About My Chosen Art Mediums

Someone asked me about my medium and this made me think about what I use to create visual art and designs. I thought some of you might be interested in hearing about this as well. So, here is what I currently have to say about my choice of mediums/media. I use numerous art mediums. I prefer to use the word mediums to media because of the connotations of media, which also means many things not connected to my artmaking. So, in regard to mediums, I draw with ink and pencils and markers and paint with acrylics and watercolor and acrylic markers. I use digital software to alter my art and scans/photos to multiply or change the art for compilations. So, I use a variety of mediums/media. My designs are mainly digitally altered or compiled handmade pieces that I scanned or photographed and use in the designs. The artworks, paintings and drawings, can range from single medium, like acrylic or ink, to a great variety of mediums. I use what feels appropriate for the piece that I am creating to get the results that I desire.

When I first started painting, I used to paint with oils and loved the flexibility of this medium, but became allergic to turpentine and gave up the oil paints. I know that nowadays there are alternative mediums for cleaning and thinning and maybe one of these days I will try oils again. This remains to be seen. In any medium I use I try to stay away from toxic substances because I care about my health as well as the health of planet earth. When I was young and naive and in art school, I used to paint with my fingers and nobody told me not to do this. This practice caused me some health issues that I was able to heal with macrobiotic diet, but I wish that some of the more knowledgeable teachers would have told me about the potential risks. In the days I went to art school, early 1980's, there was not much talk about toxicity of art materials. Luckily this has changed by now and we have numerous non-toxic and less harmful alternatives. By now I have become accustomed to handling acrylics and the ease of clean-up and the fast drying times are definitely a plus for me. But my first love was drawing and this will likely always be my favorite artmaking method. It allows for complete spontaneity, no prepping is required, I am also very fond of how I can use digital magic, which opens up a totally new way of dealing with my creations and the potential seems endless.

I know that it is practically impossible to stay away from all harm in this life. Plastics have their own issues and I wish that there were even better nontoxic alternatives than acrylic paints that are affordable and permanent and lightfast. Quality art materials are expensive. Clearly for most part art is still considered luxury. I think this is sad, but I am totally aware that we do not live in a world according to my wishes, so, I just have to do the best that I can, like everybody else.

I know that four months have passed since my last blog. I have not had the time or energy to put into writing one until now, but I have been making art. You can view more of my recent creations on Fine Art America/Pixels and on Facebook. I am also on Instagram, but have not been very active there. Depending on how the world turns, I am planning on writing another blog in a couple of months, or maybe earlier, if I feel like sharing more.

To illustrate the metamorphosis of starting with a handmade artwork and turning it into more artworks and designs I am posting here Imaginary Flowers for Mom and some variations created with this handmade mixed media artwork. The original is a card that I sent to my mom for Mother's Day 2026. This one was created with ink and colored pencils and watercolor and acrylic markers on paper. In the variations you will notice compilations and changes in color, which have been created with digital magic. You can find some of these works at Fine Art America/Pixels as well as on Redbubble and in near future, Spoonflower.

As always, thank you for your interest in my writings and my art! All rights are reserved 2026 Helena Tiainen. To view any of the art images in full, just click on them!