CPSA Exhibition, it made it!

Well yippee! Good ol' Jack Pine K. made it to Seattle!

The top picture shows me standing by the newly framed picture. I posed for this shot just in case I never saw the painting again. Okay, I am a bit of a 'what if-er' but I have had mail that didn't get delivered and we all know that luggage can go missing, so what if the courier company managed to lose my painting? To add to my anxiety, there was a narrow window of five days during which all the paintings were to be received by the cartage company. This is the company that is responsible for receiving our art, unpacking it, storing our packing material and then sending it back to us once the exhibition is over. I was worried that my package might get held up at customs for some reason. I was so delighted to receive confirmation that the painting made it safely and on time to it's destination. Of course, it still has to make it's way back here but I can fret about that in a few months! :-)

The lower picture shows the special packaging system that my husband designed and created. He sourced out the materials and he did all the precise measuring and cutting. At least I didn't have to worry about my painting moving around or getting damaged! My husband is truly awesome. I so appreciate his help and his support. He ordered the Plexiglas for me and he also did the framing. His meticulous framing efforts are better than anything that I have had done by a professional framer. I am very blessed to have him in my life - and not just for creating shipping packaging and for framing paintings!!

I am quite excited to think of my painting in Seattle, now hanging on a wall ready for the doors to open. The exhibition space is going to be open 7 days a week and the Coloured Pencil Society of America's Exhibition is running from July 2 (tomorrow!) until Sept. 28th. The Convention Center expects an estimated attendance of over 65,000 visitors in the month of August alone!!! Add on some numbers for July as well as September and wow...a heck of a lot of people will be passing by ol' Jack Pine K. !!! What a thrill!

Anyway, if you happen to be in Seattle this summer or early fall, do check out the exhibition. The show is made up of 125 paintings from around the world, done entirely in coloured pencil. Definitely worth a look!

I'm shocked, I'm stunned, I'M IN !!!

'Jack Pine Kaleidoscope'
coloured pencil on Stonehenge paper
copyright Teresa Mallen

Well YIPPEE, I just found out that 'Jack Pine Kaleidoscope' has been juried into the Colored Pencil Society of America's International Exhibition!!!!!

As the title says, I am shocked and stunned. If you haven't heard of this show, I must tell you that this isn't just any old show...this is an exhibition with literally hundreds and hundreds of entries, from coloured pencil artists around the world and only 125 paintings were chosen this year. Mine was one of them - how incredible is that?!

I am so delighted, words cannot convey it. I am familiar with the names and the work of many of the other artists juried in and I am in awe of their talent and abilities. These folks are the best of the best in coloured pencil. They set the standard for excellence in coloured pencil work around the world and to see my name among them leaves me dumbfounded indeed. I keep going back to the CPSA website to check to see if there has been some mistake and to see if my name has been removed.

So now I have to get this piece framed in acrylic (as glass cannot be shipped) and I have to get it packed, insured and shipped off to Seattle Washington where it will be on exhibition from July 2nd to Sept. 29th. Wow. Of course I have moved beyond being concerned about this mundane stuff and I am now pondering things like "Goodness, I will need a new bathing suit as the one I have is ancient and I wouldn't want to be seen by the hotel pool in it." Did I lose you? The CPSA is hosting a coloured pencil convention in Seattle during the exhibition and guess who is scheming to attend?

Okay, so I fly across North America to view my own painting (that I shipped at some expense) on a different wall. How goofy is that...but I will also meet a whole mess of grand c. p. poo-bahs. I know that all these grand poo-bahs are really nice folks, so that would make make the trip most worthwhile. This is a once in a life-time opportunity (I may never get juried in again) so now my brain is clicking along, considering the possibility of attending. We have air mile points so now I just have to find a black market for my kidney so I can afford the hotel fee! Okay, just kidding...anyone want to register for my June classes, how about buying a few hundred kits, a painting or two???

Congrats to all the other artists that were accepted...see you in Seattle...maybe...