Wednesday - Art Table Madness!

It is madness here this week! My goodness there's so much going on ... many started projects in both the Purple Palace and at the art table. I'll keep it simple, though, and share just some of the completed or almost completed photos with explanations. No need to take you into the madness with me with the WIP's (work-in-progress). 

What fun to take an existing photo of myself and make it into an abstract. Honestly it was torture at first ... I just didn't want to do it because I didn't want to ruin it. Once I realized abstract is the best way to go and what happens, happens and to just be free thinking about it; don't take it too seriously, in other words, I was good to go with it. And go I did! Twice! I shared the other self-portrait here as well. Scroll down to find it. I did this one using acrylics, stamps, collage papers, Pasca paint markers in black and white and a white gel pen. I'm not in love with it, but I keep trying every so often to find my way around faces. Why not practice with my own?! Other than hearing myself say: "UGH" once in a while, I'm learning, it's okay to fuss once in a while. 

This is some paint textured with baking soda on deli paper. Fun process and feels like sandpaper. Lots of possibilities there with this technique. I am taking a favorite art print I recently did and gluing it on the paper which is on a wooden board and has a hanger ready to get placed somewhere in my room. 

This card just sort of evolved into pink things. I didn't used to like pink, but after using magenta for a while, I discovered it's a great color to use. This card is in an art journal created with an old greeting card, wrapping paper, collage paper, ribbon and stickers. 

Butterflies are making their way throughout my art these days too. Gotta love it, because I think of my Dad whenever I use one in my art. I feel he'd like that. This is the other side of the page in the same art journal shown above with a lot going on from my own art cut and glued, to a few pieces from a greeting card, a chamomile tea box, magazine cut outs, stamps, book pages, dots, stickers and painted papers. 

This one was really fun to do. I love the paper I used for the vase. I have no idea how I made it and I'm fairly sure I'll never duplicate it. I recently got some flower stencils through Amazon and just pulled them out to use here. Wow I love them! And I used the baking soda and paint technique here as well on the flowers, along with a few collage papers and part of a sun doodle. Another art journal page.

These are the roll-off papers I use when I'm painting or using the Gelli plate. I'm in love with the second one shown here, using some of the new stencils and my favorite circle stencil. Neither of these are getting used for collage just yet. I want to keep them as they are for now. If I make enough pages like these, I'll glue them together into a large sheet and then cut them down to a nice size. Eventually, they will get used.

Here's the second attempt of a self-portrait in an art journal as well and one I like much better than the first. I used watercolor, stickers and cut outs from books and word sticker quotes. My favorite is: "darling, you are a work of art". In this case, it's true! I cut out around the glasses, hair and hat and glued it over the photo I printed of myself to use to trace the face onto paper. Part cartoon, part photo. Pretty cool. 

More collage flowers in an art journal. I love the wonky look of these two pages. I can tell as I'm making journals, I have many going at the same time, that I'm finding a style I enjoy more than others. That IS why I have been making these journals, to practice different techniques and styles and see what speaks to me.

"Creativity Takes Courage". The latest card using the cut up sheets of painted papers I made recently. I added a flower stencil in white and a strip of deli paper that looks like a film reel were added.

 

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

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