May You Be Filled by Leada Wood

Be filled with joy!

During my devotional studies  I have been reading about being filled...how we should be filled at all times...overflowing. We should be filled with love...filled with joy...filled with laughter. I know that at times it is hard to be filled...life gets in the way...that is when we should slow down and have a closer walk...listening for that quiet voice to lift our spirits and fill us with joy!


They say that laughter is the best medicine...it's not an old wives tale, it is proven medically. Laughing protects the heart, relaxes the body, lifts the spirits, relieves stress, releases endorphins and boosts the immune system, which in turn improves resistance to disease. I don't know about you but I think the world could use more laughter! Don't feel like laughing? Begin with a smile, give one to everyone you meet, it's contagious...before long you will feel like laughing!


I know I am fortunate and I have many blessings in my life...two of them are pictured here. Children are filled with joy and their laughter is contagious, such fun to be around. I am thankful for my blessings and for the gift of creativity that I can share with others the joy it brings to me. Creating gives me joy...and it spills out into the rest of my life...it is my gift. Everyone has a gift, I hope you have found yours and it is bringing you great joy! Be sure to share your joy!

Plastic Fusion by Leada Wood©

This is another little plastic fusion piece...only 1"x2"...very miniature! I don't know why I am working so small these days...maybe so I can get more done. I have been modeling clay as well, trying to get a different look and feel. I will then incorporated these experiments into my art. Experimenting is half the fun with mixed media. Solving the puzzle of how to make it work in a piece of art is the other.

Red And Black by Leada Wood©

This is a a tiny piece I made out of plastic...it has the look of glass but is much quicker to do than glass fusion. I am experimenting around with this to take my mixed media a little higher. I think it has lots of possibilities, don't you?

Here's To The Crazy Ones by Leada Wood©

Here's To The Crazy Ones by Leada Wood ©

This is another miniature mixed media painting only 5"x7". I glazed paint, dribbled paint and splattered paint but that was only the beginning! I decided to use some of my collage paper I had created and a watch spring I had laying around but that was after I had added part of a poem by Robert Burridge that goes like this:

Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits...the rebels...the troublemakers...the round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify them or vilify them. Because they change things. They invent...they imagine...they heal...they explore...they create...they inspire. They push the human race forward. Maybe they have to be crazy. How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that's never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels? We make tools for these kind of people. While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.
                                                                                                                                                        ---Robert Burridge 

Year Of The Dragon by Leada Wood©

Year Of The Dragon by Leada Wood©

I just can't get enough of those Geisha, I love to paint them, and especially like to put them into a mixed media painting. I used an altered background technique and then glazed over that. Next I added some collage and drew my Geisha on, then painted and collaged some more until I thought it was finished. But nooooo...I decided since it was the year of the dragon and had a stamp and coin I would add those as well to the painting. Thus the name of my painting! This is a miniature mixed media painting only 5"x7".

Ruby Reds by Leada Wood ©

Ruby Reds by Leada Wood ©

The tulip originated centuries ago in Persia and Turkey, where it played a significant role in the art and culture of the time. Most likely commenting on the Turkish tradition of wearing tulips in one's turban, Europeans mistakenly gave tulips their name, which comes from the Persian word meaning turban. As Europeans began taking to tulips, the flower's popularity spread quickly, particularly in the Netherlands where a phenomenon dubbed tulip mania set in at one point during the 17th century. Tulips became so highly-prized that prices were sent soaring and markets crashing. Tulips are now grown throughout the world, but people still identify cultivated varieties as "Dutch tulips." Red tulips represent true love and the belief in love. Happy Valentine's Day!

Painting Collage Papers by Leada Wood

Today I decided I needed more collage papers as I was starting two new paintings. I had some I had previously painted so I got out my trusty brayer and black gesso and stamps and started laying on patterns. The papers are not finished as I will add a little more to them tomorrow to bring them to completion. Then they will be ready to rip apart and start layering up to form new designs on my painting.

These are my collection of stamps. I hand make most of them and use different stamp making techniques, they range from small 2x2 to large 12x12. I also buy some stamps along.  I enjoy the whole process of collage from making the stamps, to creating the papers and finally creating the paintings.

Feed The Birds by Leada Wood

Feed The Birds by Leada Wood©

This was the original painting I did in August of  last year. You can go back into my blog and see how I did this work step by step. It just never seemed finished to me so it sat in my studio while I decided what to do to make it better. I decided it needed more color and  interest on the girl...sooo I collaged a hat band and flower and repeated the pattern in her shirt and apron. It warmed the painting up and created more movement through the painting. A ghost bird seems to have appeared behind the pigeon. Anyway I am happier with this painting and it is finished...at least for now. I like her better...how about you?
Feel free to comment!
This is a mixed media painting.

Feed The Birds by Leada Wood©

Happiness by Leada Wood ©

Happiness by Leada Wood©

Aww happiness is decorating the cover of a new sketchbook.  Inside will be all kinds of possibilities for new paintings...ideas...designs. You just never know what you will come up with until you start playing around in "the book".  I am not one to have a plain cover on MY sketchbook...I want it to beckon me to pick it up and spend time with it.

Dancin' In The Wind by Leada Wood©

Dancin' In The Wind by Leada Wood©

These beautiful, warm winter days have me longing for Spring. One of my favorite flowers in the Spring is pink tulips. They don't last long in our part of the world as the warm days and wind usually make their stay shorter, but we can enjoy them for a little while.

This  little gem is only 5x7 done in transparent watercolor from photos of my previous spring tulips.