This one is mostly finished. I need to add shadows around the elements and some shiny patterns to the layers I think. Oh, and the hole in the tag needs something added.
The fungus I drew and coloured myself. That was enjoyable to do! In fact, the whole thing has been satisfying.
I’ve had a bit of a week with appointments and then yesterday was a day where I needed some self-care. I did, however, begin work on this particular piece, and I’ve gone crazy on making ATC sized backgrounds ready for work on them, particularly using the Dylusions paints which have laid dormant in my stash for a long, long time.
This particular mixed media pieces has a colour scheme that is not typically ‘Angela’. There’s lots of god in it, and the flowers look more like succulents than flowers, bu tthey do kind of work!
The close-up image shows the ATC that’s become the focal point of the piece, along with the metal charms and keys that have been added.
A little different, and I’ve found a way to use those ATC cards I made a couple of weeks ago!
I’m not all that happy with the leaves, especially the ones at the top left. However, I’ve learned to let a piece of art sit and for me to return to it at a later date and fix what needs fixing if it’s still there when I look at it with fresh eyes.
What I do need to think about doing is to get either canvas boards or some other thicker, stiffer surface to work on as this one bend so much. I’ve managed to flatten it somewhat.
What it does need is to be mounted on another background as it seems like it is like a big tile that needs something to sit on and to show it off. Again, I’ll let this idea rattle around the subconscious corners of my brainbox and tackle it at a later date.
What I do like is the iridescent ‘crackle’ texture on the background, a finish I also added to the flowers to tie them into the piece. I thought the gold circles, rays, spirals and wavy lines had messed utall up, but I actually quite like them now.
Maybe not quite as ‘flowing’ as some of the earlier mixed media pieces I’ve created, but I’ve certainly tried different things out and am learning all the time, as well as exploring new materials or ways of working.
A second done today! A4 in size, just as ‘Hope – flowerpunked’ is.
I’ve just realised I’ve not done the shadows around various elements, but that’ll have to wait as the drops on the petals are drying.
It’s deuced hard to photograph these well; the butterflies shimmer with different iridescent colours, as do the flowers . The leaves have a kind of verdigrised bronze look to them. The background is very matte in contrast to the shimmer of the elements affixed to it. There’s also some vintage paper behind the elements – from a very old science book! Well I am a scientist as well as an artist.
I’m going to have to find something to do with all these mixed media pieces as storing them is going to be difficult as the latest ones have a lot of ‘dimension’ to them. On this one both the butterfly wings and the flower centres are raised up somewhat.
I also have to decided if I’mg oing to continue having acrylic nails and nice gel nail finishes as all this mixed media work has just about wrecked them! I thought that was nigh on impossible, but perhaps not!
Just finished this one.
Hope.
Sometimes I have to walk away from something I’m working on as I despair it will work out to be anything near good enough. Actually, it’s not sometimes, it’s most of the time! However, I do persevere.
When I went to bed last night, this one was looking horrible. I had the background done, the first layers of collaged patterned paper and the kind of hessian looking die-cut added too I really wasn’t happy with it at all.
However, a good night’s sleep and a bit of inspiration on waking meant I knew where I wanted to go next, especially after I sorted out the jumble of die-cuts I have (note to self-get some way to organise these!).
Once started from the point of inspiration, the picture just grew to it’s finished state (well, I think it’s finished, that may change when I look at it again later on).
Hope. A really good word here. There’s always hope that no matter how bad I think something looks, , pushing past that often results in something good. Indeed, sometimes the work can just be cut into pieces for use in another piece, which is how the iridescent, textured circles came to appear in this one.
Hope. Making art always gives me hope that I can overcome the trials I face when my anxiety/depression/complex post-traumatic stress disorder kitcks itself up a few or several notches. Art always gives me a place where I can lose myself in something that is meditative, mindful, self-soothing, and shows me that I can succeed even when the self-critic is telling me I’m useless, I can never get anything right, nothing is good enough, I’m a failure, and so on.
This past week or so, challenging myself to work with mixed media – something I’ve tried in the past and not really felt I was successful at – has been good to help me with the aftermath of a couple of rather strong anxiety attacks. I’ve not had any for around a year now.
I was surprised by them and at their intensity and how they have impacted on how I live my life at the moment. I find it difficult to go out into the world, want to hide away from people, and when I do go out it’s often in the dark hours so I’m not seen.
It also surprised me that this is how I used to live every single day for a very long time, most probably most of my life, until a few months ago.
Even though these two episodes have happened, I know I’ll get past them; I have in the past, and I can learn more about the triggers for them and also where this all comes from, which will help greatly in the counsellinge process.
So there’s hope I’ll improve in the long term, and blips are just that. Just as I’ve hoped that my confidence and skill and expression via mixed media would improve. I’ve just had a look back at the mixed media I’ve done in the last fortnight or three weeks, and even I can see how it’s all developed, in a positive way.
What’s made the difference for me with mixed media is finding the confidence to do my best to do it my way and to explore it in my way. I have a lot more exploring to do, and a lot more confidence building in what I do with it. I will journey along this road, along with my drawing and illustration skills, maybe even writing, and with healing what I can of my mebtal health issues.
So, choosing the word hope for it to appear on this piece of art was most appropriate.
This is todays mixed media creation (approx 5.25″ x 11.5″. I think ‘Flowerpunked’ is a good name for it, or for the series of works like this.
I found a way to lift the flowers up so they have more dimension; wish I’d thought of that when I was adding the cogs., still there’s always the next one! It’s all a learning process – it never ends! I also think the stenciled patterns on the background are a bit dark and heavy … and just didn’t quite know what to do about them at the time as I didn’t want to lose the pretty background colours/patterns I’d already created.
I’ve been working on this project over the past three or so days. It’s not finished, far from it I think. I’m having to take a break from it to let the glue that I’ve used to stick some metal embellishments to it cure.
I’ve tried to take photos that show how the cogs and foliage look almost verdigris from one aspect, yet metallic from another. The paper I’m working on is A3-ish in size; I’ve used 300gsm watercolour paper as the substrate – it’s sturdy and doesn’t warp too much when water and water-based media are used on it, or when heat is used to speedily dry each layer as they are added.
I know I want to add some gems to the cogs (gotta have sparkle!), I may add some flowers, maybe not. I do need to add shadows too. I’m not sure if I’m going to add some kind of quote up in the top right corner or whether I’ll just leave it as it is.
I’m really enjoying this, perhaps a bit too much as I’m not focusing on what, perhaps, needs focusing on. However, it is true that a change is as good as a rest!
It’s a nightmare trying to photograph these pieces of artwork as they are so metallic and iridescent, but hopefully you’ll get a fairly good idea. I’ve tried to scan them, and for the ATCs it’s a no go, and the scan of the other image isn’t any better than the photo.
The ATCs have been so much fun to do, especially as I’ve been collaging and playing with texture, and gears…gotta try a little steampunk-ish type stuff every now and again!
Media used :
Art is the Adventure 