A sneak peek at the new art show!

I’m just going to share a couple “teaser” images with you today, down the line I’ll share each of the new pieces up close & personal. I couldn’t be more delighted with how this show looks! Our artwork blended effortlessly and seems like they were made to show together.

blog artsplash gallery wall 1

blog artsplash gallery wall 6

It’s a fun mix with her abstract canvas work and my dimensional art! There are a lot of other art surprises included but this gives you a good feel for the show. Don’t forget that tonight is the private opening and tomorrow is the public opening/gallery walk from 5-9.

Funky Ferndale

If you wonder what I’ve been doing lately, I’ve been spending lots of time gearing up for this show in Ferndale, Michigan! I plan to having over 50 mandalas and mandala inspired art pieces in my booth for this three day show. I’ll be in booth #123 – pop in and say hello while you are browsing the funky treasures!

Last minute reminder!

I know I posted info about this show a few weeks ago and have mentioned it in a few recent posts but I wanted to give your memory one last “jog” before the weekend! I’ll be setting up my booth this afternoon and ready to go Saturday morning at 10 a.m. Just so you know, I’m packing a few new creations that haven’t even been shown on the blog or the website yet! Come take a peek, say hello and get a little pre-holiday shopping done while you support the local art community.

Looking forward to seeing you this weekend!

Lynne

Custom framed digital art

texture art #7, digital art, custom framed (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

Recently I posted images of new digital “texture art” that I created using photos of rocks/nature combined with the texture/colors of some printmaking details. (You can see those HERE and HERE!)  In those posts I mentioned that I had sent some of the images to be printed on aluminum. They turned out beautiful & shiny! I debated how best to show them and thought of combining them with a wall sculpture of some sort. When Mark & I were making art for the recycled art show I brought them out to the shop and played around with several ideas, none of which really excited me. Then Mark suggested we use some stamped scrap metal to create “frames” for a couple of the prints.

texture art #4, digital art, custom framed (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

Perfect!  It’s so nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of and work together creatively! We ended up framing two of them like this, I am considering do a “float” type of display on some of the others. I will have them on display at the upcoming Autumn Art Fair at the Garfield Park Art Center on November 20th & 21st. Be sure and mark your calendar and come see all the wonderful art that weekend. It would be a wonderful place to pick up one-of-a-kind gifts for the holidays and support the local art community!

Be there or be square!

Lynne

One of the new “recycled” art projects…

(untitled) mixed media wall sculpture, 20x12" (c) 2010, Lynne & Mark Medsker

Mark & I have been creating artwork together to show this weekend at the “Deja Vu All Over Again” show in Columbus, Indiana (click here for more info).  This is one of the first completed pieces –  there are several others that are close to completion or in the “drying” stages. It’s been fun to work together & brainstorm a bit! I have been having a lot of fun with cement, grout & sand mixtures added to wood for texture and interest so I wanted to incorporate something like that into a few of the pieces we made together. This was a piece of scrap wood from my father-in-laws barn, I have no idea how long it had been out there but it was a great piece to “recycle” into some new art. Since I’ve been enjoying the texture on wood I had purchased some “crackle” paste a few weeks ago that I hadn’t played with – this seemed to be the perfect piece to give it a try on!

wood piece with crackle paste (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

After I applied a thin coat it had to dry for several days before I could add anything to it. I sealed it and then began to use washes of acrylic, using both liquid acrylics and acrylic inks. After applying them I sprayed water to thin them further and let them drip/run around the wood and into the cracks on the surface.

first layers of acrylic - image 1 (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker
first layers of acrylic - image 2 (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

Using the thinned paint is a bit deceiving because it looks quite bright but, since it’s such a thin layer, it dries in a much more muted tone. This is how it looked after the first two layers (shown above) dried.

work in progress, dried layers (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

What a difference! I ended up going back and adding another (slightly thicker!) layer or two of color before I was satisfied with the saturation. The metal “frame” for the piece was welded from old parts that we keep in stock out in the workshop. It’s always fun to dig around and pull pieces out, arrange them, switch them and get them “just right” for whatever project we are working on. When we first started making metal artwork together we painted all the pieces in bright colors, lately if we do anything at all to them it’s just buff them to a shine & seal them with clear paint. For this piece the metal was left in it’s natural, semi-rust state since I wanted to give an old, weathered looked to the entire piece. I added the three accent pieces to the wood after it was dried & re-sealed. It’s new enough it’s not even been given a name yet but I wanted to give you a little preview of what we’ll be showing this weekend.

Whatcha think?

Lynne

Déjà Vu Art Show Returns to Downtown Columbus


PRESS RELEASE: Broken toys, yesterday’s newspaper, and china shards may seem like trash to most, but in the hands of professionals, they can be transformed into beautiful art and fine crafts. On Saturday, November 6, those in the Columbus area will see such work when they attend the sixth annual Déjà Vu All Over Again Art Show.

Held at Yes Cinema and Conference Center located at 4th and Jackson Streets in downtown Columbus, Indiana, the show will run from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Twenty-three artists from throughout the state were invited to display their work, which includes collage, mosaics, assemblage, jewelry, metal sculpture, furniture, leather goods, woodworking, and fiber arts.

Some of the more unusual entries are those of Bloomington artists Nick McGill and Susie Seligman. Reusing old machine parts, McGill transforms them into unusual candlesticks, and Seligman turns auction and flea market finds into whimsical chairs and sofas.

Other Bloomington artists include Martina Celerin showing her spectacular weavings and Cappi Phillips who will display fanciful mosaics. Popular artist and metal sculptor Glenn Carter is returning for his sixth show.

Many who have toured the “Back Roads of Brown County” will recognize Chris Gustin’s rag rugs, and first time exhibitor Talia Halliday, of Bloomington, will display handmade journals created from old hardback books.

Also new this year are Nashville mixed media artist Tim Carter-East, jewelry artist Ann Johnson of Muncie, and Anita Hopper of Indianapolis. Hopper repurposes old leather goods to make stylish clutch purses and handbags. Bloomington artists Mary Hambly will display intricately designed Paper Art Quilts, and Ruth Rives will show felted purses.

Other new participants include Columbus residents Larry Brackney, who creates assemblage, jeweler Martha Butler, woodturner Bill Griffith, and fiber artist Sophie Callaghan Miller. Showing jewelry made of vintage buttons is Maggie Dixon of Elizabethtown.

Some returning artists are Edinburgh jewelry artist Lori Henderson, Columbus’ Marilyn Brackney, who will show found art dolls, and the husband/wife team of Mark and Lynne Medsker of Brownsburg. Mark is a metal sculptor, and Lynne uses mixed media to create collages. Also back to display their work are Columbus woodturner Chad Shock and jewelry artist Jill Stillwell.

Sponsored by the Bartholomew County Solid Waste Management District, Columbus Area Arts Council, Columbus Indiana Visitors Center, Pentzer Printing, and YES Cinema, this free event is held in celebration of America Recycles Day.

All the art and fine crafts were created using scrap or repurposing items most people throw away. The show’s sponsors hope to demonstrate that such work is just as interesting and equal in quality to that made of new materials. In fact, recycled art is becoming collectible, and it’s often exhibited in fine galleries and shows across the nation.

In addition to the art show, the Bartholomew Consolidated School Foundation is sponsoring a Shred-a-Thon from 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. Speedy Shred, a local document disposal company, will provide shredding boxes for papers and security certificates for those wishing to use the service. A donation of $5 per container is requested, and participants may bring up to two, legal-sized boxes of documents.

Also, Bartholmew County residents attending the event may trade as many as five, 60 or 100-watt light bulbs for the equivalent in CFL bulbs. Local school students who received a grant for their service-learning project from State Farm will manage the exchange. To learn more about Déjà Vu, visit http://kid-at-art.com/htdoc/dejavu10.html.

PREVIEW SHOW & AUTUMN ART FAIR AT THE GARFIELD PARK ARTS CENTER

PRESS RELEASE: What are you doing the weekend before Thanksgiving?  Come have fun at the Garfield Park Arts Center!  Indy Parks and Recreation proudly presents the Third Annual Preview Show and Autumn Art Fair at GPAC.  Free to the public, both the Preview Show (currently on display in the lobby) and the Autumn Art Fair focus on exquisitely hand-created, family-friendly, affordable items (50¢ -$500) from about 60 artists.  Groups and individual artists from Indy, Brown County, and central Indiana are now displaying their unique wares of all kinds at the Preview Show.  These items and more go on sale at the Autumn Art Fair at GPAC on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 20 & 21, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Sign up for door prizes!  The building is handicapped accessible.

Several of the previous years’ groups have chosen to return.  An intricately cut gourd by Bob Dillard and a beautifully drawn fish-patterned gourd by his wife Emily represent the Indiana Gourd Society.  Brown County Artisans return with a mix of rustic and elegant works from glassman/painter Pete Bullard, weaver Linda Comstock-Teel, potter Jerry England, painter S. Frederick, pen and ink artist Lynne Lynch-Hughes, gourdist Sharon Jungclaus-Gould, woodcut artist Tom Lowe, bead and basket-maker Mary Pendergrass and jeweler Ruth Wert.  Herrons and Egrets have a woven gourd, “Hoosier Autumn,” by Mac McCrary and Jeanne Scheuring’s triangular shawl in warm purples.  The family of painters who formed Art is Relative bring us “The Wagon and the Barn” by Michael Ries, his wife Karla has “Missing Wheel,”  and her dad Richard Williams shows us “Lands End.”

Other well-known area artists are back.  Ceramicists Rick “The Pearman” Greiner and Sean Gray will be demonstrating their art.  Mike Rogers, GPAC’s “poet laureate,” has an original poem on display.  John Jarvis brought a tooled and painted leather Native American Medicine Wheel.   Marti Icenogle’s unique monotype is “Chinese New Year.”  Proudly  “Eagle”  by Mike Taylor surveys the scene.  A speckled blue sugar and creamer set by Christine Heisler makes you crave tea.  “West Washington Street” is Steven Keller’s offering.  “Little Blond,” a charcoal portrait sketched by Charles Ver, encourages you to have a sketch done at the fair.  Pam O’Rouke and friend Anne Kominowski have photos and cards for sale.  The photo of fine jeweler Megan Martin’s “Butterscotch Drops” glows golden.  An opaque yellow slumped glass vase is from Muncie-area artist James Tharp.

Several people are new this year.  “Piecemaker” Linda Booker has a quilted purse and a child’s denim jacket.  Martha St. Claire creatively recycled of an old L. L. Bean man’s shirt into a cute little girl’s dress.  Mary Ann Habeeb shows a felted fedora and purse.  Sylvia Gray’s “Day in Jamaica” is a picture painted on silk.  “Sail Away” on Mary Lee Griffin’s stained glass boat.  Len Bibeau’s “Boars Head” is a landscape.  Lynne Medsker’s copper and more collage is entitled “Embrace.“  Do you recognize the tree in Leo Ware’s photo, “Garfield Park Beauty”?  Daniel Westfall brings us the appropriate “Fall Harvest.”  Local china-painter Penny Nangle offers lots of styles.  You’ll love Debbie Heidelberger’s tall iris cut from aluminum and set into stone.  The expressions on the faces of Francis Annich Johnson’s “San Diego Gorillas” will touch your heart. Brown County artist Cheri Platter’s jewelry incorporates her husband Dallas’s handmade lampwork beads.  Their friends Connie Simmonds and Susan Threehawks will bring mosaics.  From Peru comes Kenton Ridenour’s digitally painted “Visible Transformation”  and Valerie May’s elegant blue collage “Revisitation.”

Currently planned special guests include Faten Ali-Munger’s dancers, Manual High School’s Choir, and the Garfield Shakespeare Company.  Come for the fun!  Experience the extraordinary art for sale.  There’s plenty of free parking at the Garfield Park Arts Center.  Call 327-7135 for hours and info.  Check us out on the Garfield Park Arts Center’s Facebook page!

Come See Art from the Heart in the Heart of the Park!

Some tiny little prints

“sunset tree” monoprint on watercolor paper (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

Thought I’d share a few little prints I made the other day when I was playing around.  I like to make prints on gelatin plates (flat, thick slabs of unflavored gelatin) and that’s how these were done as well. It usually results in a more painterly type print and I emphasized that even more by using loose layers of watercolor for the backgrounds. The black details on the piece above are done with black acrylic paint, some of which is painted onto the plate and printed and a few details painted directly on the print.

(currently untitled) monoprint on watercolor paper (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

I didn’t set out to make anything particular, I had just made a couple plates to show someone how the process worked. I had a bit of technical difficulty making the plates and destroyed part of them when I was preparing them this time so instead of larger plates we ended up with smaller sections to work with. Sometimes little is fun! Especially when it’s your only choice. 🙂 The last piece started with a background that was basically a little leftover, watered down color on the plate from a prior project. Then I sprinkled blue dots on the plate & printed them in several layers. Sometimes I “see” things in a print that just need some accenting to bring them out – in this instance I saw a field of blue flowers. Using a very fine pointed marker I added the outlines and stems coming from different directions.

“blue poppies” monoprint on watercolor with marker (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

I like the kind of “retro” feel it has to it!

Speaking of retro, I will be displaying a mixture of older artwork along with some very new works in the Commons area at the Sugar Creek Art Center during the months of October & November. Be sure to visit and check out all the wonderful art, the artist’s studios, the gift shop and, of course, my display as well. They host “Culture at the Creek” the second Friday of each month from 6 to 9 p.m. with many special events going on those evenings. If you’ve never been to Sugar Creek it is well worth the drive to Thorntown!

Lynne

“Traffic Patterns” New work, April 2010

detail of "traffic pattern" acrylic on canvas (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

I feel as if I am falling behind posting new work & images! This is just one of at least five new pieces that haven’t made it to the blog yet. Let alone all the ones that are on the blog & haven’t made it to the galleries on my website! Being offline for over a week sure put a kink in the flow of information.  I suppose it’s a good sign that I’m producing so much new work, I’ve certainly enjoyed it! Today I showing you the progression from start to finish on a new piece titled “Traffic Patterns”. I worked on this piece simultaneously with two others that were the same dimensions.  I like having more than one piece of art going at a time and hopping between the pieces. These were all “outdoors” art pieces that I could get messy with – what fun!

work in progress, image 1 (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker
work in progress, image 2 (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker
work in progress, image 3 (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

I took advantage of that fact by starting off with lots of bright colors, thinned down with clear gesso to make them very fluid and very, very runny. You should see the rocks in my driveway now! They look like Easter exploded on them. 🙂

detail, work in progress, image 4 (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

After the initial layers of colors stopped flowing and dried I began to add more layers. First, of course, was a wash of white. Then a few big splashes of white and some smaller drips, too, just for good measure!

work in progress, image 5 (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker
detail, work in progress, image 6 (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

I still hadn’t gotten my fill of white so after that layer dried I added another layer, this time texturing on the paint by rolling it on a piece of bubble wrap and then “stamping” it onto the canvas randomly.

work in progress, image 7 (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

The next day I followed the white layers with lots of random black marks using the side of a palette knife to slide the acrylic on the canvas and then even added more bubble wrap patterns in black. Hmmm. Now it felt like it was too dark! Back to the white, this time using the palette knife to “draw” curved white designs and also using the tips of a comb to add tiny white dots all over the black lines in the composition. Aaah, that felt like a much better balance of black & white.

work in progress, image 8 (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

I was happy with the outcome but I let the painting sit for a few days before declaring it finished. Sometimes I get too hasty thinking pieces are complete and end up adding more to the mix but that wasn’t the case this time. Here is an image of the completed piece:

"traffic patterns" acrylic on canvas, 12x36", $295 (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

It will be on display during the “ArtsGo!” event this weekend, along with other new pieces that aren’t posted online yet.  Come get a sneak peek at them by visiting me at Artistic Designs Gallery at 152 East Northfield Drive in Brownsburg on Friday evening from 5 to 8 p.m. and again on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. While you are there grab a brochure for the art tour and take some time to explore the wonderful art here in Hendricks County!

Don’t miss it!

Lynne