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.

Update!

I know it has been a long time since I have posted here. I have had a lot of changes in my life since the last time I posted, so an update is long past due.

Last November I lost my day job. Since I became joyfully jobless I have had a lot of things going on in my personal life and as a result my portrait business was put on the back burner. After the holiday rush was over wedding planning started to take up a lot of my free time. With that came more life changes such as moving into our first home. Then, right in the midst of wedding planning, I experienced a great loss. My father passed away on March 23 2011, six weeks before our wedding. His unexpected death came to a great shock to our family and it was all we could do to get through the last weeks of wedding planning.
On May 7 2011, Aaron and I were married at Nazareth Hall in Grand Rapids, OH. The wedding was beautiful and we were lucky to have some good weather as the ceremony was outside.

Check out the beautiful photography by JP Photography.

(Photo by JP Photography)

Click here to check out the awesome wedding video trailer by Fairytale Productions.

Right after the wedding was over, Aaron and I headed to the Bahamas for our honeymoon. We lived like king and queen for a week while we relaxed at the beautiful Sandals resort at Emerald Bay. (Photos to come soon!)

Since getting back from the honeymoon I have been settling into married life. While still mourning my loss, I am slowly healing.

As for photography, I am officially open for business. I am accepting new clients and hoping to build up my portrait clientele. I have updated my website, LorenzenStudios.com. You will notice new portrait examples in the galleries. However, I have kept my low pricing in hopes to gain some business in this struggling economy.

In addition to working on my portrait photography I have been exploring encaustic painting and mixed media art. If you are interested in seeing this new art work check out my art blog, A Life In Progress.

Now that the site is updated and I'm open for business you can expect to see a lot more posts here. Check back often for new work!

~ Janelle ~

Getting Back Into The Groove

I know. It's been a while since I have posted here. Life has been crazy. And most of my time in the last few months has been directed toward dealing with all of the changes life has handed me. Which hasn't left any time for journaling, making art, or even thinking. Mostly it's felt a lot like survival.



I lost my father just over two moths ago. It was a sudden and unexpected death. And it happened six weeks before my wedding. Even now I have a hard time accepting that he is gone. There are moments when I forget. I expect him to be there, as he always has been, in his home-office working away on his computer. And then there are moments when the reality of my loss is raw and all-consuming. But I know that grief is a process and it takes time. For now I'm just trying to have faith in my ability to move forward and to make my way through the process.



Recently I've started to try to get organized around the house. I've been spending time on yard work and putting away all the lovely wedding gifts we have received. I started back on Weight Watchers and am looking forward to getting in better shape this summer.



Yesterday I got back in the studio for the first time since my dad passed. I guess I had been avoiding it as a way to avoid having to deal with my loss. But I've been so unhappy and empty without doing art that I know that I need to get back to work. I was a bit rusty and lost in starting again. I was faced with all the unfinished projects that were meant to be included in the Artomatic 419! last month. Unfortunately I wasn't able to finish the projects or participate in the exhibit due to the loss of my father. So I've started puttering around in the studio again. Trying to get back in the groove. I'm still feeling a bit out of sorts, but have enjoyed getting back in there and getting my hands dirty again. I hope to have some finished projects to share soon.

Engaged!

Holy smokes, it's been a while! A lot has been going on so I've sort of set blogging aside for a while. But there have been a lot changes for me that I'd like to share.

First, and most importantly: WE'RE ENGAGED! Yup, Aaron popped the question during our trip to San Francisco last month. It was my first time to San Francisco and the trip was awesome! So much to see and do. Here is a quick snap of the ring I took on our trip.

Since we've been back things have been really busy. I've moved out of my apartment in Rossford into our new house in Holland, OH. Lately we've been working on getting settled in, unpacking, redecorating, and starting the wedding planning. I haven't even had much time to go through the photos from the trip! Once I have a chance I'll share them here.

As things move forward I'll keep you posted on the wedding plans, the new house, and new art adventures!

Janelle ~