sketchbook – Page 2 – Mixy's Art Blog

Art Journal Serendipity

As a gift to everyone who supported my art this year…

This is more than just an art journal flip through: this one comes with a full back-story!

I documented the whole process of making this book, from selecting the paper for the pages to the layering of the pages, then I bundled this all together in an illustrated eBook with over 50 minutes of footage in little bite sized videos! For YOU!

It’s not the paper, the paint or the pens; it isn’t only the inks or the collage. What makes a project like this so much fun is trusting the magic of serendipity

For your free copy of my eBook Art Journal Serendipity sign up for my newsletter below by the launch date 27 December 2023

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!

Get monthly-ish Studio Musings Newsletter.

Processing…

Success! You're on the list.

Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.

Flip through: Book of Days Part TEN

The latest look through the pages of the enormous sketchbook!

Pages 146-161 are from May to August 2023.

Gradually these flip through vids are catching up to where I am now in time!

It’s over 3 years since I began this weekly project, and it’s come to be so much part of my creative practice I can’t imagine not doing it…

The characters from these pages are going to show up in a few new projects early in 2024. I hope you’ll join us!

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!

Get monthly-ish Studio Musings Newsletter.

Processing…

Success! You're on the list.

Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.

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

Join Me!

Get monthly-ish Studio Musings Newsletter.

Processing…

Success! You're on the list.

Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.

Space (to breathe)

Nothing like beginning something new to remind me of something unfinished.

I began this little book of collages in the summer, and this week I decided to call it done.

My intention in this book was *white space*

Usually I’ll keep squeezing in more and more detail, but something I love seeing in others’ art is a balance of muchness and quiet places.

I decided to rein in my muchness, just to see what happened…

It was not easy!

I soon realised the only way for this to work with my freight train brain is by distraction:

I need to move right onto something else, cos there’s no stopping the urge to maximimalize.

Consequently this book was only allowed out to play while a lot of other stuff was in progress 😅

Here are the finished (as in – don’t let me go back to fill in the spaces) pages!

Find collage papers just like these in my store

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

Mixy’s New Shop!

Lovingly curated collections of colourful, multi-layered, painted papers. Perfect for art journals, collage, mixed media art.

The first FOUR collections of Painted Papers are now available in my new online shop 🙂

Mermaids & Peacocks

Color family:

Teal, turquoise, aquamarine.
Blues and greens,
Splashes of lime, yellow and gold.

Magenta & Berries

Color family:

Pinky-purples, pomegranate, plum.
Ripe Raspberry to rich ruby red.
Magenta, Maroon, mauve & fuchsia.

Spring Dreamscape

Color family:

Bright sky blue and grass green,
Golden buttery yellows, floral peachy pinks and violets.

Emerald Forest

Color family:

Woodlands, meadows & moss,
Cool misty pine, verdant viridian,
Avocado, olive and luscious lime.

Collections include a mix of painted, printed & dyed papers ranging from vintage book pages and sheet music, art experiments, printed papers, maps, wrapping paper, wallpaper, magazine pages, envelopes and cards.

Coloured with watercolour & acrylic, inks, dyes, pens, pencils & pastel.

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

Multi-layered, irregular shapes, cut outs & torn edges, textured by crumpling crunchy paint layers and piercing. Some pieces have little bits of stitching and fabric.

Each piece already has a rich history in its layers and is ready move on to its next life in your art journals, mixed media art and collages.

Introductory Prices all month!

Bundles of ~30 pieces are just £5.00 all through August.

5 Large Pieces
approx A6 / 3″x 4″ / 8cm x 10cm
10 Small Pieces
approx A7 / 2″ x 3″ / 5cm x 7cm
15 Mini Pieces
ranging 1-3″ / 2-8cm

My next collection launches in the autumn – sign up for my newsletter to get first dibs and special discounts as a thank you for supporting my art ❤

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.

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.