A Blog of Their Own

I have created a new blog separate from my first one, MissAdventureArt (you can visit this blog via the tab at the top of this blog), which I initially created to share my drawings and illustrations. As I began to dabble in mixed media art, I began sharing those pieces on my original MissAdventureArt blog as well.

Fast forward a couple of months, though, and my mixed media art has taken on a life of its own in my art studio. I have also opened a shop on Etsy dedicated solely to my mixed media art, this Etsy shop being called TrashToTreasureArt, in honor of the fact that my mixed media art is built heavily upon recycled and upcycled materials. I also still have my original Etsy shop, MissAdventureArt, where you can find my traditional drawings and illustrations. Just as I separated my works into two Etsy shops, I also decided to divide my works on two different blogs.

So, here you have it. Welcome to my Trash to Treasures Art blog!

Now, to give you a brief history on my mixed media journey...

After stumbling upon and thoroughly enjoying a number of intriguing mixed media art tutorials on YouTube, I decided I had to try it for myself. For the longest time I could never picture myself working in mixed media. I was always certain that I would keep my artwork to drawings and illustrations, always resorting to my trusty pencils and pens. But that's certainly changed now.

My first pieces of mixed media art were very experimental. I bought myself some Mod Podge and started chopping away at magazines. Of course, even for these pieces, I ultimately couldn't help but do a bit of drawing as well.

My first batch of a mixed media Mod Podge mess.

For this one, I printed up some lines from Poe's "The Raven", as well as drew a raven with my trusty art pens, and then slapped them on with yet some more Mod Podge.

To this one I also added a quote and a drawing.

With this and some more experimentation, I somehow ended up with the desire to create my first art tag, using mixed media art, of course. I started by grabbing some scrap cardboard and cut it into the shape of an art tag. I had seen on multiple YouTube videos artists using old book pages in their works, and the bibliophile in me loved that idea, so I decided to do the same. And, of course, I grabbed my art pens as well. This was the result:

I really do love to draw, so it seems that drawing will always be incorporated into my works. For this first mixed media art tag of mine, I drew a teapot, tea cups, and leaves, as well as wrote, "You're my cup of tea." In line with my love of using recycled goods, I also grabbed some empty tissue boxes and a hole punch, which resulted in the decorative red and brown dots upon this tag.

I really enjoyed creating that tag, but upon finishing it, I thought that it just looked so...unfinished. So, I went back to YouTube, watched some more expert mixed media artists do their thing, and in that way was introduced to Distress Ink. I immediately bought myself some, starting light with a 4-pack. I also saw some artists work some serious magic using a white Sharpie poster marker, and so I got myself one of those as well. Armed with my two newest pieces of mixed media weaponry, I recreated the tag above. Here was the result:

I was much happier with this one.

After that, I couldn't stop. That being said, here are some of the other mixed media art tags I've created since then:

The nerd in me also decided to create some tags using torn out scraps from an old chemistry catalog, and so these have also come to be:

Those last 11 tags are available for sale in my TrashToTreasuresArt Etsy shop! You can visit my shop via the Etsy tab at the top of this blog!

I have so many more tags in the works, as well as plenty in the planning stages. What's more, I've finally started to branch out my mixed media art even more than tags. I have mixed media signs, boxes, and other goodies planned out. And I can't wait to create them, and to share them here.

Until next time, bloggers!