Art Portfolio Building with Sheri Tenaglio

All images in the flyer above are by Sheri’s students.

“Sheri has been a great art teacher and the biggest help with getting ready to apply to

college. My skill and passion for art have improved so much since I started taking lessons

it’s hard to even believe. She has helped me put together a portfolio I’m really proud of

and I look forward to my class every week and improving more.”

-Student Erin Madore

College and university art programs can often be difficult to get into. That means it’s critical to have a professional looking portfolio to present during your interview with the faculty. Accomplished mixed-media/pastel artist Sheri Tenaglia is offering art classes in her Williams Mill studio for the purpose of portfolio building. Her program is designed

for students competing for admittance into arts high schools and post secondary programs in fine arts, interior design, illustration, graphic design and more (OCADU,

Sheridan, YorkU, GuelphU etc.). Sheri’s classes are popular with both youth and adults, (many of them teachers themselves) and for good reason! As well as being a talented artist whose art is collected both locally and abroad, Sheri has 17 years teaching experience – in her studio, in community centres in Halton Hills and Brampton, and as a guest artist in elementary schools. Students also benefit by Sheri’s positive, encouraging attitude and small class sizes. She has helped many students prepare outstanding portfolios that have helped them get into some of the toughest university and college programs. Many of Sheri’s students have experienced great success. They have won awards, illustrated for books, made sales, and some have even received university art scholarships. To read testimonials about Sheri’s teaching, to make inquiries, or to register for a class, visit sheritenaglia.com or call her at 289-344-0687 or (cell) 905-873-3220.

Sheri Tenaglia’ studio is in the Parkside Studios (Yellow Building, lower level) of the Williams Mill

To see Sheri’s art work visit  www.sheritenaglia.com

Sheri has been a great art teacher and the biggest help with getting ready to apply to

college. My skill and passion for art have improved so much since I started taking lessons

it’s hard to even believe. She has helped me put together a portfolio I’m really proud of

and I look forward to my class every week and improving more.

Erin Madore

New Art Blog Camera and canvas

My new art blog with postings of my new paintings, mini art lessons, and life in general as an artist is at Camera and Canvas

Also new - My revamped web site is ChristineMontague.com

Follow me on twitter at ChrisMontague. Find me on Facebook too.

I look forward to your comments, tweets, and questions!T

Visit my new blog Camera and Canvas

As of 2009, I am now blogging at Camera and Canvas - mini art painting lessons, photographs of Riverwood Park, progress updates on the goal of searching for a centre of affordable artists studios for Mississauga
See you there!
Christine

Afternoon Delight. "Canoe"dling at the AGM

How do I raise the level of my art if I don’t know the height of the bar? This year I am making a conscious effort to update my art education by means other than just touring virtual art galleries. So….

… on Tuesday I paddled on over to the Art Gallery of Mississauga (AGM) to check out Highlights, a new, free art lecture series held the last Tuesday of each month. This month‘s Highlights was a guided tour of “Sally Thurlow: Canoe Dreamings “ (on until July 15th). For info, click http://www5.mississauga.ca/agm/Exhibitions/Exhibitions.htm

If you are new to art, particularly sculpture, and normally only appreciate something more traditional, this is good show for you to test the waters of the contemporary art scene. Striking in scale, form, and vision, these sculptures can be admired solely on the artist’s technical ability alone. Like sewing? You will gasp at the fabric canoe. Been in a row boat? Wait ‘til you see the paper one. And I bet you never would dream as a shredded tire as a Viking boat.

Now, look a little closer. You will discover layers of thoughtful symbolism on femininity, feminism, culturalism, suburban spread, native history, Canada, and more .

This show is a prime example of why one must take a break and see art for real. Although this show makes me salivate over how beautifully it would photograph, it’s beauty can never properly be appreciated on the 2D computer screen. This is a show that makes use of the natural light and shape of the gallery it is in. This is a show that needs to be seen big! In fact this show must change with every gallery it visits. In the AGM it was still, and dreamy. Lower the ceiling height, darken the wall colour, take away the natural lighting and change the room shape and the mood of the show would alter. It is an installation in flux.

L-o-o-o-ng ago the galleries I visited in Europe all had students drawing or painting in them. It would be magnificent to see what art could be inspired by the images in this show.

After the tour & talk, I made my own origami canoe under the tutelage of artist & teacher Joe from the Gallery. Childish? Not at all. The careful, precise hands on creation of our own little paper canoes, drove home how much care must have gone into the precise, large, beautiful sculpture by Ms. Thurlow. No wonder it took 7 years to complete the 12 pieces of this series.

Epilogue: “Always paddle your own canoe“…the sage advice written in my autograph book when I was 9, by my hardworking, homesteading, World War I Grandmother. Well, I’m trying.

I’d love to hear your comments on anything art related-
What art education venues are in your area?
What shows have you gone to recently that you thought eye opening?
Do you know of a show that you think would appeal to the elite art eye as well as the one new to looking at art ?
Do you think it even matters as an artist to have knowledge of other art?
What is art to you?

P.S. there is a lot of free parking around the AGM. The AGM is a lovely public gallery hidden away in the Mississauga Civic Centre and I suspect its existence is a secret to most people in Mississauga. Although the lecture is free it is possible to make a donation in a box at the entrance.

Dry Docked. High & Dry with No Cash in Sight. Or The Great One That Got Away.

Ever read "Blink- The power of Thinking Without Thinking" by Malcolm Gladwell? Well,

read the following and find out how my snap judgement resulted in lost opportunity.

A very long time ago, as part of an OCAD class with the terrific teacher Chin Kok Tan, I was plein air painting (ie. on location) on Toronto’s Ward Island. I sat alone on my little stool (picture one of those little blue and white striped Canadian Tire folding ones) painting a watercolour of a sail boat in dry dock, the CN Tower & Toronto skyline in the background.

Three men came up from behind, and one of them politely complimented me on the painting and asked its cost. As I replied “$50” , I twisted around to look up the man asking. His fair hair was backlit by the bright sun, and I could not see his face.

Meanwhile, another of the three, yakked loudly and addressed me as "sweetheart". He made me uncomfortable, and so I dismissively ascertained all three to be “jocks”, and I was an artiste (even though I was a runner, skier & generally liked physical activity).

The polite, potential customer, continued to compliment my painting, and pulled about $30 from his pockets, stating that was all the cash he had on him. I held firm to my price due my irritation and judgement of the louder man.

The three went off, the polite, potential buyer thanking me, even though he was empty handed.

A while later the three returned. Groan. They had searched for more money (at a nearby boat?) and had come up with $38. “You don’t even have to finish it” they laughed. I proudly held my ground. It was $50 or no sale.

The three men departed, and then, when about 50 feet away, the gentleman who wanted to buy the painting, ran back to me, put his hand on my shoulder, said “Keep up the good work, dear” , and then rejoined his friends.

Immediately, I was swarmed by my classmates who had watched from afar. “What did he say ? What did he want? “

I looked at them. I hadn’t a clue what they were referring to, although by now you may have guessed.

Yes, I had turned down selling my painting to Wayne Gretzky .

Well. Lessons learned.

• Snobbery does not equal professionalism.


• Always look a customer in the face.


• Treat every one with respect. Do not prejudge. Look after your customer. Appreciate when someone has actually taken their time to stop, look, and compliment.


• Be fair to your clients by being consistent in your prices, but sometimes, it pays to compromise. At the time I could have used that $38, although I have had more than $50 in fun in recounting this story.


• paint on location with a buddy (maybe a partner might have been more observant than I)
  

Epilogue: A year later I sold the painting at an outdoor art show at Corbyville, Ontario. By that time I had paid for a matte and shrink wrapped it. After the woman bought it I told her the Wayne Gretzky story. She was delighted as the painting was bought as a present for her husband and he was a huge Gretzky fan. Oh… and the price the watercolour sold for? $25!

And with the wisdom of age and hindsight (there's that word sight again) , I mean, how cute were these guys going back to search for change to try to get the $50? What was I thinking?

Both Sides of The Picture

At a show opening in which I had some work , I couldn’t help but notice two very nice women seemed very interested in one of my paintings. They looked at it for quite a while, singing its praises. It seemed a sale was about to occur! But suddenly they left the gallery. To my pleasant surprise, they reappeared in the gallery a couple of hours later and one of the women bought the work. In the time that had elapsed, they had sat in a local eaterie trying to decide how to justify this purchase (a medium sized painting just under $1000) to friends.

I understood completely. For most people I know the purchase of original art is low on the priority list. In fact it may be non existant. There is a practical side to buying the new couch, rug or TV. That extra $1000 dollars is needed for the kids hockey season, or the family vacation. To many 2D art is perceived as solely a decoration for the wall. Won't anything do?

I believe the woman who bought my painting had an aha! moment. The painting was more than decoration. It stirred strong memories and inspired dialogue. She experienced the art. The scene and the mood of the painting reminded her so much of where she had come from, she bravely made that step over the line from "visitor" to "collector". I very much appreciate that big step.

Here are a few other points to ponder:

• Although amongst the most educated group in Canada, artists are amongst the poorest.
• Looking at a landscape painting can help with SAD.
• When artists move into poorer urban communities, those areas often transform.
• Almost everything man-made has involved an artist at some-point.
• No other group is so open for criticism
• It is an artform usually viewed for free with no renumeration going to the artist
• Galleries take 40-50% commission
• artists must pay for expensive supplies, memberships, insurance, rent, self-promotion (business cards, websites, mailings- just to start)
• artists are life long learners

So bloggers, let me know what you would like to know, or insights you would like to share. Let’s talk art.