Day 30 - World Watercolor Month - Stormy Days And Snails - Doodlewash
By Charlie

World Watercolor Month – Day 30 – After The Storm

Written by Charlie O'Shields

During the summer months, we get a lot of hot weather, and the occasional rainy day, or lately, a really stormy day. There have been a couple times this season where a storm has been very severe, leaving a host of fallen trees and debris in its wake. Thankfully, we’ve not sustained any damage to our home, but bad storms can always be a little unsettling. On the flip side, the calm after the storm is a really beautiful thing indeed. It’s that moment where everything seems incredibly peaceful suddenly, more so than it had ever been before. And when I was a kid, I loved seeing all the snails appear immediately after a rain. Well, eventually, as snails move rather slowly. They were fascinating to me back then and still hold the same appeal as an adult. Though my urge to actually touch them has faded. But it’s cool to see these little quiet neighbors suddenly come out to enjoy the weather. It was always a sign that things would be calm once again.

During one recent storm, we walked outside afterward to find a large tree was blocking the end of the sidewalk. Since we’re in a rowhome and at the very end away from the road, this particular walkway was the only way to walk out the front door to the street. So, we were literally blocked in that direction.  It was wild to walk out after the storm and see just a mass of leaves where the view of the street had once been. The sun hadn’t quite set, yet it was fairly dark, and all the neighbors came out to view the damage. No house was harmed and even more importantly, no person, but there we all were, staring at a large mass of branches and wondering what was happening on the other side. Despite the sadness of losing a large and lovely tree, there was equally a sense of solidarity. We didn’t say much. We didn’t have too. We were a community and we knew that, if nothing else, we still had each other. And that’s the most beautiful feeling of all!

It’s been a very busy month this July and World Watercolor Month has been an incredible experience! A very special thanks to all of our amazing official sponsors for their generous support of this charitable event! And thanks to each of you for participating and hopefully, donating a bit to the heart of World Watercolor Month, so we can raise funds for The Dreaming Zebra Foundation and get arts supplies for underprivileged kids. And, thanks to our awesome sponsors, we’ve had incredible giveaways (still time to enter two of them!), and I’ve also had something to give back to you each and every day. For this post, I have my last 10 Cheap Joe’s American Journey Sample Sets for anyone who hasn’t been awarded one yet and replies below with “I Love World Watercolor Month!” to let me know they want one! After such a busy month, one would think I’d take a break, but why stop now?! It’s been raining watercolors all month long and to just keep right on painting is the best thing I can think to do after the storm!

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About the Doodlewash

M. Graham Watercolors: Azo Yellow, Dioxazine Purple, Ultramarine Blue, Phthlocyanine Green, Burnt Sienna, and Nuetral Tint.  Lamy Al-Star Safari Fountain Pen with sepia ink in an A6 Hahnemühle Watercolor Book.
  Day 30 - World Watercolor Month - Stormy Days And Snails - Doodlewash

Charlie O'Shields

Creator of Doodlewash, founder of World Watercolor Month (July), World Watercolor Group, and host of the Sketching Stuff Podcast. Sharing watercolor illustrations and stories while proudly featuring talented artists from all over the world!

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53 thoughts on “World Watercolor Month – Day 30 – After The Storm”

  2. This snail is a sluggard.
    Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
    At least he has a beautiful portrait of his labors to hang on his wall.
    Sorry for the loss of the big tree – hopefully no serious damage or injuries when it fell.

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  4. I love world watercolor month!! But more than that I love this site and the community you’ve created. And I love this sweet snail. Since I live in such a hot place, I’m constantly in a state of high anxiety about how our critters fare when there’s no water. Paradoxically, I also loathe water and rain :). Life is confusing and awesome. Thanks for everything you’ve done this month. I feel like I can’t say that enough.

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  5. This snail is so real! “I Love World Watercolor Month!” Happy Painting 🎨 I really don’t remember if I am in or down for this one. 😄

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  9. What a cute little snail, and I’m not a fan of snails, especially when they eat our hostas. Thankfully no one was hurt during your storm. Thank you Cheap Joe’s, I love watercolor month. And thanks to all the other sponsors for their samples too. I think I am already going to be a recipient of one of these. Thank you Charlie….so nice.

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  13. What a great job Charlie! On this painting – and this entire month! So encouraging – so motivating – must be SOOOO tiring for you! 🙂 Thanks so much for all you did/do!

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  14. This has been a great month of appreciating watercolor art. So many very talented artists. Thank you, Charlie and all of the sponsors who have generously contributed. Glad that the Dreaming Zebra Foundation is looking out for the kids and supporting the arts. I had never head of it before and this is a wonderful way to promote support for such a good cause.

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    1. So much, Mary!! 😃💕And so happy to introduce you to Dreaming Zebra… they do such great work. I can’t imagine a world without art and artists, so it’s important to support kids who want to create! So happy you enjoyed the month!

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  19. This month has been so much fun.. the community spirit and all the lovely art has been amazing. Your little snail looks a little puzzled to me… Maybe he is trying to understand all the excitement this month has generated. 🙂

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  22. Glad to hear you’ve all survived the storm in one piece Charlie, and congrats on putting together a fantastic world watercolour month, all your hard work much appreciated, it’s been such a lively and enjoyable project, hope you can now have a well earned rest !

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  23. I’m enjoying the word pictures you paint Charlie. I think I’m going to have to paint a snail today. Although, growing up in England where they are a real pest didn’t endear them to me. Here on the prairies we only see slugs (much harder to love). As an aside, it was the Roman invaders who brought snails to England as a food source, I think they brought dandelions too. I believe the Brits brought sparrows to N.A. But look at all those lovely sparrow paintings that keep popping up on the face book page of World of Watercolour. Sad to hear about the loss of your tree, but you have chance do a close-up of leaves and branches. (Lemons and lemonade.) Here we go another painting!

    Reply

    1. What an awesome addition of story! Thanks for that Jan! Love it!! 😃💕 I love history!! And yeah, slugs were more interesting as a kid. Now they just gross me out. 😊 But yes, I always make lemonade out of lemons… it’s just a better way to live!

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  24. It’s crazy about the tree, thank goodness no-one was injured. We get spooked enough here when the garden furniture is overturned! I used to enjoy the snails coming out to play, too – I remember they all seemed to congregate on the garden wall. Beautiful doodlewash – what a nice shell this guy has!

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    1. Thanks so much, Jacob! 😃💕 Yep, nobody was hurt, but the scene was so surreal! And yeah…. the snail congregation was so interesting. It was like they all came out to have a meeting but weren’t telling us what it was about. Hmmmmmmmm….

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  25. aha.. now that I see the snail I know why my Cheap Joes and DaVinci samples haven’t arrived yet. Snails do travel slowly and I know Cheap Joe’s orders take forever to arrive in shipping. I guess I will just have to be patient.

    Today is the last day for celebrating World Watercolor Month and I’ve really enjoyed it. Thank you so much for all your hard work and your daily messages. I’m pretty much of a daily painter anyway but it’s been especially fun to log onto the site everyday to see what’s new and I’ve really enjoyed the guest artist contributions.

    Reply

    1. hehe… yes! Everything should arrive within 30 days, but let me know if it doesn’t! 😉 And thanks so much, Kaye! 😃💕 I’m thrilled that you’re enjoying Doodlewash! The guest artist posts are my favorite… they are really the reason that I’ve managed to paint daily since the moment I began. I’m humbled and inspired each week!

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  26. After the tornado ate our town in 2014 (Pilger, NE), we felt this, too. There was all this apocalyptic destruction everywhere you looked, and a preternatural quiet over it all, like even the earth itself was trying to puzzle out what just happened. But our neighbors… we all just held hands and in the days afterward, pitched in to help each other in extraordinary ways, and in the second week, seed corn from the grain silos on the edge of town started sprouting everywhere, like new life in the scars.

    There were no snails, that I saw. But life, and community, and hope.

    <3

    Reply

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