Fragments to Memories
Use mixed media to transform moments, images, and impressions into visual stories... and explore how artists and designers map experiences to uncover deeper meaning.
A creative process for exploring experiences
This course is for artists, designers, and curious professionals who want to explore creativity through hands-on experimentation.
Instead of starting with a blank canvas, we begin with something you already have: an experience.
You’ll reflect on a moment, memory, or event and begin identifying the small details that shaped it: images, symbols, emotions, places, and objects. These become visual fragments that can be developed through mixed media techniques like painting, collage, drawing, and texture.
Once these fragments exist, you’ll begin connecting them together into a larger visual journey.
The result is a layered piece of artwork that captures the feeling and structure of an experience, while revealing how artists and designers use similar approaches to understand stories, moments, and human journeys.
Instead of starting with a blank canvas, we begin with something you already have: an experience.
You’ll reflect on a moment, memory, or event and begin identifying the small details that shaped it: images, symbols, emotions, places, and objects. These become visual fragments that can be developed through mixed media techniques like painting, collage, drawing, and texture.
Once these fragments exist, you’ll begin connecting them together into a larger visual journey.
The result is a layered piece of artwork that captures the feeling and structure of an experience, while revealing how artists and designers use similar approaches to understand stories, moments, and human journeys.
Why This Approach Works
Art has a unique ability to surface ideas that structured thinking often misses.
In this course, you’ll explore creativity through hands-on artmaking and then connect what you discovered to powerful methods used in design thinking and innovation.
By starting with lived experiences and translating them into visual fragments, you'll discover how creative processes can help us better understand moments, stories, and human journeys.
What You'll Explore
Reflecting on experiences
Start with a moment, memory, or experience from your life and explore the details that shaped it.
Identifying visual fragments
Break the experience into small elements: images, objects, symbols, places, and emotions.
Developing visual elements
Use mixed media techniques like painting, collage, gel printing, drawing, and texture to bring these fragments to life.
Experimenting with combinations
Arrange and rearrange fragments to explore different ways your story can unfold visually.
Building a visual journey
Connect fragments into a layered composition that reflects the structure of an experience.
Telling a visual story
Step back and see how your artwork captures the feeling and narrative of a real moment in time.
What this course includes
Whether you already consider yourself creative or are just curious, this course has everything you need to get started on your gel printing journey.
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Step-by-step demonstrations: Clear instruction videos for each technique
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Creative experiments: Exercises designed to stretch how you see
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How to apply creativity at work: Learn how the techniques from this course are used beyond art in fields like design research, storytelling, organizational change, and innovation
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Material guides: Details about the simple tools and supplies required, and where to get them
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Lifetime access: Return to the lessons any time
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Curious community: Optional space to share work and ideas
About the Instructor
Combining visual art, design thinking, and curiosity-driven experimentation.
Emily Holmes is a mixed-media artist, design strategist, and facilitator who helps people develop creative thinking skills through hands-on art practices. Her work helps people use observation, experimentation, and visual thinking to generate new ideas and approach problems from fresh perspectives.
Emily has led creativity and innovation workshops and initiatives for organizations including NASA, Microsoft, Oracle, The Nature Conservancy, and many Fortune 500 companies. She has also led research and design strategy work for artist Judy Chicago on a major digital portal initiative developed in collaboration with institutions including Penn State University, the Schlesinger Library at Harvard, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts.
Alongside her consulting work, Emily maintains an active art practice creating stained glass, mixed-media collage and paintings, and metalsmithing work that is sold online and in galleries. She previously founded a stained glass studio whose handcrafted work was carried in more than 500 galleries worldwide. In 2024 she was awarded a North Carolina Artist Grant in recognition of her artistic work.
Through Curious, Emily explores how artistic processes strengthen imagination, observation, and problem-solving, helping people reconnect with their creativity and apply it to their work and lives.
Emily has led creativity and innovation workshops and initiatives for organizations including NASA, Microsoft, Oracle, The Nature Conservancy, and many Fortune 500 companies. She has also led research and design strategy work for artist Judy Chicago on a major digital portal initiative developed in collaboration with institutions including Penn State University, the Schlesinger Library at Harvard, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts.
Alongside her consulting work, Emily maintains an active art practice creating stained glass, mixed-media collage and paintings, and metalsmithing work that is sold online and in galleries. She previously founded a stained glass studio whose handcrafted work was carried in more than 500 galleries worldwide. In 2024 she was awarded a North Carolina Artist Grant in recognition of her artistic work.
Through Curious, Emily explores how artistic processes strengthen imagination, observation, and problem-solving, helping people reconnect with their creativity and apply it to their work and lives.
FAQ
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Do I need art experience?
No. This course is designed for curious beginners as well as experienced artists. The focus is on exploring ideas and experiences through visual fragments, not on technical perfection.
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What materials do I need?
You can work with simple materials you may already have: paper, magazines, photographs, pens, paint, scissors, glue, or other mixed media supplies. The course emphasizes experimentation rather than specialized tools.
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How long is the course?
The course includes 2+ hours of video lessons that walk through the core techniques step by step. You will likely find yourself spending much longer experimenting and creating visual maps.
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Is this self-paced?
Yes. You can move through the lessons at your own pace and return to them any time. Many people like to watch a lesson, try a few exercises, and then come back later for the next technique.
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Who is this course for?
This course is for artists, designers, UXers, researchers, and curious professionals who want to explore creativity through reflection, visual storytelling, and mixed media experimentation.
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Will there be a community space?
Yes. Participants will have the option to share work, ideas, and discoveries in an online community space with other curious learners.
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What will the course cost?
The exact price will be announced when enrollment opens. If you join the interest list, you’ll be the first to hear when registration becomes available.
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When will the course be available?
The course is currently in development and expected to launch soon. Join the interest list to receive updates and early access when enrollment opens.
Curiosity required. Art degree optional.
You don’t need to be an artist to benefit from this process. Fragments to Memories invites you to reflect on meaningful experiences and translate them into visual fragments: images, symbols, textures, and colors that capture how a moment felt. By combining artmaking with reflective thinking, you’ll uncover insights, patterns, and stories that might otherwise remain hidden.