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.

another funky peony wip

funky peony petal piece, work in progress
cps on Stonehenge paper, 15.5" x 7"

Where has the time gone? Yikes. I have been working, I just haven't been blogging. Oops...Here is what I am working on now. Another piece for my peony petal series. The inspiration comes from a photo I took of a white peony (seen in the top of the pic below). I wanted to create a yellow/cream peony but this piece has wandered off into some very funky colours.

funky peony, wip, on my table, with photo reference

The Coloured Pencil Society of Canada's National Exhibition (mentioned in my last post) is on now at the Shenkman Arts Centre here in Ottawa, Ontario. I have three pieces in the exhibition in case you missed that bit. :-) On Saturday evening, July 7th, there is a vernissage and awards ceremony. Hopefully I will be able to get some great photos of this event for my next post.

The exhibition can be viewed in Ottawa throughout July, until the 31st. Please note that there has been a last minute change in gallery venue for the second part of the exhibition tour. The changes in dates and venue are as follows:

The exhibit in the Montreal area will run from August 17, 2012 until August 19, 2012 and will be held in the brand new Galerie d’Art 543 in Repentigny, Quebec. A vernissage is scheduled at Galerie d’Art 543 in Repentigny for August 19^th.

The vegetable garden is doing great. Here are our snap peas waiting to be eaten. It has been very hot here for some weeks and we haven't had rain in a very long time. Plants and tree leaves are shriveling up but at least I can keep my veggies going by investing time with the hose.

Well hang onto your hats - I am getting off my fanny and wandering away from my drafting table long enough to do a bit of teaching this fall. Dates etc. are being considered and once things are in place I shall be writing about it here, posting it on my website and writing about it in my newsletter. This info shall be available next week.

I hope everyone is having a great summer. And remember if you are traveling to the Ottawa area in the next few weeks, do check out the coloured pencil exhibition. I shall see it for the first time tomorrow night while attending the AGM and I can't wait!!!!