Mixed Media Series:What We're Made Of

What We're Made Of is a mixed media series I've been slowly working on over the past week or so. It's come together into 6 individual pieces and 1 diptych. The series is made of a multitude of materials, mostly inks, watercolors, and assorted papers.

What We're Made Of was created in March 2011 on Archival Watercolor Paper.

"A Beat In Your Chest"

By: Kaylee Hinrichs

Date: March 2011

Medium: Dictionary paper, magazine paper,

textured paper, threads, inks, watercolors

Size: 4in. x 6in.

 In The Air

By: Kaylee Hinrichs

Date: March 2011

Medium: Watercolors, inks, magazine paper,
brown paper bag, bristol paper

Size: 10in x 6in.

 In The Air, (detail).

"Just Like The Ocean"

By: Kaylee Hinrichs

Date: March 2011

Medium: Watercolor, inks, dictionary pages,

brown paper bag, banana paper, drawing paper

Size: 6in. x 10in.

 Just Like The Ocean (detail)

Lost

By: Kaylee Hinrichs

Date: March 2011

Medium: Drawing paper, magazine paper, banana paper,

bristol paper, tracing paper, watercolors, inks

Size: 6in. x 10in.

Mess We've Made

By: Kaylee Hinrichs

Date: March 2011

Medium: Banana paper, graphite, cork, magazine paper,

drawing paper, watercolors, inks

Size: 6in. x 10in.

 Never Scared

By: Kaylee Hinrichs

Date: March 2011

Medium: Drawing paper, bristol paper, watercolors,
an envelope, pretty paper, inks

Size: 10in. x 6in.

 Never Scared (detail).

Sinking

By: Kaylee Hinrichs

Date: March 2011

Medium: Watercolors, inks, banana paper, brown paper bag,
tracing paper, scraps, magazine paper

Size: 10in. x 6in.

New Mixed Media Diptych - "A Beat In Your Chest"

I would like to introduce my newest Mixed Media Series, which currently does not have a name.
This series has got me incredibly excited. After I imagined the premise and theme for this series, I jumped right in and started making it.

And I haven't felt so proud, pleased, and excited by my own artwork in a long time. This series is going to expand into many different things. I'm debating around a few names for the series, some compositions, and ideas, so I'm just itching to get into the studio... (Basically, I am saying that I would honestly rather be making art than writing a blog post.)

So without further ado, I'd like to present my newest artwork. (Click to enlarge photos, but please don't copy them/save them/steal them. I work very hard to create these, please respect my efforts to protect my artwork.)

"A Beat In Your Chest" - A Diptych

(Inspired by: Add This Song by Gus Gus)

Mediums: Dictionary paper, magazine paper, textured paper, threads, inks, watercolors

Date: 3/13/2011

By: Kaylee Hinrichs

"Stuck"

Part I

"Stuck"

Pt. I

(detail)

"No State"

Pt. II

"No State"

Pt. II

(detail)

I'm going to be producing many, many more of these style works. I hope you like them, because there's much to come. 

If you have any feedback, advice, recommendations, critiques, comments, adorations, etc., I'm all ears! 

-kaylee

Art Journal Pages (March)

Unfortunately, my inventory tells me I have zero canvases to work with right now.

Well, that's not completely true. I have canvas that needs to be stretched, but no stretcher bars.

I have 5 stretched canvases that have gone crooked in the humidity and need more stretcher bars.

I have canvas boards galore... And canvas paper out the "wazoo"... 

But not a single stretched, non-crooked, archival-quality canvas to work with.

And so I've turned to my art journal once again. My art journals are like my best-friends nowadays. They hold a beautiful selection of my thoughts, ideas, dreams, creations, inspirations, mistakes, failures. I love my journals and have only really showed some of the pages on this blog, but I'm going to be slowly releasing more and more of my art journal pages as I become more prolific in their completion. 

Here's my journal progress of for the month of March so far:

"Costa Rica"

(Pura Vida)

Mediums: Watercolors, Acrylics, Collage, Found Object,

Collected Objects, Inks, Oil Pastels, 3-D elements

"Costa Rica" (Pura Vida) Art Journal Page.

Flipping up the ticket stubs, and memorabilia reveals Costa Rican leaves which I found and pressed myself.

"Costa Rica" (Pura Vida) Art Journal Page.

My printer/scanner/technology is never working properly, so I often resort to making my own drawings/sketches/paintings for collages. I drew/painted this small map of Costa Rica, marking the capital city and my own town. I collaged the words "home" from a magazine page and sewing the patch of paper to the original journal page.

"Changes" Art Journal Page

Mediums: Acrylic paints, Watercolors, Inks, Collected Objects,

Hemp, Ribbons, Drawings, Wax pencils

"Changes" Art Journal Page 

This is a detail shot of the ticket stubs. This technique was very new to me, but I loved it after it was finished. 

It works out very well. (Expect a tutorial on this technique soon!)

"Changes" Art Journal Page

Many art journalists will create tabs, or pieces of the page that poke out of the book when closed. I wanted to try to imitate that effect, because it draws interest into opening the book to view the full page (which is what I want people to do). 

 I adore the tab of this page and decided to take a macro shot of it just to show it off. I'm not sure why it appeals to me so much, perhaps it's the contrast of brown/gold to black/blue. 

You may also be interested in viewing my most frequently used art journals. 

They don't have particular themes, names, or anything. These journals are my first real art journals, and they are meant to showcase my current techniques. Once these 5 journals are filled up, I'll be getting another batch. Those journals may have themes, limits, and narrower focuses than the ones I'm creating now.

Journal Covers #1-5:

(The two pages featured above are from this journal)

The pages of this journal are 100% recycled and archival. I apologize for the glare in the photo, but there was no better way to take the photo. I hand-sewed the buttons on the cover.

This journal is threaded loosely with space to grow. It has lined, yellow-ish pages.

This journal is the only one that has a theme developing; Nostalgia.

This is the first journal that I made from scratch. The cover, pages, and binding were all done by myself. 

This journal only has about 20 pages or so, but the pages are high-quality, archival watercolor paper (not sure of the weight). I work in this book sparingly and save it's pages for truly ground-breaking ideas. 

This journal is one of my favorites. I dump just about every good idea I get into this journal. The contents are not that impressive yet, but I add and work the pages differently every day. Originally, I didn't care for the journal. It's pages were not that white and they didn't seem very thick. But, last month I discovered these pages can hold watercolor, acrylic, and decoupage! Amazing. 

This journal hasn't been bound together yet. I've always worked on my journals after they were bound, this one is going to be a little different, I think. I want to create each page on loose-leaf and bind them once complete. The pages of this journal vary from fine watercolor paper, to thick drawing paper, some bristol board, and Banana Paper.

I'm setting a goal to have all these journals finished by the end of the year. I have a feeling that I'll have them done before Halloween rolls around. 

Do you have any art journals/sketchbooks? I'd love to see them! Feel free to link to your own blog posts about your journal pages if you wish. 

-kaylee

The Art Studio Version 3.0

Finally. 

After all the irritation, the sweat, the blood, and the tears, I have finally created a studio that I love. (Although I've been driving myself crazy trying to come up with a great name for my studio,) I am incredibly proud of my wonderful space. Here's a peek at my efforts.

I have two worktables, but this is the one I prefer to work at. I took this picture while working, so things are a bit messy. But I suppose that's a good thing really.

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This is my other worktable. I use this area primarily for mixing my paints, making palettes, and for works-in-progress that need a flat space to dry. On the shelves I keep my most needed painting supplies (palette knives, color guides, viewfinders, tools, brushes). 

And this is my inspiration board / incense area. My inspiration board currently hosts a "Wishlist" and postcards from other artists. I'm planning to add much more to this, but for now, it's wonderful.

I love incense and candles. They really inspire me to work and make me feel creative. It's a crucial part of my meditating process, and my morning routine when I open up my studio for the day.

I'll admit it: I'm absolutely obsessed with art studios. Sometimes I like to daydream about the studio I would love to have. 

My questions: Do other artists feel this way about their studios? Do you feel this way about your creative space? Is it a place that cultivates your creativity or does it drain it away? Is the art studio a neccessary part of your life as a creative person? Do you feel like your space could use some shaping up? 

Leave a comment below with your thoughts and opinions, I'd love to hear from you!

-kaylee

Watercolors, Inks, and Buttons, Oh My!

To celebrate Daniel's Mother's birthday, I decided to make a special mixed media project for her. I've been going absolutely crazy about hand-sewing techniques in my projects. I've done about 5 projects so far which incorporate hand-sewing and thread work. I really love the intimacy of hand-sewing things to my projects. It makes me feel a very strong connection to the work.

Anyways, enough about sewing. Let's see the art!

By: Kaylee Hinrichs

By: Kaylee Hinrichs

Ana's Flowers

Medium: Watercolor, Inks, Buttons

Size: 10in. x 6in.

Date: March 2011

By: Kaylee Hinrichs

This artwork originally came to me in a dream. I saw these exact flowers (minus the buttons), and replicated them in an artwork. I knew once I decided on the composition and palette, that these flowers should be given to Daniel's mom. It just felt right. So, I named them "Ana's Flowers". 

I really, really enjoyed making this project. Hopefully you enjoyed seeing it, because I'm going to be making more of these kinds of things soon.

What do you think? Do you like my color choice? Do you think the buttons are too much? 

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

-kaylee

My Art Studio Improved

I'm pleased to say that I have been extremely busy. I'm happy to say this because I've been going stir-crazy with nothing to really occupy my time. Now I've got my plate full. I'm looking towards completing my Art Studio revamp, starting three new art series, a couple different business opportunities, a couple art competitions in fall/winter, and finally making all of my artwork available for purchase online.

But before any of those things take place, the studio must be completed. I promised Before pictures of my studio in my previous post on my art studio. But, once I walked into the horror which I had allowed my wonderful space to endure, I knew I couldn't photograph it. It was, yes, embarrassing.

I did take some After pictures, not too many because there's still much work to be done. (Okay, so maybe it's not that improved. Yet.)

You can see my easel is set in front of the bay windows. The table in this photo is my processing table/drafting table, and as you can see still needs massive amounts of re-organizing. At the right, you can see my framed chakra drawings sitting on my shelf. 

This is the view when entering my space. At the left is my painting and work table. Along with my large bookcase. And the easel to the right. As I said, the space still needs lots and lots of re-organizing and decorating. 

This is my main workspace. It's rather clustered currently but shows my main tools. I have a nice array of paintbrushes, a box of acrylics in rainbow (for quick access), my metal working/carving/sculpting tools, water cups, cups of washes, my wonderful pallete, my jar of colored pencils (only 1/18th of my total amount of colored pencils), my stabilo watercolor pencils, and my watercolor tin paints. 

I'm looking towards spending this next week working in between fixing up the studio, and writing up many, many, many tutorials and how-to guides. You can expect a plethora of new posts, new artworks, and new things, so keep your eye out.

Also, on another note Daniel Icaza finished his 13 skulls series and it's absolutely beautiful. I don't want to spoil the surprise, so if you have a moment go check it out for yourself. I promise you won't be disappointed! 

-kaylee 

Daniel Icaza Sells Artwork Online

In my previous post, I talked about how Daniel Icaza is selling his beautiful handmade jewelry at his Etsy shop. (Read the article here.)

In this post, I wanted to share the other art Daniel Icaza is selling currently.
Through RedBubble, Daniel Icaza sells prints in a variety of forms and settings, like canvas prints, framed prints, etc. Here are some of the pieces available:

By: Daniel Icaza

Item Info / Purchase Prints

By: Daniel Icaza

Item Info / Purchase Prints

By: Daniel Icaza

Item Info / Purchase Prints

You can purchase these designs on high-quality prints starting at less than $20. The prints can also be purchased framed or on a postcard size, whatever you desire!

And if you like Daniel Icaza's series, you can purchase the design on a variety of merchandise as well.

By: Daniel Icaza

Item Info / Purchase

$40.95 USD

By: Daniel Icaza

Item Info / Purchase

$79.95 USD 

By: Daniel Icaza

Item Info / Purchase

$34.95 USD

Daniel Icaza offers even more designs, on even more products as time goes on. I suggest bookmarking or saving his Zazzle Shop for later. His products make perfect gifts for any person of any age and any occasion. I highly recommend his work. In fact, I'm planning on making a purchase myself!

If you would like to learn more about Daniel Icaza, visit his blog for more information. He offers original artworks for sale as well as:

Handmade Jewelry: Etsy 

Art Prints: RedBubble 

Merchandise: Zazzle

You may also want to view Daniel's Behance Portfolio to learn more about the concepts that drive his artwork. Although his designs seem simple, they are backed by professional techniques and beautiful concepts. 

Thanks for viewing Daniel Icaza's original artworks. I'll be featuring more of Daniel's work as time goes on. 

**(Please note that, yes, I am affiliated with Daniel Icaza in many ways. But, I chose to talk about his art without any form of compensation. I do really love Daniel's artwork and he deserves all the attention he can get.
Feel free to re-post this article onto your blog, as long as I receive credit as the original author, and the hyper-links stay in tact.)

-kaylee

Daniel Icaza Sells Jewelry Online

Daniel Icaza, a metalsmith and visual artist, has made his beautiful artworks available to an international market. He offers an incredibly wide variety of products and designs through a few different venues. From his awesome jewelry, to his clever circle designs, and illusion paintings, he is truly a master of his craft. But, don't take my word for it. Just take a peek at some of his fantastic artwork available for purchase.

By: Daniel Icaza

Item Info / Purchase

By: Daniel Icaza

Item Info / Purchase

By: Daniel Icaza

Item Info / Purchase

Daniel's Jewelry is truly fantastic. He hand-fabricates every part of them himself. Purchasing silver in raw form, he makes his own wire, decor, chains, clasps, everything. The only part that wasn't hand-made by Daniel himself are the stones used. Absolutely amazing.

Oh, and recently added are these new silver pins:

By: Daniel Icaza

Item Info / Purchase

These bad boys are extremely affordable (only $80.00 USD!) So, if you've always wanted a Daniel Icaza original piece, you better move quickly. There's only 2 of 5 left available!

Daniel Icaza's Etsy Shop

**(Please note that, yes, I am affiliated with Daniel Icaza in many ways. But, I chose to talk about his art by my own will. I do really love Daniel's artwork and he deserves all the attention he can get. 

Feel free to re-post this article onto your blog, as long as I receive credit as the original author, and the hyper-links stay in tact.)

-kaylee