Explaining How “Art and Food” could be used Side by Side as Artist Themes

According to Mary Beth Shaw Mixed Media artists should always be ready to advance their skills and fearlessly jump into the deep end of the mixed media techniques pool. Mary through her book has been able to bring together talents of 15 of her artistic friends with a strong theme of combining skill and flavors of cooking with those of art, highlighting that “Art and food are two of life’s most sensory pleasures and certainly two of her favorite things”

All the chapters in this book have a combination of Color, Texture, Layers, Flavors and three guest artists and three projects all which you will sink your teeth into. You are also provided with real recipes which add a real element of tying the cookbook and art book together. Besides the colors used, the depth of layers and the texture of the final piece particularly on two projects “Painting without Paint” piece and the “Clayboard book” are all captivating.

The combination of colors on the two projects using artist pastels and chalks was bliss according to Mary Beth though from the very beginning she did not know what she was getting herself into. It was even more charming when the letters were highlighted with a brown marker with additional of highlights with gold acrylic paint on a dry brush. At the end of it all the results were mesmerizing to the eyes.

Creating Backgrounds with a Variety of Ranger Alcohol Inks

Melanie Statnick is a Canadian Mixed Media & Collage Artist who creates art daily and with a whimsy, positive and fun style. One of her favorite projects is to create landscapes with Alcohol inks that she used to make Mixed media backgrounds. Acrylic landscapes excite her since the Alcohol inks allow her to have some experimental fun. She gives a list of the supplies you will require to create those backgrounds which include:

• Alcohol Blending Solution 
• Waterproof ink pad 
• Paper Towel and gloves 
• Small glass bowl
• Waterproof ink pad 
• Ranger Alcohol Inks in a variety of colors 
• Alcohol ink cardstock and/or Yupo paper pad 
• Stamps of choice and old toothbrush. 

Creating layered inks will help you achieve the look of a landscape. You can choose to use traditional colors and you can also top them up with own creativity. The secret behind this is that ink dry fairly quickly. Additionally, adding splatters of paint to a painting can make for some interesting texture. Adding more ink will make areas darker. You can also add your favorite stamps to your background. According to Melanie Statnick whose artwork can be found in art galleries and shops extensively in NC it is all fun to explore.

Wondering what Came First?

According to Mixed Media Art, being a crafter is something that you should be proud of because from the many arts available today like journaling and scrapbooking, old techniques of doing so are slowly coming back into the market. On the other hand, there is more description of the primitive tools used in the in the early days as highlighted below and which will depict how the artistic industry has grown:

• The acrylic paint which was used in the late 1930’s is still available today and in this case for many more uses. 
• Permanent ink markers have since replaced the ancient Sumi painting.
• Encaustic which was one of the earliest Greek arts but has apparently become one of the newest darlings on the art scene. This is because it can be used with embellishments, collage, fiber, papers, and textured or glossy surfaces. 
• Oil was carefully prepared in the studios by apprentices. Syringes and pig bladders were considered the early tubes to use then.
• Tools required that you are creative and anything that would make a mark would literally be used. 

So far many artists have found themselves using primitive tools and materials to make their artistic dreams come true. Moreover manufacturers have created design labs which will supposedly take care of the demands for more papers, embellishments, texturing tools, paints, stamps, inks, books, etc.

Enhancing your Skills in Art

Mixed Media Art wants you to grow through into your creativity and art. In their 50 pages of a technical sheet, they have outlined techniques, skills and projects that you can apply. Read below some of the painting techniques:

1. Credit Card Painting -You use this when you want to get onto lots of paper fairly quickly. It is more preferable for large swaps or large journal pages. Use of different colour combinations an exciting experience of endless, unique background papers which will be ready for journaling. 
2. Mixed Media Stencils - This helps to add shapes and patterns to your art work. It gives you control over your creating process and originality. It’s a better way of doing your pictures using stencils of drawing your own scares you.
3. Purple Painted Background - You will create simple backgrounds by the use of many layers which will eventually add visual interest to your piece of art. You can make use of different colors to create all sorts of backgrounds. 

Mixed media Skills include:

• Edging and Sponging which will alter the way a finished piece
• Antiquing where you can use different mediums and papers to achieve different shades and colours
• Tissue Paper images.

Mixed Media Projects are:

• Sticky Note Book 
• Art in shapes
• Ephemera Paper Mache Shrine
• Simple bound book. 

All the above if well followed will help you achieve a great piece of art.

Developing your Artistic Ideas with Simple Materials

Susan Walls is a Mixed Media Jewelry Artist with a charm for creativity and art. This is well explained by the jewelry and clothes she had made and wears despite having taken a different pathway after college, that of a restaurant business.

Susan began to make her own jewelry in 1990′s on a part time bases and started playing with resin about 5 years ago while watching the increase in popularity of ICE resin along the way. It is until when she began having kids that she found herself at cross-roads with the restaurant business and immediately transitioned to a stay at home mom, which, as we all know, has its own challenges. She ended up with the artistic business which she began by painting murals. Eventually she shifted her focus and on to the mixed media jewelry.

In her pieces of art, she will include such materials like Resin, metal elements and shrink plastic. Her themes on the jewelry will have humor and words that capture our imaginations. According to her she wants people to laugh and respond. As a result of her obsession of her style of mixed media jewelry, Susan keeps a notebook beside her bed to capture those inspiring ideas in the middle of the night and jot them down so she can remember them in the morning. You too can develop your passion.

Travelling on a Creative Journey

For you to achieve in art, you have to develop a creative journey. Mixed Media Art brings to you a creative journey travel to advise you on what you need to put in place to kick start on your journey. Tamara Dinius has a way with artistic expression even though she learnt it the hard way. This is what she says you should embrace towards the road to creative freedom:

· A can do attitude - According to Tamara Yoda was right when he said “Do, or do not, there is no try”. Make and make more art.

· Self Confidence - Believe in the self that all the artistic point of view you have is all yours lest you try to emulate others. You will only be true to yourself if find your own style.

· Patience - It takes time to develop your own style and since you didn’t learn to walk before you crawled, embrace your imperfections and continue to practice your art. It does not matter how many times you fall but how soon you get up.

· Support - Seek support from those whom you are sharing your creative journey with. You could join groups with similar interests as well as appreciate other people’s work with encouraging comments.

· Freedom - Don’t limit yourself in expression using a creative process.

· Your wings that will facilitate your growth.

Now you know what to brig on your creative journey!

Become a Self Creating Artist with your own Creations

If you love artwork creativity, Mixed Media Art has brought to your attention various wonderful gallery Ranger booths from different designers and artists whom in their own creations tried to answer the question of “How do you Distress?” Below are a few artists who displayed their creativity and which caught everyone’s eye:

• Julie Fei-Fan Balzer presented metallic rectangle stack up which was full of color and amazing texture. 
• Donna Downey had wonderful 3D poppies with lots of texture and depth. You would have loved to touch this all the way.
• With soft bluey, green background and using stencils and a paint wash, Dina Wakely created gorgeous face sketch of 3D elements. 
• Using a range of inks and stamps to frame the central focal point, Richele Christensen created a lovely piece while adding a variety of garden elements to compete the work. 
• Vintaj Design Team created gorgeous 3D butterflies which were such a delight with their colours and 3D design. The beauty was enhanced by the tree branch, using a real twig, and leaves.

All the pieces that were created by the above artists and others had a way with inspiration especially with the variety of colours used. This was all courtesy of the Mixed Media Techniques. It is very possible that you will find all styles interesting. Good luck.