You Wanna See the Cutest Thing?

Remember Halle and Og the Frog from THIS post. Well, this is the "thank you" that Halle sent me. I did a little happy dance when I saw it. I love the frog, the fish, the seaweed, the bug, EVERYTHING. Halle's mom said that she spent 30 minutes studying each step in the frog drawing process and she drew nothing but frogs for a few days. Thank you Halle. I couldn't be more proud.

I am finding through teaching art to my daughter's class that the kids really love these step by step doodles. They start by saying, "I can't draw a frog." and end up wanting to show the whole class their drawing because they are so proud that they can draw a frog. The more doodles that I show them, the more confident I see them become. I hear a lot less "I can't" than when we first started.

The other day, while doing some on-line research for art class, I found the coolest little card game. It's called Pick and Draw and we have been anxiously awaiting the mailman since I ordered it. You have got to check out the website for Pick and Draw HERE. It was made by a man named Rich Davis and the funnest thing was when we checked out his BLOG. He has a bunch of step by step drawings posted, like Ekey the Running Robot, Doodlebugs, Ralph the Dog and other treasures. My daughter and I spent Sunday evening going through tons of doodle tutorials there. So fun! In fact, my daughter has been doing quite a few Doodlebug drawings. We have Doodlebugs everywhere!

I cannot believe the impact of these simple little drawings, not only on kids, but also on myself. Speaking of which, I have got to go check the mail...hoping for our Pick and Draw!

Happy Valentine's Day

January 14, 2013 Update: A free print and color PDF is now available for some of these Valentines.  You can find it on THIS POST.
 I am a huge fan of Alisa Burke. I'm sure I have mentioned it before. Her sketchbook posts especially amaze me. The other day she posted THIS on her blog. She used simple, cheap construction paper to make some cool doodle valentines. I loved her post and set out to make my own doodle valentines, Jolene style. It was easy to get right to work since I had everything I needed. I used my favorite white cardstock (110 lb. smooth from Office Max), black Pitt pens (or Sharpies), watercolors, AND since Alisa is into dimensional paint, I thought I'd try some too. My mom happened to have a ton of it leftover from a "grandma sleepover" and let me have it.
I have a little notebook in my purse that goes with me EVERYWHERE. I keep random quotes, notes from church, cool color combinations that I see, phone numbers, blogs I'd like to look up, ideas that come to me, and doodles (tons of doodles) in it. So if you see me standing in the middle of the mall, staring at a store window and writing in a little notebook, don't be concerned. If life was a cartoon, you would see a little lightbulb above my head, because something, somewhere has given me an idea and if I don't write it down immediately, I know it will be gone before I ever even make it to my car. Also, you might see a cute girl patiently waiting for me to finish up some sketch and silently hoping no one notices. I almost NEVER go to the mall without my daughter's cute persistence.
Most of my doodles are flowers it seems but there are a few other things in there too. Some of them I have really liked, so I opened up my notebook and used some of those doodles for inspiration on my valentines.
I doodled along with my Pitt pens and then used my watercolors to paint the colors. I then used dots of dimensional paint (mostly the crystal sparkly kind) and glued it on a piece of colored cardstock. I like them a lot. They were easy, inexpensive, and fun to do. How I wish I could send one to each of you. I have been so grateful for the blogging friends that I have made and the kindness that you have shown to me. Sometimes, the little things that you leave on my blog for me, are exactly what I need when the days are tough, and the boost I need when they are not. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
My love to each of you and Happy Valentine's Day!

Broken Things

Do you ever feel like this little flower? All tired and bent over and broken? Yeah, me too. Sometimes life just feels so heavy. Like you will never be able to straighten out. Recently I came across a little quote that made me feel a little lighter, helped me stand a little straighter, and reminded me of how much I am loved. It made me feel so good, I wanted to hurry up and paint the words and feelings, so I could share it with you.

"God Loves Broken Things"

18"x14" mixed media on canvas board

Sometimes it's good to remember that when you're feeling a little broken, that's when God shines his light on you the most. We just have to look up and feel the warmth to remember that we are loved more than we can imagine.
So remember..."God loves broken things....because God is in the business of fixing broken things."

My Unexpected Painting

So, the other day I set out in search of the top of my desk and I don't really remember if getting it cleaned off inspired me to paint something or if I just lost focus and decided painting was funner than cleaning my desk (most likely scenario), but to make a long story short...I sat down to clean my desk and ended up with a painting. Because it was sort of unintended, it is kind of an odd size but I had a piece of 9x9 watercolor paper and this is how it ended up.

"Unintended Love"-SOLD

9x9 mixed media on watercolor paper

It is very textural, which I love. I used much of the collage pieces in the substrate to dictate pretty much everything. For instance, I used a piece of ripped out notebook paper on the substrate and it left a row of torn little circles which ended up as a little scallop along the top. I had 6 little rectangles of colored scrapbook papers which I decided looked good together so I used those basic colors for the entire painting. I enhanced the colors of the little rectangles with paint and then used them for the "LOVE" title. I didn't even know what I was going to put there and after I doodled in the heart on the first one, I decided I needed a word there. I could only think of two, so I asked my husband to help me think of a 4 letter word that wasn't "love" or "s***" (sorry, it was all I could think of, and in my usual way, I am probably a little too honest). At that point, I felt the painting could go either way, and "love" or the other, could prove to be an accurate description. But in the end I really do love it. I am continually amazed by the creative process. I truly don't know how I ended up with this little painting, but now, once again, I must go in search of the top of my desk. Who knows what will happen?