Thursday, March 24, 2022

The Fifth Season

 Hi everyone.  Happy Thursday.

Today I have another page for Valerie's Spring challenge.  Those of you who have or have had dogs might appreciate this one, especially if you have a yard full of freshly melted snow or after a heavy spring rain.  Or even if you don't have dogs but have a yard that's wet and soft, you know what I mean. 

My area is in mud season now, but just slightly past the peak of it, as long as we don't have a lot of precipitation to get it all muddy again. Smile.


Lois and Jim let their dogs out one evening when they got home from work. They have a large yard, and it is fenced in, but since by the time they got home is was dusk, they didn't realize how muddy the yard had become over the course of the day.

I think doggie bath time is going to take up a good chunk of their evening. 

To make this page I started with a stencil and a brown watercolor marker. After I'd finished stenciling in the image, I washed over it with a big Chinese calligraphy style brush. I also dipped my brush into some blue watercolor paint  just to give the background a little pop of non-muddy color.

I also think this stencil and some colorful markers would make a cool tie-dye background, so you just might be seeing it again.

I drew in the door and used some white ink to paint in the lighter background inside the doorway.  
On my page I used a bit of blue watercolor over the white ink just to make it a little less white. 

I used various stamps to make the people and dogs. I stamped them on white paper, colored and fussy cut them and then arranged them on my page. I doodled in the rug that the Lois and Jim are standing on. I used a black watercolor crayon and scribbled the mud all over the dogs, and then took a wet paintbrush to spread it to create the mud. 

Finally I scribbled in the title of my page.

I am linking this page up to Valerie's spring challenge at Art Journal Journey.

A couple of years ago I got sick of muddy paw prints every time our dogs went out and then came in, so I  bought a piece of that fake grass rug and put it at the bottom of the outside stairs where the dogs had worn away the actual grass.


It isn't exactly attractive (OK, it is hideous), but it does the trick. I am also amazed how well it has held up too. One of these years we need to redo the sidewalk, and once we do that and put in paving tiles right up to the steps, then I'll get rid of the fake grass.

It's like watching something in slow motion, but I've been keeping track of the snow melt, and mud, in my yard.


I think you can see the mud and puddles on the lawn  in this photo from last week. It's NOT pretty. 





And then finally, it's gone.  Hurrah!!!!! Now the next step is a bit of greening up. 

Welcome to the 5th season of the year. 

I hope your week is going well. And thanks so much for visiting.








15 comments:

Valerie-Jael said...

Happy mud season. Dogs all seem to love mud, mine always did and bathed in every patch of mud they could find. And it's fun to see the snow disappearing in the yard. Thanks for another fun and fantastic page for my challenge at AJJ, much appreciated. Hugs, Valerie

kathyinozarks said...

good morning Erika, what a fun journal page so cute-and I can relate as we always had pets too, til we reached our 70's
mud does come along with spring for sure-we have had rain here every day now this week. the turf by the door is perfect for the dogs-that was a great idea.
Happy thursday Kathy

Angie's Recipes said...

A lot of cleaning to do when the snow melts...this year we had ZERO snow. Dogs are surely having fun with the mud, but we, who need to clean all the mess, just find it too much.

Neet said...

Never heard of mud season before but i can see what you mean from your photographs.
I just love the way you have illustrated it in your journal with Lois and Jim. I recognise the dog figures but not the humans. What fabulous images they are, they look as if they have been specifically drawn for you.
A fab page, I really love it.
Happy Mud season ending.
Hugs, Neet xx

Divers and Sundry said...

Dogs can make a lawn impossible to maintain. I think your idea is perfect. The paving will be nice, but this certainly does the job.

carol l mckenna said...

Fun 'take' on the mud season and creative besides and lovely photos of your area ~ good idea with the fake grass ~ Xo

Wishing you love and laughter in your days,

A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)

Iris Flavia said...

Yay for the snow going away, but... ohhhh - haha, the dogs sure had fun!
Very well done!

Jeanie said...

That's a great idea! The snow may be gone but the mud is far from it! I should remember that for when Kevin's dog comes to stay! Charlie and Mud are quite a pair!

craftytrog said...

Great page Erika!
Happy mud season 🙂

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I love this page, Erika. It is adorable. I had a dog that hated muddy paws and wouldn't come inside until his paws were clean. A rare breed indeed! Your page brought back lots of memories. Thanks for sharing it with us at Art Journal Journey using Valerie's theme.

Personally, I think you did a great job keeping mud out of your house. That fake grass stands up to a LOT, since they use it on football fields year after year. Laved watching the snow disappear at your place, too.

NatureFootstep said...

love it. Love the drawing and the muddy shots.
I have been walking on the fields this week looking for deer and came adross a really muddy field. I think I had at least 1 kilogram of mud on my boots. :) They were heavy! :)

Mae Travels said...

You remind me of some poems and songs about mud. LIke “Mud, Mud, glorious Mud.” Or Robert Frostls “Two Tramps in Mud Time.”

Best… mae at maefood.blogspot.com

Meggymay said...

Oh Erika, this brought back memories. Meg and all the family dogs over the years seemed to be magnets to mud and muck, one of the first thing we did to the house was to get a water pipe and tap fixed outside so we could hose them down.
Its a fabulous page and shows that spring isn't always about flowers and brighter days.
Yvonne xx

Lowcarb team member said...

What a fun journal page this is :)

All the best Jan

pearshapedcrafting said...

This is so funny! We saw lots of muddy dogs in the park the other week. One lady had put waterproof coats on her dogs - said she would rather wash the coats than the dogs!!Hugs, Chrisx