Upcoming Open Studio Play Day!

This year I am doing something a little different! Instead of scheduling formal classes I am going to open my studio for a “play date” every  few months (sessions will normally be on the third Thursday of the month, followed by a session the next Saturday for those that need a weekend option). Topics will change each month and all will be fun & easy and each only $10 per person to cover the material and supplies.

5×7″ dimensional mixed media artwork © Lynne Medsker

For September the studio is open for play on Thursday, September 8th from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. as well as Saturday, September 10th from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. I’ll be working on preparing some new pieces for the show that opens later that month so materials will be out to paint rocks, create pieces on wood or sticks or just paint – whatever sounds like fun to you! Please reserve your 2-3 hour times slot as your schedule allows, I’ve got room for 3 or 4 people to work comfortably at the same time. The cost is $10. Visit the Online Reservation Form to sign up.

Your entire $10 fee will be donated to the Huntington’s Disease Society of America (HDSA) to promote education about, and research for, Huntington’s Disease. Many describe the symptoms of HD as having ALS, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s – simultaneously. There is no cure. We have two family members currently battling this deadly disease. I will be participating in walks in Indiana this September (for our son) and Knoxville, Tennessee in October (for our grandson).

I hope you are able to come out and play on one of these dates and help me raise money for HD at the same time!

Lynne

Updated Open Studio Schedule

Playdates!

So this year I’m just feeling a little more loose & free with the idea of classes, teaching and hosting events in my studio. Instead of “formal” classes I’m going to have a few dates throughout the year where I open the studio, have out supplies for certain projects and let you come, create and play in a relaxed atmosphere!

I hope you’ll join in one or more of these sessions, as I determine future topics I’ll post updates. All dates are subjected to change.

Of course I’m always available to schedule a specific class for you if you are interested, you can see a list of possible topics right HERE. I have “add more topics” on my to-do list but haven’t finished that project yet so you might want to check back in a few weeks!

Lynne

Sunny thoughts and an invitation

This month I am celebrating Spring…no matter how long it takes to get here! As part of that celebration I invite you to visit my studio as I participate in the third “Second Saturday Studio Tour” for 2015. The tour is part of the Rural Routes to Main Street Cultural Trail.  Visitors are welcome from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. this Saturday, March 14th, 2015.

I’ll have some treats to nibble, something to sip and a small Spring themed “make & take” art project for you to get creative with. As an added bonus I’ll be sharing flower seeds that I harvested last fall for you to take home and plant in your Spring gardens. I hope to see you then!

Sunshine & Blessings,
Lynne

Rural Routes to Main Streets Second Saturday Tour

THIS Saturday, January 10th from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. is the first Second Saturday “Open Studio” Tour of 2015.

Presented by the Rural Routes to Main Streets Cultural Trail in both Hendricks & Morgan Counties, these open studio dates give you a chance to glimpse into a working art studio that doesn’t have regular weekly hours for visitors. I was part of the tour prior to moving and am happy to be included again this year in my new location! I’d love to have you pop by for a visit, I’ll have the coffee pot on and might even bake a few cookies for nibbling. If you haven’t visited the new studio yet this would be a perfect time to see it and I’ll have something creative for your to make & take during your visit as well.

Drop me an email if you’re planning on visiting and I can send you a detailed map on how to find me…I’ll also have an “Open Studio” banner hanging out on the white gazebo building in the front yard to make it a little easier. 🙂

See you soon!

Lynne

March Open Studio!

Collage, 4.25 x 5.5″ from magazine pages

Just a reminder that this Saturday, March 9th, is the next Second Saturday Open Studio date! The doors are open and I’ll be waiting to see you between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. that afternoon. As with the last two months I’ll have a special “make & take” project for visitors of all ages to participate in. For March I’ll have a station set up for creating collages from magazine pages. I spend some time Monday afternoon making the sample piece, above, to share with you. Here are the step-by-step images of the collage piece being made:

base pieces for collage

sketch of possible shapes

beginning to add magazine pages

more magazine pages added

all pages glued down waiting to dry before adding marker & embellishments

The other even for Saturday is a “Share & Win” contest for all the visitors. I am focusing more & more on creating art from used materials and could use your help with some projects I am working on. Bring a donation of one (or more) item listed below and you will be entered to win a piece of art created specifically for you!

Plastic lids, any shape/size (think milk carton, pop and drink caps – screw on lids from peanut butter or other jars – plastic lids from butter tubs, cans of nuts, etc. – lids from hairspray, deodorant, laundry soap, etc.)

assorted plastic lids

Cardboard or “chipboard” (cereal boxes, etc.) unwanted magazines or books, sheet music, gift wrap, maps

Old games, game boards or pieces, playing cards

Earrings with no matches, broken jewelry (especially if it has beads!), broken watches or clocks

Leftover materials from do-it-yourself projects – Nails, screws, pieces, parts, washers, etc.

Larger items: Scraps of plywood (or other wood), unwanted metal shelving or file cabinets

I’m sure there are many things I didn’t even think to list so if you’ve got something cool to share, bring it!

Can’t wait to see you Saturday!

Lynne

Visit, Help & Win!

I’m am enjoying being on the “Rural Routes to Main Streets” cultural trail that spans Hendricks and Morgan Counties in Indiana! (Click the link above to download the 2013 brochure and see all the details.)

The trail includes 24 “full time” sites as well as 8 “Second Saturday” sites. My studio is included in that eight and will be open for visitors the second Saturday of each month from 11 am to 3 pm.

In January the first three visitors through the doors received a free piece of art from the selection shown above and created a “Make & Take” magnet. In February one lucky winner recieved a free two-hour art lesson and visitors designed their own “Make & Take” greeting cards using simple printmaking techniques.

For March 9th? Stop in a we will make some small “Make & Take” collage art pieces from old magazines.

I’ve already got some pieces cut & ready or you are welcome to leaf through some old magazines and select your own.

I’m collecting things for a few recycled art project!

Bring in plastic lids (from water or pop bottles, detergent, milk jugs – any size, type, color – as long as they are plastic) and/or bring in some of your broken/unused jewelry (any pieces are fine but I’d be really excited to get pieces with beads on them) and you’ll be entered into a drawing for a custom draw piece of abstract art. You choose the colors you love and I’ll create it just for you!

Hope to see you there…

Lynne

Review/Preview, Open Studio

So, last month I participated in my first ever “Open Studio Saturday” event as part of the local cultural trail!

It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day (especially for January) so my fear of snow and access/parking issues (we have a LONG drive that can become rather “interesting” when there is a lot of snow) didn’t materialize.  That was a fabulous start!  My cat got a little lap/love time while we waited for our first visitors.

I’d promised that the first three people through the door would each get a free piece of art and, as luck would have it, the first car held exactly three people! They were all so excited to choose the piece of art they would take home.

The other part of having the studio open was that I wanted to have some small “make & take” activity that visitors of all ages could do while they visited. This month I used some magnets I’d picked up at Indy Upcycle (if you live around Indianapolis you need to go there, what fun!). I cut watercolor paper to fit on the sticky-back magnets and then got out the permanent markers and watercolors so people could make their own artistic magnets. This is the sample that I made that morning:

I got people to participate! Happiness! I love it when people jump in a make something.

All in all it was a great first day on the trail. I had new subscribers sign up for my newsletter, got to chat with visitors and – drumroll please – even sold this piece of digital art before the day was over!

“Illumination” digital art on aluminum SOLD

The next Open Studio Saturday is in just six days, on February 9th, I hope you’ll stop by to visit and get creative. The plan is to have a drawing for a free art class as well as doing some small printmaking projects. The hours are 11 am to 3 pm, see you then!

Lynne

Be My Guest

I’m excited to be joining the “Rural Routes to Main Streets” cultural trail that spans Hendricks and Morgan Counties in Indiana! (Click the link above to download the 2013 brochure and see all the details.)

The trail includes 24 “full time” sites as well as 8 “Second Saturday” sites. My studio is included in that eight and will be open for visitors the second Saturday of each month from 11 am to 3 pm. Do you know what that means?

THIS Saturday, the 12th of January, will be my first Open Studio for 2013!  I plan to have something different on tap each month, to kick off the year the first three visitors through the doors will receive a free piece of art!  I’ve select an assortment of different types of creations for you to choose from (see image below) so there should be the perfect piece of art just waiting for you to come claim it!

I will also have a “make & take” activity for visitors of all ages, this month you are welcome to create a round magnet with various materials.

Hope to see you there…

Lynne

Yupo Play Images

I’m blushing a bit at how long it took to get these photos online and posted! These are all from a “Yupo Play” class last March! Better late than never I suppose. We had a good time exploring this interesting “paper” which is synthetic and machine-made in the USA of 100% polypropylene. It is waterproof, stain resistant, extremely strong and durable, PH neutral, amazingly smooth and Recyclable!  Here are a few images from the class:

“mash up” two pieces of damp Yupo paper & watercolor “mashed” between them, then taken apart

One side of a “mash up” watercolor & Yupo paper

These were fun and reminded me of a more colorful/interesting version of the ink blot images we used to make as kids – we could all see different things in them! What do you see in the image above? I’m curious if it’s the same as what I do.

One thing we attempted wasn’t very successful, but that’s what happens in a class titled “play” – we were experimenting with media, not aiming for masterpieces. 🙂 The technique was to take the paper outside and use stencils, lace, etc. and spray a clear acrylic paint over them to leave a pattern that would be blocked out in white when we added the watercolor. It probably didn’t help that it was a windy day and we had spray paint issues! You can see in this image that there was a bit of success but even that eventually disappeared as more watercolor was added.

stencil dots on Yupo paper

stencil stripes on Yupo paper

Oh well! Perhaps a repeat on a non-windy day will have better results. 🙂

Washing on a layer of watercolors and then laying plastic wrap on top made for some really interesting abstract patterns. Well, if you were patient enough to let it dry before you took the plastic off!

plastic wrap over watercolor on Yupo paper

rolling paint with a brayer

We had so much fun moving the paint around on the paper that even our paper towels ended up looking colorful!

palette, paint, paper towel

The last technique we tried involved tissue paper layers on painted Yupo. Some were removed, others were kept, some moved to new placement and were adhered to the paper with clear acrylic gel.

tissue paper collaged on Yupo

And, yes, it was as much fun as it looks – you should come try it sometime. 🙂