A Fresh Week of Art Fun!

This is the last week for Mastering Mixed Media EXPO 2026. I have immersed myself into the world of creativity and watched intently as each artist sharing their lessons show their talents and playful way of approaching each piece. LOVE!!!

I have found I am more willing to wait this year to gather all the information I can from these amazing artists until the very end. I am imagining I'll have a lot of fun picking what I want to try and spend the joyful time to do it. That's exciting!

While I'm taking notes and saving documents to print as I'm ready to try a lesson after the classes are finished, I still have time in the morning to do a little bit in my art journal(s) or on a card. I broke my printer a few days ago but my daughter has one if I need to use it until I can replace mine. It's possible I won't replace it immediately; I'd rather continue with the Purple Palace Redo and keeping supplies handy for art.

Here's some photos of what I've been up to.

Side A - This card started in orange, pink and yellow, believe it or not. I just kept adding layers of paint and watercolor until I decided to stop. Sometimes being brave means taking chances, sometimes it means finding joy. I managed both here.

Side B of card above looks very much like a table with plates of food, maybe soup or coffee or crackers with a place mat or two. I especially love this because it came from a watercolor page I added embellishments to and then put aside thinking I might never use it. And here it is, being used and useful and part of a new series of cards.

 

Watercolor and ink

Tried circles but am not a fan, believe it or not of the circle grids. I prefer squares. But I felt I could, if I really wanted to, cut these out and use them in journals or on cards. I labeled them because I saw things as I did them with watercolor.

The 100 day collage project is still going strong. I'm on day 78 here. The formula is getting stale; I'm running out of fresh ideas to make the 3-5 collage papers look different or standout on their own. I do believe part of the reason I like doing this project so much is because I learn what I like and don't like. Maybe the next 4 I make will look entirely different. Or not. We shall see.

Side A - this card has the grid piece cut out that I didn't like altogether in the grid journal but thought I could use them in this way. I have found creating to be as exciting as ever and full of possibilities. This little card here is proof that if I don't like what I see, I can change it!

Side B - lots of butterflies are showing up right now in my art. I associate my Dad with butterflies, so I feel like he's saying "Hi" each time I add a butterfly to a piece of art.

Side A - A dragonfly with the words "Time to Heal". I like this little card a lot. The colors and how I did things from collage to stickers and doodling, etc. It all flows nicely.

Side B - I was going to make this little square a birdhouse with a roof but the bird landed before the roof was made and so, we can call it finished. This card too is a one that speaks to me. I like the playful feeling when creating these small pieces of art. It's addicting!!

Side A - That says it all, doesn't it?

Side B - this is a piece of a painted paper I embellished. I forgot to take a photo of the entire paper before cutting it up, but I put them back together and took a photo shared below. 

I cut out 3 pieces of this paper and am using them in cards. As you can see from the photo above this one, it's pretty nifty looking on it's own or as part of the whole paper.

Enjoy your week!

Cindy,  EarthMotherMosaics - Mixed Media Art

Instagram: @artbyearthmothermosaics 

Stay Peaceful and Enjoy the Journey

The Ebb of Creativity is Upon Me

I'm not doing a whole lot of art right now. Instead, I'm learning. For two weeks, starting May 1st, I've joined the Mastering Mixed Media EXPO 2026. I joined this event last year and found it quite insightful. Some of the same teachers are offering free classes this year but there are new ones as well (to me, anyway). 

What I have been doing is mostly taking notes or pulling out certain papers I've already created to use for a lesson putting notes and papers together in a folder. Nothing has been made yet since I'm only a few days into the EXPO and the chance that I will stop a lesson to create what I'm watching is slim. I'd rather immerse myself in the entire two week experience then decide where to start, what to try and then go for it.

I do have a few photos to share mostly of watercolor I worked on before the classes started.

I'll be making more cards with these watercolor paintings, I think. I have so many blank cards to play with, so many scraps, it seems I should use them!

I played with the Gelli plate a lot last week, and came up with some really cool pulls from it using older painted papers that were just so-so and now look awesome! Perfect to use in my art journals. Yay!

painted papers for this vase and plant are shown below

I honestly think I love doing layers on the Gelli plate with different stencils and masks as much as I do using the plate itself. You never what you're going to get, even if you plan it (speaking just for myself here). Sometimes the results amaze me. Like these below; double layers using hand made stencils.

flower moon was this month's full moon (a personal favorite of mine) and another vase and plant in an art journal

 

 

Enjoy your week!

Cindy,  EarthMotherMosaics - Mixed Media Art

Instagram: @artbyearthmothermosaics 

Stay Peaceful and Enjoy the Journey

Purple Palace Redo Is Getting There

I'm very happy to say it's very close to being finished completely and ready for mosaic work and storage for collage supplies. 

I have more to figure out, sort through and gather but the big piece of furniture I bought and put together is in place now and slowly getting filled up.

I had to take a photo of this clean and empty space because it's a rare sight!

This mess was on the floor of the Purple Palace. Ugh.

The die cut cart and some grout supplies waiting to get put away.

Stained glass containers in blue, green and purple.

Tadah!

What a sense of accomplishment I felt after taking this photo. I had no idea the drawers would not work for my paper ephemera exactly as planned but I can and probably will get a good supply of containers and get them organized that way plus another hanging file folder or two might be in my future. Love the one I recently purchased! It holds a LOT of paper!

 

I'd like to get a few more of these. They are made for over the door but work well on this bar. 

Enjoy your week!

Cindy,  EarthMotherMosaics - Mixed Media Art

Instagram: @artbyearthmothermosaics 

Stay Peaceful and Enjoy the Journey

Monday Musings about Feeling Human with Flaws

Last week I had full panel blood work done and the results were mixed. I knew the A1c would be higher than last time because I ate like the worst possible foods over the past few months. But I didn't expect other things like the beginning of signs of heart disease (what my Dad had). I have glaucoma from my Mom's side, I guess it's no surprise I might have a few traits belonging to my Dad's side besides diabetes. What disturbed me was how I got here not physically but mentally. I am usually a fairly positive person but when I learned I had glaucoma I spiraled a little in realizing there would be a challenge ahead with art and my eyes. I'm not unable to create art yet, not really even close, but the thought is there. And so over the past few months, I decided to eat an extra sugar free cookie, have a little more pasta during a meal, slowly pushing fresh veggies aside and going for the potatoes. You get the idea. Bad choices happen. The good news is it's close to becoming salad season and I will enjoy more salad and will add some heart-healthy foods to the diet hopefully bringing the borderline numbers down. But I surprised myself because I thought I was handling things really well until the constant chronic pain started in my body and the feeling that it just was too much of an effort to exercise the way I like. I did spiral, as I said, but just a little. I'm trying now to get back to the exercise routine that I truly do love and reminding myself I can snack but only in limited amounts. Right now I have to wait about a month before I can talk to my doctor (lots of reasons but not important for this paragraph to make sense) and so I have time to pull myself up and start again or continue again and not try to slide back down the hill.

We'll be celebrating my oldest daughter's birthday tomorrow. I'm so proud of her and love her very much. I hope she knows how special she is. If she doesn't, it's my job to let her know! 

First attempt with the die cut machine - pretty cool!

 

Meanwhile, I have been making art. Even when I felt sorry for myself or even a little more than sad, I created art. Thank the Universe for that one!

I'm getting one more piece of furniture for the Purple Palace this month so the organization will continue.

I finished both art journals that I started last year (I know I shared them recently here - scroll down to find the post if interested). Put them on the proper shelf in the Purple Palace and called them done. Now in 6 months, should I decide to go back and look through them and maybe add a mark here or there, is anyone's guess. But meanwhile I tried to decide how I wanted the next few art journals to look. I pulled apart an old book, separated some pages and kept some pages glued together. In that way I can use some for collage fodder and some for small journals. They are very gratifying. More so than the huge books I've did last year. I like about 10 pages to a book, I've discovered.

Soon to become art journals!

 

I've worked on cards. I want to put these in an accordian style instead of a flip book. 

Both sides are collaged but not all the mark making is finished

My sticker book is up-to-date!

I also did a little watercolor last week. I'm building quite a supply of cut outs for journaling and other collage.

I never tire of peace signs that look tie dyed!

 

Enjoy your week!

Cindy,  EarthMotherMosaics - Mixed Media Art

Instagram: @artbyearthmothermosaics 

Stay Peaceful and Enjoy the Journey

A Look Back

I'm still working on organizing the Purple Palace in between doing art and doodling at the appropriate tables. Some days I do a little of all things. Other days I think about what I want to do for a very long time. The energy passes and I wait for the next wave. In other words ... it's taking a while.

As I was moving a few things around in the Palace the last time energy hit I glanced at the wall behind me. What a wonderful display of art!

This wall is filled with mosaic birth flowers

I appreciate the mosaics I've made over the years. This break from them might be exactly what was needed (besides giving my hands a rest from the tools involved in creating mosaics) to see -- really see the art. Remembering the stained glass and dish pieces I used, where I sat to create them. How many seasons I weathered to continue creating.

I'm extremely grateful for the gift given to me to create them. I'm mindful that I still have that gift each time I walk into the Purple Palace. I do know I have a lot more to get organized before I can start creating mosaics again. The fact is I still want to make them! They still bring me joy and that's a blessing. Which keeps me going when the energy arises to pull heavy glass and dishes here and there. Not easy work but rewarding once it'll all be finished. I know I'm honoring the gift by giving myself a break from it all to get everything placed where I feel it's necessary and then begin again.

My walls are covered with blessings. Not just my own but from my family as well. Mosaics, paintings and collage live on the walls and the alters. There's room for more! Huzzah!! Some of the hangings get askew on occasion when doors close or someone moves something heavy enough to make walls rattle (it happens). I'm still pleasantly surprised at the emotion I feel when looking, really seeing, the art here.

 

Enjoy your week!

Cindy,  EarthMotherMosaics - Mixed Media Art

Instagram: @artbyearthmothermosaics 

Stay Peaceful and Enjoy the Journey