Online studio tour…

Last week I finally made it back out to my studio in Thorntown and, while I was there, I took some photos of my little space to share on my blog.  I don’t make it there nearly as often as I would like and this trip was more for “work” than for fun.  I needed to do inventory, sort, clean, organize, etc.  But, having that out of the way now means my next visit I can spend playing and creating - woo hoo!  Without further ado, here are the images:

Thru the hallway window looking into my studio space

Thru the doorway, looking at part of the back wall

The rest of the back wall, part of the left wall

More of the left wall, work table #1

The front wall and work table #2 in front of the window (with a view of two of my “neighbor” artists studios)

Part of the right side wall, back to where we started!

For those of you not familiar with Sugar Creek Art Center (and, honestly, I wasn’t until I moved out there last year!) it is located in a three-story factory building that has been (and still is being) remodeled into artist studios, a gift shop, gallery space and classrooms.  (I’m adding a link to their website on my “blogroll” in the right column of this page!) There has been a lot of work done lately on the building (thanks to a very generous donation) and adjacent buildings have been purchased and are undergoing remodeling as well.  I’ve even heard rumors of a coffee shop being part of the plans! It’s really exciting to be part of such a growing facility!  This is also the building where my friends Karena, Lisa & I will be having our show next month.  We will be the first artists to get to display art in a newly remodeled studio area, it’s going to look fantastic!  My goal this week is the get the last few pieces of artwork finished and off to the frame shop, the show goes up on Thursday the 5th! Don’t forget about the reception on Friday, June 13th from 6 to 9 p.m.  While you are there you can also tour the other artist’s studio spaces, visit the gift shop, listen to live music, see a puppet show downstairs - there will be lots of activities going on that evening! 

I’ve returned

What a wonderful get-away the weekend turned out to be!  The weather was more than cooperative, the scenery was beautiful, great conversations, lots of laughter and adventure, very nice indeed!  We were able to do lots of hiking, slept well and often, ate some delicious food - just a restorative, refreshing time. 

I took my tiny little camera so I could just tuck it in my pocket, I had so much fun I had to charge the batteries three times!  There were still wildflowers blooming in the woods and all the recent rains had the streams running at a fast pace.  One of the hiking paths crossed the creek three times.  I think in slightly drier weather that would have just involved hopping from one stone to the next but this time it was wading in the cool water that was deep enough to run over the tops of my hiking boots and fill them up with water.  But after that I was free to walk anywhere I wanted, what could it hurt?!  The mud was prevelent as well, I still have shoes & boots waiting to dry so I can scrape them clean. 

Our campfire the first evening was a challenge, the wood was so wet it sizzled when we were lucky enough to get it to burn at all.  Saturday, after a successful trip to town to buy some better wood, the fire blazed quite nicely into the night.  There is something so peaceful, almost trance-like about sitting watching a fire burn.  Even after a shower I am still smelling traces of it occasionally.  I sat and snapped photos of the flames and sparks for quite a while Saturday evening.  Of course once I was home I couldn’t resist throwing some in Photoshop and playing with them:

Although we had packed a few art supplies we really spent the first two days just enjoying our surroundings, getting out into nature a bit, taking monster naps and relaxing by the fire.  Sunday morning we finally brought them out and spent a few hours being creative.  I brought some watercolor supplies to play with, I hadn’t done anything with watercolor for a while and I wanted to experiment with it again.  Plus it’s not a medium that requires you pack & carry very much to use.  Bonus!   I also packed up some “spray webbing” to play with, it ended up being incorporated in all the pieces I made!  A few of them have gold or silver leaf on them (although much of it ended up underneath the webbing). Here are a 3 of the 7 pieces I did, they are all small scale - either 5×6 or 6×6 inches:

I hope everyone else had a fabulous weekend and that your week goes well.  I will try to write again soon!

xoxoxo,

Lynne

Nature break!

I am busy today - planning, gathering and packing for a three-day weekend at a state park in southern Indiana.  I am excited about a number of things!  First, I haven’t been camping in nearly two years, so it’s long overdue. Secondly, I feel as if I have spent a lot of time cooped up inside the house lately.  Sometimes due to my schedule, sometimes the weather, occasionally just pure laziness on my part.  But I am ready to be out in nature, take a hike, breath some fresh air, enjoy the beauty of it all.  Thirdly, I’ll be visiting a park that I’ve not been to before.  I love exploring new places!   I’m also excited because I get to spend some time with my artist/buddy/friend Karena at the campground.  She has many big plans for her life right now - the largest being that she will soon be moving away.  I am happy for her but also know I will miss being able to see her when I want.  So that makes the trip even more precious.  Our original intent was to participate in an art workshop in the area during the daytime hours and spend the evenings at the campground.  But the call of nature and a less restrictive schedule lured us away from that plan so now we have three days of freedom to do what we want, when we want.  I like the way that sounds!  I’m packing my hiking boots, the mandatory “campfire” food, a few art supplies, some reading material and from there I’m ready to just let the time flow.  What a treat!  I opened up my tiny little camper earlier this week and did some spring cleaning so we are ready to roll out of here in the morning and begin our adventure.  I hope you have an enjoyable weekend as well!

xoxoxo,

Lynne 

Ink stained fingers

It’s always a good sign when, at the end of the day, I have traces of ink or paint or glue (or whatever I happen to have worked with) still on my hands (or even on my clothes!).  It means I had to opporunity to do what I truly love.  It usually means that ideas have come to life, that new ones are germinating, that progress was made.  Today was one of those days!  I’ve actually spent quite a bit of time working on art this week, it’s been such a refreshing change from the last few weeks where life was more about running errands, to do lists, paperwork and other mundane, everyday items of life. 

I have two pieces of commissioned work that have been my focus the last few days.  Commisssioned work is always interesting to me.  First, it’s a thrill that people request a specific piece of art be made - by ME, no less!  Second, it’s just a totally different thought process.  Not only do I need to be pleased with the outcome, someone else does as well.  Often there are more specifics involved as well - sizes, colors, media.  Although the specifics can feel a bit restrictive I have come to appreciate them as guidelines for me to work within.  I’ve had a few commissions where I was given free reign and I found it difficult to create something for a specific person without some specific guidelines!  These two pieces are based off of pieces I created a few weeks ago, just in a larger format.   I have been having so much fun using the new materials and techniques!  There is a sizable amount of time just doing “prep” work to get the smaller, individual pieces ready to assemble into a larger work of art.  The bonus part is that I can work on them almost anywhere!  I spent the better part of two days just hanging out on the couch in my living room, catching up on the television shows that were overflowing in the DVR while I got things ready.  I won’t tell you I never watch television (although I rarely do during the daytime) but normally I when I am sitting there I feel like I could be doing something creative instead of just staring at the screen like a zombie.  It feels wasteful somehow.  So it was nice to have some guilt-free time to catch up on my favorite programs.  In addition to catching up while being creative I got to put my math skills to use as I enlarged the basic design to fit the new size.  I finished all the smaller pieces for both commissions late last night and today I was able to complete the color work and assembly for one of the two.  I’ve got most of the day tomorrow to get the ink done on the second piece and get it assembled, as long as everything goes well I should have this project finished and delivered early next week. 

Earlier this week I was able to finish five more new pieces for the show in June!  I needed to complete them and get them cleared out of my make-shift workspace before I could start on the two larger, commissioned pieces!  Add the five new pieces to the first five, plus the pieces here at home that I haven’t shown and I think I am all set now.  It feels very odd to be ready for a show almost four weeks ahead of the hanging date.  I tend to be painting, gluing, framing, preparing at the last minute or settling for something less than what I really wanted to present. So I am very pleased to not only have things ready but also that they are things I am also excited for people to see!  I guess I have let a small bit of “preview” out since I will be showing some of the flower/rock pieces that I posted in my last blog entry.  I had them printed on 16 x20 canvases and they turned out wonderfully! 

I had some other things wandering around my brain to share but it’s getting late, I’m getting sleepy and this is getting long!  I read somewhere recently that you should update your blog three times a week.  Holy cow!  I’m feeling good if I can do it once a week.  :)  So perhaps I’ll remembered the rest of the conversation and share it before another week has passed.  Or perhaps not, we’ll just have to see, won’t we?

Flourishing

Seems like lately I’ve just been bursting at the seams with new ideas, creativity and artwork!  It feels good to have things flow so easily. That’s not always the case with making art so I am making the best of it while I can!  I’ve got so many new projects going that I am excited about but I wanted to share this one with you while it’s fresh in my mind.  Tonight I sat down at the computer to do some photo editing for a recent photo shoot but first got sidetracked and created a few new photo/digital art pieces instead.  (That tends to happen when I should really be doing something else!)  

We traveled to southern Indiana yesterday to spend the day visiting my parents.  It is a place that is full of memories, and always seems to be so visually stimulating to visit.  They live on a lake in a house that they built, it stands where we once had a summer “cabin” that we would retreat to each weekend from spring to fall.  They bought the old cabin when I was only four years old, so I have many, many memories of my time down there as a child, teenager and as an adult.  Although things have changed, when I am there much still feels the same.  It seems like each time I visit I can’t help but pull out my camera and shoot images around their property.  I literally have folders full of images that I’m never quite sure what I’ll do with once I’ve taken them.  But this time it came to me that I am repeatedly shooting photos of my mother’s beautiful flowers in bloom and of the many rocks that they’ve collected and have placed around the outside of the house. 

The rocks particularly bring back memories of long walks “up the creek” to splash in the cold water on a hot summer’s day, chase minnows & crawdads as well as to rummage through the rocks along the path and in the creek.  My dad would carry a large bucket and often fill it with geodes of all sizes which he would tote back to the cabin to add to the others that he had already collected.  If you’ve never seen a geode they aren’t particularly excited to look at from the outside.  But the inside, well the insides can be quite spectacular.  And getting to the insides can be an adventure in itself!  Depending on the size and hardness of the rock sometimes you are able to give it a good smack with a hammer and it will crack open, displaying all sorts of beautiful formations of quartz in a variety of colors.  If the hammer didn’t work we would fling them onto the concrete step and hope that would do the trick.  I’m sure now days all kinds of safety gear would be required just to get to the inside! Although I remember bits & pieces of shattered rock flying through the air, I can’t recall any of us ever being injured.  At least not permanently!

After returning home from our visit with yet another batch of photos (including many of the beautiful geodes and flowers - again!), I decided that this time I needed to create something instead of leaving the images in a file, in a folder, tucked away on my computer.  In just a short time I had created four new pieces!  I can see expanding on these quite easily to add many more images to the collection.  For each piece I used between three and five different photos to create the new image.  I even have some them printed, waiting for mats & frames so that I can take them to an upcoming show.

Here they are:

“Mommas Flower, Papas Rocks”

“Mommas Flower, Papas Rocks, 2″

“Mommas Flower, Papas Rocks, 3″

“Mommas Flower, Papas Rocks, 4″

Thanks for reading my little blog, I’ll check in again soon!

xoxoxo,

Lynne

ATC workshop info…

ATC (Artist Trading Card) Workshop & Swap

Date: Saturday, June 21^st, 2008

Time: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Location: Sugar Creek Art Center in Thorntown, Indiana

Cost: $10 per person (limit of 14 participants)

Hosted by: Lynne Medsker & Karena Velikan   

                                         

Class Description: Artist Trading Cards (commonly called ATC’s) are mini works of art that are popular with all sorts of artists.  The original ATC project was initiated in 1997 in Zurich by Swiss artist M. Vänçi Stirnemann. They can be one-of-a-kind original pieces or also can be created as limited editions.  Card styles include pen & ink, watercolor, acrylic, printmaking, mixed media, scrapbook style, sewn/stitched, digital as well as others.  Ranging from simple to ornate, serious to silly (and everything in between), they can make a statement, express emotions or share your favorite interests.  Each card is 2.5” x 3.5” (the size of a playing card).  ATC’s are created for the purpose of sharing your art, collecting art from others and connecting with fellow artists.  They are art for arts sake! Everyone, regardless of age or skill level, can benefit from this appealing art form.  This workshop will introduce you to the basics of ATC creation, give you time to create your own small masterpieces and, at the end of the day, swap ATC’s with your fellow participants. 

 

Contact: For questions or further details about the workshop –

Lynne Medsker,  lynnemedsker@yahoo.com

Karena Velikan,  karena.velikan@gmail.com

 

Enrollment:  To reserve your place at this workshop please confirm by e-mail that there is space available, payment instructions will be sent to you and confirmation/supply lists will be sent upon reciept of payment.

 

Pottery Images…

As promised I have the images ready to post of the four creations I made during the February pottery session!  The first two were made on the pottery wheel & then altered, the second two were hand-built.  The pieces I am working on in the current session are hand-built tiles that will hang on the wall.  I have made two of them so that they can have wire and/or other materials attached to them after they are glazed & fired.  Once I have them completed I’ll post images of them as well.

 

A little news and a test…

 

Just checking in tonight while I had a few minutes to steal.  I just finished teaching my first four-week mixed media class.  It went fairly well, I’m sure I will improve as an instructor the more I do it.  Everyone was helpful, yet kind, with their feedback so that gave me some concrete ideas of what I need to work on. I am committed to two more four-week classes in June, one a repeat of this class, the second will be hand-coloring photographs.  I need to get out my supplies and brush up, I haven’t done any hand-coloring for quite a while!  I also will be teaching some one-day classes at a summer program for kids in Pike Township, which sounds like fun as well as a challenge.  A much larger group than I am used to working with but I enjoy working with kids so I am excited about it.  Also in June my artist/friend Karena and I are going to host a one-day ATC workshop/trade at Sugar Creek.  If you don’t know about ATC’s be sure to go to my website and check out the page there, it gives you some details, history and samples.  Here is a sampling (and a test to see if I’ve got this ‘image in a post’ thing working yet!):

 Woo-hoo, looks like it worked!  These are just very basic, very simple cards made of doodles, they can be made from any media (paint, collage, drawing, stamps, printmaking, etc.) with much more detail or they can be something just this simple.  They are just one of several projects I’ve been busy with lately that I am really excited about! 

I have photos in my camera of the pieces I made during the pottery session in February, once I get them out of the camera, into my computer and sized I will post those as well.  I am SO enjoying playing with clay again this month!  Fun, fun, fun! 

I also have five new pieces of mixed media art being framed for the show in June.  Along with another three or four pieces I have here at home that haven’t been shown anywhere yet I feel like I am closing in on having enough new artwork ready by June.  My goal is 15 new pieces so I am past 1/2 way already!  My friend Doug was kind enough to share some scrap material today that has me anxious to create more art - thanks Doug!  Although I really am excited for people to see my new work I am trying to hold off and let it “debute” at the show.  After that I’m sure I won’t be able to stand it and I’ll have some images of it posted here as well as on my website.

That’s all for now, it’s bedtime!  Look for another post soon….

xoxoxo,

Lynne

 

 

I’m back…

did you miss me? 

 I had a fabulous time during my retreat at the Mary Anderson Center, it was more than I dared to hope for!  I enjoyed some good company, some solitude, lots of time to make lots of art, time to rest & reflect - the best of everything.  As far my vow to find out how to post images, alas, that part of the plan failed.  The wireless internet was down in the house so, other than a quick trip to a local coffee shop to check my e-mail, I didn’t have access to the web.  That was probably a blessing, I didn’t waste time surfing when I could have been creating.  One project I had thought I would begin is internet based so that is on hold again, I’ve always got more ideas than time to do them though - nothing new in that!  I have continued to make art each day since I’ve returned, sometimes just for a few minutes, sometimes longer, it’s something I want to keep as a daily activity instead of holding out for large gaps of time & energy.  Those wonderful gaps never seem to show up and then I am frustrated by all the pent up creativity! 

I have been teaching a mixed media class on Tuesday afternoons, two weeks into it, two weeks left to go.  It’s been a nice change of pace to work with a group and share a few things with others.  My second session of pottery/clay classes started this week so that is awesome too.  I am excited about my first creation and hope to finish at least one more during each of the next three weeks (it’s a four week class).  I’d be thrilled to have four pieces similar to the first one at the end of class.  It is all hand-built work, very full of texture and dimension and I’ve left it open to where I can add metal/wire to the pieces once they are glazed and fired.  I am designing them to hang on the walls, they are beautiful in my imagination (I’ve been thinking of them for weeks), now to get them out of my head and into reality! 

 I realize after looking something up on my website that I need to do some updates, it’s been about 6 weeks since the last ones, my calendar section is out of date!  Seems like I just did updates but time passes so quickly. Enjoy the hints of spring that art beginning to peek through, it’s lovely to see some small splashed of color after the drab winter!

I’m outta here!

I am anxious to leave in the morning and re-visit the Mary Anderson Center in southern Indiana.  It is a wonderful retreat, a haven for renewing, creating and spending time focusing on art.  My last two visits there I was the only artist in residence for the majority of my visit, this visit there are four artists staying there.  One, a dear friend, will be there working on her writing during part of my visit.  I am curious to see how having other artists around compares to the solitude I’ve experienced in the past.  Today I am hopping around from one thing to the next, tying up loose ends here at home, gathering items I want to pack, brainstorming on what art projects I might create…my mind is going a million miles an hour!  I posted a poem below that I wrote a few years ago, it came to mind as I was thinking of my retreat.  One thing I am going to add to my list of goals for my trip is figuring out how to post a picture on this site!  I got a tiny, little one on the very first post am I’m not even sure how I managed that. :-)  I’ll check in soon….