Skip to main content

Mixed Media for the Soul


When I was in art school my main stay as an artist was oil on canvas. As I have matured as an artist, I have found myself gravitating towards mixed media. I find it fulfilling in many ways. It allows for experimentation and it is always full of surprises. This piece was created using kitchen vegetable and fruit scraps from the juicer to make handmade paper. Materials were added to make it able to achieve archival quality and to be permanent. Then twigs were added in and found paper scraps. I call this "Ghost in the Frame."


This next piece was created in much the same way as the one above it but it does not have the prominent element of assemblage through twigs, instead it is more of a painted collage. It combines the same type of handmade paper and found paper with water-based paints like gouache and plaka with natural inks. It is an abstraction with landscape elements and its title is "Mixed media Landscape."


I am an eclectic in my pagan, earth-based spirituality and also in the types of materials I use, as well as the application of those materials in my visual art. This is another handmade paper piece made from vegetable and fruit pulp with found objects such as coins and cowrie shells added. Called "Mixed Media with Cowrie Shells" this painting brings together my interests in Traditional African Religions, Hoodoo, folklore and fine art, in one piece.

I plan to continue this series once it is warmer outdoors. (Yesterday it snowed here!) I typically like to create these pieces, with all the water they require, on tables outside. It also helps them dry faster. I find the combination of being outdoors, warm weather conditions, the marriage of materials with mixed media and the inclusion of my literary and spiritual interests, to be meditative and relaxing to my soul.



A to Z Challenge--M is for Mixed Media

Comments

  1. I never thought about using vegetable and fruit scraps from the juicer to make handmade paper. That is neat! You really are a true artist. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tee, hee! Yes Chrys, something has got to be done with all that gunk in the juicer! You can make nice, durable, highly textured paper from it, You just have to use a mordant and a good preservative so it doesn't get moldy.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Loving the Mixed Media with Cowrie Shells! Very much a living piece of art ...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Teri, I'm so glad you like it! Thank you!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Go ahead. Make my day by leaving a comment.

Popular posts from this blog

Follow Fest Interview and Sharing

When I first became a blogger it was difficult to know if I had readers and visitors coming to my blog. I’d post and be met by the sounds of crickets. Then, I branched out into the world of the blogosphere, a world I  didn't  know really existed. From my ventures, I met a lot of interesting bloggers.  I've  started following and commenting on numerous blogs, for you see, prior to my outings, I too was out among the crickets. Lurking about but seldom saying anything. A fellow blogger  I've  met through my journeys around the blogosphere is Melissa Maygrove . She had the brilliant idea to have a Follow Fest , where we share about who we are, what we do and most importantly, how you can connect with us further. It is my intention through joining Follow Fest, that I’ll connect with many more readers and people interested enough in what I do to want to learn more by following. So, here goes my entry for the fest. Name:   Stephanie Rose Bird Fiction or

Gran Bwa

Gran Bwa is a lwa that helps you connect to ancestral roots or the spiritual home of Vodou. A friend of mine, who is an expert on Haitian Vodou, who has spent a lot of time in Haiti with the artists there, told me I had painted Gran Bwa when I made this spontaneous work out of walnut ink and sumi-ink on handmade paper. I had considered this painting a self-portrait. She now holds this piece in her private collection: Quite a few people are afraid of Vodou but it is an awe-inspiring tradition of bringing together plant energy with divinity, spiritual and personal energy. My friend who is very involved with Vodou, especially the art that surrounds it, is from European ancestry. She is light in spirit and bubbly, with a close relationship to nature and her garden.  Vodou affirms the relationships between cycles of life, trees of knowledge and spirit.  The Vodou vision of lwa , understands them as the intelligence of energy present in humans, nature and thoughts.  Mysteries ca

Xochitl--Flower

                                     (Winter Poinsettia by Stephanie Rose Bird, oil on wood) One of my Facebook friends does daily posts and shares called "I love Flowers." I love flowers too, in real life, in my garden, in paintings and as they are related to the gods and goddesses, in healing, as well as their use in folklore like Hoodoo. Not long ago I posted about Xochipelli (Sho-CHEE-pee-lee) prince of flowers and Xochiquetzal (Sho-CHEE-ket-zul) goddess of flowers in anticipation of April's blooming season.  The Goddess and Prince of Flowers post  is here. Today, I want to focus in on the root word of their names and it's symbolism. This word is Xochitl (Show-CHEE-tul) in the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs. This word means flower.                                            ( Frida Kahlo "Self Portrait Dedicated to Dr. Eloesser) In many different belief systems there are nature gods and goddesses connected with flowers. Flowers possess symbolism,