Updated Class Schedule

Although this could change again I at least wanted to get the most up-to-date version online! I am looking at adding a second “Web Presence for Artists” class the last Saturday of September and we may also schedule one more “Industrial Art Duo” in October since it was so popular the first time. Of course you are always free to request a class that interests you! (Email me at info@lynnemedsker.com with your requests.) Stay tuned for updates, I’ll post them as I know them!

Wednesday, August 29th, 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. – Web Presence for Artists – Sugar Creek Art Center, Thorntown, Indiana, $20 per person.

Wednesday, September 5th, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. – Acrylic & Watercolor on Paper – ArtSplash Gallery, Carmel, Indiana $45, includes all supplies.

Thursday, September 6th, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. – Mandala Art II – Lynne Medsker Studio, Brownsburg, Indiana $35, includes all supplies. (See link/info below, same class, different location)

Thursday, September 20th, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. – Mandala Art II – ArtSplash Gallery, Carmel, Indiana $35, includes all supplies.

Friday, September 28th, 6:30 – 9:30 p.m. – Layers & Lattes – Artistic Designs Gallery, Brownsburg, Indiana $30 includes all supplies

Friday, October 26th, 6:30 – 9:30 p.m. – Layers & Lattes – Artistic Designs Gallery, Brownsburg, Indiana $30 includes all supplies

Web Presence for Artists: August 29th, 2012

I was invited to share some information with local artists about online presence and social media. I know enough about it to know I don’t know it all – but I’m excited to share what I do know! Here is the class information. If you’d like to join, please email me at info@lynnemedsker.com. If we can find a workable date in the near future I may be presenting this again on a Saturday for those that aren’t available during the week.

__________________________________________________________________________________

An Introduction to Web Presence & Social Media for Artists

Presented by Lynne Medsker

Date:                  Wednesday, August 29th, 2012

Time:         10:00 a.m.– 2:00 p.m. (bring a sack lunch)

Location:         Sugar Creek Art Center

                          127 South Pearl Street

                       Thorntown, Indiana

Cost:                  $20 per person

Contact:         Lynne Medsker @ info@lynnemedsker.com

This class is to introduce and encourage artists to use the available social media and online outlets to present and promote their work.  It will be broken into a morning session that covers basic information on presenting your work online, including:

Photographing/Adjusting/Resizing your images for the web

Watermarking & copyright for your images

What information to include with your images

Being consistent in your efforts

Connecting with other artists, art lovers and potential clients

After lunch we will spend time talking about specific sites and ways to promote your art, some topics covered will be:

Facebook Pages

Pinterest

Twitter

LinkedIN, Branched Out, Google+, etc.

Etsy & eBay

Blogs and blogs vs. websites

Image hosting sites

Online resources

You will receive handouts as well as links & information via email after the class. I will be available after the session to answer any specific questions that you may have about your art, Facebook Page, blog, etc. and to schedule one-on-one tutoring sessions for those who are interested in further assistance. If you have a laptop please bring it with you!

Cybernated Artistry!

In case you missed it I am excited to be sharing an upcoming venue with other digital artists that would like to show their work! The details and entry form are located at http://cybernatedartistry.wordpress.com. the deadline is in one week! I hope you’ll consider entering and help show the public how diverse digital art can be!

If you aren’t a digital artist then instead of entering I am asking you to attend! Here is an image of the postcard announcement with all the details:

See you there!

Lynne

PS – So, after passing out these postcards and publishing the image all over the web it was pointed out to me I have the wrong date printed on there for the reception. Sheesh. If I confused you, my apologies…it is indeed a Friday – the 10th.

Small bit of mandalas!

mandala #44, mixed media on paper © Lynne Medsker

I’m still spending time playing with mandalas, these three new small mandalas have been delivered and hung in the gift shop at Sugar Creek Art Center, located in Thorntown, Indiana. I am enjoying creating these with the addition of a watercolor background and really like the off-center composition too! Although I loved creating the more traditionally composed pieces, for me this just seems to make the final image a bit more interesting. What do you think?

Somehow in the midst of creation I failed to get an image of them before any color was added…so just use your imagination, tuned to black & white. 🙂 Here they are after a layer of watercolor was added to them.

work in progress, mandalas 45, 46, 44 (L to R) © lynne medsker

The paint dulls the outlines so several of them have been traced over to get them back to their original bold black. I picked up some cool little frames the other day, which was my inspiration for creating these tiny pieces. Come to find out they weren’t quite tiny enough, I had to trim them down to fit in the frames!

"mandala #44" mixed media on paper, 4x4" framed to 6x6" $35 © Lynne Medsker

You can see the size difference in this image vs. the one at the top of the page. Here are the other two pieces in their frames:

"mandala #45" mixed media on paper, 4x4" framed to 6x6" $35 © Lynne Medsker

"mandala #46" mixed media on paper, 4x4" framed to 6x6" $35 © Lynne Medsker

They will fill a small space with a nice splash of color, or hang all three together in a slightly larger space for a fun display! Of course I’d be happy to create some for you in custom colors as well – what colors will you choose?

Lynne

Winter Festival & Fundraiser at Sugar Creek Art Center

Mark your calendars for THIS weekend, both Friday & Saturday evening there will be activities at the Sugar Creek Art Center in Thorntown, Indiana. Here’s the scoop:

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

Seeing Red

The month of February is bringing special events to the Sugar Creek Art Center in Thorntown, Indiana.  Everyone is invited to join them for their 1st Annual Winter Art & Acoustic Music Festival, February 12th & 13th, 2010.  The theme for the February art exhibit will be “Seeing Red” and will feature works by SCAC artists and local guest artists (like me!).  The celebrations kick off on Friday evening at 6 p.m. with the month “Culture at the Creek” event.  This month for “America’s Local Date Night” it includes (in addition to the wonderful works of art) a dessert bar as well as roses and sweet treats for your sweetheart available for purchase in the Gift Shop.  Saturday’s events include an Art Market, live Bluegrass Music and a Chili Dinner!  The Chili Dinner is available from 4 to 8 p.m. for only $5 with music being provided by the Thorntown Bluegrass Jammers.

I selected my recent acrylic works to hang in the show, including this new piece.

“opposing forces” #3 acrylic on canvas (c) 2010, Lynne Medsker

It will be fun to see what other “red” works of art with be featured! Mark your calendar so you don’t miss out on this exciting weekend!

Lynne

 

More work-in-progress

Each month I spend a day as a “volunteer” at the Sugar Creek Art Center in Thorntown.  This is where I have a small studio space and also show my work throughout the building.  Part of being a resident artist is taking your turn volunteering.  I always enjoy being able to go the center and spend time on art but it is hard to fit it into the schedule as often as I would like.  So at least when it’s my turn to volunteer it prompts me to go there.  As I am tending the gift shop and greeting the visitors there is still ample time to work on small art projects as well. (Especially since I volunteer during daytime hours on a Thursday…not a high traffic time of the week by any means.)  During my last visit I started on this little (4″x4″ each) five page “book”.  

board "book" side one (in progress) (c) Lynne Medsker 2009

board "book" side two (in progress) (c) Lynne Medsker 2009

I got both sides of the piece covered with paper, etc. and almost have side “one” complete.  Side two will be the project for my next visit.  It was my first time creating something like this and I had fun playing with the smaller format pages and  putting it together.  

I won’t be going back to the center until I return from Colorado (I’m scheduled to volunteer again on April 30th), I will post updated images after that!

Lynne

Retro Friday, revisited

“Ebony Branches in Blue” hand colored photograph (c) Lynne Medsker

A few weeks ago I posted some older art images and declared it “Retro Friday”.  Here we are again with a perfectly good Friday to show off some old stuff.  (This is what happens when I spend too much time working on marketing, communications and promotion…no new images to show you!)  WAY back when (okay, maybe not that long ago) when I was beginning to pursue art again as an adult my first steps started with my camera.  It didn’t take terribly long to expand on that topic and add in some alternate processes and films, Polaroid transfers (hmmm, something for another retro-Friday?) and hand-coloring black & white photos.

 

Hand color photo of an old Dodge (c) Lynne Medsker

 

Hand color photo of a window/flower box (c) Lynne Medsker

 

Hand colored photo of a tree (c) Lynne Medsker

It’s a bit of a lost art now that it can be done more quickly &  precisely (with a lot less mess & fumes) and then be printed at any size, in any quanitity you’d like by digital means.  Although I’ve embraced the technology there is some undefined quality to the actual hand-painted photos that is just more appealing to the senses, at least for me.  Maybe it just invokes some hidden memories, hard to say.

Along with using the photo oils, pencils and other techniques (did you know you can stain photos with tea, coffee or even kool-aid? That’s where the blue background on the first image came from!) I also scanned some black & white images, adjusted the opacity and contrast, then printed them onto watercolor paper and painted them with watercolors.

“No Trespassing” watercolored barn photo (c) Lynne Medsker

 

“Stormy Day” watercolored photo (c) Lynne Medsker

 

“Bottles” watercolored photo (c) Lynne Medsker

Totally different look & feel than the ones that were painted directly on the photos!

Until next time…

Lynne

Busy-ness

Today was set aside to prepare for the upcoming art show at the Eiteljorg Museum on Saturday.  I always forget how much work & details there are to take care of prior to a show.  And this one is easier than many, it’s indoors and they take care of all the payments and money handling.  But even without packing up the outdoor tent and accessories, digging out the manual credit card machine or making a run to the bank for change there is still plenty to do.  Choosing which artwork to bring (I was juried into two different media so I have a wider selection to choose from), printing labels and filling them out, making sure I have an ample supply of business cards, postcards and promotional materials and, of course, finishing up last minute creations all filled up the day.  Tomorrow they are having early set up in the afternoon so I can pack everything in the morning and (with the help of my wonderful “volunteer” & son, Josh) get my space set up in the afternoon.  It means an extra trip but it is so much easier on my achy body to do it in two different days instead of packing, setting up, being on my feet all day, tearing down, repacking and bringing everything home to unpack and put away, all in one day.  Makes me tired just writing about it!  Which I guess is one reason I have drastically reduced the number of art shows that I participate in.  As a matter of fact this is my first of the year, with only a few weeks left before a new year begins!  I finished the other “mini” art pieces that were underway in my last blog.  Here are a few samples:

“mini” art, 5×7 mixed media