Sometime

What an apt title. Sometime I get away from blogging. But I always return. This time with some new art to share. I’ve been very prolific lately, which is awesome. It just doesn’t correlate with regular blogging. Two sides of the brain I think!

“Sometime”, four-piece mixed media artwork, each piece 8×10 – 32×10″ total © Lynne Medsker Art & Photography, LLC

Remember a while back when I shared with you all the gelli prints I’d been making? Well I finally decided what I’d do with them. They make AWESOME background for mixed media art! Add in some book pages, decorative & tissue paper, top it off with charcoal outlines and acrylic ink plus some fun designs with pens and voila! Here are a couple of images of the work in progress.

Work in progress, applying book pages and gelli prints to wood panels

Decorative papers, tissue paper added to panels

Charcoal lines added to surface

Close-up detail of surface after acrylic ink was applied

It certainly ends up looking totally different from the starting point! In addition to this artwork I’ve also complete four large (24×36″) canvases in this style as well as a set of five 6×6″ wood panels. The titles for all the new work come from some of the text that is still visible when the piece is complete. This one had the least text showing of all the new art but from what I could read “sometime” seemed perfect. I’ll be deviating from the geometric for the next few pieces but I’m sure I’ll return!

Thanks for continuing to follow this blog, it’s really appreciated!

Lynne

Teaser!

“Journey #1-#3″ mixed media on 18×18” wood panels © Lynne Medsker

I’ve got so many “in progress” images of this new triptych that I was commissioned to create that I decided to at least split it into two posts. Today I’ll features the humble beginnings, some close-up details of the texture & color during the process, and (above) the finished product. Hopefully that will leave you wanting more while you wait for the second post. 🙂

These pieces were based on another set that I created a few years ago during a residency. Although the clients loved them they just weren’t large enough to fill the space that they were to be hung in so I got to re-create them in a larger version! I very much appreciate their willingness to let me be creative with the replication and not try to get it precisely the same pattern, colors and textures. They are created on wood panels and the texture is a mixture of concrete and grout, layered on thin & wet so I can play with the design before it gets too dry.

It looks a whole lot different after it’s dry, sealed and I’ve put multiple layers of acrylic on it:

Next post I’ll show how it goes from one stage to the next. Until then!

Lynne

 

Old Growth

Some pieces of art come very easily and others you have to wrestle, argue, ignore, cajole and fuss with for months to finally figure out what they want to become. This is one of those pieces!

"old growth" mixed media on wood, 24x24" $495 © lynne medsker

It isn’t just me that struggled with it, my artist friend Doug finally was exasperated enough with it that he gave it to me at a play date with instructions to finish it. 🙂 Now if you clicked that link you’ll know it’s been a LONG time that I’ve had this piece in the studio! I began working on it during the play date buy taking a hammer to it and chipping out some of the background texture and edges, adding more concrete and even adding some color that day. Here are images of it as it transitioned from phase to phase – and I know I missed a lot of the stages!

After this last image I used it to test some spray paint on but didn’t get a photo of that (although you can see some of it on the next image). What it had turned into was a piece I let my young grandson paint on because, honestly, he couldn’t do any worse!

And his creativity is just what got me inspired and going in the direction I needed to! Why I’d not tried my one of my favorite color schemes before is still a mystery to me.

work in progress "old growth" © lynne medsker

Finally it was (or I was?) moving toward a finished image!

work in progress 2 "old growth" © lynne medsker

Once the tree appeared all that was needed was a bit of green, some outlining and highlighting and it was finally complete. Whew. I can’t imagine it looking like anything else now!

This piece is included in the “Mixed Well & Served Fresh” show that has been held over at Artistic Designs Gallery in Brownsburg, Indiana. You need to come see it in person to appreciate all the layers, depth and texture! I’ll be there with it tomorrow during the ArtsGo! event too, I’d love to meet you!

Subdued Spontaniety

Posting more work from February today! This piece is one of several I created using concrete on wood panels to achieve the texture.

"subdued spontaniety" mixed media on wood panel 20x20", $375 (c) lynne medsker

The “normal” process is to let the concrete dry for a couple of days, apply a sealer and then do the painting/coloring on top of that. But I got to wondering – what would happen if I added the color when the concrete was freshly applied? Although the color wasn’t quite as vivid and seemed to be absorbed by the concrete a bit I had a lot of fun just dropping acrylic inks on the surface, wetting them, letting them bleed together & blend and then do it all over again. My original thought was I’d call this piece “feelin’ groovy” because it reminded me of the 60’s era so much! Can you see why?

work in progress - pretty groovy! (c) lynne medsker

These are the only two images I took but basically the end resulted by me wiping a layer of white over the dried & sealed piece (to subdue it!) so I guess there wouldn’t be much else to show you anyhow! This is another piece that is included in the “Mixed Well and Served Fresh” show that runs through April 14th at Artistic Designs Gallery in Brownsburg, Indiana. Stop by and take a peek at it, the texture looks so awesome in person!