Creating materials that carry your creative signature
One of the most powerful aspects of working with mixed media is creating the materials themselves. Altered papers and fabrics become more than surfaces. They become expressions of your intuition, your preferences, and your creative voice. When you work with materials you’ve made by hand, every project naturally becomes more personal and distinctive.
In this course, you’ll explore a variety of approachable techniques for transforming ordinary paper and fabric into rich, layered materials ready for collage and mixed media work. Through simple processes such as painting, mark-making, layering, staining, and textural exploration, you’ll learn how to create custom materials that feel aligned with your own aesthetic and the materials you are intuitively drawn to.
Altering your own papers and fabrics removes the pressure of starting with a blank surface. These materials become a creative resource you can return to again and again, offering inspiration, cohesion, and depth in future projects. They also encourage playful experimentation, where there is no right or wrong outcome, only discovery.
This course is designed as the perfect supplement to any mixed media practice. Whether you use your altered materials in art journals, on canvas, or in small-scale projects, they will add richness, intention, and a sense of continuity to your work.
By the end of this course, you’ll have a growing collection of handmade collage papers and fabrics, along with the confidence to continue creating your own materials as part of your ongoing creative process. Your art will carry not just layers, but a deeper reflection of you.
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Lisa Agaran is an Artist, Instructor and Creative Spirit Mentor. She has a background in art and years of experience working as a psychotherapist (Inactive) with creative individuals. Lisa believes everyone is born an artist and with the ability to be creative. It’s how you stay connected to that inherent desire for creative expression as we become adults. She helps others embark on a journey of reclaiming their creativity by establishing an art practice, giving oneself permission for creative expression and living a creative life. Lisa believes this leads to deep and lasting personal transformation, inner guidance and wellbeing.
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