Please not that all the images, artwork, photos and text contained in this newsletter, are the copyright of Teresa Mallen and any artists that are featured. The images, artwork, photos and text may not be copied or reproduced in any way unless written permission has been obtained.

From My Studio...

Hi everyone! I hope you are keeping warm these winter months and if you live somewhere where the weather is warm, pause to think kind thoughts of the rest of us the next time you are sitting in your garden.

Would you like to come and hang out in my studio? If you live in the Ottawa area, please plan to attend my Coloured Pencil Party later this month. Okay, actually it is an open studio date but if you have ever attended one, you will know that it is a party! To read more about this, be sure to scroll down to the classes section below.

There is a new feature called 'Introducing' in this month's newsletter. In past issues, I have been showing the art of different Newsletter Group Members. I would like to expand this section so that you the Members can get to know one another. I enjoy getting to know the artist behind the art and I hope you do as well. So this month you will meet Heather Page. You will get the chance to learn a little about her and to see her work.

Also, don't miss the on-line payment news as well as info on Motivation Mondays.

Now, lets get to it...

I first encountered Heather's work when I was visiting Laura Hardie's blog. (I recommended readers check out Laura's blog and website back in the July 2008 issue. Click here to visit Laura's website and here to visit Laura's blog.) Heather had left a comment on Laura's blog and I followed it back to her blog.

From Heather's blog, I went to her website. I loved her work and so I wrote Heather and asked if I could mention her work in the newsletter. I am delighted to say that Heather said yes. Heather also became a Newsletter Group Member and she agreed to beome the first person to be 'introduced'. Isn't she great?! Thanks Heather!!

I have obtained permission from Heather to include these images in this newsletter. Please be reminded that these images are copyright protected. Heather Page owns the copyright and copying and/or reproducing is not permitted.

From: Originally from Riverview, New Brunswick, Canada. Now living in Fredericton, NB. (Atlantic Canada...further east than Toronto!!)

Education: Bachelor of Science in Biology. Diploma in Nuclear Medicine Technology

Day job: Nuclear Medicine Technologist (involves using radioactive materials to perform body function studies and organ imaging). Have worked as a “Nuke” for 5 years.

Hobbies: Manage and play on a women’s soccer team. Enjoy camping, hiking, geocaching, horseback riding, skiing, pilates, yoga, kickboxing...just being active...and art of course! I also really love travelling. I spent a year backpacking around Australia and New Zealand, and have visited Tunisia, Egypt, China, and a good chunk of Europe.

My art: -I work from photos. I don’t consider myself to be overly creative in my artwork. I’m not good at coming up with ideas out of my head, so I admire creativity in other artists.

-Whenever I need inspiration (if I don’t feel like drawing), I look at other artists’ websites and blogs, as well as forums like Scribbletalk, Wetcanvas, and Pet portrait and wildlife forum.

-I prefer realism for my own work and I really appreciate that style in others.

-I’ve always drawn animals, since I was a child. In elementary school, I also used to like making up my own Garfield comics and I’d “sell” them to my Classmates.

-My favourite medium is pencil, second is coloured pencil. I love the precision of pencil, which helps with my realistic style. When I paint however, which isn’t that often, I like to allow myself a little more freedom and I love to exaggerate colour in what I’m painting.

-My mother and sister are both artists. My sister is an art teacher, teaching at Shanghai American School in China

-I had a really great art teacher in high school and that’s pretty much the extent of my training.

During and after university, I got busy and stopped drawing for several years. It wasn’t until I started working as a Nuc. Tech. that I picked up my pencils again. At the time, I was looking for a hobby that would make me some extra money. I had kind of forgotten that I was a pretty good artist. My Mom reminded me that I could use my artwork to earn a little extra. It was then that I decided to try my hand at pet portraits. I drew my cat, Tully, just to see how it would turn out. And for the next 3 years or so, I commissioned pet portraits. I was really surprised and pleased at how people responded to my work. My work became in demand and my waiting list grew. Most of my work was commissioned locally, but I did sell to clients in Europe and on the west coast.

-Eventually, doing pet portraits became more of a chore than an enjoyment. Because I work full time and like to have a life, it was hard to fit in drawing time. Most of the time I didn’t feel like doing it and I haven’t drawn anything for myself in 3 years. I even took an oil painting class (something I’d never tried before) and I still haven’t finished the paintings that I started in that class.

-As of last March, I made the decision to stop doing pet portraits. But because I work really slow (I might not even draw once a week), I’m just finishing up the last one almost a year later!

-I’m really looking forward to having this last portrait done because then my time can be mine! I think I’ll probably draw more often once it’s done too. My plan is to experiment! I want to try oil pastels, watercolour crayons and pencils, try acrylics again and continue with oil paints. I think I’ll still focus on animals, but I also want to draw flowers and do some still lifes. I basically just want to play!

-I eventually plan to sell my originals and create some artwork that will be popular for prints and cards.

Heather's work is fantastic ( you don't need me to tell you that) and I really enjoyed reading a bit about the person behind such lovely work. I would love to have a look at all of the wonderful photos she must have from all of the traveling she has done. And as Heather notes, she does like to keep active - wow, what an interesting list of hobbies. I admire how she built her website. You go girl! As you will have read, Heather is looking forward to doing art for herself versus working on commissions. I looking forward to seeing what she gets up to in her experimenting!

I know that you will want to go to Heather's website to see more of her work. Be sure to visit her blog as well. I would like to draw your attention to the gifts that are for sale on Heather's website. You can purchase one of her art images on items like mousepads, keychains, T shirts, mugs, etc. How cool is that? And, she has prints and notecards too! Definitely gifts worth considering for the animal lover in your life.

It has been wonderful 'meeting' you Heather. Thank you for sharing your story with us. And members, don't be shy, drop Heather a line to say hi. I am sure she would love to meet you too.

Okay, Newsletter Group Members...Who would like to volunteer to be 'introduced'? We would love to meet you! Just drop me a line if you are interested. My email address is teresa@teresamallenstudio.com . I can't wait to hear from you.

"If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astonish ourselves." Thomas Edison

This month's question comes from Susie Kernall: "I would like to try working on coloured paper. How do I get my line drawing onto the coloured paper?"

Susie, here is description of how I transfer my line drawing. To start, I get out my transfer paper. I use Saral transfer paper (Saral is a brand name. The company website is www.saralpaper.com). It comes in different colours - red, blue, yellow, white and graphite. You can purchase it in a sampler package that contains five sheets, one of each colour or you can buy it in a roll. I have a roll of white.

Saral paper is wax free so you can erase without the lines smearing or smudging. I find I can colour over top of my transferred lines easily.

Here is a picture of how I do my transfers. You can see the line drawing on top. I have cut a sheet of transfer paper from my roll and I have placed it between the line drawing and my coloured paper. You need to place the transfer paper with the colour side down. To determine which side of the white paper is the one to put down, run you hand over the surface. You will be able to feel which side has the product applied to it. I would suggest using low tack masking tape on the corners or edges to secure your line drawing and your transfer paper to your coloured paper.

Next, you trace over your line drawing. Press hard enough so that the coloured lines transfer well to your coloured paper. In the photo below, I peeled back the line drawing and the transfer paper so you could see what the lines end up looking like.

TIP: I find it helpful to trace my line drawing with a coloured pen. That way I can see what lines I have gone over and which ones remain. In the example above, my line drawing was in pencil and I traced over it with a blue pen.

Thanks for you question Susie. If you have a question you would like me to answer, please email me at teresa@teresamallenstudio.com.

Well woo-hoo, convenient and secure on-line payment options are now available! You can purchase kits or register for classes by using the shopping carts provided. Payment via credit cards, PayPal, or bank transfers are most welcome.

A new date for an Open Studio has been set and it is to be held in just four weeks!!

Time to party! Want to break out of the February dol-drums? Then set aside the Saturday afternoon of February 28th for my Open Studio. Drop by from 1:00 until 5:00 for some food, some great art making time and loads of fun. If you aren't sure what an open studio entails, here is how it works. This isn't a structured class so you can arrive later if you need to and you can leave earlier if necessary as well. You bring along your art supplies (I will have some Stonehenge paper if you need some) and you can work on whatever you wish. Most importantly, you get help and guidance from me! So if you need help composing your work, choosing a reference photo, you need help with your colour mixing, you have forgotten what you learned in class and your knowledge needs refreshing, you need help with your stroke technique, whatever - anything goes. These sessions are as decadent as I can make them...think spa retreat...I will light some candles, we will listen to music,(feel free to bring your fav. CD if you wish), there will be cameraderie with other fun loving cp enthusiasts and of course there will be food and beverages. Forget calories and fat grams for the afternoon - we eat as we work! There will be rich desserts and all manner of wonderful libations. Finally, if you would like to join in the fun but you don't have a work in progress to bring, you might consider purchasing a kit - you will be all set to get creating...see, no excuses!

The cost for all this fun, food and instruction is just $40.00. (a lot cheaper than scheduling private lessons) So I do hope you will come and join me in my studio...I am limiting the class size so those attending can have lots of time with me. Hey and we need to leave room for dancing! ...and you think I am kidding :-) So don't delay, registration is now open. For your convenience on-line registration is now available - click here to go to the classes page to register. If you prefer to register by mail please email me . Please note that if there is stormy weather on that day, your registration fee will be refunded. (An additional note: If you have allergies or you are just not keen on dogs, especially big ones, please know that the pooch in the picture above will not be in attendance during the open studio.)

Register now for the next Coloured Pencil Basics Course: If any of you forgot to register for the upcoming course, please note that the class is almost full. If you wish to register please contact me as soon as possible to reserve your spot. Please be advised that the Coloured Pencil Basics Course was formerly titled Introduction to Coloured Pencil. If you registered for the Intro course, everything is okay, I just changed the name when I added the on-line payment html codes.

The CP Basics course is scheduled to run Saturday mornings March 28th, April 4th and April 11th. Please note that the school boards in the Ottawa area are holding March break from March 16th through to the 20th. Therefore the course will start the week following this break. The weather should be fine by the end of March. To read all of the details about this course please see the classes section of my website.

This is the only course I have scheduled for 2009. I am cutting back on my work as a teacher this year so that I can move my business forward in other areas. I offered Beyond the Basics in the spring of 2008. If you missed this course and you would really like to take it in 2009, please email me. I would consider offering it if there is sufficient interest. Depending on how the year progresses, there may be courses offered in the fall. I will let you know if there are any developments.

I have stumbled upon a wonderful cp artist in Indonesia. Fortunately the template for his blog is the same as what I am used to so I was able to sign up as a follower and I left a comment in english. His name is C. Satria Sabarudin and his blog is called art of pencil colour, click here to go there. I really like what he says in his 'about me' section: "Success is getting better than before, with understanding and perseverance in doing everything. Whatever ideas we have, whether big or small, will be great only when we diligently work on it and do not stop at the present." I love the pictures of him working outside. My fingers would freeze (not to mention other body parts) if I were to sit for hours outside now with our winter temperatures. Notice the size of his pieces!! Do scroll down to see his market scenes, can the man draw or what?! Fantastic.

Staying with the international theme here, did you know that Japan now has a coloured pencil society? The Japan Colored Pencil Society was founded by Takako Ikuto and there are currently 22 members. There isn't a lot of english text on the site (click here to visit) but the headings are in english so you can check out the gallery. I love seeing people discover this wonderful medium and I wish this new organization all the best.

If you have visited my blog, you might have noticed Scott Tillett's name on my blog roll. He is a new blogger and he works in coloured pencil. Scott gives quite a bit of description of his works in progress and I enjoy watching his pieces develop. Click here to visit Scott's blog. To check out Scott's art at his website, click here. Don't miss his colored pencil tutorials (he has a wildlife one and a portrait one). There are lots of ways to work in coloured pencil and it is educational to follow along with someone's process. I am sure you will enjoy visiting his blog and his website. If you like his work, why not write him a quick note to say so? Artist's love receiving feedback!

It seems everywhere I look these days, folks are into felt - felt art, felt hats, bags etc. To see some fabulous fibre art check out Maggie Glossop's website (click here). I have seen her work in person and it really is lovely. How about some fun and funky felt items? Visit the website of Gillian Harris (click here). And fellas, you might as well pass - this stuff is pretty girlie! I love her creative bio page "It's all about me" and my favs are the felt bags. She has a feltmaking book, ipod cosies and lots of other things to browse through.

I hope you have enjoyed watching my Swiss Chard piece develop this month. If you are new to my newsletter, please know that you can check out my art journal blog here: www.teresamallenstudio.blogspot.com. If you like what you see, why not sign up to subscribe via the RSS feed or via email? Just look for this info on the sidebar of the blog.

blog news: If you would like to become a follower of my blog, I have recently added the 'follower' widget to the sidebar on the right.

Are you reading my blog and would like to share your thoughts? You can click on the comments section at the end of each post to read what others have written. If you have a google account or are willing to open one, you can also leave a message. If you would like to make a comment but you don't wish to leave a message on the blog, why not write me an email? I would love to read your comments, no matter how they reach me.

Could you use some encouragement to help you achieve your dreams and goals? If your motivational level could use a boost, check out my blog on February 2nd. This date will be the start of a new feature on my blog entitled Motivation Mondays. I am looking forward to offering helpful tips, inspiring thoughts and practical action suggestions, all aimed at getting your motivation stirred up. It is time for you to get excited about about your life!

If you are new to my newsletters and you would like some help, here is how it works. It is really quite simple. If you are a Newsletter Group Member, you can obtain free, helpful advice right here! Perhaps you have a piece that you would like me to review and to give feedback on. Perhaps you have just started something and you are unsure if you are heading in the right direction. Maybe you have a photo picked out and you are wondering if it would make a good painting. We learn from following another's process and this feedback is being offered as a way for members to learn from each other. If you have something you would like help with, email me a photo or a scanned image and we will go from there. You can also remain anonymous in the newsletter if desired. I look forward to hearing from you.

Not sure how to become a Newsletter Group Member? It's easy, just email me to become registered!

This newsletter is for you, so please feel free to participate. Send in images of your art for some show and tell. If you have a question, please ask. If you need help, just shout. If you have a helpful tip or suggestion, send it along. Perhaps you have a business or website you would like to promote. Don't be shy, why not get involved?

(If you would prefer to not receive a newsletter notice in future, please email me. Put 'remove' in the subject line and you will be deleted from my mailing list.)

Teresa Mallen Studio	Coloured Pencil Artist
	www.teresamallenstudio.com