Terrific Texture with Gel Medium

I’ve been fiddling around with these little mixed media boards, some collage, Matisse Gel Medium, and some acrylic paint. This is the technique I demonstrated on the Matisse stand at the Royal Easter Show, and at the Matisse Open Day. My paintings at the Open Day were sold before they were dry. They are fun to do and very easy. The students in my class at the evening college often paint them, – sometimes a whole series. It’s a great technique for gaining confidence. It comes from the book Celebrate your Creative Self” by Mary Todd Beam. This book is a winner! I see it as the absolute best book for acrylic techniques. I always take it to class because many of the students see a technique in there that they can adapt to their own purposes. I must have had this book at least three years, but no matter how long I live I will never get to the end of the techniques in this book.
I painted the postcard I did for Anita in acrylics on one of these little boards too. They’re not suitable for watercolour, but wonderful for acrylics.
Speaking of books – I just read Without Reservations by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Alice Steinbach. I just loved it. It’s about the time she took a year off and went to Europe, but it’s not ‘the usual’ at all. In fact I have hot pink stickies in several places, where I just want to write down what she said so I can remember it.