I spent a fun day with a mother & daughter who took a mixed media wall sculpture class last July. (Yes, I know it’s January…sometimes it takes me a while to get to things!) I thought I’d share the images from the day with you.
Laying out design
Laying out design
Finishing individual pieces
Beginning assembly
Assembly
Assembly
Almost complete
Minor adjustments
All but done
Finished piece
I’ve not tried out this “gallery” feature before, you’ll have to tell me if you like it or prefer having each image posted individually. (Hover over the images here to read the captions.)
Seeing these pictures reminds me how much fun it is to assemble wall sculptures. Guess I’ll have to add that to the ever-growing list of things I want to do this year!!
On Monday, July 2nd from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. I will be holding a “Mixed Media Wall Sculpture” workshop at my studio. What a nice way to get a little creativity in your summer!
All materials are included but if you have found objects or other treasure you’d like to incorporate into your sculpture you are more than welcome to bring them! Cost per person is $95 – sign up with a friend and you will each get a discount. Class size is limited to 6 participants so be sure to sign up early!
So, yes, this date did sneak up on me a bit! I hope you will be able to join in the class while we created mixed media wall sculptures starting this Wednesday, March 14th, and concluding on Wednesday, March 28th.
No experience necessary, and all supplies are included. Just bring your inner child ready to play! Classes run from noon to 2:30 each day, and cost only $30. If you pay for three classes in advance the price for all three is $75! Future classes include these fun topics:
Saturday, March 24th – “Creative Collage” – an encore of the February 1st class, you’ll design and create an 8×10 collage on a ready-to-hang wood panel. You can view images and a recap of that class by clicking here.
Wednesday, April 11th – “Art from Nature” celebrating Earth Day 2012 a little early (April 22nd is the date) we will create mixed media art that includes natural elements (rocks, wood, etc.) Feel free to bring your own “treasures” to include in your art!
Wednesday, April 25th – “Recycled Journals” – continuing to celebrate the earth we will create small, decorative journals from recycled materials!
Saturday, April 28th – “Art from Nature” an encore of the the April 11th class, we may even hold this class outdoors if weather permits!
The last two classes before a summer break will be announced soon!
I’ve been busy scheduling classes, workshops and fun for my fun-loving, art-exploring students, friends and (yes!) even YOU! I posted a reminder about the next “Open Studio” session this Wednesday, I’ve got several more of those scheduled – both on Wednesdays and a few Saturdays as well. I’ll post the rest of the topics and dates in a few days. First I wanted to tell you about a workshop that we’ve scheduled that I am REALLY excited about! It’s something we’ve not done before, which is always fun for me. I’m hoping it will be something exciting for YOU too!
On Friday March 2nd (6 to 8 p.m.) and again Saturday March 3rd (9:30-11:30 a.m.) Mark & I are going to host a “Create your own Metal Sculpture” workshop! We’ll have a variety of different types, shapes and sizes of metal for you to select from. Once you’ve made your selection we will help you as you design your very own metal wall sculpture!
miscellaneous metal parts
After you’ve created your unique design it will then be prepared, welded and polished for you and available to pick up in two weeks. The size of the sculptures can be up to 11×14. Sculpture this size that we design & create cost $125. For this special workshop your cost will be only $75!
Your design session will last approximately 1 hour and reservations are required. Contact us via email(info@lynnemedsker.com) or by phone (317-852-3541) to reserve your session!
Recently Mark & I created several new pieces of collaborative art. It’s taking me a while to get new things online lately but I can at least get this one posted for you! I even have some progress images. The very beginning was to design & weld the metal that the rest of the wall sculpture is attached to. Once that was done I cut the wood pieces, sanded them and began with the painting process with black paint on both sides of each piece.
work in progress, image 1
After that it was time to get creative! Laying the pieces out in their approximate positions I began to add red, gold, grey & white paint in random patterns across the pieces.
work in progress, image 2work in progress, image 3
The pieces that look like cardboard are actually shapes cut from acrylic plexiglass that I stained a deep red color and then sealed. Once the paint had dried it was time to assemble the pieces using screws, wood glue and other adhesives (depending on the piece) until it was complete, adjusting the design along the way until I was pleased with it.
This piece is currently hanging in my studio, why don’t you schedule a time to come and see it in person?
View from the studio on a snowy day (c) 2011, Lynne Medsker
Well Tuesday we woke up to snow falling, which continued for most of the day. What a perfect day to start a crackling fire in the fireplace and settle into the studio! It was a day of progress but not completion…some days are just like that. Although I am please with the progress I also enjoy having finished images to share with you, those will have to wait a day or two! I worked on the tree piece that I started last Tuesday – the crackle paste had done it’s thing and was just waiting for some color to be added. Here’s a close up image of the crackle after I’d added washes of color to it:
close up, work in progress, 3 piece mixed media tree (c) Lynne Medsker
I had to seal the painted paste with a couple of a layers of clear, hard, acrylic so that’s where I left off. So far the tree portion is looking great, which makes me a little intimidated to start working on the background colors! I am keeping the rest of the work in progress images to myself for a while, I’ll save them to post with the finished image. 🙂
I also started two more pieces similar to “Free to Be” that was featured in yesterday’s post. They started as a large image but I wasn’t happy with the black design so I folded it in two and squished the paint around, rather like a Rorschach test. Eventually I just split into two different pieces then added a black stenciled area and lines of white paint to both pieces.
new work in progress 1-11-11 (c) 2011, Lynne Medsker
One I am painting in yellow/orange/red hues and the other in teal/blue/grey. I should have them finished and photographed for tomorrow blog post, look for them then!
Another project I hope to make some progress with is a new mixed media wall sculpture. I went out to the workshop over the weekend with a nice 2 x 4 foot sheet of wood and cut it to pieces with the scroll saw. Previous wood cutting has been just geometric shapes or curvy organic pieces but I really played with it this time making a lot more intricately cut pieces than I had previously.
cut wood for new projects (c) 2011, Lynne Medsker
For some reason it seemed like every other piece I cut ended up looking like a bird! I’ve had birds on my mind lately, I can’t tell you why or what it means but I keep coming up with ideas for artwork that has birds in it. I’m sure there is some deep meaning in it all but for now I just recognize that it’s happening and go with it. Anyhow, I ended up with a large selection of pieces ranging from less than an inch up to a big “base” piece that is probably a foot wide and two feet tall.
new cut wood pieces for future art (c) 2011, Lynne Medsker
Add that to the random pieces I already had in my collection I am ready to start constructing! One of the last things that I “intricately cut” was my thumb. It wasn’t a terrible wound and after a little first aid and a Sponge Bob band-aid I was good to go.
bleeding for my art! (c) 2011, Lynne Medsker
Although it was entirely my own fault I’ve been trying to blame my husband who, after I’d been cutting for a couple of hours, had to mention he was waiting to leave the house “just in case you cut your finger off and need help”. Less than five minutes later I was bleeding! Some things shouldn’t be given voice to! 🙂
As you read this I will very likely be back out in the studio working on these projects today, or others – you never know about me! Just picture me sitting in my cozy studio looking out this window at the winter beauty.
Following up on my last post, I’m sharing the second mixed media wall sculpture that I finished last week. I must have gotten lost in the process of creating “Amoeba” (shown above) because I didn’t document the progress well! Here are a couple images I snapped while creating:
work in progress, image #1 (c) Lynne Medskerwork in progress, image #2 (c) Lynne Medsker
This one went through several changes of color, pattern, texture and arrangement. It’s a bit smaller than the other new pieces I’ve made, and they weren’t huge by any means. I am feeling the urge to create a really large wall sculpture – be on the lookout for it!
In my last post I shared a couple of new mixed media wall sculptures. Since then I’ve completed two other pieces, one of which I am featuring in today’s post. “Solaris” (pictured above) was one of five pieces I started on last week. The initial layout looked like this:
work in progress, image 1 (c) Lynne Medsker
I had complete the sun part of this sculpture last year, not quite knowing when or how I would use it. It just seemed a perfect fit for this piece. The rusty washer I found in a parking lot and had to bring home and include in my art, again, it just seemed to fit. The thicker/darker wood we found out in the barn…I’m not sure exactly where it came from but I fell in love with it’s color and how easy it was to work with. I decided to just paint the edges black and leave the rest it’s natural color. I painted the background piece black and then decided it needed a little something extra on the left side so I added the aluminum strip.
work in progress, image #2 (c) Lynne Medsker
By that time I had moved the wood pieces at the top from their original position too. When I colored the aluminum strip it looked great but left the sun looking a little too “cartoonish” by comparison so I added more aluminum to it’s center and colored it to complement the strip.
work in progress, image 3 (c) Lynne Medsker
Now it was ready for the final assembly. I’m still learning this process as I create and I had to work a bit on the back of the piece to get it to hang properly. I’m thinking of easier ways to do that part of these projects…seems I am always learning (even if it’s things you don’t even see)! Today I’m going back out in the studio and see what other projects I can start, finish or just work on. I love my studio days and am SO excited to be gradually spending more time out there.
I don’t think anyone can be as excited as I am that I have some new art to share on the blog today! After thinking about it I realized it had been over two months since I’d had a day in the studio. That’s not a record I wanted to set and I’m hopeful I won’t repeat it! But now for the fun part. 🙂 I know I’ve featured several mixed media wall sculptures on the blog before but they were either created as collaborations or specifically for donations, I’d not yet created any just for my own pleasure. Well that has changed! My first day back in the studio I laid out the “bones” to build five new pieces. It was such a productive day that by the time the sun had set, I had two of them finished! The others are impatiently waiting (or is that me that’s impatient?) for me to return and finish them. I hope to complete at least one more before the week is over. The first piece is shown at the top of the page. Here are some photos of the process for the second piece:
work in progress, image 1, possible layout of pieces (c) L. Medskerwork in progress, image 2, one arrangement of partially finished pieces (c) L. Medskerwork in progress, image 3, final layout/design of partially finished pieces (c) L. Medsker"time for sale" mixed media wall sculpture, 12x17", $175 (c) Lynne Medsker
I can’t wait to finish more and share them with you! In case you missed the announcement on the blog earlier in the week here is a —>LINK<— to the press release about the show & reception in Fountain Square this Friday evening. I’m sure I’ll be bringing these new pieces with me, along with some other favorite mixed media work. It would be great to have you stop in & say hello that evening!
A Randomly Creative Blog 