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!

Commissioned Work: Turquoise Topography

So I thought I’d finish off this week with some commissioned work that I completed in February.

"turquoise topography" 1 & 2, commissioned artwork, mixed media on wood panels, 20x20" each

The color scheme and media were based off of a piece I’d made a few years ago, “Lacrimo”.

"lacrimo" mixed media on wood panel, 20x20" $375 © lynne medsker

Since the client wanted two pieces I knew I’d get a better continuity between them by creating two at once instead of trying to match the single piece I’d created two years ago. Beginning with layers of concrete applied by hand to the wood panels, I made texture & designs on each panel, as well as drops and bumps of concrete across the surface as well.

work in progress image, concrete of wood panel © lynne medsker

work in progress, first layers of acrylic © lynne medsker

Once dried that layer was sealed and then I began the layering process with thin layers of acrylic. Adding more neutral colored layers followed by bright colors I built up the design on the concrete bit by bit.

work in progress, additional layers of color on wood panels © lynne medsker

work in progress, brighter colors on top of the neutral background © lynne medsker

Eventually it was time for the finishing layers, more sealer and to choose a direction for them to hang.

finishing touches of color © lynne medsker

It was actually the clients idea to hang them at an angle, they look great that way! I really enjoyed being able to create these pieces, what would you like me to create for you?