Mixed Media

Hi everyone!  Welcome!  Today I want to share a mixed media collage I made last weekend in a class with Seth Apter.  Any of you paper artists that haven't taken a class with Seth are really missing a great experience.  My daughter and I take all of his classes when he comes to our local paper arts store.  And, I had the great good fortune to spend 5 days in a workshop with Seth and Orly Avineri last month on beautiful Whidby Island off the coast of Washington state.  I'll share some of that workshop in a future post.  But, for now I'll show you my newest collage.

The class was on the basics of collage.  We started with some small pieces that illustrated the basic principals of collage.  Once we were clear on the basics we painted layers on a piece of art paper.  Seth's technique for painting layers is fun and creates a beautiful rich background of color and texture.  Once the backgrounds were done we then built our collages using ephemera that we had in our collections. Unfortunately I don't have any process photos.  I'm really bad about doing that because I get so into the process that I don't think about taking a picture until it's too late!   Here is what my finished collage looks like.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we finished painting the paper we stamped and made marks with inks and pens.  I used a stamp that I cut in an eraser at the 5 day workshop as one of my mark making tools.  It's the chop that is placed randomly around the background.    I wanted to use the phrase because I really believe that, for the most part, we are responsible for the lives we live.  I loved the focal print that I chose and by using the window die cut it seemed to fit the phrase.  Not a door exactly but a window at least!  I wanted to bring another color into the compostion so I used a die cut I had brought along.  The piece just seemed to come together as I looked through the papers I had chosen to take to the class.   Here are a couple of details.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the picture above you can see that I cut the flower above the frame so that it drapes over rather than having the bottom not show at all.  I love little details like that. 

 

I have plans to be busy both with beading and paper art this summer.  I hope I can accomplish a lot of what I want to do.  I'll share when I can.

 

Thank you all for visiting with me today.  I really appreciate that you do.  Have wonderful day and make some thing wonderful!