When My Day Job Becomes My Creative Playground - creating Mixed Media Canvases

Not everything I create starts as a personal project. Sometimes it begins as part of my day job, and I thought it would be fun to give you a little behind-the-scenes glimpse into how these three mixed media canvases came about.

Part of my role at Personal Impressions involves creating samples for Craft TV, which means I sometimes find myself working with products or combinations that I might not have chosen for a personal project.

And actually, that's one of the things I enjoy about it. You have a starting point, a collection of materials and a blank canvas - and then you have to work out what you can do with them.

These three canvases were created for a recent Craft TV show using Tim Holtz Idea-ology products, and although they were made for work, the creative process was very much my own.

Canvas #1

When making counter samples for Craft TV, I always try to design them as if I were creating them for myself. For this first canvas, everything began with the beautiful collage paper. It was simply too lovely to hide.

Although I haven't gone overboard with colour, I wanted the soft splash of blue to suggest the sky peeking out from behind the house ephemera, adding just enough contrast without overwhelming the vintage feel.

I adore the Paper Dolls that Tim Holtz creates, although I know they're a bit of a Marmite product! These two characters felt perfect for the composition, but once I'd glued them in place, I realised they looked as though they were floating. The solution was simple: I layered some of the collage strips beneath them to create the illusion of a road or driveway, which instantly grounded the whole scene.

Canvas #2

For this canvas, I really wanted to show off the collage strips because they're like miniature backgrounds in their own right. I arranged them in a flowing pattern down the centre of the canvas, keeping them slightly staggered to create a little more movement and interest.

The raised panels were made from off-cuts of card, covered with pieces of the collage paper. Rather than throwing away the leftover scraps, I added them to the background too - why waste them?

Then came one of my favourite parts: spending a glorious ten minutes (or maybe a little longer!) choosing the different characters from the Paper Doll Poses pack. I've often wondered what stories these characters could tell if they could speak, and finding just the right ones always feels like part of the creative process.

Canvas #3

This canvas was a bit of a labour of love but only because I stuck things in place before  sorting out the design. This one reminded me why I usually do a dry run before committing with glue! On three card panels, I added the collage paper. I then stuck them directly to the canvas varying their heights. A few paper doll images were added and finished with an Idea-ology metal optic frame. To give the glass effect, I added glossy accents.

When I finished it looked bland and felt as if it was missing something. This is where the "labour of love" came in - I decided to add collage stripes behind ALL the panels but because I had stuck them in place, I had to cut the strips to give the illusion that they had been added first.

Behind the scenes 

Earlier this year, I wrote a blog post about sharing these work related projects but that post was from a demoer point of  view - can you read it HERE - where as this post gives you another glimse in to my "day job".

... or a completely different blog post showing how my everyday work life influenced a project. I thought it would be cool to show that my creative style or my creative processes stay mostly the same regardless of product or brand. You can read about this project idea HERE

My style will probably continue to evolve because of my work. I'm constantly surrounded by different brands, materials and techniques, and that's one of the things I enjoy most. While you'll always see my favourites appearing, you'll also see me experimenting with products that perhaps wouldn't normally be my first choice - and sometimes that's exactly how new favourites are discovered.

I hope you've enjoyed this little glimpse behind the scenes. If you'd like me to share more about what goes into creating TV bundles, product development or the projects I make as part of my role, do let me know. I think it might be fun to show more of this side of my creative world.

Until next time, take care,

Lou
xxx