Hello! I’m Wendy Solganik, aka @willa.wanders on Instagram. If this is your first time here on my blog, welcome! I’m pretty excited that you found me and my little corner of the art world.

I’ve done a bazillion kinds of art in my life, and the thing that intrigues me the most today is Mixed Media Collage Art.

I’m such a passionate student of this form of art and I’m obsessed with making and using collage fodder (what the heck is collage fodder?).

I really want to learn everything I can about it. I created an entire online art school called Fodder School where anyone with an interest in Mixed Media Art collage art, handmade books and journaling can come and learn this craft from a variety of incredible instructors, even if you have never made any mixed media art before! At this point, Fodder School is about to enter its fourth year with no intention of slowing down.

If you are looking for a great place to start your mixed media art journey from scratch, can I recommend this $19 course?

In this blog series, I’m going to be introducing you to the instructors that will be joining us in Fodder School as Fodder School 4 instructors. If you want to know all about what Fodder School is, go here.

Dori Patrick feels very fortunate to live this creative life as an artist in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She is a mother of two grown kids, and is married to a sweet, loving hubby who cheers her on daily. They have two Labrador rescues who hang out with Dori in her studio, and she loves spoiling them. Dori takes the term "mixed media" literally: You name it, she'll try it! She works mostly with acrylic paints, but mixes them with a variety of materials. She utilizes many unique mark making techniques, often reaching for unusual tools.

Dori's art journals and sketchbooks are an important part of her creative practice. They are her most treasured bodies of work, because she can create in them for no one but herself. Her books are all about the process, not the outcome, and it's where she goes to explore, play, and work things out. Sometimes, when you look at a page in her books, she can tell you exactly where she was or what was happening that day. It's a great way to document a life.

Many of you may remember Dori's work in Fodder School 2—we're so glad she decided to come back! For those of you that have never taken a class from Dori before, you should know that her abstract and figurative work are often described as "colorful, joyful, exuberant, and child like." Dori loves incorporating messages of encouragement. Sometimes obvious, sometimes not. Sometimes with a little sass!

In her Fodder Challenge 2025 project, you will "tear up" and reattach your old journal pieces to make new, exciting abstractions. As Dori explains, this is a great way to turn a piece you weren't so happy about into one you'll end up gushing over. Let go and have fun as she guides you through a series of informed mark-making techniques that will take your art from drab to fab!

In Fodder School 5, Dori will show you how to make your very own "split head" triptych. I'm totally obsessed with the way Dori has blended surrealism and cubism with her own childlike and exuberant style into this showstopping series of wall art collages! For real, you'll end up wanting to display these pieces front and center once you've completed them!

Dori breaks down this process into a no-stress, easy to follow assembly method. You'll warm up with some simple pattern drawings before diving into drawing faces—no worries, you don't need to aim for realism or perfection! You'll go on to cut up your faces, collage them onto a panel, and embellish and define their facial features. The result? Three awesome gallery-ready pieces of art you can hang all together or gift amongst your loved ones!

If you think that you aren't capable of creating incredible mixed media art like what you see here, you haven't been to Fodder School yet! We make it accessible. We make it effortless. We make it incredibly FUN!

check out fodder school 5