I’m so happy to be a guest for Mark Montano.
He has asked me to talk a little bit about the upcoming International Mixed Media Postcard Swap Version 2.0 and of course I could talk about it for days and days!
There are so many reasons why I love organizing this swap.
First of all, I get to communicate with people from all over the world, and I get to link those people together! Take one participant from the Netherlands, another from Iceland, a third from North Dakota (USA) and you have the beginnings of a very widespread artistic movement! Imagine receiving completely unique original art in the mail from the other side of the world – it’s such a cool experience!
I also love the diversity of art that I see with this swap.
MIXED MEDIA is an art form that encompasses every other art medium – truly every single one! Mixed Media combines two or more different art mediums (media) into each art piece. Here are some examples of some of the combinations that I love:
- Photography and Ink
- Fabric and Watercolours
- Paint and Crayons (I *love* crayons!)
- Pencil Crayons and Ink
- Fabric and Photography
- Collage and Paint
- Scrapbook Style and Paint
- Embroidery and Ink
- Sewing and Origami
- Zentangle and Painting
- Collage and Stencils
Use any or ALL of these combinations, and then add your own! The possibilities truly are endless!!!
Here are some examples of some combinations that I love. Maybe they will inspire you to make some mixed media postcards and participate in the International Mixed Media Postcard Swap Version 2.0!
Here is a piece that I did using a heart-shaped paper doily, napkins for the background, and ink (pen) highlights. Then I used a stamp to put the word dream into the middle. See the whole piece
here.
Here is a mixed media piece by artist Sherrill Kahn. She has combined ink, paint and thread onto fabric! Visit Sherrill
here.
Artist Marianne Bland describes what she used in her mixed media piece, “Youth”: “Using thread, yarn, snippets from sewing patterns, Nancy Drew, a children’s reader and a thesaurus, I used “youth” circled from the thesaurus as the theme.” Visit Marianne
here.
You see, Mixed Media comes in so many different forms and can be made by all skill levels! All you need to do is gather some art/craft supplies and let your creativity go to work!
ARE YOU INSPIRED TO MAKE MIXED MEDIA?
Join us for the International Mixed Media Postcard Swap Version 2.0 – you’ll need to make ten small mixed media pieces and send them all over the world via snail mail. Then you’ll RECEIVE ten small mixed media pieces from different artists all over the world. Is there anything more exciting than to receive someone’s handmade original art right in your mailbox…?!
Click
here to read the guidelines for the Swap and to sign up!
THE BASIC IDEA:
- You will make 10 postcards in any mixed media format.
- You will receive 10 mailing address from me for other creative people just like you from around the world!
- You will send each of those ten people one of your handmade postcards.
- Then you will receive a handmade postcard from 10 other people from around the world!
Shannon Ganshorn is a high school teacher and mixed media. She lives in White Rock, BC, Canada with her husband in her 1950s bungalow. She spends her free time garage sale-ing, gardening, and riding her bike around town.
