Hello everyone;
Many, many moons ago (about 15 years), as some of you will know, I started on my artful adventure in mixed media by making little collages on magnets with recycled and salvaged materials. I had been given a whole bunch of business card blanks (sturdy cardstock that measured 2" X 3.5") and decided to experiment in collage with them. Their small size meant the process wasn't too intimidating and it was really easy to get work finished quickly.
At about the same time, I found out that you could get sticky backed magnets the exact same size and that lots of people used these magnets to turn their business cards into a marketing tool for themselves. The light bulb went on and I still use these sticky-backed magnets to make miniature works of art to this day.
I am now, all these years later, a self-confession Gelli plate printing addict. I use my gelli monoprints in all kinds of mixed media and collage pieces and always have interesting little bits left over, which lend themselves very well to becoming magnets.
The following are images of my most recent creations using scraps of Gelli prints along with collage elements. I have deliberately chosen to keep the compositions simple so that the beautiful, one-of-a-kind backgrounds can shine. You can't see it in the scans, but many of the magnets have also been treated to a little dash of glitter for a bit of sparkle.
I hope you like them. A few are already sold but some of these are still available if you are interested.
Cheers, my friends!
Joanna
Hello All;
As some of you may know, I have been honored with the opportunity to teach my first online art class this summer with Artful Gathering, the PREMIERE venue for mixed media online classes. I am so excited about this!
I will be teaching a class called "Gelli Jam" which will be all about making handmade art journals with gelatin prints and objects you have around the house. If you're thinking of participating, you can use either a homemade gelatin plate (there are lots of recipes for these on the Internet) or a Gelli Arts (TM) Gel Printing Plate. Either will work just fine for the projects we are going to do.
I have just finished filming my classes which will run from mid-July through the end of August on the Artful Gathering website. You can find out more about it at: Artful Gathering 2014
Here is a little video SNEAK PEEK at what we 'll create in the class. Hope you can join me!
Cheers!
Joanna
SNEAK PEEK VIDEO
Hello!
A while ago, the light bulb went on for me about what I could do with several of my half-finished pieces of art. I have so many art projects on the go at any given time and sometimes they can sit around for months before I get back to them. And while I have every confidence that at some point my muse will know exactly how I should finish off those pieces, it also feels good to get them done.
So, what was my inspiration? I decided I would approach some of my favourite arty friends to see if they wanted to take one of my half-finished pieces and complete it with their own "take" on it. I just knew whatever they did would be fabulous and it was very exciting to think of all the possibilities of how the pieces would end up.
One of the first to step on the bandwagon was my friend Ginny Markley and you can find her blog here.
Ginny is wonderfully talented and she and I have the same funky, quirky style in many respects. I was very excited to work with her on this project.
Here's what I sent to her.
This started with a substrate of salvaged mat board about 7" X 9". I covered it in recycled wallpaper for the background. The central image is a color laser print from my collection of vintage images. I also added several layers of different types of paint, along with some swirly bits I had cut with my Silhouette machine as practice. Some vintage text from an old book also appears in the bottom right (behind the leaf).
And then that's as far as I got with her and where she was when Ginny received her.
Here is the finished piece after Ginny got her hands on it.
And here is what Ginny had to say about her work on the piece:
"I first used paint pens to lighten, deepen and add color. I added lots of dots with gel pens (I love making dots ... my favorite thing to draw). Next came the yellow line (I changed it three times before I settled on orange) to add interest because at that point everything looked pretty much the same. Then it hit me ... I decided I had to get rid of the "Princess Leia" buns. I first thought that I would just add flowers to surround her head but while looking for the flowers, I found a magazine clipping of a Mardi Gras mask which was the perfect size. Now what are the chances of finding a mask that was the perfect size, perfect color and perfect style? I think that your muse was talking to my muse. LOL! Anyway, I decided that I had to go for it and use the mask! Also, at the same time I found the magazine clipping of the "dream" sign. The colors were perfect and did not overpower the rest of the painting."
I am absolutely thrilled with how this piece turned out and can't thank Ginny enough for taking it above and beyond where I would ever go with it.
Oh, and Ginny sent me her own half-done piece for me to work on, so I will be blogging about that in the future too. Stay tuned!
Thanks, Ginny, what a fun project this was!
Cheers!
Joanna
