She Carries Me Home

[Artyczar]

Mixed media collage on paper grocery bags, 44 x 53.5 inches.

I made this piece for the Jerusalem Biennial for a show entitled 7,567 Mi. which is the exact mileage between Los Angeles and Jerusalem.

I used paper grocery bags from Los Angeles and found ephemera from Jerusalem, much of it from the streets, rocks from the shore, etc. and the red composition is supposed to be an abstracted Wailing Wall.

Don't know if I've shown this before, but it was the original inspiration for my other bag pieces.

 

[snoball]

Even a little Hebrew (or Greek?) writings, well done Arty and thanks for the description.

 

[Artyczar]

Thank you sno. It's in Hebrew and then translated in English. It's an excerpt from a poem I have posted on here before by Yehuda Amichai about tourism.

 

[PSA3475]

I love this.... I like grocery bag art and collage together!

 

[Artyczar]

Thank you PSA. I like that you support this kind of work of mine.

 

[KreativeK]

Wow, I love this! The history of it and the caring thoughts that went into it.

 

[Artyczar]

Thank you so much K. I really appreciate that.

 

[Enyaw]

I'm a sucker for blue so I have to like it.

 

[Artyczar]

Thanks Wayne. But I didn't mean to force you. Okay, maybe I did.

 

[Terri]

Wow! This is lovely, and so imaginative! I love this kind of art, mixed media. I find myself always so drawn to it.

Great work!

 

[Artyczar]

Thank you too Terri. I am happy with the attention this thing is getting. I was not sure about it after I first finished it some years back, but then it grew on me and now it inspires other pieces.

 

[Terri]

That's awesome. You seem to have a good feel for what works.

Mixed media is so interesting to me, but I'm afraid of it.

 

[Artyczar]

Thank you.

Don't be afraid! It's really very fun to experiment with it. How can I help?

 

[Terri]

Thank you.

I'm uncertain as to a first step, frankly. I've been toying with looking online for a basic "mixed media how-to" video, assuming the suggested media isn't much more complicated than various kinds of papers, markers and what-not. Over the years I've gathered lots of art supplies. We sit and look at each other.

Are you aware of any tutorial of this kind? Subject matter is secondary to just laying my hands on materials and having an outcome presented to me, if that makes sense.

 

[Artyczar]

I do not know of tutorials. I often wonder if I should do one myself, but I am totally self-taught (pre-internet/YouTube).

I start with picking a substraight (i.e.: canvas, paper, panel, masonite, etc.). I may lay down an underlayer--a color in acrylic paint first to get things started. In this case, I did not. Instead, I started sticking the paper collage pieces onto grocery bags which was my "substraight." I used clear acrylic polymer for the adhesion. Once dry, I used some watered-down blue to get a transparent color over everything, then sealed it again with more polymer so that I could stick a few 3D things on there, and add oil paint. When adding oil paint, one must seal the back as well with a lot of polymer so that none of the oils seep through, but oil paint isn't necessary to get this same effect either.

That's a basic start. Does that help at all?

 

[Terri]

Sort of.

Frankly, you're as qualified as anyone else to put up a tutorial. Why not? People like me are out there who are looking for useful info and tips - not looking for someone's art degree first.

I will keep plugging away and, if it's all right, may holler at you if I think I'm on to something before I ruin a bunch of paper.

Edited to add: Thank you!!