Dragonfly Song

Dragonfly Song

10 x 8 mixed media on watercolor paper

by Miki Willa

I created this collage using handmade paper, card images, sheet music, batik fabric. I enjoyed working with the deep oranges and reds in this piece. I really like the use of old music books to remind me that there is music in all the earth's creatures if we listen hard enough.

I am still trying to learn how to do successful image transfers. If anyone has a suggestion about where to go to learn this technique, I would really appreciate it.

Midnight Sun

Midnight Sun

3 x 5 mixed media on watercolor paper

by Miki Willa

Here, again, I decided to work with split complementaries. I really like purples and blues with oranges, golds, and yellow ochres. The feel so rich to me. For this mixed media collage, I painted with acrylics first. I played with wet on wet, which I haven't done since my watercolor days. I like the lines that happened as the colors dried and showed where they bled into each other. That was especially true with the yellow. After the paint was dry, I glued down the papers in a pattern I had worked out ahead of time. After I got the lavender oval in place, I decided to do some dry brush with burnt orange in a circular pattern. I am pleased with the results. I have never seen a midnight sun, but I think this is what they should look like.

I think I am going to work in small formats for a while. My goal is to get comfortable with the medium before I jump into something bigger. Right now, I am quite happy with my learning curve.

Imagine I can do a collage

Imagine

7 x 5 collage - photos, magazine images, paint samples, acrylics

by Miki Willa

I have finally jumped into the world of collage. I posted my first one on my Pastels and More blog. I decided I wanted to separate my paintings from my collage art in the blog world. This is all very new to me, and I wanted to freedom to experiment in a different format.

I fell in love with collage recently after finding Mary Buek's work at What if I . . . . Through her site, I found Leslie Avon Miller at Textures, Shapes, and Colors, Painting On with Margaret Ryal, Laura Lein-Svencner at Lonecrow Art and Collage with, and Kelly Kilmer. I started out by learning about visual journaling with Kelly on her Prompt a Day monthly online classes. That has really helped me become familiar with acrylics, glues, gloss mediums, composition, and a host of other techniques. I have been studying other collage artists and learning what I like best about collage. I will continue to paint my pastels, but am really excited about expanding my creative self.

For this collage, I decided to explore color. I took my color wheel and worked with split compliments. I think I will work in this area for a while. I chose images I find inspirational, placed them in a way that pleased my eye, and used a sponge to apply the acrylics after the glue dried. I am pleased with the end result. As I learn, I will use a variety of images, but as I progress and learn more about photo transfer techniques, I will begin to use only my own images.