Mixed-media collage artists are embracing, unearthing, and reconstructing the flotsam and jetsam of modern life with abandon, integrating discards along with a range of art materials and novel techniques to create compelling, new works. Original, idiosyncratic, and delightful, this catch-as-catch-can approach to making art is inspiring and can have eye-catching results. It can also have its own set of technical challenges. Mixed-Media Collage takes you into the studios of five talented mixed-media artists: Laurinda Bedingfield, Barbara De Pirro, Paula Grasdal, Sharon McCartney, and Teesha Moore. The artists reveal their own step-by-step processes, offer tips on working with unconventional materials, and share their insights on creativity and finding inspiration. A deluxe gallery features forty never-before published mixed-media pieces, complete with detailed descriptions of the work and the materials used to create them.

• In-depth chapters detailing the work and techniques of Laurinda Bedingfield, Barbara De Pirro, Paula Grasdal, Sharon McCartney, and Teesha Moore


• Techniques for making faux encaustics out of acrylic gel medium (no hot palette or wax required), adding stitching to paper, layering surfaces, finding inspiration in texts, building shrines and book-page panels out of sew-through interfacing, using simple printmaking techniques to create one-of-a-kind collage materials, building three-dimensional photo collages, and more


• A special feature by best-selling author Jennifer Crusie, who shares her thoughts on the connections between writing and collage, as well as several previously unpublished assemblages she has used as a tool to plot and edit her books


• A humorous essay by best-selling author Alisa Kwitney, who shares her thoughts on the connections between writing and collage, and explains why she canÆt use collage as a tool for anything