiday lately--but I do love what it symbolizes and love creating art that is sweet and romantic, imagining in my creative world love as it should be.  Pure and simple and unconditional.  In honor of this holiday that I truly want to Love....I'm offering a vary special coupon code to my online store:

Sweet Repeats Studio Shoppe

Simply add the code:

Sweet2011

and receive 20% your purchase!  Now that's sweet!!

OFFER GOOD NOW through  2/14/2011

 So maybe in 2011 I'll find what I'm looking for instead of being held back by my past, wanting someone to be something they never were or can be.    Destiny is a funny thing, you never know if you are running along the right path or jogging along in a circle because you've taken the road you weren't supposed to be on.

 Eventually you figure it out.  Sometimes it takes a tumble along the road for you to realize it's time to brush off your knees and take a different turn, one that is illuminated once you finally head down that path.

In reality, there is nothing to fear.  Even being alone on Valentine's Day and feeling at peace is better being 

with someone and feeling miserable.  Right?  That's what I'm telling myself! :)))

Enough sappy reflection and 'just get over it musings'--head to my shop and enjoy my sale!! :))))

Happy Valentine's Day!

Snapshot, Tidbits, Art Techniques, Crescendoh and More!

A few weeks ago, I had the honor of being asked by the one and only Jenny Doh to share a short video of a great artsy tip or  technique for the readers of CrescenDoh and her newsletter subscribers, so I decided to share one of my favorite mediums...molding paste. It's a GREAT product to use to create texture and play with imprinting with stamps or stencils.I use it just about EVERYTHING I do!  Love, love love it!   I really want to teach a class using this product  but the drying time takes several hours, which of course is problematic for an in person work shop....but....but....it would be FUN to use in an online class. HMMM. :)  I might be on to something!

Click the image or click HERE to view the video!

In fact, Jenny asked me if I'd be interested in teaching over at her new website "Creative Lab" in 2011!!  I'm super duper excited about this opportunity as well! I'm putting a few ideas together  to present to the team over at Creative Lab so stay tuned for that announcement.  In the mean time, don't wait for me...run on over and check out all the other wonderful instructors that are lined up for classes!  Danita's class is starting now, and dear friend Pam Carriker has a class launching in November! 

As this was a technique video, I thought you might want to see my finished pieces:

Here's the big green art work in it's finished state--now sold to one of my colllector's :)

And here's the sweet little one I played with to illustrate the prod

http://www.etsy.com/listing/58522154/8x8-brave-world-funky-whimscial-house

"Brave World"

Can you say SWEET

I turned this into one of the pieces of my new collection--about bravery,  reaching out and finding the truth about yourself and the world around you, becoming all that you can be and more!  To see the other 3 pieces in the set, check out my Etsy Shop--They are all looking for a GREAT home to belong to....haha!

I haven't had a whole lot of time to create this week as I've had some out of town meetings for my day job--so definitely looking forward to sitting in the studio this weekend and getting back into the groove. That is....after I clean up the  yard.  Oh ya...kinda almost forgot about that ;).  After the yard..and the laundry...and the dishes...and the vacuuming, and the floors, I'm DEFINITELY looking forward to some creative time! :)

Here's hoping you find your own Truth as you walk along this world towards all that you are meant to be!

Overcoming Fear

Aberdeen

I was sitting out on my deck last night, well really it was early evening, you know the time when the sun is settling in for its evening rest  and the winds of the day are calm like an invisible blanket. I  barely heard a sound other than the occasional car that was passing by or a bird singing in the background.   All week long I had been running and running and chasing my tail it seemed, this was the first time I really had to sit and just breathe.   To be honest, between work and home I could stay busy for 10 years and still not get it all done. Really, who couldn't?  Right? Don't you all have jam packed days and nights, too?     At some point though, we need to draw a line in the sand and refuel.  Whether its by taking a nap during mid day (gasp...i haven't done that in a million years),  reading a book (I pretty much only read magazines any more because I 'm a afraid of getting absorbed by the book & then neglecting everything I should be doing...I know, that's pure T shameful!), or perhaps you exercise or create to refuel...whatever it is, it's important that you do it.  Whatever it is that you HAVE to do, will still be waiting for you an hour later.  Take that time to relax and just enjoy your moment you are taking to refuel. I have to remember to do that more often because I need it. You need it!

Full Circle

After my break yesterday, it was about 6:30 that I went inside and started on something I had been procrastinating for months.  Months?! Really, how do I procrastinate doing something for that long?  Part of it has been that I've been busy almost every weekend it seems for as long as I can remember.  Either getting ready for a show, doing a class, or having some other place I needed to be that prevented me from doing this or at least strarting.  The other part of my procrastination has been fear.  Fear of getting started with something I really didn't know if I could do myself.  I still may not be able to do it all myself.   But I knew this weekend I was going to at least get started and get over my fear.   It's amazing what fear can do to a person. It can freeze you right in place and stop you from going forward, the ironic part of fear is that whatever it is, is usually (usually) not as painful, not as hard, not as scary, once you get started or dive into xyz.  And so I started last night working on one of many projects I want to do in my new home. By myself...well, at least first it was by myself.

Happy Where We Are

As some of  you may know, I bought my first house in September. (((YIPPEEEE))) It's not the biggest house on the block, or the newest, but it is the best house in the world for us right now and I love it.   I'm so happy to have found it or maybe it found me..who knows how the story goes but I'm here, we're here and I am so 'Happy Where We Are" (just like the painting above).   I do want to do many things to the house but I've been putting off and putting off doing these things, mostly because I know I need to do them myself. I could hire out to do them, but I really don't have the money to do that so the options are limited. My knowledge is limited as far as what to do or even how to get started.  What is the answer then?  Just get started.  Start somewhere, anywhere. Tackle something you know you can handle, or even if you don't know you can handle it, give it a shot anyway.   I really have been wanting to repaint every room in this house but the one thing that has stopped me is the fact that EVERY, SINGLE, WALL, (except for my studio and one bedroom) has wallpaper on it.  That's overwhelming to me.   Taking down all that wallpaper, ensuring I don't screw up the walls while doing so and just really the enormity of the project had frozen me.

Soar

I gathered supplies at Lowe's the night before and asked some basic questions to a seemingly well informed stock boy (he had me at wall paper stripper...lol),  and then last night I got started. I was scared at first because if I tear up these walls by scraping too hard or pulling off something I should have, I'm well, pretty much screwed.  But then, after I got started, the feeling of relief washed over me. It wasn't that hard, really, and truthfully, it was relaxing in a new way.   Josh had been watching me for a good hour since I started to work in his room.  I remembered long long long long time ago, helping my Mom renovate and do projects around the house.  My Mom is infinitely braver than I have ever been or ever will be.    She tackles things with a self assurance that I've never had, but at the same time, I want my son to know that you can do things you set your mind to, no matter how much you fear them.   He got up from his video game chair (grrr kids these days and their games) and started helping me. "How come you only got one scraper?"  Me, "Because I figured I was the only one that was going to do this."   "Oh....well, I want to help, Mom."  And so the two of us worked for 3 hours tackling a project that really wasn't that hard to do.  We need music I say.  Josh (9 years old) goes and puts his Ipod on and we worked listening to the Beatles---one of his favorite groups. Laughing and teasing each other as we pulled strips of paper and removed the residue from the wall, it was a good time even though it tired us out.

  

hope

  "I'm proud of you Mom".  At that moment, I had a flashback to my Mom and remembered us doing similar things together under similar circumstances.  The wave of pride came over me that I was following in her footsteps, if even for a moment, engulfed me.    Overcoming our fears is tremendously scary, but by and large, they are never as scary as we build them up to be in our mind.  The power we have to overcome ourselves and do things on our own is unlimited.  Getting started is half the battle.

Black Friday Sale at Sweet Repeats through Cyber Monday!

Buy Handmade!
Take advantage of some SWEET deals in my Etsy Shop! If you haven't visited lately, it's time to take a look, the prices won't get any better than this!
"Black Friday-Cyber Monday (November 30th)"
All items in my shop
are
20%-50% off

***
Don't forget, December 6th from 1-3pm come take my "Merry Mixed Media Ornament" class at Swank in Southern Pines, NC
$25
***
Save the Date: December 20th from 1-4 pm FREE Demo at Jerry's Artarama in Raleigh
Mixed Media Portraits
***

Happy Holidays!

What's up with her!

Have I mentioned that I am now writing a monthly newsletter? If not, be sure to check out the latest edition, here:

NEWSLETTER

There's any easy subscribe button on the right of my blog or when you click the link, there's a button on the web page as well. I hope to write a new issue once a month, I think it's a great way for me to keep in touch with those interested in my art, and an even better source of inspiration for me to continually strive to move forward, after all, what's there to write about if nothing new is happening or no new artwork to share.


Speaking of sharing, THANK YOU to all of you who have joined along in my last blog post contest. I'm getting tons of ideas for fall color combos. I'm not sure how I will choose this week who wins because to me, they ALL are winners! If you haven't entered the giveaway yet, be sure to sign up on the last post with your favorite color combo for the fall and then I will choose a winner on Thursday from all of the wonderful choices you've tempted me with!

I'm still busy plugging away with my packing of my house, so far so good....we hope to close on the 24th of September. I'm still waiting on the appraisal, I guess that's the last hurdle to ensure my loan will mesh up with the value of the home. If not (heaven forbid if there is a NOT), then I'm back to square one with a whole lot of my life packed up in boxes...LOL.

Other news....I'm plugging away on 2 new pieces, 2 are mixed media portraits (or will be) for my class coming up at Swank, in Southern Pines, NC.

Right now I'm still knee deep in my background. I'm trying to come up with a better way to complete a work in 4 hours so I'm cutting back one one thing and adding to another technique, but I think it's going to be really cool when done :) Stay tuned!

The other piece I'm working on is a 20 x60 painting for a commission piece in the colors of lime green, brown, and white, with a touch of pink accents. This is going to be for a client's little girls room-another version of my big bird piece "Friends"
but in different colors and a few tweaks to make it 'original'.
The green is actually a lot more vibrant than my camera picked up because of course I had to take it in doors because it's been RAINING here. Hmmph. I would have loved to paint this upright outside but the weather hasn't cooperated lately. Soon though..hopefully by this time next year, not only will I have a REAL studio at my house, I will have an outdoor painting area as well. Now, to win lotto :) Or sell more in my Etsy shop which has tumbleweeds floating through it lately. Not sure what's up with that, I've barely sold anything all summer long but I've sold plenty in my B&M store as well as a good showing for classes. So...I'm hoping it's not me, and hopefully things will turn around. Until then...all I can do is to keep on creating and not focus on what's not happening...focus on what IS happening. Any way you look at it, I've been blessed by many things this year and shouldn't let a little road block get in the way.

Don't forget to go back to the last post and leave your comments for a chance to win a 25.00 gift certificate to my Etsy shop! I'll take comments up until Thursday at 5:00pm!

Till next time, create to live, live to create!

Searching, Always Searching.....

They can take this trendy house and put it where the sun don't shine..lol. I just can't give up
on my little series, not yet. I am expanding on my Carolina Blue series which all sold out except for my large, 24 x 48 piece (which is available to see at Swank Hand Made Market in Southern Pines, NC) I don't think they have a website but if you are ever in the area, be sure to stop by the Belvedere Plaza and have a look around at this shop as well as the handful of other super cool locally owned shops there!


Anyway, here are two more 4 x 6 pieces now available in my Etsy shop.
"Serenity" and "Peace"
I think that those are two things I constantly am seeking. On the outside, I'm a very calm, cool, and collected person. But, on the inside...my mind is constantly racing, worrying, jumping from one thing to the next, thinking ahead, thinking 'behind', good things, bad things, anyway....I constantly need to find that place that gives me a sense of peace and a place of calmness.

My day job does attribute to my highs and lows. I've spent many years as a manager and the stress of that position can be overwhelming at times. Especially this year. Especially working in the financial industry. Being needed by so many people every day can drain one. I'm ready to move on, but at the same time not ready if that makes sense. I'm ready to manage myself, and move in a direction that will give me peace and serenity. I suppose the grass is always greener. If I did move on, my worries and anxieties would be transcended in a new direction. However, life is too short not to chase after your dreams, and so to that, I say if this is my dream, then I need to find a way to make it happen.

On to my photo experiments......now, I've been playing around with photo shop these last two weeks, but don't underestimate the power of the easy to use and FREE program, Picasa (3). I used that to change the look, crop and edit a few self taken portraits. This first one I took yesterday after going out in the snow...yes we had snow yesterday in NC!!!! I just simply cropped it, and tuned it up a bit by softening the color, not quite bw but moving towards a soft contrast with a yellowish hue.

When I first uploaded this pic, I said...'crap' it's all blurry. I won't be able to do anything with this picture. Ha. Well, gotta love black and white with tint.

Looky here, I made this more charcoally looking and warmified it. Cool, huh.

On to just a regular bw, I look younger in BW..lol..going forward I demand all photos of me be in BW. Kinda timeless in a way.

Lastly, I did do this one in photoshop. I took a color picture of some lovely brown eyed susans and turned it black and white, sharpened it. Then added a layer of soft yellow. Next, I added a cool course grain onto it, merged the layers, then finished with another layer of charcoal gray to add a bit of shadow.

So much you can do with one picture. You could literally take a few photos and turn them into a body of work that is in the hundreds, all fascinating in and of themselves.

You can see more of my pics on flickr.
Go ahead and play with your photo program, even if you don't have photoshop--you can download Picasa and do NUMEROUS things...they even added the ability to put text on the picture (that's how I did my blog banner the last couple of months). I double dog dare ya!

**Anyone on face book? Join my art business page HERE and become a fan! I hope to offer specials in the future to my followers, so definitely join in!