“Mixed media”

[image_with_animation image_url=”8555″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] Yesterday I talked about Joseph Cornell, and how he didn’t consider himself an artist, but felt he was a collector, and a maker of things. I like to think sometimes I make things. Contrary to my website, I avoid calling myself an artist. Doing so can be validating, but it can also remove what I’m doing from a natural relaxed integrated experience, and end up piling expectations, limits, and uppityness (yes, uppityness) on how I think about myself and what’s happening. So, I prefer to say I make stuff sometimes.

I often look at artwork labels to see what materials were used. Usually this isn’t for the purpose of copying the work, but to get an idea of the mood of its making. Instead of “mixed media” I’d like to read “roofing tar applied with toothbrush, human hair died red, portland cement, glitter” not “mixed media.”  I admit, other than the tar, I stole the best parts of that list from Claire Putney.  While showing her work to students, I heard her say “that’s human hair died red, and I put it into the cracks of the moulded concrete.” That, my friends, is a process-descriptive materials list, and now you know about Claire.

A highly particular label for a drawing could read: “4H, HB, 2B, 4B, 6B, 8B Mitsubishi graphite pencils, Magic Rub white eraser, kneaded eraser, bottom of shoe, chamois, my sister’s hair spray, a straight blade, a sanding block, spilled coffee, 20lb paper.”

Just like painting labels tell you about the past, class materials list can tell you a lot about the future. If your drawing class list has 8 kinds of pencils, 4 kinds of erasers, a straight blade and a sanding block, you best be ready to get par-tic-u-lar. I worry about the beginning painting classes that require 16 tubes of paint, pre-stretched gallery canvases, and brushes from specific animals.

In a recent class with Siobhan Wilder, we wanted to try different materials, but none of the artwork inspirations said anything more than “mixed media.” After investigating heat guns, plaster, and various other bad ideas, we ended up making some boards using graphite powder, gesso, and various colors of cheap Liquitex and Amsterdam acrylic. Applied with a putty knife onto drywall, it looks like this:

Here’s a class materials list for you: please bring silver forks, plastic spoons, your mom’s old coat, colored glue sticks, screws, hinges, a three legged chair, jars with x inside, dictionary pages Q through S, some wire, and a hammer (your choice). I took this from the materials list for Paul D. McKee’s “Found Object” Assemblage workshop. I did some editing and added a few specifics, but basically the list is clear: you’re in for adult pre-school. The world is wonderful again. Lots of fun.

24 more hours left to use the coupon code “MAKERS” for 20% off Paul D. McKee’s Found Object Sculpture class April 14/15, and Melanie Reed’s Integrated Collage Design April 21/28. You don’t have to call yourself an artist, you can just make stuff.

Apply this coupon code at checkout for 20% off: MAKERS. (Don’t wait! Coupon expires March 14th.)