Michelle G Brown | Mixed Media Art

Getting Artistic with the Heroes Around All of Us

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This article is written by Victoria Warren-Mears

Great inspirations for art are the heroes and saints among us. I have long been a fan of Sir Winston Churchill, a great orator and leader. Did you know that he was said to have had a lisp? What a job to overcome and give inspirational speeches.

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill (1874-1965) described himself as “an English-Speaking Union,” being the son of Lord Randolph Churchill and the American heiress Jennie Jerome. He was educated at Harrow and the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, and was sent to India with a cavalry commission in 1895. He won early fame as a war correspondent, covering the Cuban revolt against Spain (1895), and British campaigns in the Northwest Frontier of India (1897), the Sudan (1898) and South Africa during the Boer War (1899). Churchill had authored five books by the age of 26. His daring escape from a Boer prison camp in 1899 made him a national hero and ushered him into the House of Commons, where his career spanned 60 years. (Source www.winstonchurchill.org)

I particularly am fond on the speeches given by radio to bolster Britain. For this journal page, I hand wrote a portion of one of Churchill’s speeches in pencil in my mixed media art journal. The words question the presence of evil in the world and the need for non-complacency in the face of evil.

The products I used for this journal page were supplies I had on hand in my studio:

Strathmore Mixed Media Visual Journal 5.5 inch by 8 inch (14 x 20.3 cm)

Grumbacher Academy Acrylic Paint – Lemon Yellow

Tattered Angels mist – Italian Sunset and Alaskan Salmon

Chalk Ink – Pink Grapefruit and Key Lime

Faber-Castell Pitt Pen – Black

Signo Uni-Ball – White pen

Pink Paislee Rub ons

7 Gypsies – Paper tape and black rub ons

I initially wrote the speech on the background. Over this I painted a wash of 2/3 part water and 1/3 part lemon yellow acrylic paint. After allowing this to dry, I began the layering process. The next step involved misting with Italian Sunset, which was allowed to dry. Then, I misted with Alaskan Salmon. After this was thoroughly dried, I stamped with pink grapefruit and key lime ink. I also used a plastic doily and inked over it with Pink Grapefruit ink.

I transferred the photo of a young and old Winston Churchill from a transparency, using hand sanitizer and a rubbing tool. I adhered another transfer over the previous transfer, to give dimension. Finally, I used various rub ons and tape to complete the mixed media page.

I love how I can still read bits and pieces of the speech and have a wonderful series of images of the orator for my inspiration.

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Victoria Warren-Mears is full time scientist and part time artist working in paper and mixed media. She can be found at work in her home studio, along with her husband, son and rescue dog. You can see more of her work online at Victoria’s Mellifluous Musings

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Filed Under: Mixed Media Art Journal Tagged With: heroes, inspiring speeches, layout, mixed media collage

Conquering Your Fear of Craft Sprays

By MMA Team 1 Comment

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This article is written by Kim Kelley

Afraid ~ adjective \ə-ˈfrād, Southern also ə-ˈfred\ filled with fear or apprehension

Is there anything you are afraid of? Most people would answer spiders, heights, or tight places. Me? I am afraid of mists, spritzes, and craft sprays! OK that and spiders! I worry when I grab that spray bottle of color; will it splat, blob or not even make it on my project, making a total ugly mess. So today I am taking control of my fear and with toes crossed, praying I don’t mess up!

There are more companies making color sprays than I can list, so I decided to concentrate with my newest brand; Lindy’s Stamp Gang. There are also different types of sprays; glimmer, shimmer, flat and oh so many more.

For this project I am using a frame I purchased from Hobby Lobby for $1.99 in their clearance section. There were a few sizes and some different colors, but since I knew I could redo them, I was fine buying several.

I started by applying 2 coats of gesso all over, allowing it to dry between coats. Then, on one frame I added distress crackle and on another the crackle paste. I have never tried the paste and wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out.

Now for the fun (scary) part; spraying. On the frame with the distress crackle I used LSG Kissin Kenickie Coral, Alpine Ice Rose, Rambling Rose Pink, Autumn Maple Crimson and Phantom Fuchsia; starting with the lightest to darkest. So I decided to go darkest to lightest on the crackle paste. You really want to let the colors dry in between spraying or you can lose some of the individual colors.

After letting the frames dry completely I decided I needed a little more dimension. Grabbing some embossing powders that match well with my sprays I went to work. I added some versa mark in various places and started sprinkling my powders! With Lindy’s products you can order kits that will come with the spray, the embossing powder and magical powder (pigment powder) and they all complement each other.

It’s time for the embellishments. For me this is the best part, as I have gotten the scary spray over with, I am ready to decorate. There are so many things you can use to decorate a mixed media project. Today I am going with some chip board pieces, cheesecloth, flowers and some little bits and pieces.

Once I have it looking the way I want I add some varnish, not only sealing it, but giving it a nice shine.

I was afraid…afraid of the sprays, the spritz, the mists, but I have overcome that fear by realizing amazing things can come out of mistakes, that over-spray is only a word used in the car painting industry, and sprays can allow you to create beautiful pieces of art!

By now you must be sensing a theme, I figured many of you are like me, afraid, worried, and fearful of art and what you create. Afraid of trying new techniques, worried you will mess it up, not do it right. You wonder if you create something will others like it, worry if you put your art, that little piece of you out in the world how will it be received. I am here to say that no matter what you create it is right…there is no wrong in art. We all know there are people out there that will not agree or like what you made, but for everyone of those naysayers there are 10 more that will love it! That will see the love, heart and soul that you put into it. So CREATE, BUILD, MAKE what makes you happy and don’t be afraid to show it!

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Kim Kelley is borderline obsessive about her crafting and her art. She loves mixed media art because you are free to go beyond your comfort zone, using your imagination and exploring on anything goes mind set. Kim loves to learn and explore new techniques and hopes that any art she creates leads someone to find their inner creative artist!

Sites: itsallaboutcrafting.blogspot.com and www.facebook.com/kimscraftyconcepts

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Filed Under: Mixed Media Art Techniques Tagged With: flat, glimmer, mists, shimmer, sprays, spritz

Late Afternoon in Elk Meadows

By MMA Team Leave a Comment

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This article is written by Gloria Malouf-Marsh

Elk Meadows is a region in the Rocky Mountains. Many parks and trail systems boasts the Evergreen countryside. It is situated on 30 acres, right outside the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park.

The scenery is vibrant. The atmosphere is fresh and brisk. The mountains are rugged towering to the skies. The pine, fir trees are carpeting the countryside. The animals are soaking the sunshine and this is elk country. Cascading waterfalls, rivers and brooks abound with rock formations in many shapes.

I was excited doing this painting. I wanted to experiment and discover texture. I didn’t realize the challenge I was getting myself in for. So I started with gessoing (not sure if this is a word) the canvas with a palette knife. It was a glorious sunny winter’s morning in Brisbane with some wind. I had some fun manipulating the swirls, tucks, turns and working with the gesso in creating texture and shapes. I’m loosening up with my grip on the brush. My canvas included the beckoning snow capped mountains; streams, waterfalls and rocks surrounding the carpet of trees massed with bright complimenting colors of yellow/orange, greens and the smell of nature surrounded me.

I sat at art class (before I started) looked at a blank yellow painted textured canvas. As I skimmed through books – my imagination had ideas of free flowing curves, and instead of defining scenery, I wanted to listen to my intuition and carry it out without criticism or judgment. My inner critic wanted me to use bright happy natural colors and I chose an area in the Rockies with snow-capped mountains – I then started with the deer brush, dabbing outlines of the trees, dark bottle green and yellow/orange. As the canvas started to unfold my free flowing creativity expressed itself in mountains and pine trees. I came home from my class and my canvas had set out on its own journey. I now need to define and build my subject matter. And on I go.

I used texture paste to form the stirring and splashing of the waterfall and this flowing down to the stream below surrounding rock formations. I applied swirls of water eddying in downward direction to represent the speed of water. I used sand mixed with texture paste to form the rock formations. I then painted the rocks with Provincial Beige. Adding animal life to the scene made it very realistic and welcoming, as they were munching food and looked very happy.

This painting is a busy one, but very vibrant and alive. The finished canvas resembled late afternoon in Elk Meadows. I was quite happy with the end result.

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My name is Gloria Malouf-Marsh. I live in Brisbane, Australia, with my husband Greg and my daughter Salwa . Springtime is glorious in Brisbane. I rise early and go for brisk walks, do my yoga practice and I’m inspired to face the day with inspiration and confidence. I get creative ideas for painting when I’m in nature. I love listening to nature’s sounds and watching and hearing the birds.

I am developing discipline in creating and making time for myself to daily paint. I seem curious to want to further my techniques. I’m working with the building texture mediums. A sense of confidence and enjoyment has developed with me regarding honing my skills and techniques in the art medium, and I do enjoy this website so much. Hearing peoples’ ideas and seeing their talents, just simply amaze me. It is a special global family. If I can create, so can you! Enjoy!

Emails are welcome at Gloria@radiantpathways.com.au

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Filed Under: Mixed Media Painting Tagged With: gesso, Gloria Malouf-marsh, landscape painting

Illuminated Letters for Mixed Media Artists

By MMA Team 1 Comment

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This article is written by Katja Blum

Illumination is the art of embellishing individual letters or symbols on a page of written text. The letter, usually the first letter of a page or particularly important passage is decorated with patterns and may contain intricate symbolic drawings or a miniature. The word “illuminate” means “to fill with light”, and the art derived its name from the technique of filling parts of the letter or background with gesso – not the acrylic primer, this stuff involves boiling rabbit carcasses – and covering the raised area with gold leaf.

Illumination has been around since 1500 BCE, when scribes began to illuminate Egyptian Books of the Dead. In the Middle Ages, artists created incredibly beautiful illuminations of sacred texts all over Europe and Asia. Famous examples are the Lindisfarne Gospel and the Book of Kells. As the printing industry progressed, illuminations became too labor-intensive and fell out of style. In the late 19th century, the illumination work of English artist William Morris led to a brief revival of the art form. Today, many calligraphers create commissioned illuminations, often as monograms for special occasions.

As a mixed media artist, focusing on the shape, form and symbolic value of a single letter can bring an extra dimension to your artwork. While it is very rewarding to create within the rules of traditional illumination (maybe minus the rabbit sizing), you can create fascinating effects if the letter is the centerpiece of the work, not just enhancing but completing or even replacing text – either carrying the whole piece or adding a layer of meaning to the work.

For “We Came In Peace”, I started with free association about the moon. This is the part where the illuminated letter concept gets to be big fun. Do a brainstorm and run with your ideas. You definitely don’t have to be literal; perhaps you have personal associations with the letter or concept that will surprise both you and the beholder.

Two- and three-dimensional letter shapes are trending right now, and I’m a fan! Exploring different letter shapes as the basis of your work lets you play with space and contours and takes you far away from the ever-present rectangular boundaries of paper and canvas. “Coffee” is about my love for old-fashioned coffeehouses and pretty much any caffeinated concoction. The color palette in this piece sort of designed itself – and also goes great with our kitchen wallpaper.

With “Fates”, I moved away from concrete images, concentrating on lines and textures instead. Again, the letter is not the first of any word I used, but refers to the overall idea instead. There is actual illumination, even though I replaced the raised gold leaf with mica powder.

Explore the possibilities of illuminated and embellished letters in mixed media artwork, combined with text, imagery or standing alone. Following your imagination ‘to the letter’, you will discover more creative potential of mankind’s most powerful invention – the alphabet.

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Katja Blum is a writer and translator from Tulsa, OK. As an artist, she started with yarn, fabric and paper mache (rarely together), branching out into collage and other paper arts about ten years ago. Her latest obsession is making soft stuffies and art dolls – to the delight of her toddler. She also likes to find creative solutions for ugly or broken things around the house – to the delight of her husband.

You can see more of her work with fiber, paper and words at www.thewaywardsheep.com

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Filed Under: Mixed Media Inspiration Tagged With: calligraphy, collage, illumination, letter

Michelle G Brown | Mixed Media Art

Getting Artistic with the Heroes Around All of Us

Conquering Your Fear of Craft Sprays

Late Afternoon in Elk Meadows

Illuminated Letters for Mixed Media Artists

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