Mixed Media Weaving and how it began...

I have been a maker for my entire life. I have dabbled in so many creative areas over the years and the things I love doing the most have stuck around. I pull from all those past experiences daily and use the knowledge in my current work. This makes me a most curious artist. I very often combine techniques and that is how mixed media weaving started.

I blame it on the pandemic actually, because during that time I decided to try weaving on a loom to pass the time. I watched a tutorial and immediately decided that instead of weaving with yarn I would try using paper, book parts, raffia, linen, natural fibers, etc. I was hooked and continued experimenting and trying new things. I drew on my love for weaving baskets, sewing, collage, and even photography because I used my images in the weaving. I actually did use yarn but only because I had some bits in my stash. I didn’t buy any.

(weaving with jute, photo transfer, yarn, kitchen twine, and rusty metal)

I have created a new class called Mixed Media Weaving to share how much fun this can be. Once you understand the basics you can experiment to your hearts content and create unique, textured, wild or not so wild, beautiful works. In the class we make 2 pieces and that should get you started. Then you can explore endless possibilities.

(weaving with kitchen twine, garden twine, coffee filters, rust dyed linen, book parts, cheese cloth, yarn and cedar branch)

weaving with raffia, ripped canvas, rusty linen, and palm fibers

And that is how this new passion began. If you would like some more information on the class you can click here! I hope you will join me. Let’s create something cool together!

Small art...an affordable and evolving way to buy art.

As an artist I have a tendency to create art in a variety of sizes depending on my mood and energy level. For me, creating a large canvas takes a certain amount of mental energy to psyche myself up but once I’m in the zone it’s fun and exciting. Creating small pieces of art doesn’t require the same level of mental energy so it is what I do in between.

I recently posted a picture on Instagram and it seemed to resonate with many people. Twenty 4” x 4” collages together creating a statement as a group. They were never created to actually go together but they did because I have a tendency to stay within a certain color palette. I started thinking that buying 20 pcs might be out of the question for many people but buying one or two at a time and slowly adding would allow someone to build their collection slowly and at an affordable price. This would also be fun as a gift for a newlywed or someone with their first apartment or house.

I decided certain categories in my shop would be a constant such as the small collage group. They would always be the same size 4” x 4” on the same canvas and the same depth. This way adding to your collection would be easy knowing that they would all be the same on the wall. Buying one or two at a time is affordable and when it’s time to add to the collection you know what you are getting.

Art in the time of Corona

These are very strange times we are living through right now. So much uncertainty and fear to navigate through everyday. At first I was quite nervous about all of it and found it hard to focus on any given task but that started to subside and I felt like I would just do what I was supposed to do and hope all would be ok. The area I live in depends heavily on tourism and I do worry how all of this will affect this community. On the positive side we have had very low numbers of people infected so sheltering in place has been working here.

The way I have been able to cope with the uncertainty is with my art. It has and always will be my lifeline. When I start to work I feel all the worries that I have fall away for that period of time. I feel fed and my head feels clear when I finish. This is not something new, it’s always been that way for me and I’m so thankful for it.

Before things started to fall apart I had started working on a new project I call the “The Allotments”. I worked on raw canvas adding paint to wet gesso and blurring the edges of the paint. What I started to see was sort of a patch work which reminded me of looking down from a plane at farm land. As I added collage material, stitching, rusty bits of fabric I started to see small gardens. Now of course these were very abstract gardens but I could definitely see them. Can you?

Shortly after I started this project I saw a little film produced by Green Renaissance on British allotments and I thought that’s what I will call these. The people that were in the film were so enthusiastic about their little pieces of earth. Each plot was tended to with such love that it was hard not to share in their joy. They spoke of community, abundance, and that there was no other place they would rather be. After seeing that I knew that these pieces of art (30 in all) were meant to finished and put our there into the world. I wasn’t sure the timing was right but I did it anyway because it made me feel so good.

If you would enjoy seeing the entire collection please click here. I hope you are safe, healthy, and working on the thing that brings you peace.

Working in a series...

Working in a series is something relatively new for me. It makes so much sense to work on multiple pieces with a common thread woven through for a cohesive body of work. I don’t do this all the time but I’m trying to keep this in mind as my brain circles around an idea.

I took some photographs of some vintage household items as still life works. I loved how the pieces were functional and beautiful at the same time. They were worn smooth or slightly tattered but they served a purpose and lasted many years.

I decided to combine my photos with paper collage to create a series focusing on the functionality and beauty of these old household objects. I also created some hand painted collage papers, with a bit of a contemporary feeling, in a neutral color palette. The old and new seemed to work well together.

Give it a try if you haven’t already! Let me know what you think…

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Change is good...

After a crazy spring and summer of moving, traveling, visiting with family and working on our house it is nice to take things a little slower and enjoy the most beautiful change of seasons...fall. I have to say it is quite spectacular here. After our move to the Adirondacks, which was the first big change for us, I decided to say good bye to abbey road designs. I have narrowed my focus to collage art and will put all my attention there. Leslie Rottner Art is now my business name and that change feels really good.