Mary Beth Shaw - Flavor for Mixed Media: A Feast of Techniques for Texture, Color and Layers

Art and food: Two of life's most sensory pleasures and certainly two of my favorite things. I love it when I see a painting so alive with texture and color that I dash home to grab my paintbrush, or when I eat food that makes me moan out loud. Have you ever done that? Being the way I am an artist who is also a foodie I have pondered the similarities between art and food and am utterly convinced the processes of creating art and cooking are very much the same.

Art and food are the stuff of memories. Think back to your childhood. So many celebrations and family outings involved food. I remember my mom's brown butter noodles; a dish she made frequently until the time my brother gorged himself sick, thus ending our noodle love affair. Then there were my Grandma's homemade doughnuts. I would lurk in her kitchen, allegedly helping, but really just trying to sneak a hunk of dough, which I shaped in my hands and dipped into sugar before eating raw, of course.

As for art, I fondly remember Saturday morning drives to the Cincinnati Art Museum where I took classes as a child. I will never forget the huge piece of paper I was given. It was probably just newsprint or some such thing, but it seemed so important as we sprawled on the floor of the museum. And, incredibly, my parents still display the larger-than-life Kool-Aid packet (it was the '70s, what can I say?) I made in the eighth grade.

So imagine you get to attend a potluck dinner along with some of your favorite artists. Imagine they each bring a fabulous mixed-media piece. Everyone is lounging around the table, noshing on food, imbibing beverages, sharing their stories and talking about art. That's what we're going to do. We're headed on an artistic culinary journey.

I will show you how to make art that is simple yet sumptuous, complex yet accessible and always filled with passion. You will learn how to make art that fuels your heart and soul. No matter your experience level, you are sure to relish this artsy sojourn.

For me, with art or with food, I generally start out with a recipe or an idea and then somewhere along the way deviate into another direction. I am providing you with both techniques and projects. The book is divided into sections: Color, Texture, Layers, Flavors and Combinations. You can read straight through or skip around however you wish.

Throughout the book, you will see sidebars titled What's in Your Pantry? These are designed to offer options regarding substitutions and variations for the projects. Much like cooking, mixed media offers ample opportunity to experiment, and I find that I often get my best results when I deviate from the so-called recipe.

You will be treated to flavorful eye candy as we look at the treats our guest artists share. Each of them has inspired me to explore spicy new mixed-media techniques as well as fresh twists on old techniques. You'll hear stories about art and food and eating and creating. I will share lots of recipes for creating interesting art and even recipes for actual foodstuffs. When it's all said and done, we can raise our glasses to the glorious diversity we fondly call mixed media.