Mixed Media Art

~acrylics, inks, gesso, matte gel medium, papers, found objects

...a two-page spread, in an altered book I am working on...the right side will contain a quote about Spring, from one of CS Lewis' Narnia series.  The plan (for now - it could change) is to add more texture and layers on the left (using gesso and inks), and then use a sepia ink to hand-write the quote across the upper third of the right-hand page (another option would be to print it out on parchment paper, as another layering piece, and use a Remington font I've recently fallen in love with)  and lastly, I will paint some graphic looking flowers in the middle, springing up from the green.

I have to say this:  I was doing this mixed-media collage stuff way before it was cool.  I did this stuff back in the '90's, and it was far enough ahead of the times that I stopped - because I didn't see anything else quite like what I was doing, and that made me feel as though I was somehow "wrong".  Someday, I will learn to follow my instincts.


This is my first "big" mixed media project since those days (I've been getting comfortable with mixed media on scrap watercolor papers and these teeny tiny canvases I have, called "ATC's" - or, Artist Trading Cards), so I am absolutely certain I will look back at this picture and cringe, in years to come.  Actually, I will look back at it and feel happy, because I love to see a record of growth and progress, and am completely unafraid to share my chronicle of humble beginnings with the world.

In the future?  I want to do some simple color studies on small square canvases...texture-y, hombre'd delicious color studies, going from light to dark, top to bottom, and utilizing mixed medias.  Once I get comfortable with that, and get my bearings with color and texture, I then want to paint my version of a rainbow, no negative space, filling the canvas, in mixed media - to represent the Grace of the Gospel (Biblically, many colors represent grace and favor), and, at the very bottom, as an inset in whatever mat I will use to frame the painting, there will be a Scripture from Revelations about the rainbow that surrounds the throne of God.

And since my reach must always exceed my grasp, I want it all to be beautiful.

If you aren't creating something, you are not going to be completely satisfied.  What are you doing to image-bear the Creator?  Try mixed-media art...it is so forgiving, and unintimidating.  Perfect for beginners, like me.