Mixed Media Workshop Reflections
Last month I had the awesome opportunity to teach a mixed media workshop at Create Art Studio in Indianapolis, a special place created and cared for by Alissa Moody and Chrissy Sweigart. It is a treasure to the Broad Ripple and Indianapolis art community—for wee ones to adults and to teaching artists—with weekly age appropriate art classes.
For our Meaning Making in Layers workshop, I prepped paper scraps packets for each participant as an invitation to explore something they may not have considered, like business envelopes, packing materials, paper placemat, old books, sewing patterns, and ephemera galore. I keep nearly every scrap that comes through our home. And I hunt for them in vintage and thrift stores.
The greatest treasures were the papers they brought and included in their own pieces. Every scrap tells a story:
Letters from beloved family members no longer with us
Creative artwork from children
Maps of hometowns
Old school concert tickets
Menus from delicious travel adventures
Sheet music from a treasured, nostalgic tune
Whether they chose to imbue the meaning of those pieces in underlayers, allowed them to peek through the top layer, or to make them the “start of the show,” the mixed media workshop participants had to discern the intention of each torn and glued paper. The result was a deeply personal expression of that intention and their own creativity.
For me, this mixed media process mirrors our life’s journey of choices, consequences (good, bad, indifferent), reflections. We get to decide what to leave behind or pull forward. And regardless of those choices, each piece is a part of the greater whole of who we are. It’s a place to pause and consider which next step calls us.
I am thrilled that I get the opportunity to teach Meaning Making in Layers again!
Meaning-Making in Layers: A Mixed Media Workshop with Meghan Barich
📅Sunday, August 3rd from 11 am to 1 pm
📍Create Art Studio in Broad Ripple
Please join me! And I’m ironing out the process of another mixed media workshop … a floral one. Be sure to sign up for my newsletter updates to be the first to know about upcoming events.
I appreciate you!
