This week I have been working on a collaboration project which we hope to start to bring online in a month or two so keep an eye out for Wildly Created’s amazing products coming soon on a device near you…and in an Etsy shop. Also, I have been busy with my mixed media pieces. After the 60 x 20 cm “Fishing for Compliments” piece I posted about last week, I decided to go much smaller and incorporating a range of foraged and found materials and embellishments. I have some 10 x 10 cm canvases and some mixed media boards. I am using my new favourite mediums… modelling paste, crackle paste and glass bead gel until I receive a delivery of other products. Everything is of course taking much longer these days and increasingly harder to source with shipping costs and Brexit, plus Covid changing guidelines and related costs. Those of us living in Europe are looking to other European countries more than the usual UK favourites. If I find any websites I feel worth recommending, I will share. Evans Art in Dublin have been wonderful, a family fun business, reasonably priced and shipping times. Currently looking at German sites, but a lot depends on the VAT which I am noticing way more sites than before are not including VAT with prices, and shipping costs are by quote only. Many have reasonably high minimum order limits too which can be prohibitive for the smaller businesses and creatives. Yep, the struggle is real folks.
My devotion to all things nature and living close to woods and beaches, a keen eye and plenty of free time means I can gather often ignored items for my work. Seed heads and pods, lichen laden twigs, decayed plant material and spent netting from fruits and vegetables, shells and other items from the beach are my toys these days.
Living in Morocco meant some 300 days of sunshine and masses of time spent outdoors, back here in Ireland, I have had to readjust to grabbing the few good days by the horns and trotting off as soon as a dry day appears with my camera and a snack. It has made me even more observant and determined to find useful objets trouvés.
I have 7 pieces in various stages of creation and all still at the building stage so no colour added yet. I do think its interesting to see the progresses before the colours though, I hope you agree. A few days for the crackle paste to do its thing and I will apply colour. See you next week!
Karima Rebecca Powell Artist 
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