Pastellist Interviews

The tireless Canadian artist, Gail Sibley, who blogs at How To Pastel, has collected 19 short interviews of pastel instructors who attended the pastel convention in New Mexico earlier in June of this year. It is a treasure trove. Pour a tall cup of something to enjoy, and do go through these at your leisure. By the way, I am down the dais at video number 14, but I will also post it from You Tube below.

IAPS Interviews, 2017

Never Forget the Affection I Had for You.

Video Interview and Opening - Wolf Kahn, The Early Years, 1950 - 1970

Wolf Kahn, by Justin Spring. 1996.




For some reason I have been looking at Wolf Kahn's early works, mostly in my copy of the book by Justin Spring.  Why did I overlook these before?  Because I am working on subtlety in my studio, Kahn's early monocolors and minimalist works are an inspiration to me.  I really love the ones where he just pushes one or two intense colors through a tonalist surface, such as the one titled Sunset, 1967.


By coincidence, the Jerald Melberg Gallery, in Charlotte, NC,  just finished an exhibition of Wolf Kahn's early works, from the fifties and sixties.  Here is a video series with a very informal interview of Kahn, and if you want to get a better look at some of the paintings, go to the website for the exhibition.

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Links and Studio News

November 15 in the Studio, Hoquiam River Scenes
Casey Klahn

Jeanette Jobson, who does Gyotaku Prints, has published an interview of me at her newsletter. Jeanette blogs at Illustrated Life. Go here to find out about my studio secrets.

Katherine Tyrrell, of Making a Mark, has linked me on her popular Sunday feature, "Who's Made a Mark This Week." If you don't already make a habit of reading her Sunday entries, you should. I consider it the artist blogger news.

Here at The Colorist, I am continuing to think about The Artist's Ideas. If you haven't found your answers as to what your art ideas should be, that's good. Keep looking, and use my essays as fuel for your thoughts.

Also, in the world of blogging, I wonder who will become my three-hundredth follower? Next month will be the fourth anniversary of The Colorist, and I think you can appreciate the effort that requires. I appreciate each reader at my humble artist's blog.

I am becoming active at the ning community, Artistes de Studio. Jennifer Evenhus, a great artist from central Washington, is the driving force there. I enjoy the status of a Master Artist in the group.

Studio Panorama

In the studio, I am going forward with the long awaited Hoquiam River Series. Consider it like Twilight, only more moody. My representation of the rainy, coastal little river is a passage I am making by means of strong pastel paintings. Are these paintings of one of the most interesting places on Earth good representations of the scenery there? Only if you look at them through the heart.

I hope to have an opening in Hoquiam, my hometown, some time next year.

Artist Interview-a-Palooza

Abstract Reds Over Blues
20" x 12"
Original Pastel
Casey Klahn
Collection the Artist

Via Harry Bell, at Boogie Street, comes this blog project called The Pulse: an Artist's Survey. It is hosted by Seth Apter, of The Altered Page blog, and it features 95 artists answering 7 questions. Save this for a rainy day, and you will enloy all the new artist link surfing you know you love.

Newsletters That Kill

The Art Biz Coach
Alyson Stanfield

It is not everyday that I get to conduct an interview here at The Colorist. And even rarer still the chance to hob-nob in the greater world of art business. Are you an artist in need of guidance in marketing your wonderful art? I'll take that as a yes.

Alyson Stanfield, the ArtBizCoach, has written a new book you must read:
I’d Rather Be in the Studio! The Artist’s No-Excuse Guide to Self-Promotion.

Yesterday, I linked you to her terrific web sites and the book info page. Everything at the ArtBizCoach is action-oriented. "Do This" is Alyson's catch phrase, and she is sure to get your business side up and running if you'll read this great reference and motivational book.

Perhaps because I have been remiss in getting out proper mailings, I was interested in the artist's newsletter. Some artists live entirely off of patronage from their mailing lists, and I wanted to know the best way to crack that nut.


Alyson, thanks for stopping in.

Casey, I'm really happy to be here. I knew you before you had a blog and I've enjoyed watching you build up your online presence. You're doing a fantastic job! What's on your mind today?

I want to know more about newsletters, both hard copy and e-mail types. Do you support the idea of a special newsletter for gallerists and/or museum curators?

Casey, I really don’t. I think they’re too busy to read your news and you’re too busy to write a couple of different types of newsletters. I’d feed them information the old-fashioned way: letters, brief email updates, etc. I recommend newsletters as a way to keep in touch with patrons.

Also, my patron newsletter I plan to make twice yearly, due to my slow studio production. Plus, I have the daily blogging for frequent news. What wisdom can you offer about newsletter frequency.

It depends on the format. A printed newsletter can be costly, so it doesn't make sense to do it more than two or three times a year. But I might bundle up some of your blog posts and do an e-newsletter in between the two printed versions.

As you know--since you read the book--I believe the most important criteria for writing good newsletters is having news. Everything else is secondary. If you can create good content that people want to read, you can easily do a monthly newsletter. Reread what I just said. I said, “that people want to read.” It’s not about what you want to tell them, but about what is of interest to them. People will make time for things they can relate to or are entertained by.

Also on newsletters, the best one I saw in Googling examples was a short and to the point one from a bar which included a discount coupon for hot wings. It had the brevity, the reminder and the hook. Can you offer some examples of artist's newsletters you feel hit it out of the park?

Very few artists hit a home run with their newsletters. One I particularly love is in I’d Rather Be in the Studio! and that is Elia Woods’ newsletter. It’s not all about her, but about the subjects (vegetables!) in her photo-transfer quilts.

I also enjoy Anne Leuck Feldhaus’s newsletter. Her brightly-colored paintings are always uplifting to look at and she features her animal rescue groups as well as another local artist in each issue. I commissioned two pair of earrings from an artist I found in her newsletter last fall!

I will tell you that the most boring newsletters I get are from artists I’ve never heard of who tell me about their exhibit that’s on the other side of the country. I don’t ever read these and I don’t recommend sending newsletters to people who don’t know you.

I particularly liked the chapter title: "Send a Killer Newsletter". Right away the task has gone from a business obligation, to how to excel and get results with one's newsletter.

As I see it, you have two options for hitting it out of the park with your newsletter: (1) Be a fascinating storyteller or (2) Be funny. All you have to do to see that I’m right is to recall why you read something and why you pass it along to your friends and family.

Thanks for these answers, Alyson. Looks like I'm on track now to publish my killer newsletter. If you're reading my blog, and wish to be on my mailing list for a newsletter, send me your mailing address (snail mail) to caseyklahn (at symbol) Gmail dot com, no spaces. I also send a high quality postcard with an artwork image.

Interested in winning a free copy of I’d Rather Be in the Studio! The Artist’s No-Excuse Guide to Self-Promotion? Visit this site, read the instructions, and enter. Your odds are good as she’s giving away a free copy on most of the blog tour stops. You can increase your odds by visiting the other blog tour stops and entering on those sites as well.

I'd Rather Be in the Studio

True to the title of Alyson Stanfield's book for artists, I'd rather be in the studio than almost anywhere else. My family went to Seattle for the long weekend, and left me to get some headway on my deadlines. The studio time has been wunderbar!

Speaking of the book, this blog will be participating in Alyson's Blog Tour. I'll be interviewing her on April 29th, which is tomorrow. Don't miss this opportunity to get the extra insight that the Art Biz Coach has to offer you.

Artist Interview - Julianne Richards

Glad to see Julianne Richards, The Colorspeaker, receiving great press. She deserves it. And, I hold her interview by Kim Rodeffer Funk up as the way it should be done. Now I know more about Richards, and her art.

Thanks for mentioning me there, Julianne. I appreciate it.

Studio Visit with Wolf Kahn

Bell Tower Process Sketch
Casey Klahn

Alyson Stanfield, being a good friend, passed this interview link to me the other day. It comes just in time for some much needed inspiration. And, you'd better believe I hung on every word that Wolf Kahn had to say, and drank up every corner of the great man's studio with my eyes. Thanks, NewArtTV. Let's get that part 2 in the can real soon!

One thing that I gleaned from his studio tour was his willingness to show his older works. He even turns a canvas around to reveal the rejected one on the back! Gutsy.

Alyson's ArtBizBlog.

Electricity & An Artist Interview

New electrical panel to the new studio.

There is now electricity to my new studio! Woo Hoo! Look out, art world! More on my new studio project soon.

If you don't read my other blog, Pastel, you haven't heard about the interview I did for Giselle Borzov at Art Now. There is much new to read there about Colorist art that you haven't read at this blog, so pull up a cup of tea and enjoy reading. The collage above is a collection of my art that Giselle curated for her article. Interesting what another person will choose to represent one's body of work. I am pleased.

Interview of Sheila M. Evans

See the interview of artist Sheila M. Evans at the Pastel Blog today.

Linky - Linky- Greety

Casey Klahn in Studio

The post title is blogger slang for saying "greetings" to the visitors coming in from Alyson Stanfield's ArtBizBlog, where she has a post entitled: Artist's Blogs to Fall in Love With.

Casey and Vincent at a Paint Out

So, welcome if you're new here. My blog is a process-type space where I post about "Colorist Art", in a new and modern sense. Also, things that I enjoy, such as art history that isn't too stodgy. An example would be my posts on Vincent van Gogh (who I interview here).

You know, there are precious few photos of the old keener, van Gogh. He hated the camera so. Here's an image he allowed me to have of our virtual visit in Paris, but only of his back.

Vincent and Moi Hold Forth

Another popular subject here at The Colorist is the medium pastel, which I favor. Here's a post about my chums in the pastel world. If you like, see my post about the founding pastelist herself, Rosalba Carriera.

My art can be viewed by clicking on My Artworks.

Now, I'll be going back to Alyson's blogs list and finishing my tour of bloggers to love!

New Month - New Projects

Have I got projects in the hopper, or what?

1. Abstract Expressionism, an interview project. I will be interviewing the greats of the New York School via the magic of Photoshop and a little imagination. It will be more than a reprise of my van Gogh interview technique, though. This time, I want to produce a power point presentation out of it in case I want to "take it on the road". Look for this project during the months of May and June - I want to give myself time to make it a quality event.
2. Fifty Drawings will be my temporary substitute for my 100 paintings project, which is on hold while my laptop computer is out of reach. Subject matter will vary, but the foundational elements of my art will be on display for sick prices - basically fifty dollars. Who knows, I may even try out a Wordpress site for this one. Look for this new project around the middle of May.
3. Blogger Biennial is an idea in it's formative stages that I haven't announced yet. The origination is from the idea that I can't wait around for Venice to give the call, and so I'm going to start my own Biennial, which will be an invitational to present new art at a special virtual event. I will be announcing the jury, and starting on this one-of-a-kind event sometime this year.
4. Stations of the Cross will be my personal art project exploring spiritual focus and abstraction in my art. I will be doing the stations of the cross, in a Protestant format, and creating installations to show these works. It may be a few years in the making, but I want to get the start soon.
   

Well, that ought to be enough for a while! And don't forget, I still have an art career to attend to - with five art fairs coming up. Yikes!