Putting the "A" in "STEAM"

 I'm excited to announce that for my next exhibit, I'll be putting the "A" in "STEAM" at Toledo's science center, the Imagination Station!

You may remember I participated in the Momentum Festival presented by The Arts Commission in downtown Toledo in September. There, I was approached by the creative manager for the Imagination Station about exhibiting my cyanotype prints (a.k.a. sun prints) to tie in with the educational activities they will be offering for the upcoming solar eclipse taking place on April 8th, 2024. 

 

These three images, inspired by the eclipse, will be among the two dozen other cyanotype prints I'll be installing on Monday to exhibit at the Imagination Station through the beginning of Apil. Be sure to let me know if you get a chance to check it out. 

In a blink of an eye, 10 years

Holey Moley, it's been a minute!

Or 10 years to be exact! 😳

Yup, I've started my return to my work as an artist after a very long hiatus. 

As you may or may not know, I had stepped away from my career as an artist to spend my time being a stay-at-home mom. While I was at home focusing on my family I continued to practice my creative skills by exploring painting, printmaking, and taking art classes in my spare time. I have recently returned to my art career with interest in mixed media art, encaustic painting and monoprinting, and cyanotypes.

In fact, one of my first steps back to work was to participate in a local art exhibition. Last month I was one of over 100 local visual, literary, and performing artists to participate in the Momentum Festival presented by The Arts Commission in downtown Toledo.

For my exhibition at the Momentum Festival, I prepared and framed 26 pieces. Go big or go home, am I right? 😅

Half of my exhibition was encaustic monotypes, and the other half were cyanotypes. Here are a couple of my favorites.

Enchanted Winter Wreath 8x10 Cyanotype by Janelle Lorenzen

The Refuge 8x10 Encaustic Monotype by Janelle Lorenzen

So what's next?

Obviously, I'm working to revive my blog. I decided to keep the history of my blog from my work as a portrait and fine art photographer. It's part of my journey and got me to where I am. However, you will see that my interests and work have shifted and evolved. 

I'll be working on getting a website together and a shop open to sell my work online. 

I'm also starting on an exciting new body of work exploring encaustic mono-printing. Check back for my next post with details on that.

Artomatic 419!

This Saturday is the last day of Artomatic 419!

Artomatic 419! is one of the region's largest multimedia arts event. This year, Artomatic 419! will feature more than 500 visual, literary, and performing artists in a 50,000 square foot former warehouse space. Featuring two floors of stunning visual arts, a former CYO church filled with sculpture and installations, three stages of entertainment, and much, much more, Artomatic 419! is one of Toledo's most highly anticipated arts events of the year. The 2013 installment of Artomatic 419! will take place at 911 N. Summit Street in the former Metropolitan Distributing Building on April 13th, 20th & 27th from 11am to 11pm each Saturday. More than 500 visual, performing, and literary artists will participate, with more than 10,000 guests attending over the three weekends. Artomatic 419! is curated and presented by The Arts Commission.

This event will be the fourth Artomatic that I have participated in. In the past I have always shown fine art photography. However, this year I am showing a new exhibit of seven encaustic paintings. Encaustic is a new medium for me. I've been only just begun really learning about it in the last year. It's a exciting medium that is diverse and offers endless possibilities. The seven paintings that I am exhibiting this year are a collection of explorations of the medium.  Please join me in the "Orange Room" on Saturday to view my new work and learn more about encaustic painting.

Inked by Janelle Lorenzen - (12" x 12" Encaustic, India Ink, and Oil on Board)

Yellow Boardwalk - Toledo Digital Billboards Art Project

You may remember my blog post back in October of 2012 about my fine art photograph, Yellow Boardwalk, being selected by The Arts Commission of Greater Toledo (ACGT) to be displayed in the Toledo Digital Billboards Art Project as part of the Art in Public Places series. 



Yellow Boardwalk, by Janelle Lorenzen, on display at Monroe and Secor as part of the Toledo Digital Billboards Art Project

It's been awhile, but I wanted to post a photo of my image on display on the actual billboard. This was taken at the corner of Monroe and Secor in Toledo, OH. It was one of the two billboards that the image was displayed on during October of 2012.

Color Kaleidoscope Exhibition

PRIZM Creative Community is sponsoring an new exhibition called Color Kaleidoscope at Sam B’s Restaurant in Bowling Green. Included in the exhibition are nine of my fine art photographs, some of which were recently featured in my Color reVision exhibition.

A Moment Aglow by Janelle Lorenzen

This evening from 8-10 p.m. will be the opening reception for the exhibition at the Sam B’s Restaurant. There will be FREE drinks, appetizers, and acoustic guitar entertainment in the back bar area of Sam B’s. This exhibit will be on display through the end of May with over 100 new works of art in all medias including Fiber Art Quilts, Glass, Wood, Ceramics, Jewelry, Photography, and Fine Art.

Cedar Falls by Janelle Lorenzen

New artists being featured at this location will be Janelle Lorenzen, Lila DeWitte, Wendy Jenkins, Sue Leimkuehler, Dave Grabarczyk, Norma Meier, and Trudy Heinz Fails.

Other artists featured are: Jeremy Anderson, Kate Argow, Elaine Fuchs, C. Corky Dunsmore, Joshua Lee Haus, Darlene Krohn, Mary Anne Nicholson, Emanuel Enriquez, David Kolasky, Adam Soboleski, and Les Robertson.



Covered Bridge by Janelle Lorenzen

PRIZM Creative Community is a 501 c. 3 nonprofit organization currently receiving partial funding from the Ohio Arts Council and Toledo Community Foundation. For more information on upcoming PRIZM educational workshops in the visual and literary arts visit our website at www.myprizm.com or email prizm@bex.net

Salon des Refusés

One of my fine art photographs is included in the 2013 Salon des Refusés Exhibition sponsored by Prizm Creative Community. The digital color photograph was taken in the Lincoln Park Conservatory in Chicago, IL.

 

Fine Art Photograph by Janelle Lorenzen

 

The Salon des Refusés (French for “exhibition of rejects”), a long standing and well loved Toledo tradition for many years, is an exhibit for art not accepted by the Toledo Area Artists Exhibition held each year in the Toledo Museum of Art. Since its inception the Salon des Refusés has earned a reputation for quality exhibitions among area art critics. The exhibit will be held for six weeks from Feb 1st - March 15th, at The Art’s Commission’s Parkwood Gallery located at 1838 Parkwood Avenue in Toledo. Evening hours to view the exhibition will also be held on Friday evening the 22nd of Feb. from 6-9 p.m. at The Parkwood Gallery, 1838 Parkwood Ave. in Toledo. Otherwise viewing hours for the exhibit will be held Feb. 1st –March 15th during The Arts Commission’s regular business, Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m.



 Salon des Refusés Postcard by PRIZM Creative Community

PRIZM Creative Community is a 501 c. 3 nonprofit organization currently receiving partial funding from the Ohio Arts Council and Toledo Community Foundation. For more information on upcoming PRIZM educational workshops in the visual and literary arts visit our website at www.myprizm.com or email prizm@bex.net


Color reVision in Perrysburg Messenger Journal

Exciting news! The Perrysburg Messenger Journal wrote an article on my Color reVision fine art photography exhibit. See the copy below.

(Click on the image to view larger)

PRIZM Opens New Art Exhibit 'Color reVision' Perrysburg Messenger Journal 12/05/2012

Color reVision Photography Exhibit by artist Janelle Lorenzen

Things got so crazy busy during the holidays that I forgot to post about the fine art photography exhibit I hung in December.

Frog Town by Janelle Lorenzen

My artists' group, PRIZM Creative Community, is sponsoring the exhibit at Starbucks at Levis Commons, in Perrysburg, Ohio. The exhibit will be available for viewing during regular business through January 28th, 2013.
 
Here is an excerpt of the press release sent out by PRIZM.

The current display entitled Color reVision features the work of PRIZM artist Janelle Lorenzen and will be on view through January 28th, 2013. The display includes Janelle’s fine art photography of landscapes and cityscapes of the Toledo, Ohio area and other inspiring locations in the region. The display includes images of the Toledo skyline, Wildwood Metropark, Maumee Bay State Park, the Toledo Botanical Gardens, the High-Level Bridge, and the Docks, among others.

Bridge Over Still Water by Janelle Lorenzen

To view examples of my fine art photography, including images in the Color reVision exhibit visit the Janelle Lorenzen Fine Art Photography website.

Yellow Boardwalk by Janelle Lorenzen

Yellow Boardwalk - Fine Art Photography by Janelle Lorenzen

Exciting news! Yellow Boardwalk, one of my Fine Art photographs, was selected by The Arts Commission of Greater Toledo (ACGT) to be displayed in the Toledo Digital Arts Billboard Project as part of the Art in Public Places series!



Yellow Boardwalk by Janelle Lorenzen

ACGT's description of the project:

"Toledo is home to a growing number of digital billboards. These giant computer screens are mounted high above the streets and allow advertisers to blast their message out to thousands of potential customers or patrons on a daily basis. The content that runs on these giant screens typically loops on a regular schedule showing each ad for approximately 8 seconds.

What would happen if some of the slides in the rotation on these billboards were not intended to promote, advertise or advocate for a particular cause or product? What if some of the slides were designed simply to enhance our City’s aesthetic and cultural identity?

The Arts Commission and Toledo Detroit Outdoor Media are working together to explore this idea in a project called the Toledo Digital Billboard Art Project. The project will utilize two local digital billboards, which are owned by Toledo Detroit Outdoor Media, to exhibit a series of artworks with the sole intent of beautifying the City of Toledo for 8 seconds at a time. This project is designed to add to our city’s growing reputation as a center of creativity and culture, and to remind viewers that (despite what is communicated in the media) Toledo is a vibrant and enjoyable place to live and work."

The images select for the project will be displayed starting the week of October 8th.  The billboards are located on Monroe at Secor, and Secor at Central in Toledo, OH.

Yellow Boardwalk is digital color photograph taken at Wildwood Metro Park in Toledo, OH.  The dramatic colors in this image are due to the faux infrared post processing of the image in my digital darkroom. You may remember that this image was also chosen to hang in the Toledo Museum of Art in 2009 for the 91st Toledo Area Artist's Exhibit. For the billboard project the image was cropped to fit the dimensions of the billboards. The full uncropped image is below.

Yellow Boardwalk by Janelle Lorenzen

Black Friday (and Saturday) Fine Art Photography Sale!

Click here to view my fine art prints for sale.

Email me the size and name of the print you want and I will send you an invoice for the sale price. You must send your email before midnight on Saturday!

Send orders to: Janelle@LorenzenStudios.com

Salon des Refuses Exhibit

Great news! This Friday is the opening reception for an exhibit that includes my first finished encaustic painting!

12" x 12" Encaustic Painting, Gnarled Tree by Janelle Lorenzen

The Salon des Refuses Show, a well loved Toledo tradition, is an exhibit for art denied by the Toledo Area Artists Exhibition, an annual show exhibited at the Toledo Museum of Art.

This year, I will have an encaustic painting on display at the Salon des Refuses Show at the Parkwood Gallery. Please come out and see my first painting in a medium that is all new to me! There will be food and drinks, and prizes given by the judges to exhibiting artists at the opening reception this Friday.





The Opening Reception is Friday, Aug. 26th 6-10 pm. The exhibit will be on display from August 29th thru September 23rd. Gallery hours: Monday thru Friday 8:30-4:30 pm. The Parkwood Gallery is located at 1838 Parkwood Ave. Toledo, Ohio.

For the Cure

Tonight marks the opening of J&J Studio and Gallery's juried art exhibition, The Feminine Form, benefiting Susan G Komen for the Cure. The inspiration for the show was the feminine form and the interpretation was left up to the artists. All mediums were accepted.

The opening starts at 5:00 p.m and goes until 10:30 p.m tonight. The gallery is at 909 Jefferson St. in downtown Toledo. There will be a $30 ticket price at the door for all patrons. At least 50% of the ticket price will be donated to Susan G Komen for the Cure. In addition to the juried show there will be a basket raffle with baskets donated from local businesses, and drinks and appetizers will be served throughout the night. There will also be free chair massages with survivors having head of the line privileges. All of the money raised from the basket raffle and the 50/50 raffle will be donated to Susan G Komen.

I had the honor to be one of the guest judges for this exhibit and was impressed with the quality of the art entered into the show. Please stop by tonight for this wonderful fundraiser and help stamp out breast cancer.

Calendar Worthy

Exciting news! My photograph "Bridge Over Still Water" has been selected to be used as "January" for Sparta Calendars' 2011 Four Seasons calendar.




This is the first time I have been contacted by a company to buy the rights to print one of my photographs for a publication! It's a honor to know that one of my photographs is considered "calendar worthy".


Cheers!
~ Janelle ~

Catching Up

Since I'm catching up on blogging I thought I'd share a few things that have happened since I've been MIA.

In July I had my photography in four different exhibitions. I was part of a group photography show at the new J&J Gallery in downtown Toledo. I had three photos in the Salon des Refuses exhibit at the Parkwood Gallery. I also had some work included in the grand opening of Zydorf Glass & Arts. And finally, I had a piece included in the Art's Gone Wild exhibit at the Toledo Museum of Art.

Also, my "Covered Bridge" photograph was one of the featured in this segment of Coffee with the Fords. You can see it in the background above Cynthia Ford. This is a great video promoting PRIZM, the Toledo Area Artist exhibit, and the Salon des Refuses exhibit.




Well, that's about it for now.

Cheers!
~ Janelle ~

Art-A-Fair Closing

Tomorrow is the last day to view PRIZM's annual juried Art-A-Fair exhibition at the Toledo Lucas Library in downtown Toledo. Hours at the Toledo Library tomorrow will be 9:00 a.m - 5:30 p.m. Don't miss the show if you haven't seen it!

This was my first year participating in the show. I had four photographs on display. In addition, I submitted six mixed-media ATC's for the "Charmed and Be Charmed" miniatures creative challenge. My IR photograph, "Bridge Over Still Water" won the Claude Monet Award. And my mixed media ATC's won an award for the 2010 creative challenge.




If you are in the Toledo area and you haven't done so, please stop by and visit the exhibit before it closes. There are many great art works on display by PRIZM's talented members.

PRIZM's Art-A-Fair Exhibition 2010

Tomorrow marks the opening of PRIZM's Art-A-Fair exhibition at the Toledo Lucas County Library in downtown Toledo. This is my first year participating in this event. I will have four photographs on display in the gallery.

In addition, this year's creative challenge is called "Charmed And Be Charmed" and includes a display of miniatures. I have submitted six mixed-media ATC's for the challenge. Only very recently I have gotten back into working on mixed-media art and this was a fun opportunity for me to participate.

Tomorrow's opening reception is from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m at the main branch library and the event is free and open to the public. The exhibit will hang in the library's 2nd floor gallery through June 26th and is free and open to the public during the library's normal business hours.

I will post photographs of the exhibit after the opening. So check back!

Hope to see you there!

~ Janelle ~

New Photography Exhibit

I know it's been a while, but I wanted to let you know about my new photography exhibit. I have a selection of my work on display at The Huntington Bank in Perrysburg as part of PRIZM's Art-In-Public-Places program. Please see PRIZM's press release below.


PRIZM Creative Community is currently featuring a display of High Dynamic Range (HDR) and Infrared photography by member and local photographer Janelle Lorenzen at the Huntington Bank Building on Rt. 20 in Perrysburg, OH.

High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging is a set of techniques allowing a greater dynamic range from lightest to darkest areas of an image than regularly possible with standard digital imaging techniques or photographic methods. The result is a hyper-real image with saturated colors and detailed shadows.

Infrared (IR) photography uses a filter on the front lens element to allow infrared light pass through to the image sensor while blocking nearly the entire visible light spectrum. Using this photo technique results in dreamlike images. These images are actually caused by foliage (such as tree leaves and grass) or other material reflecting light. This reflection is the same as when visible light is reflected from snow. Either HDR or IR photos can be enhanced with computer software designed for photo editing.

Photo artist Janelle Lorenzen received her BFA in Media Studies at The Columbus College of Art and Design in 2002. She owns Janelle Lorenzen Photography and focuses on portraits, fine art, and travel photography. Examples of her work are on display at the Huntington Building through April and on her website at www.LorenzenStudios.com.

PRIZM, along with local community partners, takes responsibility in providing local artists and community members opportunities to display and view creative expressions of life in Northwest Ohio. PRIZM provides numerous workshops in a variety of media and literary topics for members and guests. PRIZM’s goal is to enhance opportunities for all to experience creative expression.

PRIZM Creative Community is a 501 c. 3 nonprofit organization currently receiving partial funding from the Ohio Arts Council and Toledo Community Foundation. For more information on upcoming PRIZM educational workshops in the visual and literary arts visit our website at www.myprizm.com or email prizm@bex.net.

'Tis the Secor

I'm excited to announce that Janelle Lorenzen Photography will be participating among the Secor Artists in the 3rd annual 'Tis the Secor holiday event in downtown Toledo. The event will be held on December 4th at 6:00 p.m - 12:00 a.m at The Secor Building at 425 Jefferson Toledo, OH.

For those of you who don't know, my photography studio is located on the 7th floor of The Secor Building. This will be my first time participating in 'Tis the Secor and I'm excited to open my studio and invite you to celebrate the holiday season with me.

This year’s festivities feature an exhibition of artwork from the Secor Artists and the Toledo Sculpture Guild in the Secor Gallery on the first floor, and artwork from the University of Toledo Sculpture Department in the Gallery on Six on the sixth floor. Additionally, the Secor Artists will be opening their studios to the public on the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th floors. Many works of art will be available for purchase.

Live entertainment will be provided through out the evening and refreshments will be served. This event is free and open to the public. Please join us for an evening of art, music, food, and holiday cheer.

Georgette's Exhibit

From now through the end of the month I will have one of my fine art photographs on display at Georgette's cafe in Maumee as part of PRIZM's Art In Public Places program. Visitors can view the work in the coffee shop during normal business hours of 6:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. weekdays, and Saturday’s from 8-4 p.m. This is a great little local cafe. Please stop by and check out what they have to offer!

PRIZM Perspectives Exhibit

From now through the end of the month I will have three photographs on display as part of the PRIZM Perspectives exhibit at the Maumee Library. The exhibit can be viewed in the gallery during normal business hours.

Represented is the works of fifteen artists and authors in many different Medias. On display in the hallway showcases will be poetry, jewelry, and sculpture, while the gallery will contain two dimensional pieces of art and literature.

Please stop by and check out this wonderful exhibit!