"Identity" A closer video look at my mixed media painting

Hello mu friends!  I have been making a few videos lately.  As you may know, if you have watched any, the are amateur as I am a newbie and just getting my feet wet.  Here is another very short video.  A closer look at my mixed media painting, "Identity"  I know  some of you have seen this painting already, but for those of you that haven't, please have a look.  For those of you that have, maybe you want to have a second look?
I have to say that I always feel a connection to my creations.  That doesn't mean I can't let go of my work as I know some artists have a hard time doing.  As a matter of fact, it really gives me a sense of joy and fulfillment to see one of my paintings, or cards, or tags or Gelli prints go into the hands of someone who loves them enough to take them home.  I know they will be cherished, which makes me feel wonderful.  The truth is though, that I do feel more of a connection to certain pieces.  For some reason, this is one painting that I feel particularly attached to. While I will certainly be ecstatic to see it find a loving new home, it will be bittersweet, as I will also feel sad to see "Identity" go.  Perhaps that is why I have posted it a couple of times and created this short video.
For anyone that likes this painting and is interested in seeing how I made it, please have a look at this post to see my process.
As for the videos, that is my goal for this year, to create videos and work on my YouTube channel.  There will be videos of my art, our shows, some haul videos and, hopefully my focus, art and craft tutorials.
If you like my few short videos and what I have been sharing here on my blog, please subscribe to my YouTube channel and give me some thumbs up!
And I know this is long overdue, but I am finally on Instagram for anyone who is interested. Find me  mimi.johnson358
Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have and awesome and artful day!

A closer look at "Inner Workings" My latest mixed media painting

Hello all!  Thanks for joining me.  While I was at the reception of our show at Art Square last night, I took the opportunity to do a closeer look at my painting, "Inner Workings".  I know that some of you have already seen this painting on a previous post, but if you are interested, this is a little more true to life.  It is also, my very first post on my YouTube channel!  Yay!
For thos of you that  are interested in some close up shots and a look at the process and you haven't already seen my previous post, you can find it here.
Thanks so much for stopping by and having a look!

"Inner Workings" A new Mixed Media painting

Hello !  Today I bring to you my latest creation, a mixed media painting I have titled

 "Inner Workings"

This painting will be heading to Art Square tomorrow, a downtown Toronto venue close to the AGO, along with several other paintings done by the talented artists in another group I belong to, Ajax Creative Arts.  It's difficult to see all the details and texture of this painting in a photo, so I have taken a few close-ups.  I really enjoyed creating this piece.  I had an idea what I wanted to do, but at the same time this painting was largely intuitive and very personal.  I knew what colour inks I wanted to use, I knew I wanted to use gears and I had a vision of the basic composition.  I knew I wanted a lot of texture.  I didn't know how it was going to come together and the words occurred to me after I had already started..  I like the idea that they are part of the painting, but not the focal point.  They will be discovered as someone examines the painting..  I am very happy how this painting turned out and for some reason, I feel a real connection to it.  I hope you enjoy the close ups and at the end I have shared a little of my process as well, if you are interested.

I was already into the painting when I thought that I should document the process for my blog.  I had already added a lot of texture with modelling paste, beads and crystals. and established my composition.  Once that was dry, I painted over everything with acrylic paint.  Then I decided I wanted to incorporate some words into the background and did some stenciling with some white pearl modelling paste.

I created the gears using aluminum tape and I die cut them to shape.  Once my background was complete, I tempoarily added them to the background to give me an idea how I wanted to position them

Then I removed them, sealed them and aged them before adhering them to my painting

Now I was ready for the acrylic ink.  I added the ink in layers and moved it around with some water.  You can never predict exactly what result you will get when it dries.  While there was definitely a method to  my madness as I laid down the colours,  the ink does such wonderful things as it dries into the textured background that you cannot know as you lay it down.  I was excited when I awoke the next day to see how it had turned out.  I loved it!  As I move around the ink with water, there is a spray that occurs, which I like but It can be a little bit busy. So for my final touches, I muted some of the spray and recreated some quiet space.  I hope you like the end result

Thank you so much for letting me share my work, my process and my thoughts with you today.

Time Machimne

I have been sharing all the tags that I have been doing, but tags are not the only thing that I do.  So I thought I should start sharing some of my other art.  Mixed-Media is something that I enjoy and want to do more of.  This 8" x 10" painting is one that I did a couple of years ago.

I added some texture to the background with gesso and used some ribbon as a stencil.  I gold leafed the entire background.  I made an acrylic transfer skin from a photo I took at the ROM. painted the back of it white and adhered it to my painting.  I had made some gear moulds and made these gears using acrylic medium n the mold.  I added some touches of acrylic inks.  I keep thinking I would like to do a similar one on a larger scale because I really liked how it turned out.