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

Fun In The Studio by Leada Wood

Everyday is a happy day when you can spend time in the studio painting, especially with friends. The arts bring people together, it’s a language anyone can speak, whether young or not so young. We are  all young at heART!

I sure enjoy my special time with my kiddos as well as my friends. I hope this new year brings new and exciting things for you to look forward too. Dare to be creative and learn something new! 

And support the ARTS!

I did catch up a bit on my blog and hopefully next year I will keep up. I enjoy sharing the things I am doing with you and I hope you enjoy seeing a little of what I do in the studio. You can find more of my posts on leada_wood@instagram.  Instagram makes it so easy that I find I am using it more and more but I do enjoy my blog, as it is another way to journal.

Happy New Year!



Furry Friends by Leada Wood

All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all. Nature inspires me both in life and in art, but life is an art if lived well.

As the end of another decade comes to a close and a new one begins, I feel very grateful for all the wonderful things I have experienced, the beautiful people in my life that I love and most of all the life I have been given. I am thankful for the gift of creativity and strive to use it in all areas of my life, to bring more beauty into the world. What a wonderful world indeed it would be if everyone chose to be a little kinder and use the talents they have to enrich our own lives and the lives of others. To let our light shine in the darkness and light other candles along the, yes it would be a better world indeed.

Here are a few of my favorite furry friends painted  in watercolors. I have so much fun painting critters. I have been fascinated with animals since I was a child. We always had birds, cats, rabbits or turtles around, might of had more but we lived in town. Now that We live on the ranch we have llamas, cows, sheep , five cats, one dog, raccoons and birds. The wild rabbits hang around and mr Roadrunner and his family, a family of fox come and go and an occasional Peacock wanders through when he escapes the neighbors and is a free bird for a while. Now you see with all this inspiration all around me why I enjoy painting them!

Artist Trading Cards by Leada Wood

Artist Trading Cards are fun to create and a challenge as the surface in only 2.5 x 3.5 inches. I used collage, stencils, gold leaf and ephemera to create this series. Kelly Hoernig hosted the exchange and I am looking forward to the mail next week as I will get some art mail! It is enjoyable to participate in the different art exchanges I do, as I now have art from around the world. Artists are so generous to bare their souls and share their work with us, don’t you think?

This little Abby is the one I kept as I always keep one for myself and send others to friends during every exchange. This one was special to me as I experimented in hammering copper and wire to incorporate into the design. I also added Swarovski crystals to it to give it a little more sparkle and gold leaf.