breckenridge colorado – A Randomly Creative Blog

Tiny Critters

Published on December 15, 2010December 14, 2010 by L.M.5 Comments

As I mentioned in my last post I still have some images from my trip out west that I hadn’t shared yet. The ones that are left are all of animals! I thought I’d start with tiny ones and work my way up as I post them. 🙂 There were plenty of little chipmunks around the town of Breckenridge, most of these images were taken by the river that runs through the center of town:

It was really fun for me to discover some species I’d never seen (or even heard of) while I was traveling! Both of these were from my visit to Rocky Mountain National Park:

"Pika" (perched on the rock, lower/left side of photo, he's TINY!) (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

I also saw several hawks while I was driving around the countryside! Although I was never near enough to get a close up shot but these were fun to take, nonetheless.

Of course what trip west would be complete without seeing prairie dogs! These guys were all photographed in the Badlands of South Dakota.

I’ve still got photos of moose, elk, buffalo, deer, goat, antelope, cows, horses, sheep and mules to share in future posts!

Stay tuned,

Lynne

Traveling West

Published on December 13, 2010December 12, 2010 by L.M.1 Comment

Well, it’s finally here – the last image of artwork that was created during my residency at The Tin Shop (in Breckenridge, CO) in September. I saved this piece for last because it ended up staying in Breck. Each artist that participates is asked to donate a piece of art to the Arts District and this is the piece that they selected to stay. It made the title even more fitting when that happened! Created on a wood panel I incorporated some aluminum in the this piece. It was added first.

work in progress, image 1, traveling west (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

Once I had that part completed I needed a way to keep from covering up part of the aluminum that I wanted to be circles so it was protected from the next layers of mortar. Cups full of sand were placed on top those areas to block them out.

work in progress, image 2, traveling west (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

Then it was on to applying the mortar and letting it dry in the sunshine.

work in progress, image 3, traveling west (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

After it dried the next phase was to add layers of color. Layers and layers and layers….

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

work in progress, image 5, traveling west (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

work in progress, image 6, traveling west (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

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

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

work in progress, image 9, traveling west (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

work in progress, image 10, traveling west (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

Finally it was time to add some embellishments here & there…a few pieces of tile and a twisted wire helped to balance out the piece.

work in progress, image 11, traveling west (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

A slight change in the orientation, it was sealed, glazed and complete!

Although this is the last artwork to share from my trip I still have a post or two of images taken while I traveled to share with you yet this week. Check back soon to see those and also some photos of a project that I started back in 2009 – and just finished last week!

Stay warm,

Lynne

Scenic Road Trip: Into Wyoming

Published on October 26, 2010October 26, 2010 by L.M.1 Comment

It’s been a while since I last posted any “road trip” photos so I thought I’d throw one out today just for fun! Still have another 3 or 4 to share with you, I’ll try to get another one ready later this week. These images were taken when I left my residency in Breckenridge, Colorado on a Monday morning and drove into Wyoming. I purposely plotted most of my travel on back roads and had some extra help with my route for this portion of the trip by a local sculptor who lived near Steamboat Springs. After leaving Steamboat I traveled close to 40 miles on gravel roads through the countryside before emerging onto a minor highway and making my way into Wyoming. It was an awesome trip! I think I only passed 5 or 6 vehicles the entire drive and the scenery was lovely. There were some scattered storms that blew through and by the end of the evening the skies were menacingly beautiful.

I spent the night in the historic Wolf Hotel in Saratoga, Wyoming and had a delicious dinner in their dining room that evening before calling it a night. The next set of photos will be from my travels the following day – across Medicine Bow National Forrest. Stay tuned!

Lynne

Erosion

Published on October 25, 2010October 24, 2010 by L.M.Leave a comment

Back to more mixed media art created at The Tin Shop in Breckenridge, Colorado. Can you tell it was a very productive stay? A handful more posts and I will have all the images and works-in-progress shots finally online. Then maybe I can show you what I’ve been doing since I returned! 🙂 For today I am going to show you a set of artwork in different stages from start to finish. For some reason I have a lot more progression images for these than many of the others. I’m alternating which piece I show you in each different stage, all three of the finished pieces are shown above. These were created on 11×14 flat wood panels. The first step was applying a thin layer of grout and troweling designs on each panel.

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

After that it was paint, paint, paint and more paint! The following are images of 10 of the different stages these pieces went through, I suspect there were a few more that I didn’t document but this will give you a good idea of the process.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

work in progress, image 9, erosion (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

work in progress, image 10, erosion (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

Most layers were thinned acrylic, a few layers were slightly thicker. They all added up to a rich depth of layered color. Just for fun I thought I would take a photo of the pieces hanging in a home-type setting (actually this is in Sugar Creek Art Center) to give you an idea how they might look.

Now close your eyes and picture them in YOUR home. 😉

Until next time!

Lynne

Spiritual Journeys

Published on October 18, 2010October 18, 2010 by L.M.5 Comments

Today’s artwork is another set that was created during my residency at the Tin Shop in Breckenridge, Colorado. These pieces began with a thin layer of mortar on each of the three 10×10 wood panels.

work in progress, image #1, spiritual journeys (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

Each of the pieces was textured in a different design and, after they dried for a day or so, color was adding in multiple layers of thinned acrylic, the first layer being blue. The following layers included shades of yellow, brown & rust.

work in progress, image 2, spiritual journeys (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

work in progress, image 3, spiritual journeys (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

The colors became deeper & more intense as the layers of paint were added to each piece.

work in progress, image #4, spiritual journeys (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

It reminded me of how our lives seem to be fuller & richer as we add on years of experiences!

work in progress, image 5, spiritual journeys (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

work in progress, image #6, spiritual journeys (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

And even if some of the layers themselves aren’t always interesting or beautiful, perhaps they can be when blended together over time!

1 of 3 pieces, finished, "spiritual journeys" (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

I like the thought of being a work-in-progress, knowing that each experience I have will add another layer to who I am!

Ever changing,

Lynne

Scenic Road Trip, Rocky Mountain National Park

Published on October 14, 2010October 10, 2010 by L.M.1 Comment

In my last scenic road trip post I shared photographs from my trip to & over Independence Pass, Colorado. The following week I took a full day to go explore Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. I was so excited I was even able to get myself out of bed early and on the road as the sun came up! I was “on the road” for a full 12 hours from start to return, many of those hours spent climbing in & out of the car taking photos – in addition to scrambling up & down the hiking paths. It was a wonderful day with beautiful weather and I enjoyed every part of it! Here are my favorite images from the day:

Next time the road trip finishes up with Colorado and moves into Wyoming. Look for it soon!

Lynne

Incline

Published on October 12, 2010October 10, 2010 by L.M.Leave a comment

This is one of those pieces that went through a lot of changes before it arrived at it’s final destination! That’s a nice way of saying it challenged me a bit. 🙂 But I enjoy a challenge from time to time so that was just fine. It began with a strip of aluminum surrounded by a textured layer of mortar. It also began as a very blue color!

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

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

The layers of color just kept on coming and eventually the hue changed from blue to more predominantly brown tones.

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

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

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

Getting closer but now I felt like maybe I’d covered up too much of the blue! Finding the middle ground is difficult some days.

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

Back in with a bit of blue and then some rust and copper colors to blend the top & bottom of the pieces and it was finally finished. I don’t know if it was the abundance of trains in the area, the many local mines or just my imagination but the strip of aluminum began to remind me of a railway along the side of a steep mountain, thus it’s name “Incline”.

More art on Thursday!

Lynne

Non-Identical Twins

Published on October 11, 2010April 15, 2011 by L.M.Leave a comment

Does this piece look familiar? Last month I posted it in an update featuring a variety of new works I had recently completed. Today you get a look at the process for it’s creation, as well as it’s “twin” artwork that was created at the same time. These are more artwork made on illustration board. I make random marks with wax on the board and then cover it with contact paper before drawing the design on it. Once the design is finished I mark the sections so I know what colors I anticipate painting them (it frequently changes during the process, but it’s a starting point!).

work in progress, image 1, non-identical twins (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

The contact is removed from the illustration board by gently cutting around the edges of each section with an x-acto knife and then peeling it off the board. Then the exposed sections are painted with their assigned color.

work in progress, image 2, non-identical twins (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

work in progress, image 3, non-identical twins (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

The wax makes for some surprises when it repels the thin washes of acrylic or watercolor paint, which makes it fun. I used a thicker coat of brown/gold paint so it covered in a solid color. Down to the last sections now and I have a change of mind once I’ve peeled off the contact paper.

work in progress, image 4, non-identical twins (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

I had originally marked these areas to be white but decided it was too stark white looking for my taste so I switched gears and painted these areas in a light blue. Here’s the end result for the second piece:

"Non-Identical Twins, 2" mixed media on illustration board, 20x15", $225 (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

And, yes, I would have to say that I might not have come up with this idea if my new granddaughters weren’t twins.

And yes, again, they’re not identical! Inspiration can be found all around. 🙂

Lynne

Scenic Road Trip, Independence Pass, Colorado

Published on October 5, 2010October 4, 2010 by L.M.5 Comments

I thought I’d share some photography today! While I was in Colorado last month I took a couple of days to just go out on scenic drives and photograph. These photos are from the trip out on 9-9-10, from Breckenridge, through/around Leadville and then out over Independence Pass and into Aspen. We had some spectacular clouds that made for great photography, which was awesome, and also made for some showers, which wasn’t quite as awesome. Dodging the drops was a challenge from time to time but it was still a great day. Here are a few of my favorite shots from that day:

mount buena vista (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

clouds/snow on the mountain peaks (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

mountain in black & white (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

clouds, mountains, water, flowers (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

along the winding road (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

old barn at Independence Pass (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

low hanging clouds after the rain (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

ghost town in the valley (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

growth along the Colorado River (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

I hope you enjoyed today’s “mini” tour…I had fun re-living the day as I was sorting & posting these images!

Happy trails!

Lynne

Buried Treasures

Published on October 1, 2010September 30, 2010 by L.M.Leave a comment

Featuring more art that was created during my stay in Colorado for today’s post! These pieces started out as flat wood panels that I put a blended-color coat of paint on to start.

work in progress, image 1, buried treasures (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

I had been experimenting with grout and cement and decided to add a nice layer of texture with cement on these pieces.

It was toward the end of the day so I left it overnight to dry. The next morning I was excited to see how it would look with some layers of paint on top! I picked up the first panel and, bam, all the cement slide right off onto the table. The other three followed suit and I was back to colored panels with a layer of cement dust before I knew what happened. I am not sure if it was the layer of paint, the texture of the panel or the wood products it was made of but the cement certainly didn’t like to stick (it did, however stick on other pieces!). SO…not to be outdone by cement I pulled out my jar of acrylic gel and redesigned the pieces over again.

work in progress, image 2, buried treasures (c) 2010, lynne medsker

So take THAT cement! 🙂 As soon as that was dry I began layering the colors one after the other.

work in progress, image 3, buried treasures (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

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

You may notice that the pieces eventually moved around. Although I had planned on them all “flowing” together (like the image with just the acrylic gel on them) during the confusion of losing the cement design I laid a couple of them down upside down and the hangers ended up at the bottoms! So I just went with the flow and turned them into a different design. The final touch was a liquid layer of gold/pearl color on each panel. I really liked the turquoise and swaths of gold throughout, which is what led me to the title!

I hope you have a lovely weekend…I’ll be back with more new images on Monday!

Lynne