Collage Funtime Happiness Mixed Media

Woohoo I just made a little video of my new collage. I am not adept with such things as video cameras so any forward progress is a great thing.

I am just now getting back into mixed-media. I forgot how very much fun it is! And you have to have an experimental attitude because not all paints and such play well together. And yes, you can completely ruin a piece and have to start over. But that is one of the things that makes it so lively and fresh. You never quite know what you are going to end up with.

What is mixed media you may ask? It's when you take things like paint, paper, cardboard, wood, buttons, stamps and ephemera and combine them all into your art piece. You can make hanging art, shadow boxes, art journals, 3D projects, and so forth. Grab a shoebox and start saving up those interesting tickets and tags and torn photos and confetti and anything else that seems useful and not-so-useful.

This particular piece included a heavy paper with gesso and acrylic layered over it.

It has calligraphy (ink), watercolor pencils, Modpodge, embossed rubber stamping, white webbing spray, glitter, scrapbooking paper, Sharpie marker, and bits of feathers.

But use what you have on hand. Other things you can use include yarn bits, ribbons, lace, fabric, embroidery, pockets, eyelets, hot melt glue, faux gemstones, confetti, paper punch dots, sponges, stencils, toothpicks, mirrors, tiles, mosaic tessserae, cardboard, tissue paper, envelopes, origami, etc. The list is pretty endless. You can also do special effects with beeswax or batik or rubbings or transfers. Always something new to try.

And no, I'm not concerned with being archival. Life is impermanent. I will be dead in 50 years or less, and most of this will not outlive me and I'm okay with that.