FLAX Canvas

Let's talk surfaces. Mixed Media papers typically have a medium/vellum drawing surface with a slight amount of tooth (texture) that works well with mediums like graphite, marker, pen & ink, and colored pencil. Traditional watercolor paper typically has more tooth, which does not allow for finer details or creating depth of tone when using dry mediums. The most common watercolor paper surface is cold press. Cold press paper has a good amount of texture or 'peaks and valleys' o …

April Gavin practices a variety of mixed-media textile techniques including, but certainly not limited to, thread-sketching, painting, block printing on fabric and paper. These techniques create a plethora of work from one of a kind garments and accessories to hand-bound books and collage. April teaches regularly at summer camps, local businesses, and private tutoring throughout the Bay Area. For this residency, April will be creating one of kind handmade books on the sales floor at Flax i …

Joining the ranks of Strathmore's warm tan and cool grey toned papers is a brand new color: steel blue. The origins of this new toned blue is the perfect example of what happens when creative customers give great feedback. Strathmore's popular Vision Pads come with a customizable cover made of a heavyweight, (300gsm) steel blue mixed media paper. This cover paper was so popular that artists were asking for more, and the blue toned mixed media paper was born. These toned papers are design …

We welcome artist Emily Habansky to our FLAX Oakland store this weekend as part of our FLAX Artist in Residency program. We first met Emily when we moved our flagship store to 1501 Martin Luther King Jr Way in Oakland. An Oakland resident, she quickly became one of our regulars, and we quickly became huge fans of her work.Emily is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design where she studied Jewelry Design and Metalsmithing. After RISD, Emily started painting multimedia work. She is an abst …

As part of our weekend Artist in Residence Programs here at FLAX Oakland, please join us in welcoming artist Heather Robinson. Heather is a San Francisco-based mixed media painter. She's been painting in her tiny studio in Mission Bernal since 2007. Her painting is an exploration of surface through geometric patterns, vivid color, and texture. Heather describes herself as having "a magpie-like attraction to bright, decorated objects, but an orderly mind, and a strong schooling (from my arch …