Student Spotlight : Janet Reid

Hello there beautiful friends!

We are bathing in Spring sunlight here in Portland and it makes everyone a little giddy – me included! I’ve been super busy in the studio preparing for new classes and exploring lots of new techniques.

My students have also been busy bees – creating the most gorgeous art! I can’t even express how much joy that brings me! So much joy that I have decided to start sharing these amazing artists with you! I will begin to do periodic Student Spotlight posts so you can witness the talent and beauty emerging from these shining souls!

Today, I want to introduce you to Janet Reid!

Janet has been a long time student and Facebook friend. I admired her work immediately and have since, seen her grow and expand her talents in great strides. She has an innate ability to compose lyrical and poetic arrangements. Both her digital and traditional collages beg the viewer to look deeper and wonder at the symbolism and mystery within.

Janet Reid – Hide & Seek no. 5 – Digital Collage

Janet Reid – Papillion – Encaustic Mixed Media Collage

I asked Janet a few questions so you guys can get to know her a little better – a peek into her beautiful mind and creative heart…

What inspires you?

Honestly….everything!  I am so lucky to live in a beautiful place–Santa Barbara–and all around me I see color, and texture, and composition just naturally occurring every day. I’m inspired by fellow artists, especially on Instagram.  Everyday I check my feed and feel like I’m being bathed in beauty and talent.  It’s like artistic nourishment.  And I’m inspired by the wonderful teachers I’ve been so fortunate to have recently and all the work I have seen that has been shared in class Facebook pages.  Ivy has been an invaluable part of my artistic journey. She is a true inspiration!

Janet Reid – Into – Encaustic Mixed Media Collage

What are you trying to express with your art?

Different things at different times.  Sometimes it’s a story or an idea I try to express visually.  Other times the art has “a mind of its own” and the concept or message becomes clear to me only after it’s finished or during the process itself.  That’s when it feels magical.  Being a mixed media artist gives me a lot of freedom to work both abstractly and figuratively and at times to combine the two.  What I hope gets expressed is the joy I feel when I am doing it.  Right now, my work with encaustic collage is like a dream come true.

Janet Reid – Willful Disobedience – Digital Collage

How do you deal with your inner critic and trust your creative instincts?

Oh, that little voice….usually I can silence her by just continuing.  Sometimes, I will hear her say, “Ok, that was a failure,” but I’ve come to almost welcome that point.  That’s when I give up trying to make something work and just see what will happen–the “I have nothing to lose” feeling.   Many times something even more wonderful comes out of that moment–the giving in.  Trusting my instincts has become a learned process.  My advice to anyone who struggles with this is to simply keep working, keep creating.  Try to do something creative each and every day–a snapshot with your phone or a full blown painting–it doesn’t matter.  Just keep looking and seeing.

Janet Reid – Winter Flight – Encaustic Mixed Media collage

(I’m the proud owner of this one! I love seeing it hanging in my studio.)

Janet Reid – Winter – Encaustic Mixed Media Collage

This is only a small sampling of Janet’s stunning work. Please check out her Etsy store! It’s a visual delight! Other places to connect with Janet – Facebook & Instagram (her feed is YUMMY!).

I hope you have enjoyed viewing Janet’s work and stay tuned for more Student Spotlight posts!

As always, thank you for your love and support!

xo,

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Crystal Neubauer Workshop

Hi there friends,

Happy Friday!

I’m so excited to share about this fantastic workshop on Bainbridge Island, WA – March 11- 13, 2016! Come join me! There are only 4 spots left!! If you are not familiar with Crystal‘s gorgeous collages let me show you…

These textural, abstract collages are just dreamy to me. This girl knows composition!!! I love how she creates exquisite balance, contrast and tension! And all those gorgeous vintage element….sigh…

I would love to see you there! I’m so thrilled at the opportunity to be the student instead of the teacher!

Much love,

FREE Mixed Media Art Journaling Video

Hello my creative friends!

How’s the week treating you so far? I meant to get this to you yesterday but I’m afraid I got a little tied up wrapping the videos for the Paint & Pixels Online Workshop! I’m SO excited for class to begin! Not too much longer now…Sept 14th! If you haven’t checked out the info on this Mixed Media & iPad Art class yet…go here for more info.

So anyways…today is my birthday and in the theme of celebration, I wanted to give you a special treat! I’ve made a lovely FREE  Mixed Media Art Journaling Video for you – documenting my creation of the spread below. It’s full of teaching and tips to get you creating in your art journal too! Plus, my little studio kitten, Leo makes an appearance. He is quite the art admirer. ;)

I’ve been exploring Art journaling recently and it’s been so enjoyable. What a wonderful way to explore, experiment and play all within my beautiful vintage ledger.

 

To go watch to the video go here.

Please do share your creations too! I would love to see what you guys make! Feel free to join my student group on Facebook and start connecting with other creative souls!

Hope you enjoy the video!

xo,

 

An Art Gift

Hello friends! How was your weekend? We actually had a pretty quiet one, which was a welcome treat. I even got to do some collaging with a friend on Sunday afternoon – so much fun!

I’ve been wanting to share this project with you for some time but I made it for a friend as a gift and I couldn’t risk her seeing it on here. :) She received it on Friday so now I can show you!

I love these little 4″ x 4″ canvases because they are super affordable, easy to hang and you can usually finish up the project in a couple of hours depending on how elaborate you get.

I started by collaging vintage papers – covering all sides of the canvas. Then using chalk pastels and scrapbooking paper I added a second layer of color. Followed by a couple of doilies and some white acrylic paint applied with a brayer.

To get that yummy encaustic look I love so much, I coated the piece with a layer of heavy gel medium, using wet fingers to smooth it all out.

It hasn’t quite dried yet in this shot…so when it does it will be a little bit more transparent.

After the gel dried I added these lovely words and a vintage butterfly. My dear friend has been through a lot and has recently found love again (yah!) so I found these words inspiring for her.  They come from a poem by Alfred Tennyson entitled “Summer is Coming“.

I couldn’t resist adding some details with my fav white gel pen…

For more contrast, I added color to the butterflies’ wings with acrylic paint.

It was so wonderful to create something special for a good friend. I think I will be making more art as gifts in the future. As always, please let me know if you have any questions about this process. I am happy to help!

Being inspired to create something for someone you love is great motivation to get your ART on! Try it and surprise someone with a one of a kind treasure. :)

Have a lovely week!

xo,

Ivy

Vintage Silhouette Girl

Hi there! How are you?

Well, 2014 is off to a good start here. Both Grace and I are using our studio and have been busy creating. We even ventured out and enjoyed a local art center where we both got to dive into our creations. So much fun!

The piece I’m about to share with you had been lying around forever. It started as one of those super cheesy Hallmark-like plaques from the 1980’s that I found at the thrift store for 99 cents. It needed some love, so I gessoed it and proceeded to collage it with vintage papers. I added washes of color with my Gellatos and water. Love these little tubes of color! *tip* use pretty paper that you love to figure out your color palette. ;)

I then continued to layer paint, doilies, washi tape and scrapbook paper. I also ran my brayer through white paint and rolled it over the piece a couple of times. What is hard to see here is the texture…it actually (accidentally) ended up with a faux encaustic look due to the thick layer of Heavy Gel medium I added thinking it would dry just how I wanted. It didn’t. I panicked. I ended up scraping most of it off, cursing and then smoothing the whole layer using wet fingers. I thought I had totally screwed it up. But nope. I ended up loving the effect and discovering a new way to use gel. Yah! I LOVE when a mistake turns into something beautiful. It happens a lot in Art – if you can just push past that immediate panic.

(You can see the texture better in the pictures I took with my Big Girl camera below these iPhone pics.)

Vintage silhouettes have always appealed to me, so I incorporated one into this piece instead of painting a girl. I found this silhouette here. Considering my art nouveau obsession, I couldn’t just leave her be – she needed a lovely headpiece and flowers too!

Here are some better shots of the finished work with accurate color too. The doodles and hand lettering came as a bit of a surprise to me – being outside my box – but it just felt right and it was fun to experiment with the boldness of the black ink and contrast of the white gel pen.

I’m excited to try another silhouette piece and you should too! No drawing necessary! ;) Let me know if you have questions.

Thanks for letting me share my work!

Much love to you all.

xo,

Ivy

Inspiration Vintage Magazine

Hello all! How’s your Monday going? We are getting crazy wind and rain here! So, I’ve been puttering around the house, cleaning, reading and avoiding my artwork. I decided I needed a little space from it all.

I must give a huge “THANK YOU” to you sweet readers that left such encouraging and understanding comments. Your words truly touched me and were extremely comforting!

A beautiful and exciting distraction came along last week:  the latest issue of Inspiration Vintage magazine, which I had the honor of contributing to! This issue is bursting with stunning pictures, delicious recipes and loads of vintage beauty! Check it out here.

My article is about my love of vintage ephemera, antique books and French perfume labels! I had a blast photographing some of my pretty old things.  Of course, not all of the images made the cut but I thought I would share them with you…

   

Thank you again for all your support! I promise more art is to come. I hope you all have a wonderful, inspiring week.

xo,

Ivy