Bluebonnet Time In Texas by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

Bluebonnet Time In Texas

Just returned from a road trip down to Kerrville to look at the wild flowers. They were the best on highway 16 from Fredericksburg to Llano and then on highway 29 to Mason. They soon will be gone as they were peaking this past weekend. Hurry and take a day trip and enjoy the scenery!

                                     Here is a closeup of our state flower...love those blues!

Be careful walking out in those gorgeous fields of flowers as there are plenty of rattlers around. Bootman got this one in our back pasture. Bootman is 6'2" so it was a big rattler. Sure glad he saw him first!

"There are always flowers for those who want to see them"

                                                                                     ------Henri Matisse 

Wish Upon A Star, by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

Leada Wood, Watercolor, Mixed Media, Collage

"Wish Upon A Star" by Leada Wood ©2016

I always loved Disney and can remember watching it on Sunday evenings when growing up. I think he was influential in my creative development. I was always an imaginative and curious child asking questions and wanting to know why. 

"Wish Upon A Star" is collage on cradle board. I hand paint most of the paper I use in collage. These papers began as Gelli prints that I embellished before they began their life as collage. A long process that is quite entailed to be sure...but it is all about the process...right?

The song Wish Upon a star was written for Disney by Leigh Harline for the movie Pinocchio and was sung by Jiminy Cricket. It has since become the representative song of the Walt Disney Company.

When you wish upon a star

Makes  no difference who you are

Anything your heart desires 

Will come to you

If your heart is in your dream

No request is too extreme

When you wish upon a star

As dreamers do

Fate is kind

She brings to those who love

The sweet fulfillment of 

Their secret longing

Like a bolt out of the blue

Fate steps in and sees you through

When you wish upon a star

Your dreams come true

When your heart is in your dream 

No request is too extreme

When you wish upon a star

Your dreams will come true

Oh those were simpler times full of imagination! Thanks for stopping by!

A Good Scratch, "Watercolor by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

Leada Wood, Watercolor, Mixed Media and Collage

"A Good Scratch" by Leada Wood ©2016

Spring has arrived in Texas and everything is in full bloom! The blue bonnets are gorgeous  and the weather is fine. We have been seeing lots of rabbits at Dragonfly Farm but not any long eared Jacks. I'm not sure what has happened to them but they have been scarce for a while. I love to paint the lanky long eared fellas. " A Good Scratch " caught this Texas Jack rabbit enjoying the cool evening shade and kicking some dirt out of his ear. This painting is 15 x 22 transparent watercolor.

Happy Easter!

For flowers that bloom about our feet. For tender grass so fresh and sweet. For song of bird and hum of bee. Father in heaven, we thank Thee!

                                                                                                         ----Ralph Waldo Emerson

Painting 3D by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

Leada Wood, Watercolor, Mixed Media, Collage

There is still time to see the exciting group show at the Heritage Museum where artists have completed unusual works of art in the 3rd dimension.  Thinking outside of the box helps sharpens the edge on creativity and gets your mojo going...and it is a challenge painting on a not so flat surface.

Leada Wood, Copyright 2016

This is a whimsical small table I painted embracing my vivid palette for the exhibit.

I upcycled an old bottomless chair and fashioned it into a plant stand. I used chicken wire and beads I had lying around waiting to be used in this project. The butterfly was rescued from a broken wind chime.

I am a collector of things...treasures...at least in the eye of this beholder.  I can usually see the beauty in something broken and think how it might be recreated into something new...repurposed...destined for a new life. Kind of like us humans, isn't it?



"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see."  ---- Henry David Thoreau

Love Is, by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

Leada Wood, Watercolor, Mixed Media, Collage

"Love Is" copyright 2016 Leada Wood

Happy Valentine's Day ! I hope you are having an enchanted day with those you hold dearest. Isn't that what love is spending time with those you hold near and dear to your heart? It's a special day all around for children and grown ups alike. Making hearts and valentines for your beloved...

conversation candy hearts...class parties...chocolates and flowers. I always enjoyed creating my fancy sack to hold all the valentines from my classmates and reading them. I now enjoy spending time with Bootman...cooking up a special meal I know he will savor. I do adore creating him a special Valentine every year as well. I am just a Romantic at heart.

  LOVE IS

Love is patient,

Love is kind and envies no one.

Love is never boastful, nor conceited, nor rude.

Never selfish, not quick to take offense.

Love keeps no scores of wrongs,

does not gloat over another's sins,

 but delights in the truth.

There is nothing love cannot face, 

there is no limit to its faith, it's Hope and endurance.

In a word, there are three things that will last forever,

 faith, hope, and love, 

but the greatest of these is love.

1Corinthians 13

Pink Is My Favorite Color, by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

Leada Wood, Watercolor, Mixed Media, Collage

Gelli is my new obsession without a question! This is some of my collage paper I am making from my Gelli prints. It is so much fun it could be illegal. I am trying to build a stash, scan it into my computer so I can use them over and over again for cards, backgrounds for art journals or collage. Hopefully I will come up with some more uses along the way as well. Would love to hear what you do with your Gelli prints.

Gelli printing is only the beginning...after slathering layers of paint I stamp it up, stencil, scribble, splatter and color to my hearts content.  I then break them down and reassemble them into something new...kind of like puzzle solving.

This is actually an accumulation of several days work or play...so relaxing and completely takes me away to my happy place. It gives an unique look to my art that is all my own. Immersed in the process I give myself the freedom to create and enjoy the process.

Another Gelli print. You can use them whole or find a small section that floats your boat. The possibilities are endless. It looks pretty busy but as you can see from the one below a small section is nice.

A close up of a happy accident. I impressed my stamp on top of a towel and it picked up the weave in the towel as well...SWEET!

This is my new stamp and you can really see the texture from the towel here. I think they call this magic foam...just heat with a heat gun and impress the design into the foam. MAGIC!

I used my new Derwent Art Bars on this one and love the intense color and creamy texture of them. I have had them for a while but decided it was time to try them out. Do you save your art supplies for special or try them out right away?

Working on a new series is always fun! I started five today...can't wait to get back into the studio and get going on them. I am so grateful for an artist's life and the opportunity to create. 

Have a great weekend!

"Judges Choice" Watercolor by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

Leada Wood, Watercolor, Mixed Media, Collage

"Judges Choice" Copyright  Leada Wood 2016

It's showtime in Texas! That wonderful time of year when the young people get to show off their animals and all their hard work they have been doing the past months. Hoping to place, win ribbons, buckles and make money during the sales. A lot of effort goes out pre show exercising the animals to get them in shape and feeding them just right. Then there is all the grooming and keeping them hydrated and happy until showtime. Showing animals is a family affair and lots of good memories are made.

"Judges Choice" is painted in watercolor of my two grandsons for my son's birthday. They were in the ring competing for Grand Champion against each other. Competition is good for you, makes you try harder and aim higher. I think it is a good thing for everyone to do the best job they can and to do it well. 

I am proud of my son and daughter in law for encouraging and supporting our boys and the boys for their hard work and dedication. This is Kyler's senior year and a little bittersweet, but he has made lots of friends and good memories of his show seasons.  These activities build good character in young people and make our world a little nicer. 

"What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals"

                                                                                                             ---Henry David Thoreau

Making Gelli by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

Leada Wood, Watercolor, Mixed Media, Collage

Copyright Leada Wood 2016

Happy Friday! More fun in the studio cutting up Gelli prints and making complicated papers. I must be ready for spring as these colors remind me of flowers, bright, happy colors. I am trying to get enough papers made so that I can start my new series and incorporate my Gellies as collage. 

Copyright Leada Wood 2016

Why not buy paper you ask? Well I want my paper to be original and have my stamp of creativity on them...a different look all my own in the colors I choose and they are such FUN to make!

This Gelli was a little busy so I glaze over it with a blue to calm it down a little and give it another layer.

Copyright Leada Wood 2016

You can still see everything but in a more subdued way and it makes the colors more cohesive.

Copyright Leada Wood 2016

I glazed over this one with Nickel Azo Gold. It just gives a little mystery to the papers. I probably won't use whole sheets, maybe bit and pieces here and there. I use transparent colors when glazing and a glazing medium. I also keep a paper towel handy in case I get heavy handed.

Copyright Leada Wood 2016

This Gelli is one of my favorites and destined to become the cover of a sketchbook. Why make Gellies? It gives me papers that I could never set down and paint...happy accidents occurring together...layer upon layer. I scan them into my computer and have sparks for art journal pages, card making, mixed media, collage or have it printed on canvas. The possibilities are endless if you just imagine!

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!

"Every possibility begins with the courage to IMAGINE."

Back In The Studio, By Leada Wood, Texas Artist

Leada Wood, Watercolor, Mixed Media, Collage

Hope your new year is starting off with good things! It has been a busy year already with getting ready for shows, art classes, oral surgery and an eye surgery but life is good!

My word for this year is still...mmmmmm.....you know silent, calm, tranquil, quiet, unhurried, peaceful, relaxed, to name a few meanings of the word. I am trying, really I am but life happens and there are so many fun and interesting things to do! 

copyright 2016 Leada Wood

This is some complicated paper I am making from those Gelli prints that have been stacking up. I think it could be framed, used in collage or make cards with it. What do you do with your Gelli prints?

Gelli printing is such fun I wanted to share it with a couple of my older students. They took to it like ducks to water, after all who knows how to play better than kids.

I am not sure who had the most fun me or them! They caught on quickly and we used LOTS of paint and paper. The next lesson will be to add more layers and unify the papers.

Gelli print in progress

This is a close up of one of the Gelli prints. The more layers you make the more interesting they become. You can always unify the papers with a glaze or veil of paint. I use different weights and kinds of papers for this technique. 

This is just a small portion of the afternoons work, there were papers all over the floor as well. I am grateful for a warm studio where I can create these cold winter days. Thanks for stopping by!

"Be happy in the moment, that is enough. Each moment is all we need, not more."

                                                                                             --- Mother Teresa

Jolly Ole St. Nick, watercolor by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

Leada Wood, Watercolor, Mixed Media, Collage

"Jolly Ole St. Nick" copyright Leada Wood

"Jolly Ole St. Nick" along with other members paintings of the of West Texas Watercolor Society and in conjunction with the Lubbock Art Alliance will be presented at the Legacy Gallery in Lubbock Texas. The "Happy Holidays" exhibition opening is December 4th from 6-7:30 at the Legacy Event Center, 1500 14th Street, Lubbock, Texas. The exhibition will be on display December 2015-January 2016.