old and forgotten

dahlia work in progress from many years ago, never finished,
coloured pencil on Stonehenge, copyright Teresa Mallen

 

Did you go looking through your stash like I suggested last Friday? (see my previous post if you missed the excerpt from my newsletter) I loved the stories a few of you shared via email. Seems like we all found a few 'gems'. :-)
 
In a recent rummage through my own pile of unfinished work, I came across the dahlia shown here. Gosh, this is a very old piece, started when I was very new to working in coloured pencil.
 
I abandoned it because I became uncertain...I wasn't sure if the look was right - I was applying so much pigment that somehow it was becoming burnished and I hadn't wanted that. Up until then all of my work was more airy. I had always allowed some tooth of the paper to show through. I loved that look (still do) and I wasn't sure I wanted to continue.
 
I also fretted over my use of dark purple to do the 'lines' in the petals. Things were starting to look kind of stylized.  Turns out that was just my future style starting to emerge. :-)
 
I got frightened and decided to quit before I had spent too many more hours on the piece. In the end, I started fresh and did another one. It made it to the finish! I worked slowly, mindful of burnishing. I learned a lot about technique from these early works and I learned about the artist I was going to be.
 
I find it amuzing that I was worried about getting too stylized...this from the woman that years later would create this from a leaf of chard...

Swiss Chard Mosaic, coloured pencil on Colourfix Paper, copyright Teresa Mallen

I won't leave the unfinished dahlia in my stash. The drawing is fine and what I have done so far is good. I will finish it, with confidence this time, for once enjoying the burnishing side of coloured pencil.

 

 

Colored Pencil Society of America Exhibition Acceptance!

'Swiss Chard Mosaic', 17"w x 7"h, Coloured Pencil on Colourfix Paper

Copyright Teresa Mallen

Well a big woo hoo and huge yippee! My funky chunk of chard has been juried into the Colored Pencil Society of America's 17th Annual Internation Exhibition in Atlanta 2009!!!!

I am delighted and honoured to have my work chosen and to be in the company of such esteemed and talented cp artists. To read the names of all of the accepted artists, visit the CPSA website.

Now I just have to get my 'Swiss Chard Mosaic' framed with acrylic and then I need to purchase some deluxe packaging. This piece will be exhibited at the Jacqueline C. Hudgens Center for the Arts in Duluth Georgia from July 9th until August 29th, 2009. The CPSA holds an annual convention one week during the exhibition and I have signed up for workshops, the awards banquet, etc. I have my hotel booked and my passport is ready. I have been a busy gal since I found out about my acceptance! Some of you may remember that last year I was all set to go to Seattle for the 2008 convention but unfortunately life had a terrible surprise for us. We discovered that my Father was terminally ill. I chose to spend those last weeks of my Father's life with him and I have no regrets. So on to a new year and new plans...I think I will wrap my husband up in some cotton batting or something so he can't get hurt or injured before I go! :-)

Congratulations to all of the other artists accepted into this exhibition! I hope to see you and your art in Atlanta in July.

Swiss Chard - finished!

Swiss Chard Mosaic

approx. 17" x 7", coloured pencil on Colorfix paper

copyright Teresa Mallen

Here is the finished chard image and it now has a name, "Swiss Chard Mosaic". The background is more of a dark plum/navy rather than black as it may appear on your screen. I hope you have enjoyed watching it progress. I started off calling the WIPs 'My Journey to a Painting' and it has been an interesting journey indeed. Remember the pictures of my photo shoot?

And now I have a finished work of art! Where I thought I was going on this journey sure isn't where I ended up. You might recall that originally I had hoped to do a piece that included lots of lovely long stalks. Unfortunately a fair bit of the stalks were already trimmed off so I had to rethink my approach. I ended up with a series of back lit photos that I loved. Remember how I started off the piece quite bright so that in the end the work would still have a quality of brightness? :-) Little did I know at the time that the whole piece would be somewhat on the bright side!

So what happened? Simply put, art happened. This piece just flowed along and I decided to flow along with it, to see where the current would take me...I was up for an adventure and I got one. It didn't end up looking as I had originally thought it might but I love the end result.

My process at the end: I finished off my background by going over it with a stiff brush. I actually used a stencil brush and I brushed over the background so the pigment would be ground in well to the sanded surface. It gives the background a bit of a 'buffed' appearance. Next, I went in and cleaned things up. I am a bit fanatical about this stage. I really want my painting to look great close up as well as from a distance. So I examine the work inch by inch. I add pigment here and there to make sure my coverage is consistent and I clean up edges. I go back over the highlights as they usually get dulled down a tiny bit as I brush off my work. I step back often from the piece to see what needs adjusting. This stage takes me a few hours (for a larger work) but I find it satisfying. For me, this final tweaking is what makes the work appear finished.

So now I will tape it to the wall of my studio for a while. From this new perspective, I will look at it often and I will be able to see if something isn't quite right - before it gets framed!

And oh the joys of simple things! I bought a new pencil sharpener a few days ago and boy are my pencils ever sharp now!! I am so happy. My old one started to suddenly malfunction. I wasn't happy about that. The sharpener inside started to wobble a bit as I sharpened pencils. They came out with a blunt end and they were hardly sharpened at all. I haven't had this happen before. I am so glad it started to do this because until I got my new sharpener I hadn't realized how dull my stainless steel blades in my old one had become. It was so gradual I just didn't notice. But wow, with this new sharpener, my pencils have fantastic sharp points. Absolutely yummy to work with. Sort of like when you don't think your skates are that dull and then you get them sharpened! :-) Did you know that Ottawa has the world's longest natural outdoor skating rink in the world? The Rideau Canal is 7.8 km long or almost 5 miles and it cuts through the city. Of course you can skate up and down to put in a 10 mile skate! Along the route there are warming huts, picnic tables and booths where you can buy warm pastries (they are called Beaver Tails) and hot chocolate. The canal has lights along the length of it so you can skate at night - my favourite time to go...to see what I am talking about you can check it out by clicking here.