Wednesday - Art Table Fun

Art Table Fun is slightly different this week as I'm resting from the vaccines I recently received. They've sort of knocked me out for a few days but mostly they took energy away. I felt this was a great time to catch up on stickers and figure out how to organize the boxes of stickers and cutouts I have accumulated. I did manage to figure it out and am now starting the process instead of working at the art table, I'm working at the portable pink table I love so much.

 I started with the words and phrases I've been cutting out of boxes, magazines and catalogs for a few years, shown in the last photo above. I discovered while putting them on computer paper that if I scanned the whole sheet and print when I wanted it, I could either cut out a few words or phrases and still have them available or I could use the sheet to paint on, cut into pieces for cards, and use them for collage. This is rather exciting to me. Not only am I getting a chance to see what I've collected, I'm getting ideas on how to use them.

In the first photo you can see I'm working on Christmas stickers and cutouts. The center photo shows the boxes still to be sorted and looked through. My thought was to gather them by subject; i.e. flowers, animals, foods and if I see a particular theme happening like lots of yellow for instance I can put it all on a computer sheet using color themes.

Seems like a lot of work but I'm thrilled to be able to see a way to get these incorporated into my art journals and my collage cards and small wooden pieces I like to make.

Once these are all situated I can then start in on the magazines I have ready to be ripped, cut and glued down to computer paper as a first step toward collage.

Yes, lots of work. But prep work is 95% of what I do when I create art.

No doubt there will be an example of a collage in Friday's post using some of what I've done here. Hope you're looking forward to it. I know I am!

 

Enjoy the journey.

Cindy aka EarthMotherMosaics

If you'd like to support the artist go to BuyMeACoffee and buy me a cuppa. It's always greatly appreciated. Thank you so much. 👄💝 

https://artbyearthmothermosaics.com

 

Mosaic Monday

Abstract Mosaic Leaf or Lotus Flower Wall Art

Stained Glass

6 inches

$45

 

Bring a burst of color and creativity into your home with our beautiful 6-inch mosaic flower wall art.

This vibrant piece features an abstract red flower or leaf whichever you see playfully peeking up from the side, reaching for the sun, and is beautifully crafted with hand-cut stained glass and Van Gogh glass tiles.

 

This lovely mosaic art is a thoughtful gift that can also serve as a stunning focal point in the home.

Since it’s designed for indoor use, you can keep it close to enjoy its charm every day.

 

Gift this unique mosaic art to a loved one, or treat yourself to a piece that fills your space with warmth and beauty.

 

Enjoy the journey.

Cindy aka EarthMotherMosaics

If you'd like to support the artist go to BuyMeACoffee and buy me a cuppa. It's always greatly appreciated. Thank you so much. 👄💝 

https://artbyearthmothermosaics.com

Friday - Layered Collage Technique from Start to Finish

I'm wondering how many of you really wonder about how it's done? If you are just a little curious, you can see the steps from start to finish here.

A few months ago I asked you all to answer a short survey. You said you'd like to see the steps taken to complete a piece of art, why I choose the colors I do and if there's any special meaning to them. Most of that was in relation to mosaics because that is what I am known for but not really what I now do. Instead, here's the way I approach a layered collage. I learned this technique from Jackie Bernardi, a YouTube hero of mine who teaches painted paper techniques and shares how she does them. She's awesome.

Taking painted papers I'm not crazy about and using them for layering is a great way to use every scrap I have. These are pretty darned ugly and would have gotten tossed out if I didn't learn about this technique. These aren't precious at all to me as is but once finished, these pieces of collage art are very special to me.

 As the photo shows above, I'm putting a layer of ripped and/or cut up pieces of painted paper and filling in the 4 inch wooden block with them. I don't care what papers I use. You'll probably never see them again once it's a completed piece. I'm more than okay with that.

Then I paint each block completely with a slightly watered down version of acrylic (not much water because it too will most likely never be seen but it might). 

Most of the time I just use black paint at this point but this time I wanted to use colors. This too might not be seen very much at the end but it can peek through a little.

 

Once the paint is dry, I add another layer of painted papers.

These aren't as ugly and actually I was tempted to leave them as is ... but I didn't.

 Once these papers are dry from using the matte medium, I sand them, scruffing them all up. That starts the grunge look that I am in love with creating. I have a serious crush on this look.

I didn't take a photo of that step. Sorry.

After that I do another coat of matte medium and then add water, black paint, dragonfly glaze and varnish medium together and paint it on each block.

 

Once completely dry I add cut outs from painted papers and quotes.

I was going to use 3 different cut outs but all three peace signs wanted to be on these. And so it is.

 I did finishing touches by painting the wood around it's edges in black and outlining the peace signs with a paint pen before hanging them.

"Live In The Moment"

"Remember the Now"

"Embrace the Journey"

Signed and dated on the side

I think this a great way to take "meh" painted papers and creating something "wow" with them. What do you think?

 

Enjoy the journey.

Cindy aka EarthMotherMosaics

If you'd like to support the artist go to BuyMeACoffee and buy me a cuppa. It's always greatly appreciated. Thank you so much. 👄💝 

https://artbyearthmothermosaics.com

Wednesday - Art Table Fun

Some of the fun about not really planning is the fact that some times unexpected things happen at the art table.

This week I am still working on the 30 day project. I'm not really doing them daily as I thought I would but I'm still doing them.

This prompt was "doodle faces". I'm really not sure I did a great job but I enjoyed making them.

 I'm still working on cards. I'd love to find a theme and just create about 20 of them but every day I find something different to try. And get maybe two made. That's a good thing too because I'm still learning what I like to do and "go with the flow" often.

I used the Farmer's Almanac for this one along with a circle cut out of a magazine, some Washi tape, espresso paper and gold circles from an old greeting card. And of course stencils and a great quote.

 

One of the painted papers was hung on the wall recently. I was going to embellish this as I usually do but when I looked at it, I just liked it as is. It is part of the grouping I did gluing all the papers together in one sheet and cutting them down. This came from that and I love it. That was a huge surprise!

 And I'm working on the layering technique I love to do on 3 pieces. They are not yet finished. I'll share them on Friday or when they are if I don't get back to them right away.

 

First layer

Second layer

Enjoy the journey.

Cindy aka EarthMotherMosaics

If you'd like to support the artist go to BuyMeACoffee and buy me a cuppa. It's always greatly appreciated. Thank you so much. 👄💝 

https://artbyearthmothermosaics.com

Mosaic Monday - Blast From The Past

Recently, I took a look at some of the really old mosaics I've made. I share a lot from my walls that aren't available to purchase. After looking at these old photos, I thought I'd do a post about a few of them.

Here they are in no particular order. Enjoy some "eye candy" in mosaic form!

Cuppa Peace circa 2017

 

Bohemian Sky circa 2017

Table circa 2016

Coaster Sets circa 2017

Crescent Moon circa 2018

These are examples of both pique assiette and stained glass mosaics. This is just a small sample of what I've made over the years. Four out of five were sold; the table was lost in transit when I moved that year. I'm grateful to still have photos of them all!

Enjoy the journey.

Cindy aka EarthMotherMosaics

If you'd like to support the artist go to BuyMeACoffee and buy me a cuppa. It's always greatly appreciated. Thank you so much. 👄💝 

https://artbyearthmothermosaics.com

 

Friday - Shameless Promotions and Gratitude

There's something about seeing my art on a website dedicated to art that makes me so happy. I'm grateful for the opportunity to share it.

I haven't posted anything from my fineartamerica site in a while, so here we go.

I've decided to share one each of the different forms of art on the site. It's got collage, doodles, mosaics and photography of mine that's printed at the time ordered into cool items as gifts, for you, someone you love or your home.

Hot Coffee

Many Moons

Grow, Bloom, Fly

Ivy Grows Strong

The prices shown here are for Art Prints. 

Enjoy scrolling through the different items offered and bookmark this site! Come back to visit any time and considering giving a piece of art to a family member or gifting yourself. You're worth it!

Have a great weekend.

 

 

Enjoy the journey.

Cindy aka EarthMotherMosaics

If you'd like to support the artist go to BuyMeACoffee and buy me a cuppa. It's always greatly appreciated. Thank you so much. 👄💝 

https://artbyearthmothermosaics.com

Wednesday - Art Table Fun

Actually, truthfully, there isn't a whole lot on the art table this week. Well, there IS, but there isn't. I should clarify that a bit.

I'm in organizing mode, something I do often, about three times a month, to keep my space(s) from getting overly cluttered. I like some clutter, I actually don't like it when everything is put away. I have to see things and then use them. So there IS a whole lot going on, on that table. I do this when I start to organize, putting everything on the table to sort later. And sometimes I stop organizing, make a card or an art journal page or the beginning of one, and then continue.

So, here's why I said that above ... this is the art table as of yesterday ... messy? Maybe. I see lots of creating happening here from painted papers to doodles to making cards. AND I see much needs to be sorted. That shows I've been busy!

A few cards were made. Shown here are two sides of one card.

Here's a WIP.

I have been cutting up cardboard, using some for words, alpha letters, photos for stickers. Some for collage cards. The rest are cut up to be used to paint on with acrylics and probably some of those will be used for collage as well. It takes time and lots of cutting to do this and it's very worth it because I just need to keep myself in paint and not buy canvases right now. I will again at some point purchase canvases but right now I want to use what I have, as I've said often. I have a LOT of cardboard and bags.

All sizes and thicknesses which means some will be great to paint on, some not so much. Those I'll use in some way because I don't throw much away. All free to use and experiment with.

I made some book covers and will fill them with handmade signatures using packaging mostly from Amazon.

 

To show what I mean, I made a book using the brown packaging a while ago. It's not yet finished but this is what it looks like so far.

Only a few more pages to go to get it finished. The size is a little under 5 x 6 inches. The order is wrong, but all pages made so far are there.

 

 

Enjoy the journey.

Cindy aka EarthMotherMosaics

If you'd like to support the artist go to BuyMeACoffee and buy me a cuppa. It's always greatly appreciated. Thank you so much. 👄💝 

https://artbyearthmothermosaics.com