Mixed Media Mayhem - Ode on a Chinese Napkin

I have a fascination, maybe an obsession, with the Asian aesthetic evidenced by all the treasures gathered on my numerous travels to the region.  So when I attended a cocktail party where the hostess set an Asian motif, I secretly hoarded several of the napkins.  I wanted to preserve the beauty of this little piece of paper in my journal, but I wanted it to be more than a napkin overlay.  To prep the background I used gel medium to adhere several layers of tissue paper.  Separating the napkin pattern from the other layers, I glued it to the surface to set a scene spanning both pages.  To make it my own, I added drawings of the motifs to complete the picture and I stamped and collaged Asian images. I used Faber-Castell Big Brush Markers and Intense pencils to match to colors.  My favorite part is the Chinese ginger jar.  Blue and white has always been a favorite color scheme, almost rivaling teal and Chinese red.

Mixed Media Mayhem - Beach Life

Recently I was clearing out magazines...a difficult task because I reread them and hoard...deciding which to save, which to toss.   As I peeled off the address labels of magazines going to book recycle center, I decided that they would make a great tiled background in my journal.  After adhering them with medium, I added a wash of gesso to blur references to my name and address and to unify the two pages and blocked in alphabet stencils.  An illustrated Ralph's grocery bag laying nearby on the floor gave inspiration for the surf boards. Using one of my favorite products, Gelatos, I drew in the features of the beach scene and used stamps, pencils, and micron pens to add detail.  To find captions, I turned to several local publications which tout the year long beach life of our treasure coast.

Someone recently asked me if I plan ahead...no...the labels and the sequence were pure serendipity.


I revised the pages after I found 3d pieces to mix in.