Incite Dreams Realized Preview Gallery

As many of you know, just over a year ago Create Mixed Media sent out a call for art for the first mixed-media art competition book. As the entries came in we prepared ourselves to sort through hundreds of artworks in dozens of media to select approximately 120 pieces of art that embodied the absolute best that the mixed-media world had to offer. And WOW did we see some amazing art.

With the artwork selected, created by 93 artists, we are so excited to present Incite Dreams Realized: The Best of Mixed Media.

Today we’d like to share a preview of some of the amazing works you’ll see in the book, which features collage, painting, fiber arts, book arts, jewelry, assemblage, altered digital photography and more.

Hands
by Colleen E. Monette
10″ × 14″ × 3″ (25cm × 36cm × 8cm)
glass, tin, vintage soaps, buttons, wire, wax twine
(photography by Jeff Goble Photography)

Colleen says about Hands:

I am a collector of things—old French things, bits and pieces. I dream about them. It’s taken years to realize that they’ve been waiting to be my art. These wonderful hands are vintage soaps, attached to an old piece of tin using brass wire. I’ve carefully drilled through the soaps to embed buttons, and covered them with an old piece of glass. The entire piece rests on little glass feet. It serves as my bedside tray, collecting its own bits and pieces throughout the day. My hands created Hands, and it’s truly a dream realized.

Recycling Life
by Sandrine Pelissier
48″ × 48″ (122cm × 122cm)
newspaper, pencil, acrylic medium, acrylic paint, India ink on canvas

Sandrine says about Recycling Life:

With this painting, I wanted to show our connection with nature and how life is a big cycle. Most of the newspaper pieces I used for the ground were taken from the obituaries section, being careful to mask all personal information with paint and other clippings. The newspaper was made out of trees, and it has become the ground on the tree painting. Passed-away people are part of the ground where the tree is growing.

This painting was much more precise and detailed than what I usually do, but I enjoyed getting lost in the details of the intricate small branches. It was almost like meditating.

Deep Calls to Deep
by Crystal Neubauer
12″ × 12″ (30cm × 30cm)
collage, ink, acrylic on canvas

Crystal says about Deep Calls to Deep:

Many years ago, working as a project manager in the print industry, a co-worker handed me a mixed-media art magazine, saying she thought it might interest me. Opening those pages for the first time was like opening Pandora’s box. Deep inside me, an ache of recognition stirred. There weren’t words to put to it, but my life had changed in that instant.

Looking back, I clearly see the path that led me on this journey to becoming an artist. It hasn’t always been clear to me when it was in front of me; much of the time I only knew enough to know what the next right step was and had just enough courage to take it. Often those steps did not appear to be taking me in the right direction, but always I would have a deep in-the-spirit confirmation of the step I was on.

It wasn’t just about becoming an artist; it was about becoming me. About learning to let go of what I was “supposed” to be or do, and listening to the voice of truth reveal what I really was.

It was about listening to deep calling to deep.

A Second Nest
by Lesley Riley
7″ × 6″ × 4″ (18cm × 15cm × 10cm)
fabric, paper, canvas board, watercolor paper with stitched metal, mica, images, fibers, ephemera

Lesley says about A Second Nest:

I like to do the impossible. Stitch on metal? On mica? Combine disparate materials (hard and soft) into an ethereal whole? Dream realized!

Because I create on the edge, I’m not always successful. I have learned over the years that to be successful as an artist, you have to keep trying to do the thing you think you cannot do. There’s no mama bird to push me out of the nest anymore. I have to push myself in order to discover how to use my wings. I once had a dream where I could fly. When I said to the voice in the dream, “But I don’t know the way,” she responded, “You will find it as you go.” True, so true.

Morton Salt
by Abby Feinknopf
23″ × 22″ (58cm × 56cm)
fabric selvage base, vintage flour, salt and sugar sacks

Abby says about Morton Salt:

Setting goals remains critical to me as a self-taught artist. One of my early goals was to exhibit my work in a particular gallery. That opportunity came by chance, and Morton Salt was one of the pieces in that first show!

It still sends me a strong message. The central, circular motif has a nautical feel, reminding me of a ship’s wheel. I always envision a white-uniformed captain looking out to sea. That is how I continue to approach my life and art, always looking ahead for the next opportunity and to meet the next goal!

Dayzees
by Kristin Peterson
40″ × 30″ (102cm × 76cm)
acrylic paint, ink, collage on canvas

Kristin says about Dayzees:

Dayzees was created by reworking an earlier painting. The initial painting had words, which, at the time, had significant meaning to me, so I wanted to save them. When I finally painted over the words, I felt liberated. I then added napkins, paper, inks and collage to draw people in and make them want to touch and feel the layers and to really look at what is going on in the painting.

To see a complete list of the contributors in the book, or to download free wallpapers from Incite, Dreams Realized click here.

But even though this book is complete and for sale, we’re not stopping there. It is already time to start submitting your entries for the second edition of Incite: The Best of Mixed Media. We were so inspired by the beautiful and vast array of tones, colors and hues in Dreams Realized that we knew the next competition had to be Color Passions! If you’ve been inspired by the work you’ve seen in this gallery, or by the work in the rest of the book, send us your best work and you could be featured in Incite 2 Color Passions.