Art: Mixed Media Journey?

Art is in the eye of the beholder. Art is relative.

What may look like art to you, may not look like art to me and vice versa.

I have a confession to make: I didn’t think mixed media was really art at first. I thought it was just a collage of pretty things pieced together. Nothing more and nothing less. It shows how little I investigated this medium and that mixed media is more than just pasting things together. In fact, I’ve done mixed media pieces before when using multiple art supplies for one drawing. Oh the ignorance.

I’m speaking on the subject matter because one night, I was looking at my crafting desk, staring fondly at my large collection of beads from my jewelry making days. “How could I make these beads into art?” With that question in mind, I searched YouTube and after a while of looking, saw how one artist put a few beads on her mixed media canvas painting. And the rest was history. Granted, there are still a handful of mixed media art that I give the side eye to because it doesn’t suit my taste but that’s only because I don’t understand it. Just like I don’t understand abstract art but I would never say it’s trash.

But I’m inspired. And the best part of it is, I have a whole lot of material that I can work with, without having to buy new things to get started. I have a ton of art supplies that haven’t been used or that I still have from years ago that have yet to be used up. Like paper. Oh boy, do I have a ton of paper.

Not shown here are the tons of unfinished/unused sketch books that I will be ripping apart for this project.

Decorative paper for when I thought I wanted to make cards for friends and family. With the amount you see here, you can imagine how long that idea lasted. (Also this is just a small percentage of decorative paper you see here).

I also have a lot of watercolor pencils and paints that were either bought or gifted from friends. Oil pastels that I hardly used even.

And my bucket of shame. Colored pencils and chalk pastels that need some love. Oh the possibilities.

Lastly, the little corner of my random pencils, paintbrushes and pens.

What I love about mixed media art is there are no rules to follow and your imagination goes wild. Well, I think you should have a good eye for composition and color theory but again that’s relative. Because I think mixed media is one of the greatest forms of expression you can make with art. I’m so glad my eyes were opened to this within the week. I’ve learned so much and can’t wait to show my experiments and ideas and see where this takes me. I’m also scared too. My goal is to use up a lot of my supplies before I bother buying any more. I think the only thing I need is white gesso and a couple of stencils.

Check you later!

P.s I forgot about my precious bead collection!