daily art – Page 2 – Mixy's Art Blog

Flip through: Book of Days Part NINE

For over 3 years I’ve been adding a double page spread to this ginormous sketchbook every week.

Pages 136-146 came together through February to May 2023.

It’s funny, I look back at these pages and they feel as familiar as yesterday, and at the same time, like a life time ago.

What is it they say – as you get older the days drag but the years fly. I’m not sure it’s that consistent. But I do know time is wobbly and makes no sense to me.

I’m busy-ing away on a new project based around the characters who show up in these pages. Be sure to follow along to be first to see what I’m making!

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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Painted Papers

In 2022 I began selling artisan painted papers for collage and mixed media art.

This week I’m launching 4 NEW collections 🙂

In 2022 I began selling artisan painted papers for collage and mixed media art.

This week I’m launching 4 NEW collections 🙂

The papers include vintage book pages, sheet music and old maps. Watercolor and drawing paper, card, magazines, packaging and more.

Colored with watercolor, gouache, acrylic, ink, pens, oil pastel, crayon.

Multi-layered, irregular shapes, cut outs & torn edges, textured by crumpling crunchy paint layers and piercing.

Ink dyed, stained and splashed; doodled, drawn and scribbled upon.

Some pieces have little bits of stitching and fabric.

The papers are individually curated and bundled together into unique collections based around color families.

(many pieces are double sided, you might find some splashes of wild card colors on the reverse side.)

What an absolute delight it was for me when I opened your package!
Stunning does not do these papers justice.
Diane S

NEW Collections:

Autumn Mist

Rosy rusty terracotta tones.
Bronze-gold and copper highlights.
Vivid orange, sharp yellow.
Rich chocolate browns and earthy greens.

Muted Neutrals

Quietly natural, muted, neutral tones.
Chromatic greys with
contrasting textures and patterns.
Mostly mid-tones with light and dark accents.

Beside the Seaside

Beachy blues, turquoise & sea foam.
Golden yellows with sun-bleached neutrals.
Soft sandy earth.
Rock pool greys and blues.

Silvery Dawn

Delicate chalky whites, cloudy dove-grey and cream.
Hints of pinks and pastels with a splash of iridescent shimmer.
Crisp cool greys and gentle cerulean sky blue.

To complement the new color families check out the other collections:

20 weeks of doodles

For over 3 years I’ve been adding a double page spread to this ginormous sketchbook every week.

So my routine is this: When Monday comes around, and it’s New Page Day for me.

I love it!

Amid all the uncertainty and chaos, this is a constant.

Every so often I film a flip through, and some while after this I remember to do the editing/posting/sharing part …. there’s often a few-month-long time lag between the drawing and the sharing 😉

This is a look back at the pages from June-October 2022.

To be first to see the next installment, and see more of the behind the scenes to my art, check out my newsletter.

A Holiday Sketchbook Flip Through

There have been many trips I’ve taken where I didn’t even open my sketchbook. This holiday I made a deal with myself to find time, and I’m so glad I did!

If you caught my last newsletter you’ll have read about my holiday sketchbook, and the thoughts behind these images.

(And if not you can sign up below and I’ll send it right to you!)

Over the years I’ve been honing the optimum ‘studio away from home’.

It’s a perpetual work in progress, but every time I take a trip away I feel more able to capture my ideas on paper. This is what resulted from a visit to one of my favourite parts of the world last month, Cyprus.

If you enjoyed this, leave me a like, comment & subscribe, I really appreciate your support!

ETSY SOLSTICE SALE! 30% OFF everything all week!

New Sketchbook Flip Through

Sharing a sneaky peak into the first 100 pages of the GINORMOUS sketchbook!

Every week since the summer of 2020 I’ve been adding a new double page spread to my ‘Book of Days’, this 600 page sketchbook.

Periodically I update the progress with flip through videos. Picking up at page 94 where I left the last flip through, here’s a look at the next few pages.

To see the full series there’s a playlist here.

If you enjoyed this, leave me a like, comment & subscribe, I really appreciate your support!

Thank you to everyone who supports my art, it means more than you know!
I’m taking a break through May so my online stores are closed until 1st June

17% Quirkfulness

I spent most of a day putting together the little concertina sketchbook that I’m using for the 100 Day Project this year AS WELL AS the Sketchbook Project.

Most every time I’ve taken on these projects, I’ve overclocked myself.

Given that I’ve already missed the deadline for the SBP by 6 months I thought to mash up these two projects.

Let’s see what becomes of it.

Some thoughts on Quirkfulness.

As I cut and glued and trimmed and finagled together the concertina pages, I watched the ebb and flow of acceptance that the stuff I make will inevitably have a wonkiness to it.

Yes, I measured and cut with a ruler. Also Yes, the pages came out a bit skew-whiff.

Yes, I cleaned my brush before I primed the paper, and also Yes, there was still a bit of dark blue paint on it that’s got them a bit streaky already.

Theme established:

It’s all part of the Quirkfulness.

Now, every day as I film and photograph steps in the progress, I remind myself:

Through the ugly stages, the layers i know will get covered up, the point is to carry on.

Quirkfulness is my style, it’s a feature not a bug.

It’s a sketchbook, not rocket surgery.

It’s okay to be okay with this.

Today we reached day 17 and I’m fully in my stride with daily progress, an idea of what the finished piece will look like, and all manner of chaos on and around my desk!

I post updates daily on Insta and sporadically on TikTok.
If you’d like first look-see at what I’m up to, join up for my newsletter.

You’ll get an email to confirm you’ve signed up and are human. Sorry, only humans can join. Check your spam folder cos sometimes the good stuff gets swept in there by mistake. Also check with your cat.

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

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

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

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,