Hi, I’m Birgit, and I’m your host for the UpWaste Art Collective.
I’m incredibly excited about this course - it’s the very first collaborative event I’m organizing and it brings together so many things I’m passionate about.

I’m a printmaker and mixed media artist from the Netherlands, known for my bright, colorful, multilayered art. I love color in every corner of life, art and society. My favorite tools include the gel plate, acrylic paint, PanPastel, watercolor pencils and paint markers.

The UpWaste Art Collective is close to my heart because I love recycling, printing with “trash”, found objects and botanicals. I see potential printing tools everywhere - especially before tossing anything in the bin!

I started gel printing in 2013 and became a Lead Brand Ambassador for Gelli Arts® in 2016, a role I still happily fulfill today. Over the years, I’ve had the honor of teaching in many online art events such as Creative JumpStart, Wanderlust, Life Book, Gratitude Junk Journal and more. After being a guest teacher so often, it felt like the perfect moment to host an event of my own.

Teaching is one of my greatest joys. I’ve taught both online (especially since Covid) and in person all over the world - from the US and Canada to India, Australia and nearly every Western European country.

I live in a small Dutch village called Winsum - complete with canals, two windmills, three churches and fields full of sheep, cows, horses and even nearby tulip fields.
I’m a happy wife (together with the love of my life since 1986), proud mom of three and an even prouder grandma of the most adorable grandson in the world. I’m also my cat’s maid and my horses’ servant and I'm perfectly fine with that.

I’m thrilled to bring together a group of INCREDIBLE artist-teachers who transform discarded materials into stunning works of art and we all would love to welcome you into the UpWaste Art Collective!

DeeDee is the owner & creative director of UmWowStudio, a mixed media supply company.

She adores designing innovative products & sharing ideas on how to use them.

She is a mixed media artist with a flair towards vintage ephemera collage and mark making. She can be recognized for her enthusiasm in all things black and white, with some neutrals thrown in for good measure. She is an avid teacher and instructor and loves a great live demo! DeeDee is super happy showcasing supplies from her online mixed media shop, UmWowStudio. She enjoys the challenge of product design work, creating unique items for other artists to use, such as chipboard shapes, book bones, art tape & much more. DeeDee also shares her knowledge & encourages a good discussion about art fundamentals, while dabbling in many forms and media. She has a gift for sharing her “raw art brain” as she works through her art pieces, either live or recorded, allowing her genuine creativity to show through. She is also 1 of 3 founders of The Ugly Art Club.

"Hi there, I’m Lisa. I am an artist and tutor living on the edge of the Peak District national park with my husband and two daughters. I'm passionate about mixed media art, collage, art journaling and bookmaking. For me mixed media is all about freedom, of not being restricted in what I use, there are always new exciting combinations to discover. College is something that I always include in my work, using it to create pattern and texture. I adore finding vintage imagery that I can include to create stories and reflect my own life. Another thing I am passionate about is recycling and using what I have to hand in the world around me. There is nothing better than taking something that is considered as rubbish and turning it into treasure!"

When asked to define her artistic style, Lori says that she likes to be a bit of a chameleon. Constantly experimenting with different styles and mediums feeds her insatiable curiosity. She has a very whimsical design sense and loves to play with color to give each collection that and she designs its own unique personality. She started taking private art lessons at the young age of 7 and continued to study art throughout high school. This lead to a degree in graphic design from the University of Cincinnati. She opened her own design firm just 3 years out of college in 1987. Her firm, Olika Studios, has developed branding and design programs for influential clients such as Target, Bath & Body Works, Nickelodeon and Universal Studios.

Lori began the art licensing arm of her business 20 years ago and has worked with several top manufactures in the gift and home decor industry. Her client list includes Demdaco, Creative Co-op, Studio M, Lang and many more. Her licensed products have been sold through many key retailers and small gift shops throughout the United States and Canada. She has been featured in “Where Women Create” and “Where Women Create Business.” She was also the co- founder of ArtBizJam and ArtBizJam Abundance, which provides helpful business tips and networking opportunities for women artists. And, she hosts and teaches at several creative retreats each year in the USA, Europe and Mexico. She most recently co-hosted a vibrant women’s conference entitled “Live Courageously:Rebloom” which was created to inspire and encourage women to live their best lives. It will be repeated again in May 2026!!

Mary Beth says: I am so lucky to be living my dream. I worked in the insurance industry for many years and finally quit in 2000 to explore my creativity. I have never looked back and today fill my days with teaching, managing my company (StencilGirl®Products) and making my own art. Mixed media is thrilling to me because of the freedom it offers; I feel like a mad scientist playing with all the options. My process is a dance between spontaneity and intent and mistakes allow me to detour into new territory.

For two decades, Natalya has reclaimed and repurposed materials in her art, guided by a thrifty upbringing in Leningrad, USSR, and New York City. She creates site-specific installations from single-use plastic waste, including Arcadia Lost (The Social Fabric, ArtsWestchester) and Hothouse (Collaborative Concepts, Tilly Foster Farm Museum).

A Pratt Institute BFA graduate, Natalya transitioned from careers in fashion and film to focus on studio art. Her work has been exhibited in Quilt National (Dairy Barn) and Quilts=Art=Quilts (Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center). She shares her expertise through teaching, lectures, and workshops, including at the Hudson River Museum as a 2023 Teaching Artist in Residence.

Natalya founded REPURPOSER COLLECTIVE, a community for artists exploring sustainable materials, and hosts SALVAGE, a podcast featuring artists working with repurposed materials. Her work has been featured in Surface Design Magazine, Fiber Art Now, SAQA Journal, and more. She is a member of SAQA, SDA, KMAA, and the Silvermine Guild of Artists.

My name is Riikka and I’m a Finnish mixed media crafter. I started as a paper-layering scrapbooker but was hooked on different paint mediums when I opened my first gesso jar. Nowadays I create art journal pages and spreads, cards and bigger mixed media pieces like canvases and altered projects. The creating process is equally, if not more important, to me than the finished piece. I’m happiest when my fingers are dipped in paints or inks.

Roxanne is a mixed-media artist who masterfully blends painted papers, textiles, recycled and found materials, collaging them into a vibrant new language through book-making and journaling. Her passion lies in the unexpected connections between these different media, a process she explores with every mark, stitch, layer, and splash of paint.

Roxanne's creative energy is infectious, and she shares it by teaching art classes and leading retreats across the country. She believes that all human beings are inherently creative and loves being a creative catalyst for others. Her creative mantra is, "Use what you have, and there are no mistakes in creating, only opportunities for discovery."

When she's not in the studio, Roxanne is the Creative Director for the Museum of Children's Art in Oakland, California, where she inspires the next generation of artists. She is also the author of "Acrylic Techniques in Mixed Media," published by North Light Books.

Roxanne currently lives in the country in Cottonwood, California, with her husband, a very lively dog, and 17 goats.

Originally from Pakistan, Tania is a mixed media artist, serial gel printer and multi-passionate art journaler based in UK. Her influences include her heritage, bright bold patterns, graphic design and the rich history of her surroundings. She loves to demystify what she has learnt and is a creative guide who helps her students discover how to express their own stories through their art practice and gel prints.

"I’m Tiare, Mixed Media Artist and Instructor. I create black, female, figurative art to give voice to the desires that have been suppressed and denied, and to make space for courage, love and joy and all of its facets.

Growing up in Chicago with a single mother after losing my father at a young age my life was surrounded by many women. My art most often reflects these wonderful women, who informed and continue to inform my life…my mom, neighbors, teachers, friends, 2nd and 3rd mom. Black women. Strong women. Smart women. Beautiful women. Loving women. Do you women. They nourished, encouraged, watched, laughed, talked, played and held my hand along the way. They are the reason I do not paint faces. They are ALL a part of me, a part of my life, this life. My art reflects many women and together we cannot be defined."

Tiare Smith, was born in Chicago, Illinois. Although she does not have formal art training, she has been creating since she could hold a crayon. Her work has been featured in numerous online publications including Voyager ATL, Shoutout Atlanta and Bold Journey. She has taught at several art retreats across the United States, including The Art of Sisterhood Retreats in California and Arizona and the Creative Freedom Retreat in Pensacola, FL. Her work has been on exhibit at The Scene Art Gallery in Alpharetta, GA, as well. Tiare lives and works in Woodstock, GA with her very supportive husband, Robert.