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Getting Started: Paper, Core Techniques & Supplies

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My Background Secret: To create my background, I use a variety of colors in very thin layers. I mix my paint with matte or satin medium exclusively and never use water. Mediums can make the paint thinner and translucent and keep the color true. This gives a beautiful way to lay two translucent colors next to each other and blend the edge. I prefer the Golden or Liquitex brand.

Behind the Studio Door - Paper:

Mermiad Crown uses both heavy and light objects to create a 3D Mixed Media Piece. Matching the right glue to your objects is the only way to make a successful mixed media piece that will stand the test of time and you won’t have the horrible issue of an element falling off while hanging on the wall. Here are the steps I take toward using adhesives.

First Step:

Use an artist panel mentioned above. Remember to prime the surface to seal the wood which stops wet media and adhesives from soaking straight into the wood fibers and warping your substrate.

Second Step: A warning

• Avoid Unreliable Glues: Children's school glue or standard multi-use craft glues like basic Mod Podge will not work for your art. Mod Podge is great for paper, however for objects it has no structural grip. It also shrinks drastically as it dries, which pulls away from objects and causes them to pop right off

• Use more than one glue…Your objects have completely different weights and porosities, using a single "all-purpose" glue will likely cause the heavy items to fall off or the paper to warp and crush.

Third Step:

Think about the weight, gluing surface, and texture of the object.

• Heavy or Non-Porous Objects: (Metal, Wood, Buttons, Keys, Heavy Plastic): Use an epoxy, heavy-body gel mediums, or specialized tack glues that can hold dense weight without popping off over time.

  • In this piece with large shells & costume Jewelry I used a thick construction adhesive (like E6000 or Aleene's Jewelry & Metal Glue).

  • Some objects like shells are porous but heavy, while costume jewelry is non-porous, slick, and dense. A thick gel or contact-style adhesive fills the gaps behind uneven shell curves and grabs onto metal without running.

• For Lightweight objects: I use a glue that dries at a standard craft glue pace. I like the plenty of "wiggle room" time to reposition pieces or adjust placement. Quick-drying tack glues gives you much less time to work with the object. It takes more time to cure but I like the control it gives me when I need it

• For thick gap-filling (Dimensional Bond): Use a Heavy-Body Acrylic Gel Medium (like Liquitex or Golden). This is essentially acrylic paint without the pigment. It dries completely clear, holds its shape without shrinking, and acts like concrete for mixed media objects. You press the shell into a "pillow" of the gel, and it locks it in place.

• One last tip: If you’re not sure the object will adhere well enough rough up the surface (back of the object) to give it more gripping power.

My Number One Tip for Success: I use cradled wood panels exclusively

Flexible canvases can stretch, shrink, expand, and is affected by changes in temperature and humidity. This causes thick layers of paper, layered paint, 3D objects, added texture, all used in mixed media to crack over time.

Wood panels keep your artwork completely stable, structural strength allows you to safely adhere heavy objects and prevents the microscopic movements that cause thick mixed media layers to crack or delaminate as they age. A high-quality wood panel remains physically stable for generations and is the best permanent museum-quality substrate available to artists.

Always seal your wood panel before you begin! I use a matte medium and seal front and sides.

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Red Artwork:

Mixed-media on artist board 11"x14"

Print Options in Various Sizes:

• Canvas Wrap Print

• Acrylic Print

• Archival Fine Art Prints

Contact

lauragruiciart@gmail.com

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