Category: studio practice

Slow Art Journaling

Two art journals filled up gradually over two years. Here’s how they turned out….

I chose these two big sketchbooks because I just couldn’t resist the cherry red & magenta pink covers!

Over the next couple of years, one or both of these books sat perpetually open on my art desk, and whenever I had extra paint to use up, or new pens to try out, these pages began to take shape.

This is where I’d scribble notes to myself, idly doodle in between times, while I waited for a zoom call to begin, and during online classes.

I’d see a face in the doodles and gradually these new characters began to show up.

As the pages got heavy with collage and paint, I tore out and tore up and glued back with wild abandon.

There are no rules in these books, there’s no upside down, no right and wrong.

Page by Page

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Hi – I’m Mixy!

This is 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

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september news

exclusive youtube preview & the story of this art journal.

Today’s the day my September newsletter flies out!

Get an exclusive preview of my latest art journal flip through + the story of how this book evolved.
Sign up below if you haven’t already 🙂

Hi – I’m Mixy!

This is 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

Join Me!

Get monthly-ish Studio Musings Newsletter.

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half a year of doodles

For a little over a year I’ve been adding a weekly spread to this ginormous sketchbook. This is what’s happened…

Here is the latest flip through of my Book of Days 🙂

find out all about the project here

The next flip through will exclusively preview to my newsletter subscribers.
Sign up below if you haven’t already 🙂

Hi – I’m Mixy!

This is 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

Join Me!

Get monthly-ish Studio Musings Newsletter.

You can use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

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giant sketchbook anniversary!

For a little over a year I’ve been adding a weekly spread to this ginormous sketchbook.

Because of the ginormity of this book (600 pages!) it’s going to span the course of a few years to come, and I’m excited about that. To see what appears in these pages is as much of a surprise to me as it is anyone else.

You can see a flip through of the first pages and a second update from early 2021 here on my youtube channel

Since then more creatures and people have shown up on the pages.

They populate the spaces in between the thought scribbles, color swatches and the occasional off-cuts of the projects that happen along the way.

The latest flip through catches us up with from January to July of this year, it’s exclusively previewing this weekend to my newsletter subscribers.
Sign up below if you haven’t already 🙂

Hi – I’m Mixy!

This is 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

Join Me!

Get monthly-ish Studio Musings Newsletter.

You can use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

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how to nourish your muse

I’ve been taking a few online classes lately. Exploring areas I already feel comfortable – mixed media, collage, watercolours – and adding to my range with the help of some fabulous teachers.

What I was not expecting from this, is how it’s encouraged me to revisit some older pieces that I’d got stuck with.

To find out more – catch my newsletter out today
(sign up below if you’re not already registered)

Hi – I’m Mixy!

This is 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

Join Me!

Get monthly-ish Studio Musings Newsletter.

You can use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

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100 days & beyond…

as one project ends another begins. see the full flip through of my 100 day project + where to see what I’m making now!

The 2020 #100dayproject
junk journal

Last week saw the last day of the 100 day project which has kept me busy since early April.

Every day for 3½ months I added more to this little junk journal: more doodles, collage, patterns and thoughts. Even these little paper animals who live tucked right in the middle at page 50!

Beginning just a week or two into the covid lockdown, this project and the daily ritual of posting on IG really helped me by providing an anchor to the reality of the day, one single constant amid the overwhelm, and kept me from drifting off in the confusion.

For a long while I was quite set on the idea of carrying on beyond the 100 days, especially as I’d overshot in the making of the junk journal and still have lots of *prepped pages.

But as the 100th day loomed I was already getting giddy on ideas for what’s coming next. It’s a much bigger project, and something that will keep me busy for much more than 100 days this time!

*so there will be a junk journal part two at some point in the future!

For now, here’s the full flip through of the 100 page book.

Junk Journaling: April – July 2020

 

In other news, my monthly-ish newsletter has resumed!

After a short hiatus, my spring/summer studio musings went out last week {Sign up below & I’ll send it to you!}

The next one goes out in August: where you’ll be first to see the latest about my gigantic new project + how I’m getting on with some new mixed media techniques I’m about to dive into. 😀

 

Hi – I’m Mixy!

This is 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

Join Me!

Get monthly-ish Studio Musings Newsletter.

You can use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

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Considering Contrasts

contrasting the wibbly-edged puddles and spills of ink from yesterpost with frayed torn edges against the sharp clean line of geometric die-cut pieces.

“Don’t think about making art, just get it done.  Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. 
While they are deciding, make even more art.”

–Andy Warhol 

a story about edges

How do we find contrasts when making art in monochrome?

There’s the tonal value: darks offsetting lights. What else?

Today I’m exploring contrasting edges:

From the wibbly-edged puddles and spills of ink from yesterpost, with frayed torn edges for an organic and weather-beaten feel, beside the sharp clean outline of geometric die-cut pieces.

Because if we don’t try, we won’t know, right?

I collaged the die-cut pieces onto a background of torn pieces, playing with different layouts, using the negative space shapes and a mixed up almost symmetry.

I get twitchy with anything approaching perfection so the off centred aesthetic is not a mistake 😉 I like the sense of what I make being one zoomed in part of an unknown bigger whole, like a passing snapshot, a glimpse.

I’m curious to see how that all adds to the effect when I piece these bits together in the next stage of this project.

I keep any leftovers to use in my art journals as a reminder of projects gone by. Likely we’ll see these bits show up on a future page of the 100 day project 🙂

Here’s how I put together a couple of versions of this idea

“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)

I’d love for you to join me. TWELVTY is open to everyone, and better yet, it’s free!

Sign up for my newsletter to find out more and get your free TWELVTY guide ebook. 

By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

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You’ll get an email to confirm you’ve signed up and are human. Sorry, only humans (and their cats) can join. Check your spam folder cos sometimes the good stuff gets swept in there by mistake. Check with your cat too. You know it’s what they expect.

Summer to Summer

here’s what (almost) a year of doodles looks like, page by page.

Just about a year ago I began this art journal.

It’s a monster of a thing at around 100 pages.

I bought two of these books because I was bewitched by the delightfully bright covers, this one in magenta, another in cherry red.

It took almost a year to doodle my way through this book from cover to cover.

I took a while to get used to the pages.

At first I was at odds with the paper which didn’t take ink and watercolor well.

Gessoing or collaging more ink friendly paper to the pages was bulking it up too much to be manageable.

Over the months I found the best solution was to tear out some pages and recycle them into other projects.

Some of these pages went on to become part of the junk journal I’m using for this year’s 100 day project.

I like the idea that this book seeded a brand new book, allowing ideas to overflow between the two.

Finally I reached the point at which the book felt done, ready to set aside to focus my attention on other things. There’s always an overlap with my art journals – I began playing with the second of these books earlier this year – so maybe we can expect a flip through of that one next spring!

Meanwhile, here’s what (almost) a year of doodles looks like, page by page.

Hi – I’m Mixy!

This is 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

Join Me!

Get monthly-ish Studio Musings Newsletter.

You can use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

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3/4 of a junk journal

To celebrate 3/4 thru the 2020 #100dayproject, here’s a quick whizz through the next 25 pages in this ever evolving junk journal.

The 2020 #100dayproject
is 3/4 done!

To celebrate the 3/4 point, here’s the next 25 page skip through the pages in this ever evolving junk journal.

You can see the first 25 pages here & part two here 🙂

 

I am having the most fun making this!

This daily exercise has stretched my creative muscles & become the scaffolding of my days these last few weeks.

The project began a week or two into lockdown, and it’s been the one consistent part to my days while everything else is in flux.

I come and go to this book through the day – adding a bit and leaving it while the paint dries to get on with something else.

I wind down in the evening by adding bits of collage here and there, shuffling through my stash of painted papers to find just the right bit for just the right space.

It’s like a meditation of sorts.

And as day 100 looms I’m thinking I’ll likely carry this on past that point. In such wildly uncertain times it’s wonderful to have something to anchor my attention to. Let’s see!

Meanwhile, I’ll be back with Part four in a few weeks time 🙂

 

So join me, will you?

 

I’m @mixygregory over on Instagram, and for the course of these 100 (or so) days I’m posting daily updates with the tags

#100daysbymixy and/or #100pagesbymixy

(because being consistent was never my strongest skill.)

 

 

Hi – I’m Mixy!

This is 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

Join Me!

Get monthly-ish Studio Musings Newsletter.

You can use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

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Layering in Inks

The essence of mixed media is layers. Today I want to explore a lighter, more dreamy version of layering.

Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion.

– Rumi

It’s all about the layers

The essence of mixed media is layers. I love piling layers up, with scribbles over paint over collage over who knows what lies beneath.

But layers don’t have to be weighty and dense.

My tendency is often towards over-ness: over complicated, over-thinking, over-working. So here is a stretch for me – cos I believe it’s always beneficial to stretch our creativity.

Today I want to explore a lighter, more dreamy version of layering.

I’m using the same two inks from last time, because these colors are perfect, and because I’m all about simplifying my process right now. Less decision making & more spaciousness!

Here’s my simplicity:

  • Two inks + water + plain white paper.
  • One brush.
  • Paint quickly.
  • Don’t stop to think – keep moving.
  • Let it dry.
  • Repeat until done!

Here’s how the process played out:

The result was some delicate patterns which I find only come from creating spontaneously like this.

“Twelvty” 12 Colors in 12 Months

Every month this year I am making a series of 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)

I’d love for you to join me. TWELVTY is open to everyone, and better yet, it’s free!

Sign up for my newsletter to find out more and get your free TWELVTY guide ebook. 

By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

You’ll get an email to confirm you’ve signed up and are human. Sorry, only humans (and their cats) can join. Check your spam folder cos sometimes the good stuff gets swept in there by mistake. Check with your cat too. You know it’s what they expect.

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