Get out of the Sugar cookie coma and come create!

While I recover from a sugar cookie and fudge coma and am all cozied up at the house, I thought I'd get a little 'painty' today.  Just playing in the studio not really knowing where I'm going or what I'm doing but having fun slinging some paint around.  It feels great, I'm definitely in my Happy Place :))

If you want to join me in a bit of creative bliss,  I have 2 Happy New Year specials going on over at Creative Workshops and 
Colourarte's Artevillage.   Workshops as low as 9.84!     Most classes are 20-25 dollars off!  Online painting/mixed media classes are a great way to jump into the creative world by learning some great process and projects in the comfort of your home!

SALE STARTS NOW!!

Wishing many blessings, good health and a wealth of happiness as we enter into the new year!

Until next time,

Jodi

Starts 12/27!

                                              Don't miss out....this is also a great special!

Wrap it up or Paint it On! Cyber Monday is Here!

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving weekend and enjoyed time with your family and friends!  I'm still in a Turkey coma I believe! We had a whirlwind trip to the beach to see family and do a little shopping before heading back and diving back into finishing up my artwork that I'll be taking with me for my book photo shoot next week!!! I can hardly believe it is almost here....EEEEK!!  lol  


 There is art everywhere in my house. Honestly, I have had a few freak out moments this week trying to manage it all!   My sweet boy tried to help Momma today by moving the furniture around in the living room so we could set up our tree while I was working in the studio.  awww...right???

    Anway, on to the business of the day which is showcasing all the great deals I have lined up for YOU!  I hope you find something creative or inspirational for your life and or home with one of these great specials:

Looking for some great gift items? 

Original Art, prints, stationary, classes and more can be found in my Etsy shop:

Over at Colourarte's Artevillage my Funky Little Cityscape class is 25.00 off the regular price for cyber Monday!

Or take 15.00 off the regular price of my other classes including:  Painterly in Pink, Extreme Portraits, and Twinks on  Yupo.

Another big big deal:  25.00 off my Podtastic class featured over at Creative Workshops!

Or, save 20% off any of my other work shops and tutorials over at Creative workshops including: Grunge Ink,  Sweet Art, Who Are You, Fearless Faux Encaustics,  Fun with Faux Encaustics, and Behind You! 

Don't forget, Monday is the last day to save off of the EARLY early bird special on my upcoming workshop (jam packed workshop I might add), "Dirty Flirty Birds" .  Save 25 dollars off of the regular price through Monday.  After Monday the pre-registration price will be 15.00 off the regular list price, so save more by purchasing today!  

My friends at Interweave are having an super duper sale over at the shop today as well! Save 50% off most items AND get an additional 10% off with code cyberdeals10.  BTW..my DVDS and downloads are available at a HUGE discount this weekend, too. 

 Check it out!
Save an Additional 10% at Interweave with Offer Code CYBERDEALS10


So ya...LOTS of great stuff going on!  I have a couple more announcements coming up this week so be sure to stay tuned over the next few days!

Please share this post if you have a moment, I really appreciate your support!  Have a great Monday!!

Say It or Paint It With Love

How many ways can you (or do you) show love through your art?

 With tomorrow being Valentine's Day, I thought I'd pull a few pictures from my 'archives'  that showed a little 'love' . Gosh, looking back at these paintings, you'd think I have been in a world wind romance with some dashing man who has swept me off my feet!!!  Well the truth is, lately, my Valentine's have been reserved for 2 dashing men...my wonderful sons of course, Josh and Zach.  :)
That doesn't mean you can't manifest dreams and desires through your art, or just work through feelings and thoughts as you are creating.   That's one of the things I enjoy most....getting my thoughts out on the canvas, especially those that I can't say out loud or in person.

 And sometimes a simple word is all you need to hear  or see to make you feel that you can, you will, you ARE, or will become.  Art has magical powers tlike that.

 And if you don't hear it enough,   sometimes hanging a little reminder in your studio, office space, or other location will bring you back to the place you need to be.

Sometimes my paintings are about conversations I've had or want to have with someone.  I love this piece above.  It's not so much a conversation I've had but one I'd had like to have had with someone. 

It's fun to create these micro-worlds of possibilities.

What can I say but I L-O-V-E this piece above. The texture, the many under layers peeking through but yet they are all leading to the the same outcome.  Love. A super fun piece to do.

 As I was searching for pieces to share for this post, I came across these oldie but goodies.  I had a class featuring these along with an article in a magazine. I call thses my story block collages.  Mostly painted but there are some 3 d elements as you can see from the hearts.  In my classes students added all sorts of fun embellishments in addition to the hearts. I love sparking ideas and seeing where my students take them. It's an amazing process!

 It's funny as I reflect back over the last several years, part of the reason I stumbled into the art world was because of my heart being broken, rather shattered into a million pieces....it's such a long story but the beginning of it was all about me falling for someone and how my life changed because of that love story.  I guess on the outside, it may seem like a tragic story but through all the bad came this amazing good life that I have now.

 I guess I still process all the events of the last many years through art.

 Not just thoughts about love, but about life in general. My art isn't about some larger political or socioeconomic questions that plague the world, rather my pieces are about everyday life, relationships, family, friends, community....connections.  We all want to feel connected in some way.  Needed in some way.

Creating has a way of getting those feelings out and telling our story in our own way.  Sometimes it's in your face and quite clear what you are trying to say.

...and other times,the message isn't as easily discerned..but it's still there.

What do you say in your art? Have you noticed any trends or messages that appear time and time again?  What does it say about you or your process?  

I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day and enjoy the weekend by being surrounded by those that you love.  And if by chance you are alone for the day,  do something amazing and special for YOU.  You deserve it!

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Before I leave you today, I wanted to remind you that I have some HOT specials going on over at Creative Workshops 

 All of my classes over there are on sale including my POD-Tastic class 

through this weekend

And another SWEET sale going on over at Colourarte  where all of my classes are on special for a limited time, too.  In addition to the sale, each student that registers for a class over at Colourarte will receive a 30.00 coupon to the store for products such as Twinkling H20's, Silks Acrylics, Radiant Gels, and more!

Sharing the creative love since I can't give you a chocolate heart filled with unknown substances in the center of each piece. haha :))

Enjoy your weekend, fill it with things you love to do and surround yourself with those you love. That's what I'll be doing!



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Don't miss out on any future posts! Join me here:

News and Specials for YOU!

Hello July!   

Lots of fun stuff going on in my neck of the woods, how about you?    Next week I'm heading to New Jersey for the 3rd year teaching at Create Mixed Media Retreats.  Funny how time sneaks up on you, in my head I had all of June to prepare for it, and in a lot of ways I did...samples done, extra inventory for the art show stocked up--but man oh man, where did June go? I'm doing the 'last minute' dance as I speak!  In addition to getting ready for Create (which by the way, there are still seats open in any of my 5 classes~ check out the listings HERE!) If you can't join me in NJ...no fear, I am also going to be in Chicago in August, and Dallas in September.  Check out all of the listings here, and if you have ANY questions just let me know! You can email me at  jodiohl AT hotmail dot com.   As most of my students know by now, I load them up with info, techniques, freebies, prizes and more during the course of each jam packed workshop!

"Mini City"

In addition to my funky houses, don't be surprised to see lots of colorful and texture filled abstracts. I'm loving them more and more as I grow as an artist.  Abstracts are a lot harder to do well then most people assume, well I love a challenge and see lots of potential for growth...and maybe even more classes down the road!.    This piece, "Fear Nothing" represents a bit of transformation for me in my style,  yet still remains true to my love for strong, unique color combinations and layers of  juicy texture.  BTW..I'm offering a VERY short term and super duper special in my shop starting today and running through the 4th.  Take 20% off with this code:

 This is the ONLY sale that I will be having this summer so don't miss the opportunity to save!!

Other fun stuff happening in June...I spent the large majority of my time working on my online class, "Extreme Portraits".  Oh my.  The group of students I've had to the pleasure of working with have just been amazing.  I can't believe some of the work that's been created!!!  While the live portion of the class is winding down, it's not too late to join in on the fun as the self study portion is accessible from the time you sign up and on for 12 months. As a teacher, I still am available if you have questions even though it's a self study. What are you waiting for? Sign up here, today!

For the latest classes information, be sure to check out the top tabs on my blog (BTW...there is a few pieces of BIG EXCITING news coming about upcoming workshops...one just may be an INTERNATIONAL ONE!!!!!).

Upcoming workshops in person:

 More Online classes:

Stop by ReMe to win one of two big prizes this week from Jean Skipper!

 I'm sure there's much more I forgot to mention but I don't want y'all to be as overloaded as me! I'll leave you with this reminder:

Our Dreams are Only One Yes Away...

Follow your heart and put your feet in motion towards them!

Until next time! 

Artfully Yours,

Jodi Ohl

A Week In Review....and something New...

Happy Friday~! What a fun week this has been since we last chatted. The boys and I took a mini trip to the amusement park/waterpark near Charlotte and met up with some family we hadn't seen in awhile. We chilled in the evening at a cushy hotel before making the trip back home with a detour at Mary's lake house in Mt. Gilead for more fun in the sun, tubing, wave runners, swimming, cook out and of course just a couple adult beverages with dinner for us old folks:)
All good things and what the doctor ordered after a busy couple of weeks...ummm month or two.

After the super soaker mega fun weekend, back to work this week on tying up loose ends on some projects, gallery filling, I have been focused on and getting my new class rolling over at Dreaming in Color, "Extreme Portraits".

Just a few days in and the students are already doing a great job with their studies and warm ups. As a teacher, I strive hard to give you the whys behind the 'what to do next steps' so that you build a solid foundation of learning, not just for the project at hand but for your future as an artist. This class is loaded with information, challenges, exercises, and technique tips and tricks. It's not too late to join us, why not give Extreme Portraits a shot and go to the coolest school this summer:)

 

Class Description:
Are you looking for ways to build more depth in your portrait painting? Extreme Portraits is the newest portrait class offered by Jodi Ohl that will help you take your portrait work to the next level, even to a cutting edge extreme. In each of the lessons covering a span of six weeks, you will find easy to follow directions and content that is rich in information that you can use not just in your portrait work, but a variety of mixed media applications.
In the fall of 2012 Jodi released Painterly in Pink, an online class which focused heavily on drawing before painting the mixed media stylized portraits and now we are excited to present the much anticipated offering of Extreme Portraits


Continue Reading Here:

Well that's about it for today unless you want to hear about my adventures in not really dating online..I could tell you some stories about some crazy people that seem to find me..lol   A couple of nice ones but for the most part I've had not the greatest luck. My friend Deb says not to talk like that because I will draw more crazies in towards me if that's what I verbalize so I'm hesitant to say anything other than I can see a 45-50 year old Jared Leto type coming into my life very soon with a beach house, place at the mountains or the propensity to drive to either or for weekend getaways at rentals, a good sense of humor, kind heart, trustworthy with a sense of adventure, along with moral character, handy with things around the house or sense to know when to call in the troops..not a couch potato but not a thrill seeker-great if you love music and can sing or play the guitar...i may be getting to picky here....lol , can grill and cook like Michael Symon but be romantic and must love kids, dogs and icecream.

I'm sure there's more but I need to get back to work :)   

Have a great weekend and never forget to smile, laugh a lot and  don't be afraid of living your life.  This is our one and only chance to make memories:)

Extreme Portraits Winner Announced!

Extreme Portraits Giveaway Winner Is.......

Lucky Number 12!

Maggie Kopp - Martin said...

Awesome giveaway...I am ready to be brave and move onto portraits.

1:46 PM 

Congratulations Maggie!

The winner from my newsletter subscribers is Melony Lane!

Congratulations Melony!

Both of you can contact me at jodiohl@hotmail.com and I will send your info over to the admins to the site.  Everything should be ready to go for you this next week!  

If you didn't win, of course I would love to see you in the class and have you join us.  It's not too late, it will start on Monday (which of course is a US holiday so many of us will be picnicking etc with family that day, but no worries, new lessons will be uploaded every Monday for 6 weeks so you have plenty of time to work on the exercises.  Thank you all that entered, I loved reading all of your comments and hope to see you in this class or another one of mine soon!

Register for Extreme Portraits by clicking HERE:)

Extreme Portraits Online Workshop Giveaway!

 It's just one of those weeks where I may have to post a couple of times a day to get you up to speed with all the juicy creativeness that has been going on over the last few weeks.   From North Carolina to South Carolina, on over to Memphis and back again to the Outer Banks, it's been a whirl wind time with so many memories and new friends 'collected' along the way,  I am truly blessed to be doing what I love each and every day.

First things first, for those of you who have been waiting (thank you for your patience)...my next online class is coming up starting Monday, May 26th-- and ongoing for 6 weeks with access as a self study thereafter for 12 months from the date you start (or class begins, whichever is longer).  This class will be held over at Dreaming in Color's Arte Village and will include a 30.00  coupon for product at the shop online.  We will be using a variety of mixed media painting and drawing supplies, most of which you probably already have.   There's still plenty of time to join and collect your supplies, I promise!!

As an added bonus, I'm giving away 2 spots to the class--one from my newsletter sign ups over at Art Is You in Memphis, that winner is "Melony Lane"  whooohooo~~  Melony,  you can contact me to receive your class info;  The second giveaway is going to be a quickie--I"ll announce the winner on Thursday morning so you have 2 1/2 days to get in on the promotion.  Simply make a comment here and tell me what you love about portrait painting or what you'd like to learn--share this post and you can get an extra entry.

To claim your extra entry, simply leave an additional comment on this post. If you have already signed up for the class and win (random number generator will choose the entry from all commenters) you can choose to get a refund, give away your winnings as a gift to someone else, or you can apply a credit to another one of my online classes at Dreaming Color.


****NOTE---PLEASE PLEASE be sure to leave your contact info if you don't have a blog or email associated with your comment.

 I am so excited to present....

Extreme Portraits
Start Date : May 26th -June 30th 2014
Class Description:
Are you looking for ways to build more depth in your portrait painting? Extreme Portraits is the newest portrait class offered by Jodi Ohl that will help you take your portrait work to the next level, even to a cutting edge extreme. In each of the lessons covering a span of six weeks, you will find easy to follow directions and content that is rich in information that you can use not just in your portrait work, but a variety of mixed media applications.
In the fall of 2012 Jodi released Painterly in Pink, an online class which focused heavily on drawing before painting the mixed media stylized portraits and now we are excited to present the much anticipated offering of Extreme Portraits, which takes many of those lessons learned in her first class to a new level of depth and character. The focus on this class will be more on paintings and building up layers through glazing and underpaintings along with some fun extra surprise lessons.


Read on and Register by clicking HERE.

I hope to see you in class!


**Don't forget to enter to win a free class by commenting on this post!

Share the post (copy and paste the link into your favorite social media site) for an extra entry.


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See what' s new in the shop this week!