Little Flower ~ mixed media & collage

And another. I added a little water soluble crayon to this one. I tried some gestural marks but settled on a few do-dads to carry some blue throughout the collage. Last night I stumbled onto a few Youtube videos with more good ideas for collage papers so I may give them a go next. In the meantime I'm thoroughly enjoying myself working on these little collages. This one and the last are both approx 8" x 8".

January ~ mixed media & collage

I've titled this one 'January' because it was inspired by the view outside my living room window this month. Icy, drippy, chilly and truly 50 shades of grey. It's a combo of homemade and purchased decorative papers, silver leaf and acrylic on HP watercolor paper. I used a mixture of tissue paper and gesso for texture. It didn't scan well but it's impossible to get a good photo because the days are so dark and silver leaf is tricky. I've already got a start on my next collage and this one will be 'warmer'.

Mixed Media (new series)~ 1st update

I did something I've never done before. I worked on four paintings simultaneously and this is the result. I cut four pieces of HP watercolor paper and simply started in tearing and gluing papers at random, adding paint and gesture marks...whatever each piece seemed to need...and I don't know when I've had so much fun. Pure enjoyment. This is the feeling I want when I create. This is what I've been searching for. I may have found my new direction. I did catch myself early on starting to judge and become overly critical but I quickly put the kibosh on it. It surprised me how easily I was able to shut down those negative thoughts.

Making Collage Material

This has been my ongoing project this past week. I've discovered a love for inexpensive brown kraft paper, the kind you usually find with the mailing supplies in dollar stores. It's the perfect weight and I like the texture it can give me. When I painted it with heavy body yellow oxide acrylic I got something akin to ultra suede. Nice! I've tea stained crumpled tracing paper and even used pickled beet juice here and there. I was surprised the beet juice didn't turn that funky brown shade when dry. Maybe the vinegar was the hero. Either way it stayed a lovely shade of pink.

I rummaged through a desk drawer and found an old box of white thumb tacks which gave me the idea to gild them. I wound up using both copper and silver composite leaf . I also embellished a few with alcohol ink.

I gathered a huge stack of old artist magazines and chose lots of yummy artwork to add to my collection. I also went through my purchased art papers and cut samples of each. I now have a palette  of papers to begin my collages and of course I can always add as I go along.