watch me work

'Red Trees', 4" x 4", coloured pencil, copyright Teresa Mallen

 

On Wednesday January 9th, 2013, I shall be the guest artist at the Kanata Art Club evening meeting. My presentation shall be an inspiring look into the world of coloured pencil. First up will be an overview on how to create fine art with cps. After reviewing traditional coloured pencil techniques, I will reveal how to go beyond these basics, sharing how to create work on coloured paper that looks like pastel, how to create richly pigmented effects, how to work in mixed media with coloured pencil as well as how to move beyond realism.

 

As part of my presentation, I shall demonstrate how I created the above piece. I have a fresh piece of paper with a new line drawing on it and my pencils are sharpened. Come watch me work! 

 

This event takes place in West Ottawa, 1030 Riddell Drive at the Kanata Montessori School. Start time is 7:00 p.m. and non-members are welcome to attend. Hope to see you there!



more recent little gems

I read a blog post a few years ago written by an artist whose name or work I don't remember. But I do remember that the blog author was putting together a show at her studio. As part of the marketing strategy, the artist was offering up small studies done for larger works as well as some small pieces that the artist had left unframed. She called these pieces her "little gems". I liked that and thought that if I ever did something similar then I too would label such works little gems. I had some of these studies available for viewing at my recent open studio exhibition. They were not for sale but these and others like them will be my 'little gems' offerings on the next tour. I also plan to set up a shop on my website for these small pieces...once I have enough done that is.

The above abstract is 5 inches wide by 2 3/4 inches high. It is coloured pencil applied to coloured Colourfix pastel paper.

3" w x 4.5 " h, coloured pencil on Colourfix paper

People who have looked at this piece have commented that it makes them think of waves or the ocean. When I had finished it, it reminded me of the yarn in a chunky sweater! But yes, I can see the waves too. :-)  This pieces is 6" by 3", coloured pencil on coloured Colourfix paper.

The above photo simply doesn't do this tiny piece justice. Getting good lighting in the dead of winter isn't easy. I wasn't about to photography this outside as it was overcast and storming and being by a window didn't help much. Blech...Anyway, this one is a very small square, 2 1/4" x 2 1/4".

My recent landscapes have all included striped soil! I have no idea why striped hillsides are coming forth but I am liking the look.

Coloured Pencil on coloured Colourfix paper, 4.5" x 2 3/4", copyright Teresa Mallen

As today is January 1st, I would like to wish you a Happy New Year. May we all enjoy a blessed, prosperous and creative year in 2013!

some recent work

In recent months I have been working on some small studies. The above landscape is almost 2 inches high and 5 inches wide. The work is done in coloured pencil on coloured pastel paper.

This piece was done on white Stonehenge paper and it too is small,  2 3/4 inches wide and 3 inches high. The easel is a small desk top one.

This is a mini ( 6" x 3") done on coloured paper that is a cousin to my much larger Blue Blooded. I am really enjoying working on these small studies. I can explore the world of shapes, line, and colour quickly. I shall share more next time...

a little look back

 I have been doing a bit of looking back at 2012. I find it helpful to see where I have spent my time and what I have accomplished. And at this time of year, aren't we all looking ahead and making plans for our brand new year?

I did something unusual this fall. I had a guest artist teach a workshop in my studio. The picture above is from a Zentangle workshop, taught by Brenda Shaver Shahin (Brenda is standing next to the easel). For more info on Zentangles, visit www.zentangle.com. The class was packed full of eager students and we all had a terrific time mastering some basic tangles. After Brenda was finished her part of the workshop, I did my bit teaching the students how one might add colour to their Zentangle art. As I am usually up in front of the class, I don't normally have many pictures, if any, of the workshops I teach. As I was one of the students during the first part of the workshop, I was able to snap some photos.

 

Here is what we created during the workshop!

A big thank you goes out to everyone who came and took classes and workshops this year. Also, I would like to thank everyone who made it out to my studio during the studio tour last month. I met such nice people!

Looking way back into the year, back to July, I was delighted to see the Van Gogh exhibit at the National Gallery of Canada. Part of the exhibit included the art of that time, that influenced Van Gogh. I was spellbound by the incredible nature photography done in silverpoint. I came home determined to find time to work more in pen and ink. You see the silverpoint images done in black and white reminded me of work done in pen and ink. :-)

On the farm front, it was a rough year. We had a terrible drought in our area over the summer months. We watched trees and plants die, crops fail and my large vegetable garden yielded a small fraction of the veggies that it should have - despite me spending hours every week watering and watering. We had a fox family determined to wipe out our chickens. We only lost two thank goodness but the daily fox sightings were unnerving. We had injured animals and sick animals and extreme dry heat for weeks and weeks. Needless to say, I am enjoying the cold and the snow!

There were some high points in 2012 as well. My sister and I sold the family farm, ending a responsibility for a property which neither of us lived near. After four years of effort, this was a heady relief. As noted here in a previous post, I had three pieces accepted into the first national Coloured Pencil Society of Canada exhibition and it was wonderful to be part of such a prestigious event. My recent studio tour was a great success both with regards to the turn out as well as sales. It was my best tour in a few years. Like every year, 2012 gave some nasty surprises and many blessings.  

Well back to my new 2013 calendar and day planner...time to see what I would like to have unfold in the next twelve months. I'll bet I am not the only one planning and dreaming... :-) Happy New Year everyone.

Studio Tour this weekend!

You are invited! If you live within driving distance of my home, I hope you are free this weekend. Once again it is studio tour time here in rural Ottawa west. Several artists shall be opening their studio doors. Visitors can have a peek at where we work, how we work, see work on exhibit as well as work for sale. The tour includes potters, a weaver, photographer, clothing designer, as well as people who work with glass, wood and pewter, people who make jewelry and paper crafts, as well as several fine artists. Something for everyone's interests! For details, please visit www.redtrilliumst.com.

I have some new, fresh off the drafting board mini-studies ready for viewing. I will also have some work from my personal collection on exhibition (i.e. I love these pieces so much they are not for sale) and I shall of course have work available for purchase.

For those of you that are unable to make it, here are some pictures of my studio set up during the last tour. At the moment, the room doesn't look like this yet - my grid walls are not even up! It shall be a busy day today!!!!

It's water in the wine goblet below just in case you were wondering! :-) I shall be sober, I promise. I only drink wine when I am drawing and colouring, not when I am trying to talk about my work to strangers!!!!!

My studio wears many faces, sometimes it is a gallery, sometimes it is a teaching space and sometimes it is a very messy work place. For fun, I have included my studio at its very worst moment ever - lest you think I always work in a pristine, zen like environment! LOL 

The chaos did have a purpose. Two years ago I hauled stuff out of storage closets, added shelves, painted the walls and floor inside one closet and I was also in the middle of some goofy mixed media experiments. My filing cabinet was out in the middle of the room, closet stuff was tossed everywhere and the tables were covered in project stuff. Now I must confess, I am a bit of a neat freak so my studio is normally pretty presentable but still, every now and again it gets to looking a bit like it did on this day... :-) 

my studio at its very messiest

 

And yes, it has been months since my last post - life has been very busy! I am back blogging now so check back over the next few weeks for lots of updates on what has been going on in the studio and on the farm. And to all of my wonderful American readers, Happy Thanksgiving!

 



Facebook, classes, newsletter

My Studio

Lots of news...

• Teresa Mallen Studio is finally on Facebook. If you can see this entire blog page, then you will be able to see the Facebook badge in the column on the right. If you subscribe via email or some other way in which you don't see the whole page, you can find me by clicking Facebook. Go ahead and 'like' my site!!!! Thanks.

• I am offering a class this fall entitled Coloured Pencil Basics. if you have ever wanted to explore the world of cps, then come to my studio for two full days and get all the tips and tricks explained to you. As for the picture above, well I add more tables to my studio space when teaching and the doggie isn't around. (this isn't our new pup, this is our last dog that passed away back in December, just in case you are trying to keep up with my life and are getting confused) Anyway, I realize that dogs, especially big dogs with deep sounding barks, are not for everyone so our new guy won't be allowed to visit during class. For a complete run down of the course, please click here. Registration is now open. You can register on-line with your credit card via the shopping cart on the site. Note, you do not have to be registered with PayPal in order to use your plastic. Spaces are limited so don't delay.

• My summer newsletter has just been published and sent out to my newsletter subscribers. It arrives in your inbox via email. Didn't receive it? Perhaps you have changed your email address since subscribing, or perhaps it got picked up by your spam filter - maybe you need to add my email address as one of your accepted ones or goodness, maybe you haven't ever signed up? If you want to read my newsletter simply sign up to receive one - click here to do that. And please note, I only send out an issue a couple of times a year. I have no intention of inundating you with spam. My in-box gets full enough too and I have no desire to be a nuisance. The newsletter lets you know what shows I am going to be participating in, you are the first to find out about classes that are being scheduled and I share any other tid bits of news that are relevant at that time.

Keeah, enjoying some freshly cut meadow grasses

I would like to say thank you to the lovely folks that have taken the time to email me to say that they like seeing the farm animals. This one is for all of you! :-)

CPSC Exhbition 2012

Here we go...the first annual national Coloured Pencil Society of Canada Exhibition 2012. I would like to take a moment to personally thank the executive members that have worked so hard over these past years to bring us to this point. A big thank you goes out to Gordon Webster, Erica Walker, Lissa Rachelle Robillard and Alexandra Bastien. Without you, this would have not happened.

All of these photos were taken last Saturday evening during the reception/vernissage for the artists. If the images are a bit dark, please forgive me. With all of the reflective surfaces from the artwork, I didn't dare use a flash.

At left you will see CPSC President Gordon Webster and at the podium is our juror, non other than Bernard Poulin.

My nomination to the Board was accepted and voted upon at the AGM on Friday night and I am delighted to report that I am now the Membership Director. I look forward to serving my fellow CPSC members. And if you aren't a member - do join us. There are great things ahead for this organization. Come be a part of it!

In the photo on the right, juror Bernard Poulin is standing with Amie Talbot, discussing her work. It is a portrait and I can only imagine how Amie felt getting an on the spot, in person, critique from Bernard. His portraits are outstanding of course and I am sure he had lots of helpful tips for Amie. Bernard is a charming, friendly man who fortunately gives comments in such a way that they are instructive and encouraging. If you are unfamiliar with his work, click his name above to access a link to his website. While Bernard works in oil as well, I confess a preference for his cp work. I personally like the commissioned portrait he did of Prince William when William was just a young boy. 

this is me, Teresa Mallen CPSA, with one of my pieces in the exhibition, 'Swiss Chard Mosaic'

oops, I was laughing when I took the picture and it is crooked, this is artist Patricia Murphy and her piece 'Pine Trunk'

fellow Ottawa cp artist, Allison Fagan CPSA, with her Honourable Mention work, 'Beet it, just beet it'

Another new board member, Vickie Lawrence is a Director at Large. Here she is pictured with her piece 'Candy Apple Days'. Vickie's other piece, a horse portrait entitled 'Magic' won an Honourable Mention.

someone else who likes peonies :-)  Joanne Abbott with 'Pink Peony'

This is Marcia Godbout with her work 'Split Personality'. Marcia has four pieces in the exhibition, some of my favourites of the entire show, especially her portraits of 'Steve' and 'Sunlit Katie'. I predict we shall be seeing lots of Marcia's work in years to come.

Ist Place award goes to 'Solitary Stellar's Jay' by Deborah Strong, truly one of my favourite pieces of the exhibition

2nd Place, 'Pebbles 1' by Alison Phipott

Third Place, 'My Mate and I' by Manon Menard Adams

Honourable Mention for 'Treenip' goes to Manon Menard Adams

Of course this is just a small sample of the incredible work that is in the exhibit. The CPSC shall be posting the winning entries on the CPSC Facebook page. We are currently operating without a Director of Web Services but those of us on the executive are doing our best to get the entire show on-line at some point. Okay, I was daft enough to volunteer to try to accomplish this. Those of you who know how much of a Luddite I am are now spewing coffee at the screen as you gasp with laughter.Truly, if you are reading this and are even slightly computer savvy (I believe the website is on Wordpress) and you wish to help a sorry lot of technically challenged folks, please step forward and help the CPSC! Thanks! Contact me...

And if this wasn't enough art related excitment, I went to the Van Gogh exhibit on Monday. More on that next time.