Side Projects Archives - Ingrid Murray

January Mixed Media Art Showcase

I am currently showing mixed media art in the window of Atelier No. 5 in Cologne, Germany through the end of January. There’s something for everyone: larger pieces on canvas, wood panels, and paper, as well as smaller, more affordable pieces on paper (not shown here).

Square mixed media abstract piece. The primary colors are shades of turquoise, black, and yellow, with accents of white and neon pink. — “Delight Me”

Square mixed media abstract piece. The primary colors are black, orange, white, and blue, with accents of lime green and fuchsia. — “Delight Me”

Details of the above, in order:

“Delight Me”: mixed media on wood, 12×12 in (30.5×30.5 cm), 175€
“Clown Car”: mixed media on wood 12×12 in(30.5×30.5 cm), 175€
“All the Good Things”: mixed media on canvas, ca. 16×16 in (41×41 cm), 200€
“Flowers/Fireworks”: mixed media on canvas, ca. 16x16in (41×41 cm), 200€
“Hurry I-II”: Mixed media on paper, 8.3×11.7 in (21×29.7 cm) 90€ each

If you’re in the area, come by! If you’re not in the area, stay tuned—I’m going to a post-show sale for the first time in over a decade. (Eek!)

ICAD 2023

An acrylic portrait — atop a collaged background — of a smiling Asian child in a green shirt and pigtails.

An acrylic portrait — atop a collaged background — of a smiling man with a white goatee, in a blue shirt and black hat.

This year for the Index Card a Day (ICAD) challenge, hosted by Tammy Garcia of Daisy Yellow, I decided to step way outside my comfort zone and tackle something I’ve always been interested in exploring: portraits.

The only index cards I had on hand were just 2×3″ (5×7.6 cm). I added collage, chose an reference image from Google, and tried my best to capture the light and shadow in a loose way while generally capturing the spirit of the model.

After nine portraits, I’m moving on to creative processes I enjoy more — but to be clear, I’m not leaving this project with shame or guilt for having not finished or wishing that I’d pursued something different. In fact, I feel proud that I not only tried something new, but I gave myself permission to walk away when it became something I had to do, not something I wanted to do. Year of ease, remember?

Here’s what I learned during this experience:

When starting out, make it simple. These cards were way too small, and I didn’t have the right brushes to paint something with such tiny detailed elements. If I make more portraits in the future, I’ll give myself more room to work with and make sure that I have brushes that will allow me to capture the level of precision that I need.
Even a short repeated attempt at something new will build new skills. I learned a lot during this process: open-mouthed smiles are hard to capture, layering diluted paint adds depth and detail, and I really love painting kids and dynamic shadows.
Prepare to make mistakes! I have a pile of portraits I started then abandoned, either because they were overworked or I wanted to start on them afresh.
Stepping outside your comfort zone to try One New Thing in one way gives you permission to not only make what you’ve committed to, but to expand in other ways as well. I’m curious about making tiny abstract works on the rest of these index cards and look forward to experimenting with new compositions and processes.

Read more about ICAD here. See previous years’ work here: 2022, 2021, 2019. (I skipped 2020.)

Messy May 2023

An open mixed media art journal. A layer of mostly neutral collage (and one large teal painted paper) is topped with energetic marks and drips in black, neon pink, white, orange, and blue. Most of the background shows through.

Over the weekend I took part in a Creative Hour conversation with Caylee Grey, Meg of Meg Journals, Claudette Hasenjager and more than 100 other art journalers. Caylee is the founder of Get Messy, and Claudette, Meg, and I are three of thirty artists leading this year’s Messy May, a free daily art journaling project.

Connecting with other creatives is something I treasure. Sharing processes, challenges, inspiration, and habits reminds me both of how deeply personal creating necessarily is, and also how universal and innately human creativity is. I am always humbled and inspired, and leave more curious about and committed to my creative practice.

Thank you to all the participants for joining, and to Claudette, Meg, and Caylee for a fantastic conversation.

PLAY in Messy May

For me, creating is a practice of tapping into childlike wonder and intuition. There is no room in my art journal for criticism or perfectionism — only curiosity, joyful exploration, and reflection. As a Messy May featured artist, I encouraged participants to let go of expectations and tap into playfulness and possibility.

Check out the video above for a time lapse of my process, and some additional creative prompts to encourage playfulness.

And below, just a few of the many, many responses to the PLAY prompt. Click on any image to be taken to the artist’s feed. (If you decide to give it a go, please tag me on Instagram! I’d love to see what you make.)