Happy Days Are Here Again by Leada Wood

Any day you are in the studio painting is a good day and teaching these kids is a pleasure! Here they are mixing paint and preparing the background on canvas. Quite an undertaking for smallish type guys.

In the spirit of autumn we painted pumpkins with a twist. They all love gnomes so what better way to paint a pumpkin than a gnome holding one. I think they all did a great job! Fun times!



 

 



Last Days of Autumn

It’s been a busy Sunday! We have been harvesting the last offerings from our garden and moving plants indoors to their winter home. The peppers permeate the air as I sit and listen to the Blue Jays boisterous song in the back yard. The wind is blowing through the trees and the wind chimes are clinking noisily as the first Norther of the season arrives.  The work is done and now we are ready for winter.

 

Peppers in every hue makes me long to get my sketchbook and watercolors out but there will be time for that in the chilly days that are coming. Today is for gathering.

I just love the color of eggplant. I usually roll them in Panko and bake them but today I made an eggplant casserole from Don’s aunts recipe and it was very tasty.

The Cat Claw is blooming and the sweet smell has been wafting through the air. Such a delicate flower almost looks like an orchid.

I see stuffed peppers on the menu at our house this week.

Baskets full of peppers! I know what I will be doing for the next few days. 

Thankful for our harvest and the fruit of our labor. 



We have been organic gardening for forty nine years, all our married life.  Our life truly began in a garden and I’m so thankful for our time together.

“They who plants a garden plants happiness”

Mad Max World by Leada Wood

I must say in this crazy mad Max world I have been curled into a bud the past few weeks. Spending time in nature has helped me to unfurl. Spring is bursting forth with new life and with it hope and an awakening. I wanted to share some of the beauty of my sanctuary in this strange new place we have come to inhabit.

“It takes courage to push yourself to places that you have never been before...to test your limits...to break through barriers. And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” ——Anais Nin

I have been surrounding myself during this pandemic with nature and during the grey days it has uplifted my spirit. I have been drawing and painting my gorgeous specimens. Here I am up close and personal with a red tulip.

This is my cat Cheeto enjoying the sunshine and my red tulips.

Texas bluebonnets and a pink one. These are some of the wildflowers in my native Texas on our ranch as we hike the range. They are just beginning to come out. Winter seems to linger but spring is bursting forth. The hummingbirds are back and the scissor tails have arrived so I know it is spring even though today is grey and chilly. The seasons are truly amazing and I love watching them! This isolation has given me a chance to slow down and really observe its splendors.

I have planted many perennials in our yard over the years and I think this year has been the most beautiful Spring that I can remember. 

I can never have too much nature and I have started growing orchids and various plants in our home. I worked on this drawing of an orchid through some lingering grey days. 

I also have a cozy spot in our home where I do my writing, research and reading. My quilt of many colors that my daughter and granddaughters made me for my birthday lies on my chair. It has brightened many a grey day and kept me cozy as I work from home.  I can also see the hummingbirds  and various other birds feeding outside.

I hope you have enjoyed a peek into my daily life as I shelter at home along with the rest of the world. May God bless you and keep you safe during these uncertain times.



Art Challenge, Week Three by Leada Wood

Still catching up so I’m posting the last of the 20 paintings in 20 days challenge.

Day15-Prompt-Cup

My grandkids love their Winnie the Pooh Sippy cup.

Day 16-Promp-Wings

Love my little Hummers!

Day 17-Prompt-Stuffed

My grandma use to make sock monkeys for her grandkids and to sell.

Day18-Prompt-Glass

Day 19-Prompt-tiny

Day 20-Prompt-something that begins with w

Wattle

Art Challenge, Week Two by Leada Wood

Still posting January’s challenge, the paintings were done it’s the social media I am behind on.

Day 8-The prompt was big.
My mom collected elephants so I enjoy painting them because they remind me of her.

Day 9-Prompt-Made of paper.
My favorite tea, red rooibos

Day 10-Prompt- A new technique
Tried painting with watercolor on a teabag.

Day11-Prompt-Jewelry

A starfish necklace Don gave me for my birthday.  Very special, lots of memories at the beach.

Day12-Prompt-Animal 

We raise llamas so of course I enjoy painting them! They are so cute!

Day13-Prompt-Favorite number

This was hard as I have so many, 3, 5, 18, 25 but I picked 2 because we started all this.

Art Challenge, Week One by Leada Wood

Art challenges are fun but as a goal oriented person I feel the need to succeed and make it to the finish line. I started the new year with a 20 day challenge which I thought might be a little easier than the 30 day challenges I usually do, but not so much just shorter. I like to do challenges because it makes me think outside of the box and problem solve, which is what artists do anyway but with a little more pressure and time limits involved. This challenge had prompts so I tried to come up with something inspired and unexpected. 

Here is the first week’s art and their prompts.

Day 1-Circle

Day 2- Sharp

Day3-Nature

Day 4-Collections

Day 5- Bird

Day 6- Game Piece

Day 7- Art Tool