Creative process – Page 2 – Mixy's Art Blog

the view from the middle

Reporting in from half way through the 100 day project, I am up to my eyes in part-done paintings!

Because this time I’ve chosen to make my 100 pieces all at once instead of one per day, it’s proving tricky to see how far it’s progressing.

I’ve posted daily snippets of progress over on IG, including short videos & time-lapses showing some of the ways I’ve been keeping on top of this ridiculous number of works!

Adding a layer to a bunch of paintings all at once by drawing across them as one was fun. The spaces and shapes the big abstract squiggle made on each piece connects them, and also makes a individual drawing on each.

Filling in the gaps in between made these sweet sibling painting pairs.

Whole families of similarly colored pieces began forming, and this whole endeavor feels like a new community forming.

I look at these and consider: would a less complicated person call these finished?

Which leads me to wonder if an unconscious part of me decided to tackle the project this was a way to work on the art of knowing when something’s done.

One thing’s for sure, I don’t want to spend days 98 & 99 in a mad scramble of adding last touches to dozens of paintings. That sounds like such a ‘me’ thing to do.

So I’m thinking the second half of this marathon should focus on the process of final layers and finishings.

This is the where we are at, day 50, the end of the beginnings snd the beginnings of the the endings.

I’ll be back soon with news on the other doings and goings on in my studio. Meanwhile, to be first to see what I make and find out the thinking behind it, do sign up for my monthly-ish newsletters.

Follow me on Instagram for daily updates 🙂
#100daysofQuietColor

Hi – I’m Mixy!

I’m a mixed media & textile artist from London, UK.

I love to share what I’m making, and I hope it brings some inspiration to your creative time.

You can see what I’m making on this blog, and in these places too

Insta @mixygregory
MadebyMixy.com

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6 weeks of daily painting

How ridiculous would it be to begin 100 paintings all at once? Let me show you…

We are 6 weeks into the 100 day project and I’m really loving this challenge.

Every day I post snippets of progress on IG, photos, videos & time-lapses of the layers adding up.

There’s a box on my desk homing the 100 started paintings, and at any one, time several are scattered across every flat surface around me as the newest layers dry!

Here are a few of the pieces I’ve been playing with this week.

So far I’ve used watercolours, acrylics and inks for larger blocks of color and graphite, charcoal, markers and fine liners for the details.

Is that all? It’s been a dizzying blur (but in the best possible way)

Yeh, then there was some potato printing & stamping with a recycled hot water bottle. I’m feeling like some collage elements could be showing up soon, and maybe some stitching too. watch this space! 😉

Next Sunday marks day 50, so I’ll be back next week with a special post at the half way point.

Follow me on Instagram for daily updates 🙂
#100daysofQuietColor

Hi – I’m Mixy!

I’m a mixed media & textile artist from London, UK.

I love to share what I’m making, and I hope it brings some inspiration to your creative time.

You can see what I’m making on this blog, and in these places too

Insta @mixygregory
MadebyMixy.com

Join Me!

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2021 sketchbook project

I filled the pages of this little book with 100 tiny paintings…

As I write, this little book is somewhere between here and Brooklyn awaiting scanning, processing and being homed on the library shelves.

Meanwhile, you can visit my tiny gallery, page by page from the comfort of your screen, right here 🙂

If you’d like to read more about how this came about, I wrote more about it here.

See videos like these before anyone else by joining up for almost regular monthly updates by email.

Hi – I’m Mixy!

I’m a mixed media & textile artist from London, UK.

I love to share what I’m making, and I hope it brings some inspiration to your creative time.

You can see what I’m making on this blog, and in these places too

Insta @mixygregory
MadebyMixy.com

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100 tiny paintings

If you follow my Instagrammings, you’ll have seen some cryptic posts about my *secret project*. It’s time to let the cat out of the bag…

This year’s entry to the Brooklyn Art Library’s sketchbook project is a little different.

During the COVID lockdowns one thing I’ve really missed is visiting art exhibitions and galleries, soaking up the inspiration, being surrounded by likeminded people.

So to mark this very strange part of history I’ve used painted papers and screen prints from my studio to create a tiny gallery of tiny paintings in the pages of this book.

I began by cutting small pieces from the papers I chose and developing the shapes and colours I had as a starting point to make each individual tiny painting.

They range in size between less than an inch to maybe 3 inches at the largest.

Naturally, the journey from start to finish took a few diversions on the way.

I considered stitching them into patchworked pages.

I like the effect of doing this, but went back to the ‘gallery’ idea. I’ll circle around to this idea another time.

Then my thoughts wandered to mandalas.

Could I make 100 tiny mandalas? …yes I could, but the deadline was looming so this is another idea on hold for another time. Meanwhile the ones I made are finding a home in my sketchbook for now.

Eventually I settled back on the original idea, and I just got it all done in time to mail it off to Brooklyn.

It will be part of the permanent collection after it’s arrived and been scanned, so you’ll be able to view it in real life or in their digitized library soon.

Meanwhile, if you’d like to watch a flip through with close ups of these weeny little pictures, be sure to catch my newsletter later this week.

Hi – I’m Mixy!

I’m a mixed media & textile artist from London, UK.

I love to share what I’m making, and I hope it brings some inspiration to your creative time.

You can see what I’m making on this blog, and in these places too

Insta @mixygregory
MadebyMixy.com

Join Me!

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the next of 100 beginnings

Twenty days in to the 100 day project, here’s where I’m at.

On 31 January I set myself the task to create 100 paintings in 100 days (see how it came about here).

I’ve been experimenting with different media and techniques, adding a little bit to a bunch of these paintings every day. Part of this challenge is to keep the colours quiet and muted, which doesn’t come naturally to me.

A few blue backgrounds were looking a little too vivid so I toned them down with grey to get back on track 😉

A bonus I did not expect from working in this whole new palette is that I’m getting much more of a buzz from the other (full volume color) projects that I’m working on at the same time.

To fully mix my metaphors, it feels like I’m getting a more balanced diet visually speaking, and I’m loving the contrast in flavours.

(I just finished a particularly colorful project, which I’ll tell you all about next week)

I enjoy using text in my art.

Either beginning with a word that fills the page and ornamenting it into something new, or using scribbled thoughts and chunks of wordage to fill blocks and shapes.

In the last few days I’ve been adding some time lapse videos of the process to the Instagram posts – I love re-watching the way pieces like this take shape as black ink squiggles about on wet paper.

To keep track of how many paintings I’ve started I began numbering them, which lead me to listing some words & thoughts on the back (As inspired by the great artist & teacher, Jesse Reno). Sometimes it’s a color I want to remember, or a thought that’s shown up (future me might bury that under more paint, so I’ve left her a note just in case).

As the layers build up, the lists will grow. Every painting will have its own little chronology. Some might become a poem, or a name for the painting might emerge. We’ll have to wait and see 😉

Follow me on Instagram for daily updates 🙂
#100daysofQuietColor

Hi – I’m Mixy!

I’m a mixed media & textile artist from London, UK.

I love to share what I’m making, and I hope it brings some inspiration to your creative time.

You can see what I’m making on this blog, and in these places too

Insta @mixygregory
MadebyMixy.com

Join Me!

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the first of 100 beginnings

10 days into the 100 days project, laying down the first layers of 100 paintings.

Ten days into the 100 day project, already I’m amassing a satisfying stack of paintings-to-be with first layers down.

My strategy this year is not to make a complete painting every day, but still to make 100 paintings in 100 days.

Because the way I work best is to have lots of pieces on the go at any time. I hop about between them and the ideas cross pollinate. These 100 days of Quiet Color are taking a familiar route, spiraling through layers and iterations of pattern.

Right now I’m all about watercolor and ink in swirly shapes (beginning with words which quickly evolve into more abstract shapes). Some already have a lot of tiny details,

(while these first colors are drying I move onto another one)

While others are washes and blobs of color – just a very beginning.

The quiet colors de jour are Payne’s Grey, Indigo & Sepia with a bit of Black & White gouache.

Follow me on Instagram for daily updates 🙂

#100daysofQuietColor

Hi – I’m Mixy!

I’m a mixed media & textile artist from London, UK.

I love to share what I’m making, and I hope it brings some inspiration to your creative time.

You can see what I’m making on this blog, and in these places too

Insta @mixygregory
MadebyMixy.com

Join Me!

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thoughts from the pause

Since last summer I’ve made a new 2 page spread in my ‘Book of Days’ every week. It’s become a mishmash of notes from podcasts, quotes and song lyrics, accompanied by sketches …

It’s been a few weeks since I began reorganising my studio space and I’m still in the “where did I put that” aftermath.

This has meant a pause in creating time, and in turn caused me to take a pause from online doings. And this, naturally, is also part of the global pause/chaos. How are you doing, are you still afloat?

One thing that has not paused is my ‘Book of Days’, this ginormous book of doodles, which is keeping me grounded throughout.

Quite literally – at 600 pages this thing weighs a ton! but also in the sense that it’s a consistent element accompanying a slow plod through winter.

Since last summer I’ve made a new 2 page spread every week. (sometimes I go ‘back in time’ to add extra doodles and details to earlier pages.)

It’s become a mishmash of notes from podcasts, quotes and song lyrics, accompanied by sketches of people, places, memories & dreams, with patterns to fill the in between bits. There are swatches from new paints and pens acquired, even the paints I used when I was painting some furniture last year. It’s a visual dumping ground, an abstract diary documenting these discombobulated times.

It will, all going well, be with me for a few years to come.

I’ll show you how it’s coming on, the first pages are here

Book of Days: 16 pages in 16 weeks.

This flip thru took us to some time around October, and I’ve continued a spread a week ever since.

To catch up to date with the latest pages, be sure to see my next newsletter, it’s out tomorrow 🙂

There’s a place to sign up at the tail of this post.

Hi – I’m Mixy!

I’m a mixed media & textile artist from London, UK.

I love to share what I’m making, and I hope it brings some inspiration to your creative time.

You can see what I’m making on this blog, and in these places too

Insta @mixygregory
MadebyMixy.com

Join Me!

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sari silk stripes

Join me for the final step around the color wheel…

Ever since I was a young thing,
I’ve always loved to sew.

The back and forth of needle through fibres almost hypnotises me into a meditative trance. I love the tactile textures of the fibres, the way shapes can be held together and yet still flex to move. The shadows in the folds, the waves in the weave.

All this to say, it will come as no surprise to learn I have a sizeable stash of fabrics in my studio with which to play.

It’s largely a collection of clothes {some old, almost worn out, most thrifted or rescued, saved for a quality to the fabric, the color or texture or pattern or something. Others saved for simply their fibres, to be chopped up and used as stuffing}

There’s also the yarns and threads, the ribbons and trim. Some rescued and tattered, some new. One type I’m especially fond of (shhh – don’t tell the others) is a type of yarn made from recycled sari silks.

This particular yarn delights my senses with its blend of rich vibrant colors, the light shimmer to the silk fibres. It has a character and charm in its wobbly bobbly line, like a tree branch or stream. But more than this! when lightly unravelled it reverts to ribbon with deliciously frilled raw edges, fluffy like feathers, and a criss cross of creases.

Yes, I’m altogether smitten with this stuff!

You’ll find sari silk yarns and ribbons online or in some fabric stores, I got mine online from Yarn Yarn & Good Karma Llama, these are the best I’ve come across so far 🙂

So for the final piece of this 12 month project I used my most favourite material. This golden egg yolk color was perfect to complete the wheel of color that’s taken us through this extraordinary year!

Sometimes (often times) its the simplest of ideas that lead to the best outcomes.

I cut short lengths of the yarn and unravelled to ribbons, hand stitched them using a long running stitch to form stripes on this painted paper I’ve been using all month.

Each strip of silk made stripes within stripes, the frayed edges, the stitches over and the creases in the fabric, and the marks on the paper showing through between. I deliberately didn’t iron the unravelled yarn flat to maintain the wrinkles, although next time I might add some ironed stripes in as well for yet another type of contrast. I’d like to try layering narrow stripes on top of broader ones…. so many ideas!

This is a quick look at today’s piece taking shape stripe by stripe.

“Twelvty” 12 Colors in 12 Months

Join me in the New Year to find out where this project is going next as I plan to combine them into some big multicolored works.

(and maybe some more smaller pieces too)

Hi – I’m Mixy!

I’m a mixed media & textile artist from London, UK.

I love to share what I’m making, and I hope it brings some inspiration to your creative time.

You can see what I’m making on this blog, and in these places too

Insta @mixygregory
MadebyMixy.com

Join Me!

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paper doodles

making doodled patterns with painted paper shapes.

Following on from yesterpost’s painted paper collage inspired by the sun ray style mandala ideas, today I’m using the same papers but for something quite different.

From sharp cut, radiating lines to these freeform doodly torn wiggles.

I love making patterns from these rounded shapes – so much so I filled a whole sketchbook with them one time 🙂

Overlapping the pieces like scales or feathers gives them another layer of dimension, a sort of ruffled aliveness, and something I now want to explore again – maybe part of a bigger piece – maybe with fabric or card or something a bit chunkier to make them stand apart from each other even more.

Something I love most in this project is that each week I’m not just making the piece I show you in these posts, but they are sparking alive a whole flurry of offshoot ideas.

Here’s how today’s piece took shape

“Twelvty” 12 Colors in 12 Months

Every month this year I am making a series of mixed media pieces in just one color. At the end of the year I’ll combine them into one big multicolored work.

I’m sharing my process throughout this adventure here in this blog. (So far this year I’ve explored Yellow, Yellow-Green, Green, Blue-Green, Blue, Violet-Blue, Violet, Red-Violet, Red, Red-Orange & Orange)

Hi – I’m Mixy!

I’m a mixed media & textile artist from London, UK.

I love to share what I’m making, and I hope it brings some inspiration to your creative time.

You can see what I’m making on this blog, and in these places too

Insta @mixygregory
MadebyMixy.com

Join Me!

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sunset mandala

we’re into the last phase of this color wheel trip, the golden hues of ochre, turmeric and saffron, late afternoon sun, and desert sands.

Folks, we’re into the last phase of this color wheel trip! Our final color to explore is orange-yellow, the golden hues of ochre, turmeric and saffron, late afternoon sun, and desert sands.

Today’s exploration began with some painted papers (much more of these in a separate post soon!)

The paper I’m using is all scrap – from magazine pages, old drawings and a paper bag – the stuff that would end up in the recycling basket if I didn’t have this compulsion to turn everything into art.

I’ve been sorting through some art supplies i haven’t played with in a long while and came across some coloured cellophane too, so that’s in the stash as well as some thread and yarn and a couple of sandy-ochre coloured markers.

Let’s see what we can make with this assortment of orange-yellow things!

I’ve got a real fascination with mandalas right now (again – more to come on these in a few post’s time!) so that’s the idea which sparked today’s creation.

Beginning with a small piece from each of the painted papers I cut out a bunch of triangles. Using PVA glue on a piece of card for a backing I arranged the triangles, alternating the different papers, pizza-slice-fashion into a mandala of sorts.

I’m left wondering if it wants some patterns doodled onto some of slices, so this might still be a work in progress.

Options (as usual) remain open 😉

Here’s how today’s process took shape

Next post I’ll show you how the rest of the painted papers became part of this orange-yellow series.

“Twelvty” 12 Colors in 12 Months

Every month this year I am making a series of mixed media pieces in just one color. At the end of the year I’ll combine them into one big multicolored work.