Productive times!

I am delighting in my time here in Michigan! Work is flowing and I am finding a wonderful rhythm to my days. Waking, working, resting, eating all fall into place so easily when I am in a creative space such as this! I have attempted to attach an image of a new mandala that I finished today. I’ve skipped around from assembled pieces, mini shadow box art, large canavses and creating on paper quite happily. Thursday there will be a small reception to show my work so the next two days will be busy finishing up pieces in different stages and getting them all ready to show. I will be sure to post photos once I have everything hung up!

Works in progress from Michigan

As I type this I am sitting in a 300 square foot studio space near Lake Michigan. I arrived on Sunday and am delighting in the time and space to just be creative without distractions. I’m (hopefully) attaching an image of a couple canvas pieces I started yesterday. Primarily I’ve been working on constructing mixed media but the canvas has been a fun side project to play with as other work dries. I will post some progress images from time to time but my access to the internet is via my phone so its a bit of a process to accomplish. I also scheduled periodic posts to appear while I am away. I am so thankful to be here, to my hosts and to my husband for being “in charge” of the home and family while I am away!

New work

Blogging from the Mary Anderson Center, in the wee hours of the morning.  I am enjoying my time here, daytime I’ve been working in the studio and taking breaks to get out into the sunfilled outdoors.  The property is surrounded by a large amount of acreage, hiking trails, a large lake, small ponds and many other features – some that I’ve yet to personally discover. Most of the time I’ve been walking/hiking/wandering just to enjoy being outside but on a few trips out I’ve taken my camera and gotten some photos too.  This evening I uploaded the images from my trips outdoors plus some work that I’ve done in the studio.  From there I decided to combine images of some prints (and other works in progress) with a few of the nature photos and, well, here it is 2 a.m. and I am still not in bed.   I lose all track of time when I am being creative!  I ended up with a total of 18 images, four original images and then several variations of each of those.  These are five of my favorites:

I have several projects I am working on at once when I’m in the studio, which seems to be typical for me when I am here.  I can bounce from project to project as paint, ink, adhesives, etc. are drying. It’s also nice to have several things to choose from if I get restless with a certain project, either from working on tedious details or not quite being able to decide what the next step should be. Current projects include more of the embossed metal mixed media pieces, a large wood panel that is getting layers of texture & paint, two canvases, some pigment on Yupo paper and a few prints as well.  Most everything is “in progress” so I am hopeful that tomorrow I will be able to complete a few of them since I’ll be leaving on Monday.  Speaking of tomorrow (technically that would be today!), I best wrap this up and get to bed or I’ll be sleeping till noon!  I’ll check in again soon!

Lynne

I’m back…

did you miss me?  🙂

 I had a fabulous time during my retreat at the Mary Anderson Center, it was more than I dared to hope for!  I enjoyed some good company, some solitude, lots of time to make lots of art, time to rest & reflect – the best of everything.  As far my vow to find out how to post images, alas, that part of the plan failed.  The wireless internet was down in the house so, other than a quick trip to a local coffee shop to check my e-mail, I didn’t have access to the web.  That was probably a blessing, I didn’t waste time surfing when I could have been creating.  One project I had thought I would begin is internet based so that is on hold again, I’ve always got more ideas than time to do them though – nothing new in that!  I have continued to make art each day since I’ve returned, sometimes just for a few minutes, sometimes longer, it’s something I want to keep as a daily activity instead of holding out for large gaps of time & energy.  Those wonderful gaps never seem to show up and then I am frustrated by all the pent up creativity! 

I have been teaching a mixed media class on Tuesday afternoons, two weeks into it, two weeks left to go.  It’s been a nice change of pace to work with a group and share a few things with others.  My second session of pottery/clay classes started this week so that is awesome too.  I am excited about my first creation and hope to finish at least one more during each of the next three weeks (it’s a four week class).  I’d be thrilled to have four pieces similar to the first one at the end of class.  It is all hand-built work, very full of texture and dimension and I’ve left it open to where I can add metal/wire to the pieces once they are glazed and fired.  I am designing them to hang on the walls, they are beautiful in my imagination (I’ve been thinking of them for weeks), now to get them out of my head and into reality! 

 I realize after looking something up on my website that I need to do some updates, it’s been about 6 weeks since the last ones, my calendar section is out of date!  Seems like I just did updates but time passes so quickly. Enjoy the hints of spring that art beginning to peek through, it’s lovely to see some small splashed of color after the drab winter!

I’m outta here!

I am anxious to leave in the morning and re-visit the Mary Anderson Center in southern Indiana.  It is a wonderful retreat, a haven for renewing, creating and spending time focusing on art.  My last two visits there I was the only artist in residence for the majority of my visit, this visit there are four artists staying there.  One, a dear friend, will be there working on her writing during part of my visit.  I am curious to see how having other artists around compares to the solitude I’ve experienced in the past.  Today I am hopping around from one thing to the next, tying up loose ends here at home, gathering items I want to pack, brainstorming on what art projects I might create…my mind is going a million miles an hour!  One thing I am going to add to my list of goals for my trip is figuring out how to post a picture on this site!  I got a tiny, little one on the very first post am I’m not even sure how I managed that. 🙂  I’ll check in soon….