It's That Time Again ...

Once a month, since January 2025, I block out a chunk of time away from social media forums and deliberately live without sharing my art and general life with animals and family.

This month, I am taking two weeks, starting today May 19th until June 2nd.

Before I share about that, I'd like to mention that I have a new Facebook Page:

Earthmothermosaics - Mixed Media Art

Please feel free to check it out and follow along if you'd like! Thank you. 💜

I'm planning a few things while I'm away from the social world of course but mostly, enjoying my home and heart within, getting and staying centered, and maybe trying a few new things relating to art journaling and collage.

The dish piece gathering to get spruced up and packed for selling is on-going. Not much has been done because I'm waiting for some colanders to help move the process along a little quicker. You can read that post here.

Now that my 100 day collage challenge is over (filled the 2nd book with day 108!), click here if you're interested, and the mind-blowing two weeks I had with the Mastering Mixed Media EXPO 2025 is done, I'm allowing the muse to guide me to the next adventure. Here's the post I made about that: MMMEXPO2025

I tried one more thing although it didn't work out exactly but it was a learning experience. I'm not comfortable painting faces on a page. I do make mosaic faces but drawing or painting isn't yet something I enjoy. I believe I'll have to keep trying but getting this one done was important and I did it! A few folks have asked if these art pieces I'm sharing are for sale. Bless their hearts. No, none are for sale but maybe at some point they might be. Here is my best rendition of a sweet hippie girl.

I have to admit I do think she's cute. But I'm not ready to try again just yet. This is glued into my current art journal and I've already added a few things to her since this photo. That's how it is with these journals, I have learned. Many of us go back and add a little "this and that".

At the moment, I'm feeling a lot like I need to just allow it all to settle but of course I need to be artful every day as well because that is a habit I formed this year and try to adhere to. So right now I'm doing prep work.

This is what I learned after watching some MMM videos; bits and pieces of what they shared and am adding it to my art journals eventually in my own style. I'm cutting out shapes using old hankies I've painted and added an embroidered back stitch, and pieces of collage fodder that are getting cut into flowers and other cool designs like vases, plus I'm using scraps of collage papers to decorate empty bottles (one is a gift and won't be shared until it's been delivered) and a really cool piece I recently did on a piece of wood.

 

Old hankies being used for art. The top area is an embroidered table runner that had so many holes in it when I started to cut these embroidered pieces out, it basically disintegrated. In the center of this photo some hankies were painted yellow and copper, some with red flower petals and another green leaves not yet back stitched.

All of the above will be added to art journals as I create the pages. Kinda cool, huh.

I did one this week using coffee as my theme.

I love adding elements to the pages in an old, discarded book. It brings me great joy and the muse is happy!

This is the wood piece using collage paper, acrylic pens and a quote "Discover Hidden Talents". That's a message for me to keep pushing beyond the comfort zone and watch some amazing things happen.

I'll be back on June 2nd and write a blog sharing all I've done or what I've learned. Until then, stay safe as you possibly can. Remember to be creative every day! You're soul will thank you for it.

Enjoy the journey.

Cindy aka EarthMotherMosaics

https://artbyearthmothermosaics.com

 

Organizing the Purple Palace and Downsizing Mosaics Supplies

If things go the way I really hope they do, all of this time spent to get 1, 3 and 5 pound bags of dish pieces (all hand cut) cleaned and organized will be available in a new Etsy shop for a reasonable price. We’ve named them Mystery Boxes. I'll be using flat rate boxes and include that price in the final cost of each bag ordered.

As you can see, these aren't super fancy but GREAT for filling in areas, like these examples below:

I often use white dish pieces to fill in areas around stained glass

 

The background on this one has the bottom rims from cups, bowls and dishes. Nothing gets wasted that way and it gives the mosaic a bit of added interest.

And so, here's the plan ... clean all the dish pieces and weigh them, prepare for the onslaught of sales 😁😂 and reduce the amount of tesserae I have as well as maybe helping someone new to mosaics or someone who just needs a little bit of odds and ends for that background on a stepping stone (I don't have any to share of those but you can find great examples if you search) or flower pots.

Here's the beginning of 20+ years in mosaic making ... lots to gather and clean and maybe, just maybe, might take longer than I think to do it all but I can do a little and that's a great way to start!

YIKES!

This should be about 5 lbs here.

 

When the second shop with these awesome mosaic supplies is up, I'll share here. Meanwhile, feel free to contact me now if you'd like to discuss purchasing a pound or two of these Mystery Boxes.

Do something creative every day!

 

Enjoy the journey.

Cindy aka EarthMotherMosaics

https://artbyearthmothermosaics.com

 

My Collage Art

Well, as predicted, my collage art is starting to take over my room and my life!

A photo of the bin currently holding the collage art tags, canvas panels and wood pieces using my own collage papers.

 

Every day I put a little time aside to work on something. I write down a week's worth of "to do's" and each day I do what the list says. Monday, for example, is to work on a sticker book (I have two going at the moment) and so I eventually gather up what I need and spend an afternoon doing what I love.

Right now, I have added collage art, altering collage papers, making more collage fodder to the list. I'm busy and LOVING IT!

Don't forget I still mosaic as well, but not as often. I love that too. It makes a mosaic making day very special for me and I'm always happy with the time I spend making them. My hands, however, are 70 years old and it's harder to hold the tools for very long associated with making mosaics. There are some wonderful products out there for a hefty price (for me anyway) to help those with carpal tunnel and arthritis to continue making mosaics. My answer was to slow up on mosaic making and I found the world of collage and mixed media to be a great substitute.

I tried the layered collage technique in a book I use for practice and it came out really well. Keep in mind it's got a few layers of papers, paint and matte medium on it. Didn't even buckle a little! Yay!

This photo shows the top area or left side of the book with all these layers. The bottom page is the start of a layering process in paints mostly right now. Testing the paper to see if it'll buckle. So far, it has not.

I added a few cut outs and words to it. Really love this.

Here are a few others I've made over time and that are filling up the bin rather quickly!

 

Layered collage bottle with paint stain and an earring, top has twine wrapped around it.

Collage Sun in blues, whites and yellow. "Find Your Tribe".

An array of collage art on my beautiful blue table.

"Dream big, work hard, and never give up"

"Chase your dreams, not perfection"

"Create Magic"

"Gratitude"

"Embrace the Present"

Enjoy the journey.

Cindy aka EarthMotherMosaics

https://artbyearthmothermosaics.com

Mastering Mixed Media - EXPO 2025

I am so lucky I caught these offerings this year. Starting May 1st and running until May 14th. Yay! I am definitely ready to expand and learn. While I'm learning, we get the chance to do a piece of art of our own rendering by the teaching artist. Some I am not real sure I'll every try. There are wonderful teachers sharing their talents and I can pick a few that speak to me and try them in these two weeks. How awesome is that?

The first thing I really wanted to try was actually something I'm doing on the regular now but in a way different way. I love layered collage art. It's going to be shared here in the blog a lot, so hang tight, you'll see it soon and often!

I'm not mentioning the teachers here; in doing so it sends them info about the post or photo and although I'm not at all embarrassed or don't WANT them to see what I've done, they have enough to do. And so, this is what I've done so far since May 1st (it's now May 5th at this writing).

The teacher added a rainbow in hers and used bright pinks and blues. I just recently got copper acrylic paint ... you KNOW I had to use it! The first layer, that can't really be seen, has intentions written on it, all over the page, top to bottom. Second layer is some book pieces ripped up and glued down, third layer is watercolor crayons, fourth layer is black wax pen, fifth layer is acrylic paint and paint pens. Micron ink pens were also used, ink pad stamping here and there. That might be it. Lots on it and I loved every minute of making it! It's my daughter's favorite at the moment. Can't wait to make something else using these layers. Fun!!

Next up: Watercolor, graphite pencil, acrylic and waxed deli paper. The splatters got away from me, but I don't hate it.

Both watercolors are on 5.5 x 8.5 inch paper. The top one shown here was my second one to try. Not loving this one at all but love the feeling of freedom to just paint and go! I have a love/hate relationship with watercolor. I try to practice using it every week and often just put some colors down on paper and call it done, then once dry rip it up and use them for collage. Maybe that's what I'm supposed to do but seeing the above gives me the thoughts that I should attempt a little more exploring with watercolor. There's no reason not to try.

This one says: "Embrace Uniqueness" and really isn't my style but that's the point in taking these classes. It's fun to stretch outside of the comfort zone. Point is, I did it and will do it again, maybe even the same basic design. Done with acrylics, paint pens, black ink pens. I think I could love it more if I had used alcohol ink markers. So that's a plan for next time. I do love the sky and that bottom left side. The rest is ... meh.

A lot of the artists who are teaching this EXPO are sharing faces or people. I don't have a desire to even try that, not even to stretch. But I do enjoy watching them take a blank piece of paper, add color to it and then begin to create a face. That's more than awesome.

I'll share more art of mine when I decide to try a few more techniques/styles that are being taught. Next week, I hope!

 

Enjoy the journey.

Cindy aka EarthMotherMosaics

https://artbyearthmothermosaics.com

100 Day Collage Challenge

I DID IT! All 100 days ... every single one of them ... woohoo!!

I'm sharing 12 photos here with small explanations below.

The leather book holds 80 collage squares. Book Two holds the rest.

Very first collage square. Yikes. What went wrong? I used matte medium on espresso coffee collage papers which made everything brown, including the sloppy stuff around the square.

Day 15. This is where I'm finding my groove and am now using a glue stick for the most part. Ripped bit of a paper towel used to clean my paint brush, some ink pad stamping, a doodle and circles in metallic acrylic on top.

Day 30. Asemic Writing on tissue paper wins this one.

Day 44. Nothing new now except pure joy being able to use my own collage papers.

Day 55. Love the color combo here plus the added fun of a piece of watercolor art I made.

Day 64. Some mornings I wasn't feeling well (our family shared COVID around this time) but forged ahead anyway. Illness shows here and that'll always be the reminder of COVID for me. Ripped papers, doodle and a piece of paper that had coffee on it plus a wet piece of tissue paper that also had coffee on it - once dried, I ripped off pieces and glued them on top of the collage.

Day 71. Another watercolor bit here and a doodle too. Mostly what's shown here are pulls from the Gelli plate that were used quite a bit.

Day 78. I don't know where my head was but the color combo doesn't work here; reminder that I did them for 5 days each which means each day I heard myself say "oh yuck!".

Day 83. This is about the time I started using junk mail for Gelli plates and just painting with a brush as well. Kinda amazing that recycling can be done so often in my art. This makes me very happy.

Day 87. Computer paper "O" in black paint cut out and glued down. Cool.

Day 93. This was about the time I felt I had a handle on composition and color.

Day 100. As if to help me remember, the black blocked looking paper in the center was quite tempermental (paint peeled off in reaction to glue on my gloved fingers) but there's a great piece of glue resist painted paper up on the left hand side. Then a piece of waxed deli paper was drawn on and cut into a circle shape. The glue was also tempermental so it didn't do a perfect circle. That's okay ... nothing is perfect but it's still pretty!

 

Here are the panels and wood piece I did after each 5 days using the collage papers. I know I shared this before, but it's worth another look.

 

I still have pages to fill in book two. If I counted right, about 8 more blank pages to fill up.

NOTE: When this is posted, it'll be 5 more blank pages.

And so ... I'll continue filling the book until it's completely full. 👍

 

Enjoy the journey.

Cindy aka EarthMotherMosaics

https://artbyearthmothermosaics.com

Giving Handmade Gifts

One of the best things in life for me is to give a handmade gift to someone I care about.

Recently, I made two gifts; one mosaic, one collage.

The mosaic went to my cousin who supports my art habit by sending me random pieces of jewelry and was the one who gifted the table I refurbished and shared here recently. I thought she would like a thank you mosaic.

Hippie Chick

 

It sits perfectly without any help because the wood is a fairly thick piece. And she likes it! Yay!

The collage was an experiment that went quickly and well. A birthday was a perfect time to try making a collage on a bottle. It came out so well, I made myself one!

The gifted bottle

The bottle I made for myself with the matching earring

I have recently learned of a technique using paint and glaze to cover the collage papers. That's what I've done with the bottle I made for myself. I LOVE this technique. It gives the papers a Bohemian look and we all know how much I love that!

I know I'll be making more bottles with collage papers. I'm looking forward to it!

 

Enjoy the journey.

Cindy aka EarthMotherMosaics

https://artbyearthmothermosaics.com