Author: Ingrid Murray

Ingrid is an American self-taught mixed media artist and art journaler living and working in Germany. This website is human-generated.

ICAD 2024: Week 1

  • Mixed media on an index card, with collage and green scribbles. Cut and pasted text says "Find yourself again."
  • Mixed media on an index card, with collage and black scribbles. Cut and pasted text says "Choose your heart."
  • Mixed media on an index card, with collage and pink scribbles. Cut and pasted text says "Keep it simple."
  • Mixed media on an index card, with collage and red scribbles. Cut and pasted text says "Leave your worries."
  • Mixed media on an index card, with collage and pink and orange scribbles. Cut and pasted text says "Connect more."
  • Mixed media on an index card, with collage and purple scribbles. Cut and pasted text says "Discover beautiful happy places."
  • Mixed media on an index card, with collage and green scribbles. Cut and pasted text says "Find your people."

Each year, Tammy Garcia of Daisy Yellow hosts the Index Card a Day (ICAD) challenge. From June 1-July 31, you’re invited to create 61 pieces of art on index cards. There are very few rules, but if you find guidelines helpful, you can find weekly prompts and themes on Instagram and Tammy’s website. You can join in anytime!

Last year, I traveled way outside my comfort zone to explore making mini mixed media portraits. I only lasted nine days, but learned a lot! This year, I’m back to abstract mixed media, and am adding found words to create inspirational messages. Flip through the slideshow above to see the first week of cards.

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Process Over Outcome

An open mixed media art journal. A layer of neutral-colored collages are topped with marks and splatter in green, black, neon pink, and white. Most of the background shows through.
Black and white photo of an orchestral concert hall

Last week, I went to a dress rehearsal for Enno Poppe’s musical composition Strom. The piece sounded like an orchestra tuning its strings, or a child’s first concert: discordant, uncomfortable, and strange. (Listen to a small sample of it here.)

Poppe created the piece by stretching single intervals — the difference between a note and the one next to it — into multiple sub-intervals and having instruments playing in different tempos, all at the same time. The outcome was noise, but the process? Extremely intentional.

Doing something intentionally can be really challenging. Sure, you may think that kids’ art is simple, but have you ever tried emulating it? Or made ugly art? There is so much value in the paying attention, like pulling something apart to see how it’s made.

Sometimes, the process is the most important aspect. The outcome can be made more interesting by the process, and in fact be defined by it. And even if the outcome is a dud, often you’ll learn a lot during the process.

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Living, Intentionally

White blossoms on a branch in sunlight, backlit by a blue sky.

Today I turn another year older (and hopefully, another year wiser). I’m grateful I’ve given myself every chance to keep going, and am celebrating my softness, my childlike delight in the small things, my kindness, my creativity, my sense of humor.

A few lessons learned in my time on earth thus far:

  • All we are ever granted is the present moment. Make time for the good things, the off-screen things, the people and hobbies and activities that make our days meaningful. How we spend our days is how we spend our lives.
  • You are important. You are worthy of love and gentleness and peace and safety. Never, ever abandon yourself. Seek out the tools you need to trust yourself more, support yourself more, and be your happiest and healthiest.
  • The little things are, in fact, everything. Don’t wait for those rare moments of perfect euphoria; find joy in the everyday.
  • Art-making is a spiritual practice. Keep creating.

(There’s so much more goodness to come.)

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How to Paint Like a Child

Children’s art is one of my greatest inspirations: it’s intuitive and impulsive, without the confines of “should” and “can’t”. Kids don’t have any sense of limitation, or any reason to doubt their own abilities.

Detail of a mixed media art piece, with brush strokes, scribbles, and splatter.

Picasso famously said “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” And, in one of my favorite talks ever, Do Schools Kill Creativity?, Sir Ken Robinson spoke about the confidence of a child drawing.

Today, I encourage you to pull out some paper, or canvas, and explore like a kid. Cheap materials work well for this kind of exercise: you’ll worry less about “wasting” your supplies and focus more on experimenting.

Try picking a color — paint, pen, pencil — and making random marks on a page. Close your eyes. Use your non-dominant hand.

Step back. What color is next? What color feels like it should come next? Add that.

Step back again, and look at what you’ve made. How does it make you feel? What is missing? What materials can you experiment with? What’s next?

Detail of a mixed media art piece, with brush strokes, scribbles, and splatter.

I find that when I create like this, I wind up with tons of messy pieces, some that I’ll toss or paint over. But often, I also end up with some very surprising and joyful works of art that I would never have discovered had I not let go and experimented.

Let go and channel your inner child: curious and unafraid of failing. And most importantly — have fun.

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