CPSA acceptance, signature status

Neptune's Leaves, Coloured Pencil on Colourfix Paper, 21 1/2"w x 16 1/2"h

Copyright Teresa Mallen

I am delighted to announce that Neptune's Leaves has been juried into the CPSA's 2010 International Exhibition. With this acceptance, I have earned my CPSA signature status! Of course my art has to actually hang in the show in order to fulfill the organization's requirements - acceptance isn't enough. Some of you might remember how last year my painting almost missed the shipping deadline because it was being held by customs officials. Yes, lightning does strike twice, but not real often, right?

The Colored Pencil Society of America's 18th Annual International Exhibition will take place at the Art Museum of Los Gatos California from July 22 until August 20th, 2010. For complete details and a list of the accepted artists, visit the CPSA website.

Congratulations to all of the other artists whose work has been juried into this prestigious coloured pencil exhibition!

And if this news wasn't exciting enough, I just made arrangements this morning to purchase two dairy goats. I shall be adding milk maid to my resume by the end of the week! Here is my husband with one of our ladies...oh and my flock of 25 day-old chicks arrives on Wednesday. Art, chickens and goats - life is very very good!

Finished Blue Blooded

Blue Blooded, Coloured Pencil on Colourfix Paper, 19" x 17" (48cm x 43cm)

Copyright Teresa Mallen

Here is a finished image of my funky Blue Blooded. The colours are brighter and more vivid in real life but this is the best photo I have at the moment. Until I worry about getting a good image for my website, this shall suffice. I have had this done for quite awhile but every time I wanted to take a photo, it was raining outside. I find this a spooky piece to have in the studio unframed. It looks so much like pastel that every time I move it from one spot to another, I keep expecting pastel pigment to fall off!

Things have been real exciting in the studio - I have been taking inventory. Woo-hoo. :-) I have gone through my pencils and I have shopped for ones that needed replacing. I even got out my superglue and glued pencil stubs to my new pencils. Now I realize that some cp artists think this is going over the top. Many just throw out their pencils when they shorten down so much that that they are impossible to hold on to or sharpen. Me, I like to glue. I find it works really well, they sharpen just fine in my electric sharpener and they look really cool when people visit your studio!

I attended a presentation last week by local watercolour artist Brian Seed. For readers who are watercolour artists, you might wish to check out the handprint website. Brian recommended it as a great resource for info. I had a look and it does seem like you could spend quite a bit of time there.

I always like seeing the work of coloured pencil artists. The April/May 2010 issue of International Artist featured several pages of cp art by Judith Burton. If you don't have a copy of the magazine, you can see Judith's work by visiting the pencil gallery on her website. (just click her name for the hyperlink)

Well yippee, my taxes are done. Now I am working on tweaking my website. In the studio, I have some pots of Colourfix primer (the same stuff that is applied to the surface of Colourfix sanded pastel paper) waiting to be applied to some birch panels that I have bought.

For those of you who have been reading for awhile, you will be well aware of all of my trips out of town to get the house when my parents had lived ready for sale. I am happy to report that much work has been done and the property has now been listed in real estate. That translates into more time in the studio for me. Finally. Oh and in the garden too. :-)

It is a beautiful spring here in Ottawa. Here are a few pics I took today.

Starting with daffodils...

forsythia shrub...




white hyacinth...



and some red tulips that are starting to open...

You might recall my basement grow-op that I mentioned a few weeks ago. Here are some of my tomato plant seedlings as they look now...

And here are some squash seedlings...


May you be enjoying a wonderful spring where you are!

Dare we discuss?

Do you dream about art? If so, in what way? Do dream you are painting or working on something or do you perhaps get inspiration for your work from your dreams?

I confess I don't normally dream about art but I have had a couple of art dreams recently. The other night I had a dream in which I was painting abstracts. I think I was using acrylic or oil (not cps!) on canvas. I remember one work in particular quite vividly - I loved the composition of the piece as well as the colours that had been used. One day I am going to use this dream as the inspiration to create a piece that will hopefully look something like the one I imagined.

A few years ago, I had another dream in which I was painting abstracts. I was using cardboard type shapes - circles and rectangles - to block out areas. On these paintings I was using very thick paint, impasto style. Again, I considered trying to create what I had seen in the dream but I never did get around to it. I find it interesting that in both of these dreams I was painting abstracts with brushes and paint, not with my much loved pencils. Over the years this hasn't been my usual subject nor my usual method of working.

The other art dream that I had recently took place one night a few weeks ago. I must have been working on my CPSA exhibition entries at the time. In the dream, I had just arrived in California (where this year's convention and exhibition is taking place) and I was at the hotel. I went off to attend some sort of workshop or meeting and I remember not seeing anyone that I knew or recognized. I remember being surprised that the folks I had met in Atlanta last year had not gone to the convention this year. The dream then became rather disturbed - I couldn't find my way to my room, the doors had several different numbers on them, none of the numbers corresponded with the number on my key, I was going to be late for something, I was hungry and the restaurants had closed, I still couldn't find my room, I asked some people if they could help me and while I was being 'helped' my credit cards were stolen...not really an art dream now, yikes! Anyway, when I woke up, I remember being very glad that it had all been a dream and then I thought ruefully - hey, at least my art got accepted into the exhibition! :-) Of course the jury is still out on that one in real life...

So will you take a moment to delve into the workings of your subconscious and will you dare to discuss your art dreams? Tell me, do you dream about art too?