Michelle G Brown | Mixed Media Art

Mixed Media Artist Janelle Nichol

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This article is written by Michelle G. Brown

When I first came across the work of Janelle Nichol work, somewhere on the Internet, I wanted to know more about her. I loved her pieces that I saw; they were delicate and feminine, and with a distinctive look that combines mixed media with fine art painting. I had a chance to catch up with Janelle via Skype so we could chat about her work.

Janelle lives in Alberta, Canada with her family, and I was delighted to discover that Janelle is actually a self-taught artist. While she has always been creative, and also has a previous career in music teaching, she has only been painting and collaging for about five years, and as what she considers “seriously” for three years. Her style includes collage and paints, and she just loves trying things, which fits perfectly under the “mixed media” genre.

With a focal point around women and children, Janelle’s style has been described as abstract folk art. Her work shows a strength and softness in the same piece. One of her favourite comments from an art show customer was that her work “celebrates women for who they are”!

Janelle’s go-to materials include the full range of mixed media materials, with gesso, paints, tissue paper, gelato’s, intense blocks, sprays, Distressed inks and stains all being part of her collection. Anything that adds texture also features; moulding paste, sequins, glass beads and all sorts of unexpected ephemera can be seen when looking closely at her pieces.

When I asked about Janelle’s mixed media process, she tells me she will often start with a sketch and a vision that includes the images and the mood, feelings and colours of the piece.

Then she creates the background, which can take on a life of it’s own but will stick to the colours and feel in her vision. This maintains the mood Janelle is trying to achieve with each piece. Tracing her sketch onto the mixed media background adds the focal point and Janelle then paints in her figure. Here we can see these steps as this piece “A Meditation” progresses:

Creating a background

Sketching in the main figure

Painting in the figure

Detail hidden in the finished piece

The final piece “A Meditation”

Once Janelle has finished a mixed media painting, she will take high quality photos which allows her to turn her paintings into cards and prints. Then Janelle changes to her “business” hat, where her images are added to her website. Janelle does all of the work herself and she likes the balance that being an artist and business women provides. While the paint is drying, Janelle promotes her work through her website and Facebook page, and prepares for the numerous shows she does.

There are a number of shows that Janelle regularly exhibits at and it gives her a chance to engage with the public, as well as meet other artists. The show customers love seeing her work in “real life” as all of the depth and texture always looks better to see a piece of art in person. The shows also give Janelle a chance to put her face to her work and helps the sales process. It has taken a few years to build up to the number of shows Janelle is currently doing.

Our discussion then turned to the future for Janelle. She is currently working on the 2014 Fall shows, along with a book that will include her work with inspiring quotes, “like a coffee table book”, which is currently planned for a Fall 2015 release. Janelle’s head is full of ideas for new mixed media paintings and calendars and so many projects and opportunities, including looking into teaching online classes, as well as a secret “new thing” that is in process but now quite ready to reveal to the world, just yet (she promises we will be amongst the first to know when it’s ready to go!)

Whatever Janelle turns her hands to next, we will certainly be following along.

You can see more of Janelle’s work on her website: JanelleNichol.com or her Facebook page.

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Janelle loves sharing her mixed media process and in this video you can watch her create at least four different backgrounds, with different sized canvases using a variety of mixed media techniques! I lost count of the number of media she uses: gelatos, sprays, inktense blocks, distress inks and stains, paints, tissue paper, markers, gesso, stencils – a that’s just for the backgrounds!!

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Michelle G. Brown is passionate about mixed media art and enjoys sharing her knowledge and techniques with you to allow you to express your own creativity. Michelle understands that many of us have an inner need to create. By learning a few basic techniques the amazing world of mixed media art is accessible to everyone!

Michelle lives with her husband and two boys in Melbourne, Australia. When she is not creating or on Facebook, she’s at karate training.

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Filed Under: Mixed Media Artists Tagged With: Canada, collage, Janelle Nichol, Mixed Media Painting

“Share the Moments of Joy” through Mixed Media Painting

By MMA Team Leave a Comment

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This article is written by Marilyn Harris Mills

Creating mixed media feeds my soul. When I need to immerse myself into creativity and inspiration, I reach out to my supplies that are beckoning me to discover fresh ideas of using them.

I’m a Golden lover! I use the Golden line of products exclusively, whether it be their fluid, open or heavy bodied acrylics or their abundant choice of mediums. There is nothing better than to leave my studio gummed up with molding paste and dried paint!

This project I’ve created for you is about using various supplies to create a small work of art. As artists, we tend to overload on our addiction for art supplies. Consequently we don’t always take the time to co-mingle the supplies working them in tandem with each other to create something that they lead us to discover. In this project I’ve reached for and used fluid acrylics, molding paste, a rubber stamp, twinkling H2O’s, washi tape, dye ink sprays and pads, and embellishments such as flowers, buttons & wooden butterflies. What didn’t I use?!! These products are my favourites…ones I reach for time and again. Using embellishments I’ve collected over the years, it is fun to combine them into an art piece.

I create based on my intuition….my inner voice tells me the journey to take while I reach for my supplies during the process. I have no pre-conceived notions of where I will end up. I choose the colours of my paints & the mediums first….then the supplies that will add the meaning to the project; in this project I chose a rubber stamp ….next I simply reach for “do-dads” as I call them (embellishments) to enhance the project. The final step is to bring harmony to the project. In this particular piece, I used an old toothbrush to splatter white paint over everything….creating harmony and cohesiveness in the project is an important step I believe and one that is often overlooked.

Each project is as they say “a labour of love”…..but it’s not labour, it’s simply my inner muse, my soul coming out to play….the process is the love part. An opportunity to express with art what I cannot say with words. With this project, I’m sharing with you the moments of joy this creation offered to me.

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A bit about Marilyn Harris Mills:

I’m passionate, creative and eccentric, at least that’s what my girlfriends tell me! I’m a professional published artist, designer and teacher living in Ottawa Canada. I journey through life with my dogs Lucy and Mozart. Practicing yoga, journaling, meditating and walks in the forest nourish and excite me. I did try knitting once but gave that up…couldn’t remember to count the stitches. In my free time, I practice Zentangles and Mandalas. I also love creating mixed media art – it feeds my soul. I volunteer, teaching art to teenage girls at a treatment centre. It is the most rewarding endeavour of my life. One of my favourite quotes is “I work in whatever medium likes me at the moment!” (Marc Chagall)

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Filed Under: Mixed Media Painting Tagged With: canvas, Golden, Golden paints, moulding paste

Evolution of a Mixed Media Artist

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This article was written by Anjuli Johnson

I remember clearly my first scrapbook. I was almost 12 years old, and my mother helped me cover a basic three ring binder with fabric and lace. I used plastic sleeves to hold all my paper treasures- school awards and church certificates, hand-outs with quotes, pictures of friends and all different kinds of ephemera from my middle school days and on into high school. When I was in college, I quickly became enamored of the scrapbooking craze, which seemed especially strong in the Northern Utah town where I ended up. I spent a little too much on classes and supplies, but I justified myself by the reminder that it was all for preserving memories and having a way (a very fun, rather expensive way) of cataloging my life and being able to share it and pass it on. As years passed and my talent improved, I began to see the work of other artists whose work was not the result of cataloging memories, yet appealed very strongly to me.

I began to have this strong desire to use my artistic talents in other ways, but I couldn’t get past my old justification. If I was spending money with a purpose, like preserving memories and photos, I was ok. I just didn’t see the purpose in the lovely, amazing creations I was seeing around me. And I was intimidated by the creative thinking, care, and time that was so obviously a huge part of the work that I was seeing. As long as I could tell myself that what I was creating had a purpose, I could make something that wasn’t quite up to standards and still find value in it. The pictures and memories were still meaningful, even if my layout didn’t turn out quite the way I wanted, and if I couldn’t get my layouts to turn out the way I wanted, even after years of scrapbooking, how could I possibly think I’d be able to make anything else well? It wasn’t until I moved out east, and left all of my art supplies in storage (unwilling) for two years that my thinking began to change. I missed my engagement in the creative process. I missed working with my hands. I missed the satisfaction I felt in finishing a piece and I missed most of all the clarity and balance that spending time at my craft table brought to me. At one point, I started learning an entirely new hobby- working with polymer clay- as a way to get back some of what I was missing so much.

Then came the blessed day all of my long lost supplies and books were returned to me. I began to create again, and that time of fasting did for me what I couldn’t have done on my own- it gave me the courage and determination to finally jump into mixed media art- to create without a purpose. I began buying new supplies, but I also used so many of my old supplies I was surprised. Old paper I’d been collecting, old tools, old embellishments, and old ideas I recycled into new creations. I even used some polymer clay in my new pieces, and as I began to work every day, I realized that I was creating with a purpose. I was focusing my thoughts and learning more about my beliefs as I worked to incorporate meaning and symbolism in my pieces. My talents were developing and ideas were flowing more regularly. I was learning discipline and patience as I struggled with new supplies and techniques. As I started a blog and began to share my pieces, I saw others find meaning and understanding in what they saw in my work, and I was likewise moved and inspired when I began to learn about the effort and meaning in the work of other artists. It’s been amazing to realize how important and sacred the act of creation is. As we create, we become. We become better artists, but even more than that, we can become better people, and we help others do the same. It’s become a defining lesson; understanding that the process of creating is just as important, if not more important, than the final result of each piece.

I am still intimidated by the awesome art I see around me, but I no longer feel that my scrapbooks are the only valuable art I create. I have grown in courage and my comfort zone is getting bigger and bigger. So whether you are a full-time artist making millions of dollars, or a beginner full of self doubt and fear, let’s get creating and let the process refine us. It will- I guarantee it.

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Anjuli Johnson is a Mixed Media Artist from Raleigh, NC. She began her art career as a scrapbooker, and it’s been an evolutionary process every since. She loves all things mixed media- paper, glue, paint, canvas, pens, wire, gears… the list goes on and on. She is constantly trying to push through her fears to discover and develop her talents, meet new people, and learn from those around her. You can see more of Anjuli’s work on her Facebook page or Website – the Far Pavilion

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Filed Under: Mixed Media Art Tagged With: act of creation, creating art, Mixed Media Art, purpose of art, why create art

Glorious Glue

By MMA Team 2 Comments

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This article is written by Ann Strecko Koeman

Glue, glorious glue! Where would we mixed media artists be without this essential medium ? Personally, it is of great importance to me. Ever since I was allowed to use paste from a young age I have learned to love and hate the gooey sticky stuff. As a child I used that yellowy syrup sticky liquid, looking like clear honey or diluted maple syrup, but it did not smell yummy. It came in a little clear bottle with a red rubber nipple top that one had to either create a slit into unless the brand you bought came pre slit.

That stuff was messy and wet, but it worked for my construction paper crafting. With my mom I was allowed to use contact cement glue to paste clippings into our scrapbook. After all it was the ’70’s! We did not know or care about acid free and archival quality. We were lucky if our parents actually bought real glue instead of having to always make due with a homemade paste version.

Over the decades I have learned different types of arts and crafts that all use a variety of adhesives. Some smellier than others, and some more convenient than others. I also learned that glues could be used as more than an adhesive when it comes to art making. In this article I will share with you a few of my unusual glue uses that involve hot glues, moulds, and plain old white school glue.

Recently I purposely started playing around with my hot glue gun. I had noticed that whenever hot glue drips ,drizzles and is left to dry on a hard non porous surface such as tile or a silicon mat,it tends to lift off easily when it is completely cool. So I started playing with making some stars out of glue on my work table. I liked what I saw, and proceeded to do a little research on the internet.

Well, other people had the same idea and they took it a little further and they were making stencils, stamps, and embellishments. So, armed with my twenty year old little low temp glue gun I started to make some patterns with the glue, let it dry and cool completely and I had made some very funky stencils. These are so much fun to make, easy and inexpensive. I had never had any creative use for my glue gun, it was just a tool, a means to get things to stick together, but now a whole new world had opened up.

I have since purchased a better quality glue gun that has a precision tip, is dual temperature and can be used without its long electric cord for short periods of time. I started playing with different types and colours of glue sticks. I even invested in some specially made hot glue/resin making moulds.

There are even glue like sticks that contain resin that can be melted in your glue gun and shot into these moulds to make super cute embellishments. These embellishments can then be altered with inks, paints, and mica powders to get any colour or look you desire. It is an economical way to make a large collection of embellishments that can be used in a multitude of projects.

I also tried playing with regular white school glue and made a few discoveries. For one, white glue is a wonderful medium to use to obtain a crackled paint effect on just about any surface. You just need to paint a coat of paint (Acrylic) let it dry slightly, coat that with glue, let that become tacky, and give it another coat of paint. Drying times will vary between glues and paints, so some experimenting is required. However, the effects are so interesting.

Another thing I have learned to do with white glue, cardboard, and aluminum foil is make faux metal embellishments. By drawing a design onto a piece of cardboard with glue, letting the glue dry, then covering the glue design with aluminum foil. Finally, I use inks to colour the foil to make it look like aged metal. The possibilities are endless.

I am really pleased with my experiments and I am happy to share these ideas. Who knew something so plain as glue could be used co creatively? I hope that you get to play and make some discoveries of your own. A few words of caution though: always work with glues in a properly ventilated area, and don’t stick your fingers together! Please, don’t ask how I know.

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Ann is a Mixed Media Artist, Designer, Instructor, and writer working and living in the country side of Canada’s capital. Where she often finds herself in “sticky “ situations and wishes she had invested in glue stock!

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Filed Under: Mixed Media Art Tips Tagged With: adhesives, embellishments, glue, mediums, molds, resin molds

Michelle G Brown | Mixed Media Art

Mixed Media Artist Janelle Nichol

“Share the Moments of Joy” through Mixed Media Painting

Evolution of a Mixed Media Artist

Glorious Glue

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