Layers Upon Layers: Mixed Media Art

Mixed media art by Joni Owens

by Cyndi on September 28th, 2007

Quilt

Joni’s Things

My name is Joni Owens. I was surprised, and excited when Cyndi invited me to share some of my collage pieces with her readers. I love working with all sorts of odds and ends. I have had no formal training (the only art classes I remember were way, way back in I think the 4th grade), creating art is something I have done all of my life in some fashion, thanks to early efforts by my mom. I love the “no wrong way to do it” part of mixed media work because some of my things occasionally get way out of hand.

I love color, but also the quiet, calming sense I get from working with pale, washed out off whites, muslin, etc. I create according to my moods. I am constantly pouring over magazines and books admiring the work of others. To me this is kind like my daily “art candy”, keeping my brain working on new things. The pieces Cyndi suggested we use for this came about in phases. I purchased some 4 x 6 acrylic frames, the type with the cardboard box the inside to hold your photo. I was working at the time on a 4 x 6 canvas with an Egyptian theme and I wanted a deep, shadowbox type effect without a wood edge. Using only the frames I started to accumulate a number of the cardboard box inserts. At first I just used the inserts as a simple collage base, that was the start of the Pearls and Quilt pieces. Then one day IT hit me, mount them on an 8 x 10 background and cover them with a frame. On my blogsite I have photos of these pieces before the final phase. They are listed under the title “Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder.” I liked the frame plain, unadorned and simple, yet on the side - well it needed a little something.

Pearls

So I decided to use bits and pieces of torn paper to cover the sides and edge the fronts. I wanted them to look like you were peeking into an opening, or scene (I used to do a lot of miniature/doll house work). To get the effect I wanted, on some pieces I glued coordinating papers inside the edges of the frames on others they were placed face down on the outside and a second layer facing out on top to finish the frame so that if you look at the inside edges the background wraps around and I wanted the front to look like pieces had been torn or had fallen away over time like torn, peeling wallpaper, so one could get a peek inside the frame, like time being torn away to reveal a treasure. For me this is a constant evolving process.

Sometimes I have to yell at myself and say “No, No, No!!!! That’s enough, no more STOP!! It’s Done!!!!
I love working on new projects and trying new technics. I keep wanting to do more. I also love the making jewelry and I have rigged myself up a crude loom to try my hand at weaving. My small (LOL) workspace has taken over the dining space (never used anyway - sold the table) in my cozy little townhouse. My son is convinced that eventually it will push everything else in it’s path out the door. The way I have it set up wraps around the perimeter of the area and creates a wonderful “nest” space of working materials and tools.

Gift

My life took a major change two years ago when I found myself out of work and health issues have rendered me disabled. Waiting, waiting, waiting on a disability hearing, I spend my days keeping my 21 month old grandson (my true love), child of my oldest son and my beautiful daughter-in-law. I make and attempt (with the help of my 26 year old son, who lives with me) to survive on the $80 a week I earn from that and whatever I can sell at our local flea market (not a real good outlet for my artwork - people ooh and aah but rarely buy). Sometimes I’m challenged by what I don’t have to work with (take the lemon seeds and make lemonade). I decided when possible I would allow myself at least $5-$10 occasionally to “go wild” at my favorite local thrift shop and craft shops (hit the sales aisle!!!). When the crowd thins at the flea market on Saturdays, I start checking out the ground area around my table and any vacant ones close by and have found rusty, broken, bits & pieces that will be incorporated into something someday. I am not beyond picking up interesting rocks, sticks, moss, fallen flowers, leaves, rusty stuff when rambling around during travels. I always keep a good supply of shells, beach sand, one never knows what one may need.

My dad always teases me and says that I will take anything anyone throws out and well, in most cases he’s right. I have a friend who is more than willing to stop, jump out of the car with me, and grab whatever treasure someone has set on the curb for trash pickup, when it’s something one of us desperately needs (artists don’t need much of any excuse anyway, just a reasonable excuse)! I look at an item and try to think of what it could be, not what it is. Sometimes that gets me in trouble.

I live where my roots are the deepest, in upstate South Carolina, in the county where I was born, 15 minutes from my birthplace, where the majority of my ancestors settled, lived, worked, and sleep in its ground. I can’t imagine being anywhere else and despite tough times can’t imagine my life any other way. I have a difficult time (getting better) when people call me an artist. I’m learning to see myself that way, slowly.

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POSTED IN: Assemblage, Collage, Creativity, Mixed Media, Other Art Sites, Paper, Reader's Tips