Mixed Media Pastiche is Bloomin' Fun!

Greetings & Salutations!

Carol Baxter sharing a few artsy-crafty stenciled projects today.

Vintage photos + stenciled papers + ephemera = my mixed media pastiche projects.

The stenciled backgrounds bring the work together. Imaginative words are optional.

You may know, Mary Beth used to sell her paintings at art fairs. She also sold picture collages of kids and adults with amusing sayings. Wry bits of art such as these never fail to make me smile and were my inspiration.

Mostly, I used papers from my stash for these projects.  

My Ink Sister Patty came up with this particular photo caption. I felt I needed a garden for the flying pig buzzing the little boys. Garden Flowers and Leaves & Garden Flowers and Leaves Outlined by Jessica Sporn made the background special. I actually spent a few hours making papers with these stencils. 

Bloomin’ Awesome is my next piece. I decided to let the photo speak for itself rather than add words.

I had a bit of photo mat paper I had purchased a bag of at the thrift store. I must have painted it at some point with the Spirit Wind Mask by Valerie Sjodin. That's Drops and Swirls Repeat, also by Valerie, stenciled on the cloth.

Dang! I remember when I could do this on a swing.

I had to break out my hot glue gun to affix the lace.

While I was playing with the bits and pieces I planned to use, I realized it needed more embellishment because the orange paper did not give it enough oomph. I added another layer of lace, a bit of map paper, as well as tracing and doodles – that upper left side was rather empty. A little burnish on the paper edges backing the photo gave the piece a little more depth. 

Sometimes subtle is what you need. Especially if you are stenciling words. 

This piece of paper from my stash was created with a pull from my gel plate using the small stencil from the Circle Up Set by Suzi Dennis for StencilClub March 2016.

Is it cheating? I was too lazy to stencil all the words I added so I dropped this into Photoshop. Apologies if there is a Katheryn Collingsworth. I made the name up.

I am one of those people that when I look at a map I want it to be facing the way I am traveling. The L-thumb-trick? I like it. Fortunately, I am happily married so I needn't worry about which way to swipe on a dating app but when I saw these two dudes and the expression on the face of the woman in the straw hat, this card was the result.

I used the It's a Small World Longitude Mask by Mary C. Nasser.

Another notecard using the Pollen for Bees Stencil by Daniella Woolf and Scribble Roses Stencil by Mary Beth Shaw.

Composition books cost a buck and are not very interesting. I covered these with some of Mary Beth's printed collage paper and then added a little embellishment.

If you're freaky then own it!

What's in your photo and stenciled paper collage stashes? Fair warning, mixed media pastiche is addictive!

Thanks for stopping by!

Carol B.

Circus 19 Dream: A Mixed Media Pastiche Honoring Kim Collister

Hi everyone! Linda Edkins Wyatt here, with a project that I really, really love, inspired by artist Kim Collister. 

 Were you thinking, like I was, "What the heck is a pastiche?" It sounded like a portion of pasta, or maybe a dish with both pasta and pistachios (wouldn't that be yummy?) But, it's a 25 cent word for tribute, or honor. 

In my mind, in my journal, and in my research, I tried about a dozen artists whose work I love and admire. I kept coming back to Kim, who I have been following for years. She's whimsical, colorful, introspective, creative, and fearless. Her recent series of faces using a vintage phrenology head really captivated me, so I decided to do something similar. I was a little worried about being too much of a clone or copy cat, but the end result, I think, combines both our styles without infringing on Kim's originality.

In addition to the detailed tutorial below, I made a video of my process.

I started with a 12" x 12" canvas, my gel plate, deli paper, and of course, acrylic paints. I made a bunch of prints using an assortment of stencils. Of the many prints, I liked the ones with the large design from Seth Apter's Borderlines December 2017 club set the best.

I cut and tore the section I liked best and set them aside. 

Next, using matte medium, I covered the canvas with pages from an old book and some washi tape with numbers and letters.

 

On top of the book pages, I arranged the printed pieces of the large Borderlines stencil to my liking then adhered them with matte medium. It had a nice typography look, but I knew it needed more.

I searched The Graphics Fairy for vintage images of a phrenology head, found one I liked, and printed it on good 8.5" x 11" paper with my laser printer. (I didn't want the ink to bleed, so I went with a black laser print rather than a color print from my inkjet printer.)

After positioning the head where I wanted it, and drawing in lines for the neck and shoulders, I added white acrylic and some pink paint as well. Then the real fun began. 

I rummaged through my papers looking for collage elements that I liked, and that was similar to what Kim would have used. After much puttering and switching elements in and out, I added a butterfly, a circus horse under a tent, and a botanical tulip. The "earring" is a small image from Gwen Lafluer's Afraid to Try stencil, done with turquoise paint on yellow cardstock.

The tulip needed leaves, so I stenciled some in using the StencilClub March 2013 set.  I thought circles would add to the circus feel, so I used the irregular circles from Carolyn Dube's August 2018 StencilClub Playtime set, randomly stenciling them around the canvas.

 I also added the small stencil from Tina Walker's October 2020 Vintage Wallpaper set, which felt like pinwheels and added some more whimsy to the canvas.

I added the words PEACE and JOY on the face with stamps, printed on thin tissue paper, and glued to the canvas. I also darkened some of the blacks and whitened the white areas. The last touches were adding depth with a black Aquarellable Stabilo pencil, a black sharpie, and some dots with Posca paint pens.

You can still see the original book pages and washi tape that covered the canvas, along with the deli paper numbers and marks from Seth's stencil. I chose the number 19 because that's my birthday, and the number 7 because that's the age kids are fearless artists. The other numbers around the canvas were random.

Here are some detail shots. I love the way the leaf stencils work with the botanical tulip, and the random numbers from the original phrenology image peeking through. The imperfect circles and pinwheels interact nicely.

Eclectic Garden Tile Coasters by Geri Beam

Hello. Geri Beam with you today.

I admit my vocabulary can use stretching – but when we were given the challenge title of Mixed Media Pastiche, I was glad StencilGirl® gave us an explanation of the word pastiche. 

A pastiche is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, or music that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists.

I often get direction for a project from a stencil.  In this case, the stencil Kandinsky’s Garden by Caroline Dube was my inspiration. What if I did a ceramic tile coaster of different artists using abstract art and the school of Bauhaus? Each coaster would be different yet tied together with the garden theme. I ended up with six coasters each with a different style. 

For a complete list of stencils and supplies used, please scroll to the end.

Base Coaster

Each coaster is made from a solid white ceramic tile that measures 4.5 inches square. The images were applied by various methods as explained throughout this article. The edges and back were colored with an alcohol ink applicator and felt. The backs were then covered with peel-and-stick cork. No matter what method was used to create the images, the final coat was always a light spray of matte Krylon Low Odor Clear Finish. This makes the coaster water-resistant and seals the bottom layers to the tile.  

Tile One – Kandinsky’s Trees

This was the easiest tile to make. I simply laid the stencil Kandinsky’s Garden by Caroline Dube on top of the tile and used a black Uni Posca pen to outline the tree images. I then colored the tree as Kandinsky would with bright colors. For the background I used the blue pen but watered the paint down and applied it with a paintbrush.

Tile One – Kandinsky’s Trees

Tile Two – Pathways

This tile was also easy to make. 

However, before we get to the image on the tile, let’s discuss how I use Stencil Girl Artist Trading Card (ATC) stencils. On this tile, I used ATC Mixup -Sjodin by Valerie Sjodin. ATC stencils are 9”x12” in size with nine images that work well for ATCs. These cards are miniature pieces of art usually sized at 2.5”x3.5”. You can keep the images together in the original size or cut them apart. I use a pencil to mark where I would cut the images apart.

I use a hole-punch on the stencil and a stainless-steel wire key ring to keep the pieces grouped together.

I tore colored tissue paper into strips. This also works using rice paper. With a brush, I applied Liquitex Matte Fluid Medium to the tile and laid the tissue pieces on top. I then applied more Medium on the top of the tissue. I waited for the Medium to dry and used a piece of sandpaper to trim the edges. 

I used a white Uni Posca pen with the stencil to create abstract pathways. When that was dry, I splattered white and black spots from the Uni Posca pens on top. I used Krylon Low Odor Clear Finish spray to seal the tile.

Tile Two – Pathways

Tile Three – Gilded Glass

For this tile I wanted to create an image of looking through stained glass onto a garden. I used the Doodle It Geometric Landscape Stencil by Maria McGuire.

I laid the stencil on top of the white tile and dripped alcohol ink on top of the stencil.  I used an alcohol ink blower to move the ink around and to make the ink dry faster. Once the ink was dried, I removed the stencil.

To add depth and contrast to this piece, I used metallic and black Uni Posca paint pens to outline the shapes created by the stencil. An important step in this process is to spray-dried alcohol ink with Krylon Low Odor Clear Finish spray and let that dry before using the Uni Posca pens. I applied another layer of spray after the pen paint dried. 

Tile Three – Gilded Glass

Tile Four – Kunst Gate

My inspiration for this tile was the stencil The Kuntz Mask 3 by Andrew Borloz. On the Stencil Girl Products website, the description for this stencil says “Inspired by costume, marionette, and mask design during the time when Bauhaus, De Stijl, Dadism, and Cubism were thriving.”

This tile took a little more thought and planning. I decided to look at bits and pieces of the shapes in this stencil to see if I could create a garden gate. I wanted to juxtapose a solid modern gate image over an airy garden. 

I already had a tile colored with alcohol ink leftover from an earlier project. It made a great background for the gate.

However, it needed a little adjusting on the colors. I dabbed on a little more green ink.

To create a gate shape, I used a pencil and paper to trace around shapes in the stencil until I got a pleasing gate shape. Can you see how I flipped the stencil in different directions to create it?

I needed to provide a base for the gate.

I added a browner ink to the bottom and used the used ATC Mixup -Sjodin by Valerie Sjodin stencil to create rocks on the bottom. 

I laid the stencil on top of the bottom of the tile and used a baby wipe to wipe away ink to create rocks. I used a spray bottle full of alcohol ink to spritz about 10 inches up from the tile. I held my hand over the top of the tile to prevent the top from being affected.  By using this method, it softened the edges of the rocks.

Before adding the gate on top of the alcohol ink I sprayed the tile with Krylon Low Odor Clear Finish to set it and prevent the ink from moving.  

I used black gesso on a make-up sponge to create the gate image on the background. I used Dylusions paint pens and a black Uni Posca pen to further enhance the background.

Tile Four – Kuntz Gate

Tile Five – Rex Ray Garden

This tile was inspired by an artist named Rex Ray. The first Stencil Club set I purchased was the Rex Ray-Esque by Valeri Sjodin.  Here is a picture of the type of work he did. He was known for wood grain backgrounds collaged with bold colored shapes. It was my inspiration for how he might have seen a garden.

The first step was to create a wood grain background. This was a fun challenge. I sprayed the tile with alcohol and applied a mix of five brown inks. I used the alcohol ink blower to mix and dry the ink.

Next, I used an Alcohol Lift-Ink pad and a wood grain rubber stamp. I inked up the stamp, placed it on top of the tile. I lightly dabbed the top of the tile with a paper towel to remove excess ink. The last step was to rub with paper towel to reveal the grain. 

To connect the places that the grain didn’t quite match up, I used an Alcohol Ink Blending Pen to draw lines.  Next I sprayed the tile with Krylon Low Odor Clear Finish to set it and prevent the ink from moving.  

To make collage parts I used the Mid Century Modern Repeat stencil by Jennifer Evans. I use old telephone book pages as my pallet pages when doing projects and use those to create collage pieces. I drew the shapes from the stencil onto these pallet pages and cut them out with scissors. I used Uni Posca paint pens to draw in other shapes.

I used gel medium to attach the paper to the top of the tile.  But something was not quite right. I needed more contrast between the collage pieces and the dark wood grain background.  It may have been better if I had used lighter background colors. 

As often happens when I am working on a project, I woke up in the night with an idea on how to fix my problem. I could highlight each collage piece with a bright color. I used Uni Posca Paint pens to “fix” the contrast. 

Tile Five – Rex Ray Garden

Tile Six – Geri’s Arboretum

Now that I had five tiles inspired by artists using abstract art and the school of Bauhaus, it was time to create my own interpretation. I wanted to have a high contrast black and white image with little bits of bright color. I used the ATC Mixup -Sjodin by Valerie Sjodin stencil. 

First, I used a makeup sponge and black and white gesso on the tile. 

I used the stencil and makeup sponge to pounce gesso through the stencil to get the tree and leaf shapes. I noticed that the white gesso on top of the black gesso had traces of red peeking through. This often happens when using black as a base color – no matter what medium you use. I continued layering white on top to try to eliminate the pink. I used colored Uni Posca paint pens to add the colorful foliage. The black and white dots were placed to move the eye from one side of the tile to the other.

Tile Six – Geri’s Arboretum

Coaster Storage and Display

I had help from my husband to keep my coasters in a tidy but decorative display. He designed a wooden holder. He cut two square end pieces and three dowel pieces. I painted them with black gesso and glued them into place. Simple but elegant, I really like the way it complements the coasters.

I hope you have been inspired by this project and think about making your own set of coasters. The ceramic tile and peel-and-stick cork backs are not expensive. I found the tile at the local hardware store and found the peel and stick cork backs on Amazon. If you don’t have Uni Posca pens or alcohol inks you can use any acrylic paint. Of course, you can use any of the many inspiring stencils found at Stencil Girl Products; just use what speaks to you.  The secret ingredient is the Krylon Low Odor Clear Finish to seal the tile. If you don’t want to work on tile, consider making coasters from fabric. Coasters make wonderful gifts. They are easy to make and fun to create. Also, see other coaster-making ideas on this Stencil Girl Talk blog post.

Supplies used in this project

Stencils

Kandinsky’s Garden by Caroline Dube

ATC Mixup -Sjodin by Valerie Sjodin

Doodle It Geometric Landscape Stencil by Maria McGuire

The Kuntz Mask 3 by Andrew Borloz

Rex Ray-Esque by Valeri Sjodin - Stencil Club July 2019

Mid Century Modern Repeat stencil by Jennifer Evans 

Paint

Black Gesso by Bob Ross

White Gesso by Bob Ross

Uni Posca Paint Pens – PC 5m bullet shaped tips

Black

White

Red

Yellow

Blue

Orange

Copper (metallic)

Gold (metallic)

Dylusions Paint Pens

Dirty Martini

Slate Grey

Melted Chocolate

Alcohol Ink

Ranger colors

Pitch Black

Indigo

Valentia

Mojito

Sepia

Mushroom

Teakwood

Expresso

        Rust

Mediums and Sealant 

Krylon Low Odor Clear Finish, Matte

Liquitex Matte Gel Medium

Liquitex Matte Fluid Medium

Other Supplies and Tools

White ceramic tiles 

Peel-and-stick cork pads for back of tile

Makeup sponge

1-inch chip paint brush

Baby wipes

Paper towels

Wood grain rubber stamp

Tim Holtz’s Alcohol Ink Blower

Tim Holtz’s Alcohol Ink Applicator with Felt Pad

Tim Holtz’s Alcohol Ink Blending Pen

Ranger Alcohol Lift-Ink Pad