Refreshing: Mixed Media Collage & Glass Beads

Hey, remember me? Yeah, I was that blogger/glass artist that thought she was too busy to keep up with more than one blog. Well, I am back! I’ve had an inspired winter and I am ready to share my creative process again!

When Lori, suggested that I should come and share again, I knew right away what I needed to tell you about… a new love… mixed media collage with my glass beads. (Of course there would be BEADS!) I decided that I want to (need to) start exploring art outside glass beads and jewelry. And it is not that I am not lovin’ every minute I spend making beads and jewelry… it’s just that I think I need to expand my horizons to spark my creativity.

I was given the book “Pretty Little Things” by Sally Jean Alexander as a birthday gift in early February. I have spent every day since getting it pouring over the pages. I love it. Now, this isn’t the first mixed media art book that I have ever looked at. Oh no, I actually have several of them, and I told you about them HERE. The thing I am drawn to most isn’t the soldered trinket boxes, or the doll heads on dinosaur bodies, or vintage tape measure tassels… it’s the collage.

In college, I had this one teacher that had us do train of thought/splash board/brainstorming stuff. It was my favorite way to try to get ideas for new projects. We would be given a topic (ex: summer picnic) and we would take a giant piece of paper and just start writing anything and everything that would pop into our heads (ex:crawling ants, checkered cloth, red, white, flags, soft breeze, band playing, music, golden tones, rock bands….) I could go on and on.

Anyway, in the new book I was gifted, Sally uses a technique for collaging that reminds me a lot of what we used to do in college. I love it. She has you write words on slips of paper, put them in a bowl and build the layers of the collage randomly from the words that are pulled from the jar. I think I have kinda held myself back from going-for-it with collaging because I didn’t know where to start. This made it click for me.

I can’t not tell you how much I loved working on this. I am calling it “Growing Glass No.1″. I love the feel of paint under my nails, charcol on my finger pads, the smell of drying resin…. my stars it is heavenly. Almost like a coming home of sorts. I have told you before, I have an art background. I went to college on a scholarship for painting. I didn’t realize how much I missed it!!

Alright, calm down, take it easy… don’t worry your little heads about it… this is just a distraction I am indulging. I am not in anyway shape or form giving up on the jewelry thing!! Mixed media is an art form that I have only peaked around the corner at… and I like what I am seein’.

Kerry Bogert is blogging about her glass art beads and jewelry from her home studio in Ontario NY. Check her work at www.kabsconcepts.com.