Meet Roxanne Evans Stout: Nature-Inspired Mixed Media

Few artists embody the connection between creativity and the natural world quite like Roxanne Evans Stout. A mixed media artist, author, and teacher, Roxanne creates deeply personal artwork inspired by the landscapes, plants, and wildlife that surround her home in Southern Oregon. Her work invites artists to slow down, notice the beauty in everyday objects, and discover inspiration in the world just outside their door.

As Roxanne beautifully describes herself:

"Artist and teacher, wanderer and dreamer, garden dweller, river walker, child of the forest, daughter of the sea—always grateful, always noticing, always growing."

We're delighted to welcome Roxanne as one of the inspiring instructors for Fodder School 5, where she'll encourage students to embrace curiosity, creative exploration, and the joy of making art with both natural and handmade materials.

Fodder School is an online mixed media art school where artists of every skill level learn collage, art journaling, handmade books, printmaking, painting, and creative techniques from a diverse community of professional artists. Each instructor brings a unique perspective, giving students the opportunity to explore new materials, develop new skills, and discover their own creative voice.

For Roxanne, teaching is a natural extension of her own artistic journey.

"As an artist I am constantly learning and growing. Art is my passion, my love, my soul."

Her greatest joy comes from helping students reconnect with their own creativity through exploration and renewal. Rather than encouraging artists to copy her work, Roxanne hopes to help each person uncover their own magic and create meaningful artwork that reflects their individual story.

Roxanne's home and studio overlook the Klamath River on the eastern edge of the Cascade Mountains, where forests, gardens, wildlife, and changing seasons continually influence her creative practice.

"My home, my family, my studio and gardens have been welcome and nurtured here... all together they and this land make me who I am as an artist and give me refuge. This is my quiet place where I can create. This is where I am always inspired."

For Fodder Challenge 2025, Roxanne introduces students to her love of gathering and transforming found natural materials. You'll create a collection of beautifully imperfect folded paper boxes inspired by origami, decorating them with leaves, twigs, fibers, and other treasures gathered from nature. Along the way, Roxanne shares a behind-the-scenes look at her studio, her thoughtful organization system, and her approach to collecting the "bits and bobs" that so often become the starting point for her artwork.

Her Fodder School 5 lessons take that spirit of exploration even further by introducing students to the exciting world of modular installation art. Beginning with expressive mark making on paper and fabric, you'll experiment with stick wrapping, hand embroidery, foraging, and creating organic mixed media clusters from both natural and handmade materials.

As your collection grows, Roxanne demonstrates several ways to arrange these elements into temporary, modular installations—artworks that can be assembled, rearranged, expanded, and reimagined again and again. It's a wonderfully freeing approach to mixed media that encourages experimentation without permanence, allowing your artwork to evolve alongside your creativity.

Whether you're inspired by nature, enjoy collecting found objects, or simply want to explore a more intuitive way of creating, Roxanne's lessons will open the door to new possibilities while reminding you that inspiration is often waiting just outside your front door.

If you've ever wondered whether you could create mixed media art as expressive and meaningful as Roxanne's, Fodder School is the perfect place to begin. We make complex techniques approachable through step-by-step instruction, encourage creative exploration over perfection, and show artists that making meaningful art can be both accessible and incredibly fun.