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! :-)

Apples on Pastelbord

The apples are finished! I really enjoyed working on this piece.

But...I must admit that at the beginning I was having some doubts. When I started working on the underpainting for the first apple, my mind was chattering away, 'you can't do it, you have messed it up, you can't save this, good thing it is only a 5x7 panel'. I was only on the underpainting layer! Yikes. This doesn't normally happen to me, now that I am comfortable with my medium, but this time I guess I wasn't as confident using the gray Pastelbord. I mention this in case you ever have these thoughts when working on a piece. Now I look at my dear little apples and think 'What if I had stopped at the beginning?' That would have been a shame. So, my advice - buck up and press on...play some of your favourite music, loud if you have to, sing along, jog around the room reciting how wonderfully gifted you are, look at some of your past work that turned out okay, pour yourself a 'stiffner' if necessary or maybe just a nice glass of wine...you get the idea. Whatever you do, don't give up and don't give in to these goofy thoughts. You can do it!

And for those of you concerned about my welfare and who perhaps don't know my sense of humour, the stiffner was not required and I am not at risk of becoming an alcoholic for the sake of my art! :-)

Okay, on to something else - Have you ever wondered how to find 'your customer'? I urge you to visit this blog, www.theextraordinarypencil.blogspot.com today. Artist Marsha Robinett has posted a Weekend Chat Line entitled What's your best venue for art sales? This topic follows last weekend's chat on how to price your art. I posted a comment on this past topic and my thoughts inspired Marsha to post this new topic on connecting with buyers. I appreciate Marsha posting this topic and I look forward to seeing what thoughts come in over the next few days. Marsha has a wonderful blog so do spend some time looking around.

I am now off to shop for some track lighting for my studio. I am teaching my Introduction to Coloured Pencil course next week and I would like to improve the lighting over the tables. If you live in the Ottawa area and would like to attend, there is still room and there is still time to register. Just contact me and we can quickly work out the details. For info on this course (and others that I teach) click here: classes. If next week isn't good for you, the course is also running in June.

New class dates

I have added new dates for the Introduction to Coloured Pencil course. This new session will run on three weekdays in April: Monday April 21st, Wednesday April 23, and Friday April 25, 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

The previously scheduled June dates (Saturdays: June 7th,14th, 21st) for this course are still available. If you would like to read further info on the intro course or other classes being offered, please visit the classes section of my website.

This week I am going to redo the orchid piece, this time on white printmaking paper versus a burgundy coloured sheet of Colorfix pastel paper. I shall post my progress. I look forward to comparing the two results.

Mixed Media 'Tapestry'

This is a picture of an 11" x 14" mixed media piece that I recently created. I have done a smaller one in the past but I thought it would look interesting in a larger format. This particular piece is the same size as the one students will be working on in November in a mixed media workshop. I normally work exclusively in coloured pencil, in a realistic style, with lots of detail. This feels more like instant gratification as it didn't take several days to complete. I used fluid acrylics and gesso for the base and the 'threads' of the tapestry are drawn in with coloured pencils. To learn about my classes and to see a schedule for 2008 please see my website.