Showing all posts tagged mixed media

In DIY, Mixed Media, Painting

Yupo Paper for Artists | Yupo Paper Review!

Author Kiana J.Posted on Leave a comment

Yupo Paper for Artists

Contains commissionable affiliate links

A few weeks ago a friend was telling me about this crazy new paper called Yupo paper – I know, sounds like a dog-sitting service or something – but really, it’s so fascinating! Yupo paper is actually a 100% synthetic paper that’s waterproof and recyclable!

So, I decided to walk into the local art store this week and grab myself a 5×7 pad of this stuff to try out. The first thing I noticed was how strangely smooth it was – it didn’t quite feel like plastic, but it also didn’t feel like paper either. If you have as much fun touching different materials as I do, you will love this stuff!

I also learned just from my own research that Yupo paper doesn’t tear, which is awesome! It means for the clumsy person like myself, you don’t have to worry as much about your expensive piece of watercolor paper tearing after you do that clumsy thing you’re so good at doing. It’s also supposedly very durable, built to last lifetimes, and you can wipe it clean if you need to during your artistic process.

You can also:

  • Die cut with it.

  • Emboss it.

  • AND it comes in different gradients of translucency, or super hard white.

  • Use virtually any medium on it.

Some things I learned from trying it out myself:

  • Ink sticks REALLY well to it.

  • Watercolor takes awhile to dry (I mean, it takes awhile to dry on regular watercolor paper too, so that’s nothing new), but when it does dry, the colors are insanely vibrant.

  • Watercolor looks a little different then it does on regular watercolor paper – it’s got inky, cloudy quality that I’m finding hard to explain.

  • It doesn’t buckle at all, like watercolor paper does.

So, without further terrible explanation of what the stuff is and how much I loved it, here were my results!

I was also able to find a few other really great examples on Instagram of artists using Yupo paper for their paintings:

Yupo paper can be purchased in most art stores, and I would definitely recommend buying some if only just to test it out for yourself! Because I love Amazon Prime, and I know there are a lot of people out there that love it as well, that’s probably the top pick I would go with if you’re just wanting to test the waters. You can buy a pad of Yupo 5×7 paper for only $6.79 on Amazon! Here are some other options you can find on Amazon – these are all Legion brand (that’s the one I tested) but there are other brands out there:

If you’re a fan of Blick you can also find Yupo paper through them online and in the store – they currently carry the Legion brand as well as one for watercolor that you can buy per sheet.

If you’ve ever used Yupo paper please leave a comment about it! What mediums do you use on it? Do you ever use the translucent one, and why? Is it better to get a pad or one of the large rolls? If you have pictures or a shop, please leave your link with your comment!

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In Etsy, Mixed Media, Textile Art

Artist Interview with Meri Gold from Pale Illusions

Author Kiana J.Posted on Leave a comment

It is my pleasure to introduce Meri Gold from the Pale Illusions Etsy shop! Meri Gold’s shop is filled with curiosities, and we hope you’ll take a look. You can also follow Meri Gold on Facebook. Instagram, and Pinterest, as well as check out her website!

Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and your journey with art? 

I’m a lost cause living on the West Coast of Canada fighting against “adulthood” one day at a time.
I have always loved making stuff. I come from a family of makers. Music, art, clothing, woodworking, it’s in my blood. I painted my first canvas when I was 14 but I was painting and drawing all over my walls long before that. I had a few other careers before landing on art only 2 years ago. I still feel pretty fresh at the whole making a living out of it thing, but I’m addicted to the rush.

What materials do you use in your mixed media embroidered pieces? What draws you to those materials?

Well, I thrift all my embroidery materials so fabric, hoop and thread wise, whatever I dig at the thrift store will end up in my piece. As for the paint, I bought this dry pigment in Peru when I was there 2 years ago. The colours are so highly concentrated so I’ll mix those with water or white acrylic for the background. I really enjoy the typical paint on raw canvas because the threads of the canvas provide a grid for me to use. But I like expanding too. Velvet is great, anything thick enough to not show the mess of the back is great. That being said I’d like to try embroidering some sheer fabrics. That would be a challenge.


Can you tell about your Patreon initiative? 

Yeah! I made it as a way for me to have an excuse to do cool things for people who feel compelled to give their support. I want to personalize my relationship with people who buy my work and show their support as much as I can so this just gives me a platform to do so. I love being able to show people my weirder creations and give sneak peeks. It’s fun for me. Plus it lets me live a regular life with some income stability which is a huge benefit to my creativity.


Do you listen to music while you create? If so, what are you currently into? 

Yes. And everything. Folk is my staple. But I love hip hop for painting, ambient is good for embroidery. Classical when its raining or in the morning. Shoegaze anytime. I’ve been getting more into Vaporwave. Podcasts are an always thing. I hop around a lot. And sometimes I really like sitting in silence. It almost feels noisy at times. But right now I’ll probably put on some soul/r&b and groove out a bit.

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In Mixed Media, Painting

Interview with Artist Teena Stewart

Author Kiana J.Posted on 1 Comment

I am pleased to introduce artist Teena Stewart from Serendipitini Studio! Please show her online website/shop some love!

Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and your journey with art? 

I just participated in Art Appreciation Day along with 20 other artists at Ball Creek Elementary School in Conover, NC and I got to show and talk about my art with several different classes. I encouraged the kids to ask questions and several asked me when I “started” being an artist. My answer to that is that I have always been an artist at heart. It is something I cannot turn off.

I remember as a child going up to our attic with the drop-down ladder and looking through my dad’s old sketch books. He drew when he was in the Navy and was a creative person. I always loved to draw.  One year for Christmas I asked for an art kit. It was like lighting a jet engine. I loved playing with the drawing pencils, paper and paints. However, I wasn’t encouraged to pursue art. My mom later told me it was because she didn’t think I could make a living at it.

I went to college as an adult for graphic design and graduated with a BA. During college I could not get enough of the art courses. I never really worked in graphic design, more desktop publishing, administrative and promo. I even became a published writer. But I continued to create on the side as I raised my family. About six years ago after losing my job I worked as a subcontractor for a silhouette artist friend who had developed a line of pet silhouette ornaments.

I assembled them and they sold very well seasonally. I still sell those ornaments today. It was that experience that showed me what great and in-demand market pets are. I am an animal lover myself and I started experimenting with not only selling those ornaments online but developing my own line of art and artisan gifts. I have a strong animal focus.

About three years ago after running my Etsy shop and my Amazon handmade shop I felt it was time to jump off the cliff and quit my day job, set my writing aside and pursue art full-time. I’ve done a lot of studying to learn how to market what I do and each year I gain a little more knowledge and grow my business a little more which includes teaching classes locally.

Included in that development is working with glass. I’ve always been fond of working with recycled things into my work so I began playing with recycled wine bottles. Eventually it led to getting a dual-media kin which can do glass and ceramics. And though I do some ceramics, they are usually small pieces like jewelry and I tend to gravitate more to glass. Last year I got a grant in order to take a course on making fused glass boxes.

I have also started experimenting with 2-D art and prints and am working on developing products for art licensing – getting my work on products. These are both new ventures so it remains to be seen how well I will do. I love learning new techniques so I’m always trying out new mediums. Most of my work now is animal themed or glass, but every now and then I will work in something else just for the creativity of it.

What does your artistic process look like for a painting? What materials do you like to use? 

I am fond of acrylic paints and mixing medias. Most recently I have experimented with acrylics, alcohol inks and colored markers. Before creating a work, I usually have an idea in mind I want to go with, then I research images, sometimes taking my own pictures or finding them online. I don’t use the images directly but may study them and draw my own based on them.  Then I plan out the design on canvas or paper figuring out where the components will go and how I will get them on there.

Do you listen to music while you create? If so, what do you like to listen to? 

Sometimes I do but not always. It tends to be classic rock: Moody Blues, Elton John, and an eclectic mix on Pandora….

Are there any current or future projects that you’re excited about?  

I am in a new artist co-op gallery in Hickory, NC called Trade Alley Art. I like the challenge of creating a new work or works for the displays so that keeps me on track for creating. Also, coming up for new designs for art licensing is one of my goals for the new year. The Christmas season tends to get really hectic, especially the on-line sales, so once those die down I will have time for more creating and planning.

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In Etsy, Mixed Media, Painting, Sculpture

Artist Interview with Aria From The Little Grey Rabbit

Author Kiana J.Posted on 2 Comments

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It’s my pleasure to introduce Aria from The Little Grey Rabbit shop on Etsy! The whimsical work in her and Aaron’s shop inspired this interview. Make sure to check out their shop!

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Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and your shop? What made you choose the name “The Little Grey Rabbit”?

I live in the Pacific Northwest on a small country homestead, but my true home is Epernon, France, hence the reason why there is such a strong French influence in my artwork, particularly my roomboxes. My shop is named after our rescue pet, a Mini Rex rabbit named ‘Boo’, the sweetest creature in the world, and thanks to my husband who is a photographer, Boo happens to have her own modeling gig….she’s a complete ham for the camera!

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Where do you gain inspiration from for your paintings, miniature buildings, and dioramas?

My love of architecture and my passion for France inspires many of my miniature buildings, dioramas and landscapes. But there is also the quirky side of me that loves pirates and swamps (yes I know, a weird combination) so it’s not unusual to find paintings of tall ships and the bayou in my shop.

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What’s the process like to create your buildings and dioramas?

Believe it or not (and please don’t laugh), I start out by putting on music that goes with the theme of the piece that I am going to be working on: so if it’s a building in France, I play French music; if it’s a castle, I’ll play medieval or renaissance music, etc..

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I usually start the actual build with a sketch or a reference image. I build the frame work in wood, cutting and fitting each piece together like a puzzle. Then once dry I apply the clay, carving, shaping, sculpting as I go. After which I paint and apply the finishing touches. It can take me anywhere from 2 to 10 weeks from start to finish, depending on the size.

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Are you working on any new projects or works of art?

A project that I have been laboring on for a few months now is a mix of miniature building and canvas painting, with the goal of the painting looking like it comes to life with the miniature building. I loved the idea, but it’s turning out to be more difficult than expected. I never know how labor intensive some projects will be until I get the clay and paint on it.

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In Etsy, Mixed Media, Painting, Textile Art

Handmade Eco-Friendly Brooches from Dariakash

Author Kiana J.Posted on Leave a comment

bird1

Good morning everyone! Today’s artist interview is between myself and Dariaka from the Etsy shop Dariakash. Dariaka’s shop is based in Prague, Czech Republic, and she loves to create fun, eco-friendly brooches from recycled material.

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How did you become inspired to make your mixed media and papier-mache brooches?

All my life I’ve always loved to sew, glue, cut, and invent new things. I always liked to embody my ideas in something created by my hands. As a child I sewed clothes for dolls, and invented houses and furniture for them. Then I began to sew for myself, to alter my mother’s old clothes or stuff I bought from a second hand shop. I loved to make original accessories for myself – earrings, necklaces, rings, but most of all I loved to make brooches. My friends wondered why I would make such interesting things for myself and not sell them, but I did not even think it was possible. I had another profession at the time – I was a sound engineer and always had a lot of work, and never time for anything else.

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Despite lack of time,  I always dreamed that my accessories would be worn by other people. Finally one day I met someone in the street that wanted one of my brooches. I clearly realized that I must change my life and do what I wanted to realize my dreams. It was then that I went to another country, began to paint, changed my profession (now I study film animation) and began to make brooches.

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Why mixed media? Because I have always loved trifles – beads, buttons, badges, pieces of fabric. As a child I brought whole pockets, wrappers, pins, stones, most of which I found on the street. Now I am always out at flea markets. I’ve got the idea to connect all these little things in my brooches. A perfect base for me is papier-mache, because it seems to me alive, in contrast with plastic. At the same time this technique is very affordable if you compare it with something like ceramics, which requires a roasting oven.

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What kinds of materials inspire you the most?

I am most inspired by paper and papier-mache, which gives me a kind of artistic freedom that I love. I can make beauty from nothing – there is always an empty egg box, from which I make sculpting bases for brooches- there are always old newspapers or magazines, with which I can paint on or make collages on brooches with.

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What kind of process do you go through in order to create one of your brooches?

For me it’s important to just sit down at the table and start working. To begin to sculpt, to spread out all the scraps I have, to put all the beads in front of me, to open magazines, to start to cut eyes, boots, hands – and then the ideas come – all the pieces begin to connect. Even when I have a concrete idea and I clearly imagine the brooch I want to make, thought the process it always becomes something else because suddenly I see a button that I like, or paints will mix to another color, and then I’ll choose another fabric, and decide that the bird will not have jeans but a shirt.
I do not believe in waiting for inspiration, to me it never came just spontaneously. I am confident that I must work and always look for inspiration, and then only through the process are my ideas born.

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Can you talk a little bit about the eco-friendly aspect of your brooches?

Once long ago I watched a documentary about how our planet is already overcrowded by garbage, which influenced me very much. After that I did not hurry to throw out old stuff. If I did not like my jeans anymore, I would alter them into a skirt – if a chair was broken, I would made a shelf from it. So it is with my brooches – I just don’t throw out the old buttons and beads, magazines and newspapers, the remains of fabric after reworking a dress. With these materials I make a completely new and different thing that brings me joy – a new brooch.

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I also try not use any chemical additives when working. Paper pulp, from which I make the basis for my brooches, consists of egg boxes, wheat flour, potato starch and water – that is all! I also use a non-toxic glue and paint. I had the idea to combine the stained glass technique with papier-mache, but because of the presence of lead in solder and toxicity of pastes for soldering I abandoned the idea.
Of course what I do is but a drop in the ocean, but I believe that every little bit helps.

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Make sure to visit Dariakash on Etsy and follow her below!

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