Friday - Collage Art and Fodder everywhere!

Although I no longer do collage every day, I do it the most at the moment. Actually if I'm being truthful I have spent more time making collage fodder than actual collage art. I have to admit finding new things to try on the Gelli plate or just on a random piece of paper with paint is enticing beyond belief.

This is a piece of newsprint I use for rolling the paint off of the brayer - sometimes it is a work of art all by itself and got added to the art journal just as it was - looks like an abstract vase and flowers to me --- what do you see? 

Gesso on a piece of watercolor paper made it harder than normal. When I painted the landscape on it I thought it would make a good page for the art journal as a post card with some ink stamps and a small piece of paper that looked like an actual stamp.

Right now, I have a nice little system going for my collage papers. I just got a cart with rollers (shown at the bottom of this post) that isn't yet organized completely but will be soon. It has allowed me to move things from under the work table making room for the two boxes filled with collage paper split into Cool and Warm colors with a lot of other things in each box such as the sewed hankies I've painted and am embroidering. I thought I'd share some of my new favorite pieces of fodder and the painted hankies so far.

 Playing with string and paint within a book - such a cool design!

String and circles on the Gelli plate and some "ghosts" after adding a little more paint over the first designs of string and circles.

Another successful pull off of the Gelli plate reminds me of buildings! Cool!

Old embroidery by a beloved relative whose table runner it was sewn on had fallen apart, gave me the idea to cut them all out and add them to art journals and collage art. Preserving the art within the cloth in a new way. Under those are my own hand drawn designs and embroidered back stitching on old hankies I also painted. Will be added to art either in journals or part of a collage on something. Or both!

I finally managed to remember to get these cool little plastic organizers that comes in a 2-pack on Amazon for beads although I'm using one for my alphabet letters cut outs. I do believe the 2nd organizer will have beads or bead-like things in it for mosaics. It felt great to get these all sorted.

 

Next week I'll be using the time to do some promoting for my Etsy shop. I'm completely rewriting titles and descriptions at the moment and they all should be finished by then. I hope.

Remember to find something creative to do every day.

Don't forget to come say "hi" on one or all of the social media spots. See you there!

 

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

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

In The Studio - Wednesday

I zipped through the 2nd mosaic I needed to do for the fund raiser donation reward this past week. It took 2 days!

End of day 1.

Working on an abstract this time was really easy for me. I am most comfortable using these colors and doing abstract designs, for sure.

End of day 2.

I'm probably going to grout both the beach scene and this one at the end of the week. I'll share photos when I do!

After I moved, some of my online friends reached out and asked if I needed anything, supplies wise, to get me back on my feet. Such sweet gestures and really appreciated, the first person said they had a few things in their garage they wanted to share with me and sent me a nice box filled with goodies. Some of which I used in the mosaics I just made.

It's always fun to get surprise packages in the mail!

Everything will get used eventually. Shortly after this one arrived, another online friend reminded me she owed me an exchange gift from many years ago and wanted to know if I needed anything in particular or if I wanted her to make me something? I told her honestly, I needed glue! I was finding some of my glass and dish shard stash, I found substrates and my tools. But I never found the glue! Somewhere there is a bottle floating around either in storage or is now long gone but it's not with me. After chatting with her for a bit through messages on Facebook, she sent me a message saying a box was on it's way. She lives in Canada. It took no time at all to get to me!

She handmade a cowl scarf in a favorite color for me last year when I was wearing a lot of scarves (it feels so good against my neck, I love it!), she sent me a mosaic she made, coloring book and pencils, note pads, a journal, small tags to use for gifts after coloring them and FOUR bottles of glue!!

I just can't tell you how blessed I feel. I am one lucky ducky to have online friends this giving. I've never, ever come across a sweeter bunch of people as the artists who create mosaics.

I'll share another post when I do some grouting!

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

Stay peaceful.

Cindy, Earth Mother Mosaics

Auction Time!

Remember the ink and watercolor pendants I recently made?

Before listing them next week I'm holding an auction on Facebook from Friday-Sunday, June 19-21. Each pendant will have it's own post and bidding will start at $15 and will be invoiced through PayPal. Shipping is $3.00. These will be listed for $25, so get in on this auction while you can! The auction will start at 8 AM EST, Friday, June 19th. Have fun!

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

Stay peaceful,

Cindy

In The Studio - Part Two

I've got more to share of doodles and mosaics! I'm really hoping I can handle the grouting process this weekend so I can get a few of things I've done over the past few weeks listed on Storenvy.

mandala - watercolor (pencils)

spheres - watercolor (pencils and crayons)

"The Watchguard of the Faery Kingdom" - ink (look closely you'll see small windows and houses within the tree and branches)

"Sweet Sleep" - ink

Mr Owl has keyes for eyes and ears and is ready for the grout pile! Isn't he cute?!

Watercolor pendants all finished!

Ink pendants - I really like these a lot. :)

Watercolor pendants - wip - These still need sealing and bails added. Not as much in love with this set. Next set will wait for the new supply of ink pens to arrive.

Hot air balloon - wip - 8-1/2 x 6 inch wooden plaque -
nipped stained glass, mirror and dishes with ceramic nano tiles

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

Stay peaceful,

Cindy

In The Studio - Part One

Wow, what a productive week so far!

Weather-wise, it's been a bit crazy. Rain and gloomy skies. I live in an area that gets a lot of tornado watches. June is the big month for that and it's already started. What we mostly get are lots of rain which produces flooding, wind and thunderstorms. This in turn causes my poor body to stay in a constant amount of pain. However, not being able to sleep due to pain and a brain that won't shut off really does produce a plethora of art!

I have used a lot of shapes more than once, like the camel and elephant for the Zentangle doodles. Can't wait for the sun and the Camera Goddess to work together to get some great photos for cards and prints to be made of some of them.

The elephant above is called "Gentle Giant". I shared it on Society6. These are my favorites using that design.

I was gifted last week with 3 sketch pads by an online buddy who told me she'd never use them and thought I might. 2 watercolor pads (different sizes) and one for pens and markers have already been used. I'm happy to have such generous friends. They take good care of me.

I did one watercolor so far this week using acrylics. I didn't get the ratio right with the water on the darker colors in my opinion and the black watercolor crayon was too heavy in areas but considering I'm teaching myself, I'd say this is a good first attempt.

I have managed to continue to add more to the grout pile too! I'm still going strong with creating mosaics and really hope to start grouting as soon as the muse and my body agree on when to do it. I now have 3 items I want to grout so I can make them available for sale.

I found some small 1 inch tiles given to me years ago by a long time friend recently (and promptly lost them again after doing what you see below!) and did some doodles on them. I made them into pendants. Those will get listed too.

Three are painted in watercolors. I love them!!

Enjoy your week! I know I am. I've already started on the next mosaic and doodle.

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

Stay peaceful,

Cindy