04.29.09
Rediscovered
"fluctuate" digital art (c) 2006, Lynne Medsker
I have been poking around in my computer and on my external hard drive today, cleaning, deleting, backing up files before I do some maintinence on my computer. (It’s having some issues that I hope a good cleaning will take care of!) I haven’t backed up files in WAY too long (which isn’t smart when more than 1/2 your work is done digitally) so it seems like I am just wading through stuff, trying to determine what is worth keeping and what I can live without. As I was browsing files I found some images that have never been “out in the real world” since I made them. These were in a folder of images that I had created specifically for certain competitions and then kind of forgot about. The one above is from a poster contest and the two below from a female water-sports shirt competition.
'water fairies' digital collage (c) 2006, Lynne Medsker
'windswept' digital collage (c) 2006, Lynne Medsker
Now I’m a little curious what else I might find while I’m cleaning things out! I am always amazed the amount of things that I store. No wondered each year computers get larger and larger hard drives built into them! Not only am I a packrat with physical objects I am a digital packrat too. 
I am always a little intimidated to open up the computer casing and poke around in there (which could explain the current problem). Hopefully this will end it’s issues and it will keep going a while longer. I do believe this five-year stint is the longest I’ve had with one computer and if it decides to up and die I will say I more than got my money’s worth out of it. I just don’t want to deal with the hassle of setting up a new one, moving files, and (of course) making payments again.
Wish me luck!
Lynne
04.27.09
Portrait Photography…
(c) Lynne Medsker
(c) Lynne Medsker
(c) Lynne Medsker
(c) Lynne Medsker
I think I often forget to mention that I have a home-based portrait photography business in addition to creating other works of art. I don’t know if I just assume that people know that or I’ve been at it long enough I don’t think it bears mentioning! Either way, I thought I was time to write a post about it. To see other samples of my work you can visit the portrait photography section of my website at: www.photoladyLM.com
Another reason I am mentioning it now is that I have been working on some changes in my approach to taking portrait photos. I am wanting to do a lot more location/outdoor photography in and around Indy and Hendricks County. (Actually I am moving toward doing ALL my photos either outdoors or on location!) I’ve thought of several sites (local parks, town square in Danville, Eagle Creek Park, the canal area in downtown Indy) but want to hear any suggestions that any central Indiana residents might have for good spots – indoor or outdoor – to do portrait photos.
I am also looking for some volunteers! Once I line up a list of several sites to take photos at I need some “models” so I can do some promo shots showing the locations. I can offer a set of prints from the proofs as well as a low-res CD of the images for you to share with friends & family via email, online, etc. How about it guys & gals? If you know anyone that might be interested having fun for a few hours getting your photos taken please let me know…you can contact me via the email links on my website(s).
I will be offering some promotions during the next couple months as well. I will post the details here soon!
Thanks in advance for the help!
Lynne
04.24.09
Photoshop Fun…
I mentioned in my post on the 17th that I had taken some images of some paper prior to packing it away, hoping to combine it with images from my recent road trips around Colorado. Prior to leaving I played with it a bit and have had a few evenings to experiment again since I’ve been home. These are my favorite images from the ones I’ve created thus far:
(untitled image - 1c) photo collage (c) 2009, Lynne Medsker
(untitled image - 2b) photo collage (c) 2009, Lynne Medsker
(untitled image - 4) photo collage (c) 2009, Lynne Medsker
I am really partial to the middle one! This has given me something to keep my creative juices flowing as I waited for my supplies to return home from Colorado. (They arrived this afternoon!) My next project is to rearrange and carve out a workspace that I can use here at home on a more consistent basis. The past few years I’ve just set up on the kitchen table or out in the photo studio for a few days and then had to pack it all up again…sometimes for weeks in between play dates. I want a space that I can use everyday if the mood strikes! I have tables set up in my computer room but they are covered in supplies and clutter….I did some preliminary cleaning before my boxes arrived but now that it’s here and I can see exactly what I’ve got to deal with, I can get serious about setting up my space. I don’t think my schedule will allow me to work on it much this weekend but next week? Watch out! In the meantime I may have some gaps of time that I can continue to do some digital work. I took my camera out yesterday and captured some of the spring images in the yard, I may move away from the winter scenes and muted colors and into some spring-ike images with more vivid hues!
Enjoy your weekend, I’ll touch base again soon!
Lynne
04.22.09
ArtsGo!
The fourth annual “ArtsGo!” art tour is scheduled for this Saturday, April 25th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Presented by the Hendricks County Arts Council, ArtsGo! is a one-day, drive-by event featuring art and artists from Hendricks County. Maps of locations will be distributed in the Hendricks County Flyer and can also be obtained at Hendricks County Convention and Visitors Bureau in Danville, Plainfield Public Library, Clayton Public Library, Danville Public Library, Brownsburg Public Library, Coatesville Public Library, State Bank of Lizton at Pittsboro and Lizton, Amo Post Office and Reading Room. The Arts Council aims to promote awareness of the art and artists of Hendricks County. Details about sites & featured artists are listed on the “Events” page of their website.
One stop of the tour is the Central Indiana Artists Spring Art Show. I have participated in the this tour each year at a different venue and have enjoyed it immensely. This year I am “on display” in a window on the courthouse square in Danville. Having a display instead of being on-site gives me the opportunity this year to attend the event and visit several of the stops on the tour! If you are looking for a fun way to spend your Saturday I highly recommend this event!
04.21.09
Artist Trading Card Workshop!
"music" artist trading card (c) 2009, Lynne Medsker
Seems like it was ages ago when I posted the original information about the Artist Trading Card Workshop I will be presenting! Now as I look at the calendar it is just a couple of weeks away. Time does pass too quickly, doesn’t it? Just a reminder that the date for the workshop is Saturday, May 2nd! More details can be found on my website – www.lynnemedsker.com in the “Classes, Workshops, Instruction” section. It will be a busy, fun, creative day – I hope you can join me!
Other upcoming workshops include:
Creating Art with Photoshop Elements on June 6th, 2009. Info here!
One day photography workshop on July 18th, 2009. Info here!
04.20.09
Spring Art Show
The Central Indiana Artists annual Spring art show opened on Tuesday, April 21st at the Avon Town Hall in Avon, Indiana. There are over 200 pieces of art on display, including 45 works by students. Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday the 25th. Be sure and make a point of visiting this great art show!
04.18.09
All finished…
Here are the images of the last four mixed media pieces I created during my stay here in Breckenridge as a guest artist:
untitled 5x7 mixed media (c) 2009, Lynne Medsker
untitled 5x7 mixed media (c) 2009, Lynne Medsker
untitled 5x7 mixed media (c) 2009, Lynne Medsker
untitled 5x7 mixed media (c) 2009, Lynne Medsker
I’ve got all my supplies packed and ready for pick up today…the studio seems empty & hollow now. It continues to snow, although at a more gentle pace, and the outside world is covered in white. I will put on my snow boots and venture out with my camera this afternoon one last time. I have a selection of photos tucked into a folder waiting for me to get creative with them this evening if the mood strikes. My ride to the airport will be here around 10:30 in the morning then it’s a long day of travel (plus the time difference) and I will arrive home tomorrow evening if all goes according to plan. I may not post again until after I’m home & settled (am I ever really settled?!). Talk to you then…
Lynne
04.17.09
Wrapping things up…
Well, my time here at the Tin Shop is winding down, and I find myself facing the end of my residency time. Bittersweet to be sure…I’ve had such a wonderful experience being here and have loved the scenery and surroundings as well as the awesome people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. In a recent post I showed images of some work in progress, I now have both those pieces completed. Here are the finished products:
"peak 7" mixed media (c) 2009, Lynne Medsker
(untitled) mixed media (c) 2009, Lynne Medsker
Not only have I finished work some of it has already left Colorado. I shipped out all the pieces for the “Art on Record” show and also sent a box full of completed artwork to the frame shop back home so they can get started with the framing. My studio space here is starting to look a bit “naked” as things slowly leave.
I have continued working on the “junk journals” and finished some blank ones to leave here as gifts for Jenn & Gretchen, who have been so wonderful to work with. I also have the cover of the first journal finished now…I am keeping the first two for myself, for one reason they were very much “trial & error” projects and also just for sentimental reasons. Here are some samples of the completed journals:
finished cover, junk journal 1 (c) 2009, Lynne Medsker
junk journal 3 (c) 2009, Lynne Medsker
junk journal 4 (c) 2009, Lynne Medsker
junk journal 5 (c) 2009, Lynne Medsker
junk journal 6 (c) 2009, Lynne Medsker
I have some smaller (5×7″) mixed media pieces that I am finishing up that I think I can just pack & ship home with my art supplies. This is what they looked like when I was cutting out the shapes, I’ll get photos of the completed pieces tomorrow before I pack them…I ran out of daylight for photography by the time I had them completed this evening.
work in progress, 4-17-09
work in progress, 4-17-09
work in progress, 4-17-09
work in progress, 4-17-09
As I was preparing some of my supplies for the trip back home I took several photos of sheets of paper that I had brought with me, much of it handmade. I loved the texture & patterns and after taking photos of it laying flat I realized it would be even better to photograph against the window with the light illuminating it from behind. SO, once all my supplies have left on Saturday I will have those images to play with in Photoshop. I’m thinking of combining them with some of the images from my road trips…maybe something new to add to my “Art & Nature” series?
Until tomorrow…
Lynne
04.16.09
Road trips…
For a change of pace (and because I’d always be sorry if I didn’t) I rented a car on Monday and spent Monday and Tuesday just driving around the winding roads and through the little towns and scenic byways around Breckenridge for a while. What fun! I love to just drive and see what comes my way and I wasn’t disappointed either day. I was so lucky to be able to just strike out on my own, any traveling companion I would have had would have gone crazy by the time a few hours had passed! My formula for a good day out is “drive-stop-shoot photos-drive-stop-shoot photos” and that’s just what I did. Although I surely didn’t stop and take every single image that I thought would be cool I know my percentage had to have been 70-80%! Thank goodness for driveways, pull-offs and wide berms because I was on & off the road more times than I’d like to count. And an even bigger thanks to the fact that the roads out here aren’t heavily traveled (or at least not the ones I was on!). Here are a few of my favorite images from the two days of travel:
It was a perfect little “vacation within a vacation” to spend the time traveling around. I can’t believe what a small amount of the state I actually got to see, even after being on the road 14 hours. Of course that could partly be from all the stop & going too! I would love to come back out here and explore some of the other regions…there is just such a variety of landscapes and terrains it’s like visiting several places all at once. If you just can’t get enough travel photos I have a larger selection posted on my Facebook page. Here are the links (you don’t have to be a Facebook member to see the photos):
Tonight I am tucked in my cozy little apartment as it once again becomes a “winter wonderland” outside. They are predicting anywhere up to three feet of snow between now and Saturday! I’ll have some more pictures to post if that is the case. The snow plow is already running up & down the street, I am SO impressed with the snow removal here – they are truly experts at it. Perhaps we should send some mid-west folks out here to train! Speaking of Midwest, I hear that it’s spring back home with some nice warm sunny weather.
Wherever you happen to be I hope you are safe & happy. More posts soon!
Lynne
04.15.09
Finished work/Work in progress
Well, my artistic endeavours continue here during my residency. I completed the last two pieces for the “Art on Record” show in New York. I will ship them directly to the gallery from here when my stay is over. (A few less things to try and get shipped home!) I wish now I’d have brought a few “spare” albums to play on, I’ve been having fun with the round format!
"art on record #4" (c) 2009 Lynne Medsker
"art on record #5" (c) Lynne Medsker
In addition to finishing those two pieces and playing with the junk journals I have started two more mixed media pieces. One is a “Colorado” piece, inspired by the view out of the studio window. I have the shapes cut, covered in aluminum, designs embossed into each piece and the first layer of black ink applied to it. They call the different parts of the mountains by numbers here, Peak 9, Peak 8, etc…one of my visitors today looked at this and said “that looks like “Peak 7″. I generally don’t do art that is very realistic so I was tickled that someone recognized what I’d done!
"peak 7" work in progress (c) Lynne Medsker
I’m sure I will do a few more of these before I leave…all I need to do is look out a different window to get my inspiration. How easy is that?!
The other piece I started is an abstract one (oh, aren’t you just surprised?) with lots of curves and movement to it. I’m planning on moving a few of the pieces around and layering them at different angles. This is a rough layout I did with the pieces after I covered them in aluminum:
untitled organic work in progress (c) 2009 Lynne Medsker
It’s always interesting to see where these works end up once I get to the assembling stage! I’ll post more soon….
Lynne
