Sweet Retreat by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

   

                                           

                                            Sweet Retreat by Leada Wood, copyright 2014

I think it is officially spring!  I saw my first hummingbirds and scissor tail this week. I always look forward to their return especially the Hummers as they are very entertaining! Called nature's jeweled messengers they dart and hover and buzz around showing their amazing flying abilities.

Sweet Retreat is an 9x11 transparent watercolor on archival paper. This painting along with 2 others was juried into the Dutch Art Galleries Great Outdoors Spring show. There were 350 entrants and only 49 were juried in. I am honored to have been one of the artists chosen. The show is in Dallas, Texas and opens in May.

Shadow Of The Moon, by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

Shadow Of The Moon was painted in Walton's workshop last week at the Heritage Museum in Big Spring. I choose a small skin 3x3 that I was drawn to and quickly, in 8 to 10 minutes laid in the colors. Then I sprayed water in places to let the paint run and create drama. The object was to leave as much of the painting untouched and still have a good composition. This one passed Mr. Walton's keen critique and I only had to add a tiny moon with a halo for its completion. Sound easy....give it a try! Most artists tend to overwork the painting and create mud and chaos with this technique. It is quite a challenge! 

                                           

There is an exhibition of the groups works at the Heritage Museum until May. It is a very unusual and exciting show. Stop by and see it if you are in the area.  Artists from Houston, Dallas, Santa Fe, and Louisiana, as well as locals, traveled the distance to take this innovatitive workshop with Mr. Walton.

Sweet Retreat

 

9x12 transparent watercolor

 

 

copyright Leada Wood 2014

It is hummingbird time in Texas! Does that mean spring is around the corner...we certainly hope so! This painting is 9x12 transparent watercolor on archival paper. It is available, just contact me via my website. Thanks for looking!

#leadawoodart #mixedmedia #watercolor

Leada  Wood

 catch phrase

my website

galleries



 

 



Leather And Lace by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

The hardest part of doing abstracts for me is naming them! I can't let my creation go untitled...that is like having a child and never giving it a name...kind of. It is a pet peeve of mine that an artist is creative enough to make a painting yet too lazy to think up a name, or maybe uncaring.  When I am painting realism the names just pop into my head during the process. I guess when I am doing abstract I become so absorbed and right brained that all thinking stops...I just go with the flow...until it's over...and needs a name.

This 8x8 mixed media on gesso board is available. Just comment! 

                                              

                                             Leather and Lace copyright 2014 by Leada Wood

Fun In The Studio by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

My friend Linda stopped by my studio for a visit and was telling me about a fun workshop she had taken in Granbury with Doug Walton. They made skins to use in their collage and as inspiration for paintings. I have a workshop coming up with Douglas in a couple of weeks so I thought I would get a head start making skins. I don't actually know if that is what we will do in the workshop but it sounded like fun so I had to try it. It is always playtime when Mr Walton comes to town and that is what keeps me taking workshops with him year after year.

After a couple of days of drying time...I might have gotten carried away with the paint...and before I cut it up, I wanted to share with you. Here is the full version.

                                                      

I kind of like it...maybe I shouldn't have cut it up...oh well it's only paint! 

Girls Just Wanna Have fun! by Leada Wood,Texas artist

I haven't run out of paper or canvas to paint on...but sometimes I get to looking at everyday objects and just decide they need a little jazzing up! That is exactly what is happening to my brush carrier. I started off by drawing on it and since it is canvas decided it needed some paint. One thing led  to another and out came the glitter glue and colored pens. I like it much better than the dingy canvas carrier!  No it's not a self portrait (smile) but it might be my inner artist coming out to play. I have the other side drawn as well and now I need to paint it. I know I probably should be working for galleries, workshops and shows but I wanted to do this one for me. Hope you enjoyed seeing my little creation!

   

                                                             

Moonlight On The Mesa by Leada Wood

I have wanted to do hot wax encaustics for a long time. I don't have the proper ventilation in my studio so I haven't tried it yet. I have been experimenting around with faux encaustics though and am liking the results. You use acrylic paint instead of oil and different mediums. 

I usually don't like doing landscapes as I did so many of them as a beginning painter many years ago. But I can see a new more interesting way to do them now through encaustics and collage. 

I started the process using pages from an old book. I rescued it from the trash and repurposed it.  This is a mixed media painting. I hope you can see the many layers on the blog as that is what makes it so interesting. 

Froggie Went A'Courtin' by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

I always liked the song and children's story " Froggie Went A'Courtin'" when I was a little girl. Just the thought of it brings a smile to my face...so many fine childhood memories. Books were a big deal when I was growing up. We took care with them because we didn't have as many as children today. Most of my reading was done by going to the library and checking out stacks of books and taking them home and devouring them. Maybe that is why I have such a vivid imagination!

 Today I just download a book from the library on my ipad or several books if I am traveling. I love the convenience of that, nice not to have to carry books. They do add weight to your luggage! Yet I still like the comfort of holding a good book in my hands.

This painting is transparent watercolor, 6x9, and is available for purchase.
contact me@ www.leadawood.com

"Froggie Went A'Courtin'" by Leada Wood ©2014

 

                                         

Love Is...by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

I am  currently working on a series entitled  Love Is. It is very difficult to put your thoughts on the canvas without making the theme appear too valentinish ( is that a word?) or girlish...to make it seem like art! Since it is Valentine day....almost....I thought I would just get it out of my system! The thing every girl associates with Valentines day is hearts and flowers...symbols of love, right? I received my new gardening catalog and since it has been soooo cold I decided I would make a collage out of flowers to brighten the dreary winter days. I used symbols for love in this 12x12 collage on canvas. Flowers and hearts are both symbols for love. The color red symbolizes passion, excitement, and happiness. The color pink is romantic and  can represent compassion, unconditional love, understanding, and nurturing . Purple is a royal color and can symbolize mystery, creativity, and spirituality. White is the color of perfection, purity, innocence or completion.  The spiral is a very feminine symbol and can represent balance, awareness, the act of creating, or intuition. A lot of meaning in this little collage...all with references toward love... real love...not infatuation  I did not research the meanings before I began the collage but only as I was writing this post. Maybe some of this I just knew from previous explorations or maybe it was just intuitive.

 Whatever rhyme or reason it was fun to create and I am using it to wish you a happy Valentines Day filled with lots of love and hopefully a little romance!

                                               

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preservers. Love never fails.     

   1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Collage of 30 paintings in 30 days challenge by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

I decided I would share my collage I made of all 30 paintings. That was a challenge in itself since they were all different shapes and sizes. I think if I do it again I will paint on the same size canvas. Yes as difficult as it was, I am thinking of next year! It was fun challenging myself and more fun to actually complete it. Time heals all things...or so they say.