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

Art Tray

In 2024 I purchased a wooden tray I was going to mosaic and send to my family in Norway. Before I got very far in the mosaic process it cracked and split in quite a few places making it impossible to put a mosaic on it. It wouldn't stay in one piece, I knew.

 If you'd like to see the original plan for this tray, you can read the blog post I wrote about it and shared the set up with some of the mosaic tiles I was going to use here and here as well. I ended up purchasing more tiles and still have many of them. They are shared in the second post.

Meanwhile, I repaired the cracks (blessings sent above toward my woodworker Father who taught me how to do these things!), primed it and let it sit for a year unclear on what to do with it. I do that. My projects wait for me, however. They are not in a hurry to be made until I am ready to make them. This is why I love them. They are patient.

Now that I'm discovering my way around collage, I decided to get this tray out of the garage, put some cork pieces on the bottom, paint it and collage it. And even better, use it!

Magenta, turquoise, yellow and black acrylics. The yellow is sponge-painted on the tray creating a green on top of the blue. Love it!

Here's the collage papers ready for ripping up and gluing!

All done! Reminds me of a fancy scarf design. Awesome!

The tray is now sitting on my art work table holding paint, brushes, glue sticks and other assorted supplies.

It may have taken a year or so but I love it's transformation now. 

 

Enjoy the journey.

Cindy aka EarthMotherMosaics

https://artbyearthmothermosaics.com

Collage Paper Art

More collage papers! I'm making them all the time, almost daily, but what I love the most: each collage that comes through is slightly different. That's amazing. None are exactly the same. Similar to my mosaics, which is nice to see the comparison. All are unique!

Some fun papers I've made adding designs on the boring looking papers or ones that I'm not thrilled with as they are from a failed attempt at the Gelli plate. It happens ...

 

Here's some collage I actually did manage to make in between all the painting fun I'm having.

 

I struggled with this one. It's got a collage paper as the base in gold/yellow with a few metallic blue streaks in it, a doodle art sun, acrylic paint pen, mirror and gems. Not sure it's a favorite but they all can't be perfect. Actually none are but some come pretty darned close.

Probably my favorite at the moment. Really loving the colors here. More papers in these colors are definitely going to be made.

"Embrace Potential". Lots of circles in this one!

 

 

Enjoy the journey.

Cindy aka EarthMotherMosaics

https://artbyearthmothermosaics.com

Creative Chaos Journal

As you may know, this year I've been experimenting a lot with collage, abstract art, and altered books. I'm discovering a freedom I can't have with stained glass and dishes. I have to say my hands are happy even with the long hours of making collage papers because there's no difficult tools to use. I think I'm a long way away from getting a handle on collage or being happy enough to sell anything just yet but this journey is amazing!

At the moment, I am altering an old hardbound book I've had for over 20 years. In my attempt to use what I have, I've found only a few books to alter. The hunt for more may very well be in my future because this is a wonderful exercise in creative freedom for me.

I'm not going to share every page I've done so far mostly because they change almost daily as I add a spot of paint here and there. I go back through the pages and add a thumbprint of paint or a random circle in acrylic. Here are a few of my favorite pages so far. Chances are they've already been altered and look slightly different than shown.

 

As a side note to this post ... I made a Junk Journal last year and thought I'd share a lot of those photos here at some point in the future. I have to gather them up on the computer and make sure I have the whole thing, although it ended up at something close to 90 pages or a little over. I don't think I'll share all of them but maybe when I have very little going on in the studio I can share a few pages every now and then. Most are on my FB personal page but not everyone does FB. And it would be good to have it here anyway just for prosperity. 😊

 

Enjoy the journey.

 Cindy aka EarthMotherMosaics

https://artbyearthmothermosaics.com

 

Thursday - Wrap-Up

Wrapping up a few long sessions in artful endeavors this week. There's all things I love to create in this post, so get a cup of your favorite beverage and relax. Enjoy!

 

For Father's Day, I created this small watercolor for my Father.

Really diggin' this 12 inch peace sign. It might head on over to my Etsy shop soon.

Or I might just let it be on the Peace Wall for a while.

Back in August 2022, I started working on this 13 inch square mosaic. I did the moon and clouds and then let it sit for a very long time. I sat and stared at it every time I was in the Purple Palace because it sat against the wall on the opposite wall of the door.

Grouting using my hand is rare. But when the tess I use is all different thicknesses, it's necessary. Besides I like to get my hands dirty.

"Shine On". "We all shine on, like the moon, the stars, and the sun." After a few years of waiting for inspiration, I believe it was worth it. I love using the "feet" from old plates here in the background. I save all the dish pieces I cut, for this very reason.

8x10 inch, painted in acrylics and Dragonfly Glaze, then some doodles I've cut out with words on here too.

8x10 inch, Regatta, with sailboats on the bottom, a fun boardwalk attraction on the top left and some kind of funky looking moon doodle on the right. I gave this to my grandson recently because he has learned to sail this summer.

8 inch sun sitting in the "to be grouted" pile. I like this one.

8 inch moon waiting patiently for me to begin the mosaic magic.

A 4 inch dot painted sun, not yet finished but close.

And of course there are tons of doodles, truly too many to share this time. I'll no doubt do a photo dump on Instagram during the weekend. I hope you get a chance to see them all!

 

Until next time ... ☮

Enjoy the journey.

 Cindy aka EarthMotherMosaics

https://artbyearthmothermosaics.com

Support Independent Artisans, Designers and Crafters for your gift-giving needs all throughout the year. Thank you!~Cindy, EarthMotherMosaics

Acrylics, Watercolor and Alcohol Ink - Oh My!

Acrylics, Watercolor and Alcohol Ink - Oh My! So many things to share right now! I've been busy.

Acrylics are still new for me, even though I've used them longer than any other paint medium. I used them mostly to paint the sides and backs of wood or MDF I created a mosaic on. Just recently I've decided to use them on paper and see what happens.

Below are a few I managed to be happy with and are still in the large 8 x 6 inch glue bound book I made.

Autumn leaves dedicated to my favorite tree from the past.

Spring Flowers dedicated to my favorite spot by the creek on our property.

 As you can see, many pages were ripped out. I'm going to fill this up in no time using only acrylics.

The first small book 3-3/4 x 3-1/2 inches, has been filled and I'm working on the second one.

Here's what the cover on the first book looks like. I used the small art cards I've doodled on over the past few years.

And here are 10 out of 12 pages within this book. All are dated on the back.

Now the new book is going to have black ink, marker, alcohol inks and both sides will be filled in. Some will have the doodle outlined from the previous page because it bleeds through. My Dad said he likes that the alcohol ink does that and can see a cool looking design on that side as well as the original side. So I'm taking advantage of that, getting two pieces of art for the price of one.

Here's the cover of the second book. Both front and back have an art card because I'm doing both sides of the paper within.

Front

Back

Inside there are only a few pieces of art done. Remember both sides are being drawn and/or painted.

First page.

The first page again, after page two was made.

 

Second and third pages.

Back of page three.

As you can see, it'll take a little bit of time to get the book filled but it's all in the journey and an enjoyable one at that.

I also have a few doodles to share that aren't in a book.

 

The top one, pink flowers, is done in Sharpie markers. The second is watercolor and black ink pen posing on my bistro chair.

Enjoy the journey.

 Cindy aka EarthMotherMosaics

Support Independent Artisans, Designers and Crafters for your gift-giving needs all throughout the year. Thank you!~Cindy, EarthMotherMosaics

How To Make 4 Inch Mosaic Coasters Using Various Tesserae - Part Two

This weekly post will be dedicated to learning how to make basic mosaics. Come along with me as I show you how easy and fun it can be.

Not all the basics will be done using coasters. I have 3 good examples and easy ways to learn how to get used to the different kinds of tess. Making coasters is the most cost-efficient and gives you all a "taste" of how fun mosaics can be.

In this post I've shared the way to make two 4 inch coasters from start to finish using acrylics paint, glitter and tempered or crash glass. Please refer to the previous post to see how to grout: mosaic-coasters-part-one

For this project you will need:

1st part:

• Tempered glass (often called TG)
• PVA glue or MAC Glue
• Paint brush 
• Acrylic paint
• Glitter 
• Tweezers
• 2 MDF or wooden coasters

2nd part:

• Sanded grout
• Gloves
• Dust mask
• Wooden craft stick
• Newspaper or plastic
• Clean, dry rags
• Painters tape (optional)
• Felt pads (optional)
• String or ribbon (optional)

This project is recommended for older children 8 years of age and up due to the temperament of TG. Once it's in pieces, it continues to splinter and break, often causing tiny shards to form. It must be handled with care at all times.

Art Level: Beginner/Intermediate
Difficulty: Medium

Finding tempered glass is not difficult but might take some visits to your local Habitat for Humanity ReStore. Shower doors are made from tempered glass. You can find table tops and shelves there too. We have quite a few in our area and I'm hoping you can find one close to you. If you can't find one, let your friends and family know you are interested in this glass to try a mosaic with. If you know a local contractor who replaces shower stall doors, or a friend's car window or patio furniture table top break, you've got a lot of glass to play with if they remember you wanted it! Don't be afraid to ask.

I gave away a glass shelving system a few years ago to a family member. Over time, one or two shelves have broken due to kids and animals doing what they do so well and she sweeps it up and brings it to me. I've gotten quite a bit online from an office supply store when they have sales on tempered glass shelving.

Some TG has a green tint to it. You can't really see this looking straight on but if you hold it on an angle, you can see it.

Below are photos as to how to make these really pretty coasters. These would make great holiday gifts!

This photo above shows glitter, MDF coasters, tweezers and tempered glass. This plus acrylic paint and glue is all you'll need for this mosaic. I recommend using tweezers especially made for mosaic use. You can order tweezers like the ones I use above online. I suggest doing an search for them under "mosaic tweezers" to find the ones you think might work for you and your future projects. I use the ones offered by Mosaic Tile Mania.

Paint both sides of the MDF coasters.

Before the paint on the 2nd side is dry, sprinkle some glitter on it. Isn't this pretty?

I find it best to tilt the coasters to get rid of excess glitter before the paint is completely dry. I like to show a little of the paint under the glass as well as the glitter.

For this project I use MAC Glue as my adhesive. It is expensive as far as glue goes, but there is nothing better than using the right glue for the job. It lasts a long time and not much is needed. The amount I've poured out here is enough to cover one coaster. You can use a PVA glue (shown in the first "how-to" post) if you don't want to invest in this glue. If you think you might like to try glass-on-glass mosaics in the future, please consider purchasing this glue (Editor's Note: Buy during the summer months only - it does not ship well in winter months, especially if it freezes). For this project, the white glue I used for the first set of coasters can be used. That glue takes about a week+ to dry when using tempered glass. MAC Glue dries within 24 hours under all glass.

Find and carefully place pieces of tempered glass for your project and apply over the glue.

Only add glue to a small portion and take your time with this glass. Placement is important.

Let your mosaic sit for 24 hours or more (as explained above) depending on what glue you use.

This shows the tint in the tempered glass and explains why I like to use MAC Glue.

Once the glue is dry, you can tape up the bottoms of the coasters if you're messy with grout. I used white sanded grout for mine.

Pretty and functional.

I've added felt pads to the bottom, tied them up with some simple ribbon. I show how to do that and give sealant information in Part One at the end of the post.

Any questions? Please leave comments or send me a private message if you have anything you'd like to discuss.

Next week, Part Three is the last of mosaic coasters fun! That post shows how to use scraps of stained glass. Woo-hoo!

Support Independent Artisans, Designers and Crafters for your gift-giving needs all throughout the year. Thank you!~Cindy, EarthMotherMosaics