12.29.08
Loose ends & looking forward
Greetings!
I hope each of you had a blessing Christmas and are excited about the upcoming New Year. Even with the uncertainty of our economy this year I am still excited about starting fresh in 2009! It seems I always spend these last few days of the year reviewing what I’ve done, where I need to focus future energies, listing changes and challenges for the upcoming year and generally making an effort to organize myself and move forward. Yesterday I spent eight hours catching up on accounting tasks so that my bookkeeping is all but finished for 2008. What a great feeling that is for that to be current! Now to start fresh and KEEP current for a new year, which is a constant challenge for me. Where is the fun in playing with numbers and paperwork when there are so many other fun things to do?
I’ve got a journal & sketchbook full of scribbled ideas, art projects, ideas for classes and organizational tasks that I am anxious to tackle in the next few weeks. I will be sure to share these ideas and changes with everyone as I progress. One major project I plan to tackle soon is to revamp my website! It has been over two years since I built my website and it is time to make some changes, both in looks and functionality. Changes to the style of this blog will probably go hand in hand with that. I have just set up new e-mail accounts through my website so that I can coordinate my e-mail list for newsletters and announcements and funnel my correspondence through there. Currently I have an e-mail account for art related correspondence, another for portrait photography, a personal account through my internet service provider (which I can’t access anywhere but my home computer), one linked to my myspace page, one I use for online forms and purchases that collects most of the “junk” e-mails plus one that Mark & I use for the metal art business. Although a few of them just get checked weekly there are some that I check each time I am online. Think of the time I will eventually save myself when I get everything consolidated! I have also set a goal to make a minimum of one blog entry per week so check back frequently for more updates, news and maybe even a contest or two to keep it interesting. 
Till then, thanks for reading!
Lynne
12.21.08
Season’s Greetings!
Reduction Cut Print, 2008 Lynne Medsker
I was afraid if I didn’t post a holiday greeting soon it would slip past before I even got to acknowledge it! Life has busy the last few weeks, as it normally is around Christmas. I finally feel like I am getting grounded and focused on the holiday and all the reasons there are to celebrate. The holiday gallery space in Danville closed last night so my shifts working there are finished and everything has been unpacked and put away. It was fun meeting the other artists as well as the customers and I feel like it helped get my art & name in front of people, in addition to selling a few items along the way. It made my day to see how excited one customer was to have a particular piece purchased as her Christmas gift. She thanked me over & over – what a wonderful response to get from someone whom I should be thanking!
I hope each of you are able to have quiet moments to reflect on the year and on your blessings as well as noisy, joyful moments with family, friends and loved ones. Soak it all in, it will be gone in the blink of an eye!
With much holiday love,
Lynne
12.17.08
Landfill Art Project
Greetings! It’s been a while since I updated the blog but I’m sure everyone is busy right now anyhow. I can’t believe Christmas is next week! The show at the Eiteljorg went well despite the economy and bad weather I would have to mark it a successful day. The following day Mark & I finished preparing 220 welded candleholders for delivery, it was our biggest commission to date. We were both glad to get it completed and delivered, now we will have some spare time if we feel the urge to get creative with metal again! I have several exciting things in the works right now and thought I would share one of the projects with you today. I have been included as an artist in the Landfill Art Project. Landfillart is an international effort encompassing one-thousand-forty-one (1,041) artists to claim a piece of rusted metal garbage and create fine art.
The project began in Pennsylvania where the founder, Ken Marquis, hoped to get 41 artists (one from each county) to “think green” and transform old hubcaps into pieces of art. Since that time it has expanded it’s goal and he now wants to include at least one artist from each of the 50 states as well as international participants. Approximately 80% of the landfill canvases will be completed by professional artists, the remaining percentage will be created by a cross section of culture, including individuals with special needs, children, emerging artists and the financially disadvantaged. The third phase of this project will involve publishing a book on the project showcasing all one thousand forty one (1,041) completed “metal canvases.” The fourth and final phase will involve choosing 200 metal canvases that adequately represent the project and create a traveling show. The book and traveling show will publically portray the global art community’s effort to positively impact the environment through repurposing previous metal waste into great landfillart. For more information and updates you can visit the website at www.landfillart.org
My hubcap arrived yesterday! I will be sure and post updates and pictures and the work in progress once I get started on it. I’m exciting to be participating in this project!
12.04.08
Busy-ness
Today was set aside to prepare for the upcoming art show at the Eiteljorg Museum on Saturday. I always forget how much work & details there are to take care of prior to a show. And this one is easier than many, it’s indoors and they take care of all the payments and money handling. But even without packing up the outdoor tent and accessories, digging out the manual credit card machine or making a run to the bank for change there is still plenty to do. Choosing which artwork to bring (I was juried into two different media so I have a wider selection to choose from), printing labels and filling them out, making sure I have an ample supply of business cards, postcards and promotional materials and, of course, finishing up last minute creations all filled up the day. Tomorrow they are having early set up in the afternoon so I can pack everything in the morning and (with the help of my wonderful “volunteer” & son, Josh) get my space set up in the afternoon. It means an extra trip but it is so much easier on my achy body to do it in two different days instead of packing, setting up, being on my feet all day, tearing down, repacking and bringing everything home to unpack and put away, all in one day. Makes me tired just writing about it! Which I guess is one reason I have drastically reduced the number of art shows that I participate in. As a matter of fact this is my first of the year, with only a few weeks left before a new year begins! I finished the other “mini” art pieces that were underway in my last blog. Here are a few samples:
"mini" art, 5x7 mixed media
- “mini” art, 5×7 mixed media
"mini" art, 5x7 mixed media
Ten of the fifteen are framed, wrapped and packed for tomorrow. Two have already sold and three are at the holiday gallery in Danville. I also created a dozen more tree ornaments to bring with me tomorrow, the original ones (shown in my last post) all went to Danville. The challenge for tomorrow will be figuring out how to get everything packed! For years (and years, and YEARS) we had a big, long, huge old Chevy van, the kind that had room for eight passengers and space for hauling a ton of stuff behind the third row of seats. It was big enough to hold everything when Mark & I were BOTH showing at art fairs…double tents, double tables, all the large metal artwork plus my pieces to boot. Although this isn’t the first show I’ve had without it, I sorely miss it when I’m trying to figure out how to pack up everything! We have two trucks…one with a large bed (open) and very small backseat space and one with a smaller bed (covered) and a full backseat. Neither is a perfect fit, especially in the winter! Often times it takes both. I am trying to avoid that as I plan to pack & bring everything home by myself. Even though I’m a pretty good multi-tasker I just can’t drive two vehicles at once! I’m sure it will all work out, it always does.
For more info about the Winter Market show at the Eiteljorg please visit http://www.eiteljorg.org/ejm_WhatsHappening/SpecialEvents/details.asp?id=751.
