Near the end of last year, I decided to take the inspiration of milk bath photography, and turn it into mixed media art. I had stacks of recyclable paper from misprints for homeschool, and so I decided to use these to create mixed media oranges. That’s how it started. And soon I was also making strawberries, leaves, and flower petals to go with. I painted the pages with either acrylic paint or acrylic ink, leaving streaks in the paint to give it texture and depth. Then I assembled them in pleasing arrangements on canvas, and added texture paste to give it that milky look.

I was thinking yesterday about this milk bath series, as I was going through a bunch of photos of my old art. I was contemplating how creative play in art journalling is so good for flexing your creative muscles, and trying new techniques and supplies, and breaking all the rules. I love that freedom to just mix ink into paint or draw with all different types of writing implements over different textures and surfaces, and just see how they react or live together on the page. The freedom to experiment and play is such a big part of the creative process that we often don’t give ourselves enough time for. We can get stifled in our creative practice when we are just creating to produce a ‘product.’ But then documentation is important too, so you can remember what you did!

A new technique that I discovered this summer, and which I have loved using in my art journaling, is making texture “stickers.” I will call them that for lack of a better word. Basically, I use texture paste with some dabs of different colours of paint mixed in, and then stencil it on to deli paper. Deli paper is a thin, tissue-paper like sheet that is often used in mixed media for its ability to blend into the page when glued down. So, after you have applied your texture design and let it dry, you can take the ‘sticker’ and move it around on your page to decide where you think it will look best. You can also take scissors and cut it into smaller segments, there really are so many options. I just really like the ability to be able to ‘try it out’ in your art journal, before committing to where to place it. You can make a whole bunch at once, and then keep them in a bin to use for your art journal, mixed media art, journal covers, etc. The options are aplenty! I’d love to hear if you give this a try!

[pictured below are some of the ‘stickers’ I have made, as well as one of the ones that I cut and glued into my art journal]