Mixed media explained —
what makes Kirsteen's work different

The term "mixed media" appears on every second contemporary painting listing. It has become almost meaningless — a catch-all that tells you nothing about what the work actually is, or what it does in a room.

This is an attempt to explain what it means in Kirsteen's specific case, and why the materials she uses matter to how the work lives.

What mixed media actually means

At its most basic, mixed media means the artist has used more than one material on the same surface. In Kirsteen's work, that typically means combinations of acrylic or oil paint, oil pastel, and — in two of the current collection's five works — real copper leaf.

Each material behaves differently and requires different decisions. Paint can be layered almost indefinitely. Oil pastel resists water-based paint laid over it, creating edges and textures that wouldn't exist with paint alone. Copper leaf must be applied to an adhesive ground and sealed — if you get it wrong, it lifts or tarnishes unevenly. Getting it right takes experience.

The result is a surface that has depth in the literal sense — different materials at different layers, each contributing to the final appearance in ways that a single-medium painting cannot replicate.

What copper leaf actually does

Copper leaf is real metal — extremely thin sheets of copper alloy, applied to a surface and sealed with varnish. In Kirsteen's work it is laid beneath subsequent layers of paint, not on top. This means you cannot always see it directly. What you see is its effect: a warmth and luminosity that shifts as light moves across the surface.

In morning light, the copper reads as a warm amber. In afternoon sun it deepens. Under artificial evening light it becomes almost bronze. No photograph captures this accurately — the shifting quality only becomes apparent when the work is in a room and the light around it changes.

This is not a decorative effect. It is the reason these two works — Blue Flowers on Copper and Magnolia & Bamboo — reward living with in a way that photographed versions simply cannot convey.

Oil pastel and what it adds

Oil pastel is a waxy, oil-bound medium that behaves like neither chalk pastel nor paint. It can be blended, layered and worked into a surface — but it resists water-based paint applied afterwards, creating defined edges where other media would blend smoothly.

In Seagrasses & Island, Kirsteen uses oil pastel for the linear accents in the grasses — the marks that give the foreground its particular energy and definition against the softer painted background. The result is a surface that has both freedom and structure: the paint moves, the pastel holds.

Why the edges matter

All five works in the collection have their edges painted — the sides of the canvas are finished as part of the composition, not left as raw wood or white gesso. This is a deliberate decision that eliminates the need for framing and makes the work self-contained.

It also means the work looks finished from every angle — not a picture mounted in a box, but an object that exists completely in three dimensions.

Why this makes a difference to what you're buying

When you buy a mixed media original, you are buying a physical object that will behave differently in your home than it does in a photograph. The copper leaf will catch light you haven't anticipated. The oil pastel will hold a texture that gives the surface presence from across a room.

This is not abstract. Stand in front of Blue Flowers on Copper in late afternoon and you will see what copper leaf does. No description, and certainly no JPEG, prepares you for it.

If you'd like to know more about any specific work before enquiring — the materials, the dimensions, what it might look like in a particular kind of light — write to us. Marc answers personally, within 24 hours.