What an apt title. Sometime I get away from blogging. But I always return. This time with some new art to share. I’ve been very prolific lately, which is awesome. It just doesn’t correlate with regular blogging. Two sides of the brain I think!
Remember a while back when I shared with you all the gelli prints I’d been making? Well I finally decided what I’d do with them. They make AWESOME background for mixed media art! Add in some book pages, decorative & tissue paper, top it off with charcoal outlines and acrylic ink plus some fun designs with pens and voila! Here are a couple of images of the work in progress.
Work in progress, applying book pages and gelli prints to wood panelsDecorative papers, tissue paper added to panelsCharcoal lines added to surfaceClose-up detail of surface after acrylic ink was applied
It certainly ends up looking totally different from the starting point! In addition to this artwork I’ve also complete four large (24×36″) canvases in this style as well as a set of five 6×6″ wood panels. The titles for all the new work come from some of the text that is still visible when the piece is complete. This one had the least text showing of all the new art but from what I could read “sometime” seemed perfect. I’ll be deviating from the geometric for the next few pieces but I’m sure I’ll return!
Thanks for continuing to follow this blog, it’s really appreciated!
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!!
This piece has been “in progress” for a few months. I’m excited to finally share it with you!
“Fruition” Mixed Media Collage on Wood Panels, 36 x 20″ $795 (c) Lynne Medsker
When I got the idea it took a bit of mulling around on exactly how I’d make it and then once underway it was a bit time consuming. The things we do for art! The first step was to create large pages of mandala-inspired art that would be painted and then torn apart.
Work in progress, Fruition (c) Lynne Medsker
I will admit to some mixed emotions about creating something just to tear it into pieces! Art from last year? Wouldn’t have slown me down a bit! While that was in stages of progress I designed the background from old pages of sheet music, watercolor paint and layer of thin paper to lay out a rough shape.
Work in progress, Fruition (c) Lynne MedskerWork in progress, Fruition (c) Lynne Medsker
Then it was time to rip, tear and arrange the pieces! In addition to the mandala art that was used I also cut circles from some “not so successful” printmaking projects and added them for color and texture.
Work in progress, Fruition (c) Lynne Medsker
It seemed like a great idea but I ended up going a bit overboard. Ack! Color overload. And not very “tree like” either!
Work in progress, Fruition (c) Lynne Medsker
The first thing I did once it got to this stage was to paint a thin layer of irridesent white over the background to tone it down a bit (shown above after the background was painted). Then it sat for a while. And then it sat a bit longer. I wasn’t sure where to go with it at this point…I knew what I wanted, but that was about all. One day when I had a friend over to the studio we talked about it and bounced ideas back & forth and before she’d even left I was working away!
I have a fabulous stash of different kinds of paper…okay, I’ll admit it. I’m a paper-aholic! I love paper, thin, thick, solid colors, pattern, textures, flat…it doesn’t matter. So I dug into that and found the perfect piece. A nice brown tree-ish color, very loosely woven with gaps and thin spots for the design underneath to peek through while it gave the piece the unity that I’d been looking for. Happiness!! The next steps were to add highlights, shadows and outlines for definition.
Work in progress, Fruition (c) Lynne Medsker
The finishing touches from this point didn’t take long at all, a little charcoal, a bit of acrylic ink and it was done. 🙂 I’ve got a few other pieces that are in progress right now but I’m also shifting focus to holiday projects and gifts so they are moving slow too. Lucky for you I’ve got a backlog of art that I haven’t written about yet. 🙂
Yeah, I decided I needed to describe my creations with a little more detail than just “mixed media” art. Since many of the materials I use are from the hardware section vs. the art supply area I settled on the industrial title.
work in progress #1 (c) lynne medsker
These are some images of recent work, in addition to concrete and wood I’ve been exploring imbedding and attaching objects. Does the image above look like it’s got straws sticking out of it? Actually, it does…they are blocking the concrete from filling holes that were drilled into the wood. The pieces below have (top to bottom) glass, metal wire and paper in them.
work in progress #2 (c) lynne medskerwork in progress #3 (c) lynne medskerwork in progress #4 (c) lynne medsker
Since the time I took these photos I’ve sealed each piece and added a few layers of acrylic paint/ink. There will be several more of those before they are finished! I will post more images as the pieces progress. In the meantime I’ve got several posts to share with you about recent classes and some of the great art that the participants created.
It’s been a busy week in the studio, I’m working on four different projects that include a total of seventeen small/smallish pieces! Nothing is finished at this point but lots of progress has been made. Since time for blogging (or anything else!) has been at a premium lately I am just going to post some images I’ve taken this week to keep you curious. 🙂
As each of the projects is finished I’ll post the entire start-to-finish image series for them. In the meantime, enjoy your Friday and the upcoming weekend!
Oooh, I don’t think I’ve had a “Thursday Edition” before. Isn’t this special? 🙂 It was a perfect day to stay in and make art (is there such a thing as a bad day to make art?) and I enjoyed having an extra day in the studio. I have lots of progress images to share with you, as well as some chit-chat to go with it. If you can’t tell by the image above I’ve added several more steps/layers to the “columns” artwork whose beginnings I shared in yesterday’s blog post. I added some more charcoal to the right side of the columns and rubbed that in to darken one side. The next step was to choose a color for the next layer and I picked a deep maroon to add on top of the brown/neutral base from the previous day.
As soon as I had added that I began to think about flowers, flower gardens, columns with flowers and away I went. Before I could get to the actual flower portion I wanted more underlayers of color to put them on so I dropped some sepia colored ink across the top of the piece and then tilted it to let it drip down to the bottom.
Now it was time to start thinking flowers. Of course flowers need vines, stems and some greenery too so I added bits of it on & around the columns and edges first.
Okay, NOW, it was time for flowers. I used different size dots with each color of paint I added, saving the very tiniest for the white dots that I put on last. Although I don’t think I’m finished with the piece it’s been fun seeing where it happened to go so far. I’m thinking perhaps it will end up more of a “secret” garden, hidden behind a few more layers a color, peeking out here & there. But that’s just “thinking” I’m letting it lead me where it wants right now.
I also added a layer of paint on the other piece that I started yesterday. I mixed an off-white with a light blue and got a very light grey-blue color that I spread over the top surface of most of the piece.
Eventually the texture was too much temptation and I just started using my fingers to paint with. 🙂 I wiped away most of the paint from the black lines so they would continue to stand out for now. I’m still not sure of the direction on this piece but I like this step. We’ll see where the next one leads! Here’s a close up photo of the texture of the surface:
Oh, did I say color? Perhaps I should have said LOTS of color! What fun! I know I’ll be adding more layers and some (or lots) of this may be covered up eventually but I really like the bold, fun, start. And, most of all, I’m just happy to have pushed myself into doing something with all that white canvas! I’m saving all the step-by-step images for a later post, perhaps when the piece is totally finished.
Tomorrow I will spend some time cleaning up the studio and getting artwork ready to show some visitors who are stopping by. I may have time to put a little paint to canvas, I’ll just wait & see where the day takes me. I hope your Friday and the upcoming weekend are both enjoyable!
"concerto" acrylic on illustration board, 10x20" (c) 2011, Lynne Medsker
I had a fairly productive day again today, even with a bit of a late start. Word of advice: Snooze alarms don’t work when you press the off button instead! I tested the paint on the three-piece mixed media art that I worked on yesterday and it seemed fairly dry but I was still a bit leery since it was so thick so I put it aside for another day of drying. No sense in messing it up because I’m in a big hurry. And, to be honest, I’m suddenly a bit intimidated by all the open space that needs work.
work in progress, 3-piece mixed media (c) 2011, Lynne Medsker
I know once I start laying down color that feeling will disappear, so my plan is to MAKE myself do something to the piece tomorrow, no matter what! Since I didn’t work on that today I went back to working on the two pieces I started yesterday on illustration board.I think I mentioned yesterday that I planned to add copper paint to the pieces and so that was my first step.
work in progress, "congregate" (c) 2011, Lynne Medsker
I painted in random areas around each piece until I was pleased with the amount of copper color.
work in progress, "concerto" (c) 2011, Lynne Medsker
It still needed a little something else but I really didn’t want to add any other colors to the pieces so I went back in with black acrylic and filled in more “selectively random” areas on each piece until I was happy with the way they looked.
work in progress, "congregate" (c) 2011, Lynne Medsker
The final step was to peel off the masking tape that I had used to block out a border around each piece. Unfortunately some of the illustration board peeled up with the tape in a few areas, and there was one spot where some paint seeped under the tape and into the white space. Poop. Oh well, they can be matted, I was just trying to save that step (and expense) when I was ready to frame them. It’s possible I could try painting the border, I’m still debating on that. Anyhow, the first piece is at the top of the blog and here is the second.
"congregate" acrylic on illustration board, 10x20" (c) 2011, Lynne Medsker
Once those were finished I started a couple of new pieces. I like having several works going in different stages so I don’t have any down time when I finally have the time & inspiration to work. These are smaller pieces on 6 x 12″ cradled art boards. I rarely sketch before I paint so this was a bit different for me, I’m rather curious to see if I like working this way or not. I’ve been reading (again, some more!) several art books lately and am inspired to try lots of different things. This project was to go through old magazines and look at the photos upside down to find some interesting abstract compositions to jump start a project. I found a few different ones but these two seemed to be the ones I was drawn to the most. The end result may or may not look like the original sketch, it’s more for inspiration than it is to be copied exactly – unless that’s what I really want to do! Here are a few of the steps during the sketching of the first piece:
work in progress "columns" (c) 2011, Lynne Medskerwork in progress "columns" (c) 2011, Lynne Medskerwork in progress "columns" (c) 2011, Lynne Medsker
This is the end result of the second sketch, as well as the end result of my hand after I smudged and smeared the charcoal around until I was happy with it.
work in progress "waves" (c) 2011, Lynne Medskerwork in progress! (c) 2011, Lynne Medsker
I tried different ways of applying the color to the canvases. The first piece I used a brush, spray bottle of water and lots of blending to start off.
work in progress "columns" (c) 2011, Lynne Medsker
After it had sat for a bit I went back in with a paper towel and blotted/blended the colors again.
work in progress "columns" (c) 2011, Lynne Medsker
For the second piece I used a palette knife and applied the paint with the side of the blade as well as the flat backside of the knife.
work in progress "waves" (c) 2011, Lynne Medsker
The final step for both these pieces was a layer of clear acrylic gel to add different amounts of texture to the pieces.
work in progress "waves" (c) 2011, Lynne Medskerwork in progress "columns" (c) 2011, Lynne Medsker
They are both waiting on my work table to continue adding colors and layers. The forecast is still including snow & cold for tomorrow and I decided it sounded like an excellent day to just stay in, stay warm & work in the studio. I re-scheduled a few of my errands and went out a took care of some others this evening. It wasn’t such a hard decision really, anytime I can stay in and make art that’s going to be my choice!
I’m not quite ready to reveal some new pieces I’ve been working on but I thought it would be fun to just tease you with a peek at some work-in-progress images!
section of a work-in-progress (c) Lynne Medsker
I’ve finished two of the five pieces and hope to have time to work on the other three in the next few days. Then you’ll be able to see the “after” versions of these “before” pics…and if you know me and my love of layering, you know it won’t look anything like how it started!
close-up of a work-in-progress (c) Lynne Medskersection of a work-in-progress (c) Lynne Medsker
Actually a couple of these images are getting pretty close to the “after” stage. You’ll have to figure out which ones though. 🙂 I have SO enjoyed the beautiful, warm weather and a chance to go outside and make art. I love not having to worry about making a mess…it’s such a different feeling to paint outdoors.
close-up of a work-in-progress (c) Lynne Medsker
As a bonus I’m getting some beautiful paint-covered rocks in my driveway too! It’s been so windy I’ve had to strap my canvases to the easel and retrieve flying supplies on a few occasions. And it’s still well worth it!
Do you think I got my color inspiration from this?
Easter Eggs (c) Lynne Medsker
Not really! I spent time cleaning out my paints, taking inventory, ordering some new colors and generally just getting a better idea of what I did & didn’t have. That was a few weeks ago and I pulled most of these colors out at that time, although I’m sure the onset of Spring helped influence my choices.
A Randomly Creative Blog 