Picture Perfect

Catch today's NJ Herald article on the front page of the local section. Every Monday, the Herald publishes a column called "At Work in Sussex County" where a person is interviewed about their job. Roberta Fugate of the Herald interviewed me a couple of weeks ago, along with Amy Paterson who took photos of me painting and teaching lessons. The article has already brought in some new business - this is priceless press! Thank you NJ Herald!

The Kitchen God's Artist

It finally hit newsstands this weekend! My profile in this month's issue of NJ Savvy Living is available now at New Jersey Borders, Barnes & Noble, King's & Wegman's through September 17th. Get your copy to read the full article in which George Anderson, editor in chief, dubbed me "The Kitchen God's Artist."

I was so pleased with the article and am thrilled to have been chosen for inclusion in such an exclusive publication. Thank you NJ Savvy Living for this GREAT opportunity!

SPECIAL OFFER* -
As a special thank you to my loyal readers, I'm offering special pricing now through September 17th when you bring in a copy of the NJ Savvy Living article to TraillWorks. TraillWorks is open Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 10 - 6pm, Friday 10 - 8pm, Saturday 10 - 5pm and Sunday 11 - 4pm or by appointment.

*Offer valid through September 17th. Only one article may be redeemed per family and is good only on purchases of artwork and note cards in the gallery on a single day. May not be applied to lessons or previously scheduled commissions.

Email me with any questions.

Perker gets Painted Again

Bound Perker, Oil on Panel, 12" x 16", © Jennie Traill Schaeffer 2008

Here's my second bound appliance portrait painting. The percolator is wrapped with my husband's grandmother Fran's hand made tulle and velvet apron. I completed it last week and it will be framed and hanging in the gallery this week.

PS - Don't forget about the Sidewalk Sale Specials going on INSIDE TraillWorks now through July 31st.

Sidewalk Sale Specials at TraillWorks

In honor of Newton's Annual Sidewalk Sale Days held Thursday through Saturday, TraillWorks is offering some specials inside the gallery. Email or call TraillWorks at 973-383-1307 to take advantage of these offers. Or better yet, stop by!

These offers will be honored through July 31st.

Sidewalk Sale Specials
25% off:
All Note Cards
All Matted Portfolio Works
(includes giclées, original prints, and drawings)
All Red Dot Paintings

Red Dot Paintings
(take 25% off list price)

St. Mixer with Embellishments
Ceramic Paint on Tile, 4" x 4"
$99 (framed)

St. PastaMaker
Ceramic Paint on Tile, 6" x 6"
$149 (framed)

Cheese Wheels & Wine Bottles
Ceramic Paint on Tile, 6" x 6"
$79 (unframed)

Cheese Wheels & Abstract Wine Bottles, Pair of Coasters
Ceramic Paint on Tile, 4" x 4"
$79

Hen & Eggs
Ceramic Paint on Tile, 6" x 6"
$149 (framed)

Truffles, Pair of Coasters
Ceramic Paint on Tile, 4" x 4"
$79

Rivets, from the Bethlehem Steel Tiles Series, pair of coasters
Ceramic Paint on Tile, 4" x 4"
$79

Roof, from the Bethlehem Steel Tiles Series, pair of coasters
Ceramic Paint on Tile, 4" x 4"
$79

Truss, from the Bethlehem Steel Tiles Series, pair of coasters
Ceramic Paint on Tile, 4" x 4"
$79

Dogwood Arrangement, set of 4 tiles
Ceramic Paint on Tile, 24" x 6"
$299

First Anniversary II, Oil on Panel, 8" x 8"
$395 (framed)

Wedding Day II, Oil on Panel, 8" x 8"
$395 (framed)

Wedding Day I, Oil on Panel, 8" x 8"
$395 (framed)

First Anniversary I, Oil on Panel, 8" x 8"
$395 (framed)

St. Blender, Oil on Panel, 12" x 16"
$729 (framed)

St. Mixer, Oil on Panel, 12" x 16"
$729 (framed)

Almandine and Stainless Dish Washer, Oil on Mounted Canvas Paper, 16" x 20"
$829 (framed)

Stoneware Cooker of Comfort Food, Oil on Panel, 10" x 8"
$549 (framed)

Plastic, Stainless Trimmed Mixer by Hand, Oil on Panel, 8" x 10"
$549 (framed)

Plastic, Encased Grinder of Coffee Beans, Oil on Panel, 8" x 10"
$549 (framed)

Classy, Chrome and Glass Blender of Fluids, Oil on Panel, 8" x 10"

$549 (framed)

Second Saturday

Main Street Newton, Inc. announces Second Saturdays on Spring Street with Painted Prose & Poetry. Sussex County Arts & Heritage Council, TraillWorks and Gallery By The Green, Newton’s three visual arts venues, will be hosting book signings throughout the afternoon and evening of July 12.

With Painted Prose & Poetry Main Street Newton, Inc. marks the inauguration of Second Saturdays on Spring Street. The second Saturday of each month July through December Spring Street galleries, shops and restaurants will remain open late allowing customers new and old alike the opportunity to savor the unique shopping and dining experiences downtown Newton has to offer.

Beginning at TraillWorks from 3 - 4 pm local chef and author Andre deWaal will be signing copies of his publication My Dinner at Andre’s. In addition to meeting the chef, a sampling of hors d’ oeuvres prepared by Andre along with wine provided by TraillWorks will be on hand. Andre’s cookbook pairs well with TraillWorks’ paintings by artist, Jennie Traill Schaeffer, of retro kitchen appliances.

From 4 - 7pm Geoffrey Leckie’s images of Venice will surround Francesca De Stefano at Gallery By The Green while she reads selections from her short story Living on Venetian Time, which is included in the anthology Best Women’s Travel Writing 2007. Her work, always about language, pictures, and communication, has also appeared in the anthology 30 Days in Italy. She recently received Honorable Mention in the 2008 Solas Awards for travel writing.

The Sussex County Arts & Heritage Council will be featuring local author and poet Jean LeBlanc from 5:30-6:30. Jean will be doing a series of readings from her published book of tanka, haiku and haiban titled Just Passing Through, and other poetry from her forthcoming book, At Any Moment. The readings will be complimenting the councils group exhibit Birds, Bugs, Beasts and Botanicals. Jean LeBlanc teaches writing and literature at SCCC and is the Director of the Betty June Silconas Poetry Center. She has led numerous haiku and tanka workshops.

Warren Westura for The New York Times

In addition to Painted Prose and Poetry, this first Second Saturday on Spring Street will also feature a Youth Concert organized by Youths on Main Street from 6-9PM on the Newton Green in downtown Newton. The concert will feature six bands playing various genres of music and one or more poets/spoken word artists.

For more information on this and other upcoming Second Saturday events, contact Main Street Newton, Inc. at 973-940-3178 or www.mainstreetnewton.com.

Dog Days of Summer

It's a little early for the dog days of summer, but with temps we had in New Jersey over the weekend, it may have been August. During this utterly oppressive heat this past weekend, I held my grand opening, part of which was devoted to drawing live pets.

Based on the reaction people had to my invitation and announcement of free pet portraits, I thought I would have 25 dogs lined up at my door Sunday morning.

Kalee, 18" x 24", Graphite on Paper, © 2008 Jennie Traill Schaeffer

However, I'll chalk up the smaller turnout of only 3 dogs to the blistering temperatures. It did turn out to be a great time; I drew three dogs, two together. Each pet owner was gracious enough to help keep their dogs focused and calm, with the help of a few treats I had on hand.

Porter and Amber, 18" x 24", Graphite on Paper, © 2008 Jennie Traill Schaeffer

I would definitely do this again and hope for a cooler day. Thanks to Kalee, Porter and Amber for their genteel behavior and smashing looks!

Domino Effect

I can't stress enough how valuable it is to participate in shows and promote your work. Last year, I found out about a site NJ offers called JerseyArts.com. It's a great site that promotes all of the arts in NJ and offers many free promotional opportunities to artists. I applied to be included on their web site as a featured artist and was chosen. My work was on their home page for the month of April. Since then it is permanently archived on their site, always searchable.

Of course I hoped for sales or some future opportunity to come from this great exposure, and last week it did. I received a phone call from the editor in chief of NJ Savvy Living magazine, asking me if I was interested in them writing a feature on me. Well, of course! My husband said, why would they even ask you? But there are those obstinate artists out there who don't want to become successful, unless they are discovered by chance. Well, in a way I was discovered, but I set the stones in place.

So today I will be speaking with their editor, George Anderson, about my work. He's interested in focusing on my appliance paintings. the article, which he aims to be eight pages long, will be published in either the July/August or September/October issue. Hopefully he'll help get me past the emerging artist stage! I'll keep you posted; I'm looking forward to the phone interview, George seems to be a fun guy to talk to.


jennie@traillworks.com
www.traillworks.com

The Art of Promotion

A friend of mine just recently dubbed me the queen of marketing. It was quite an honor for her to acknowledge my efforts. Most people who read the paper think the writers are putting together all of their stories and news, but that's just not the case. Newspapers and other media are hungry for information and most often willing to publish what you send them, given the information is newsworthy and pertinent to their market.

I've never taken a business class or a marketing course for that matter. I've read a lot and taught myself most of what I know; which in this media - savvy culture I feel is still only very little. And I have to mention, my husband did go to business school and worked in a marketing department for a couple of years; he's helped. But he would also be the first to tell you I do most of it myself.

Promotion is a very important aspect for an artist to get beyond an emerging artist. Most of us have to do it ourselves. Since moving to my new studio location, I spent a lot of time writing and submitting press releases about my upcoming grand opening and my studio. Though I haven't made a lot of artwork in the past four weeks, I've taken on three new students, sold 5 pieces of artwork, and have had two direct serious inquiries from potential students. Many of this is due to my press releases.

A local paper published my recent release on Thursday and both of the potential students' parents evoked such excitement at seeing that I'm teaching lessons in Newton. This was great, free advertising. I think a press release often has more power than an ad, the only downfall is it runs once. And, the paper has the right to edit it and I discovered they never included my phone number. One parent was going to have her husband drive by my studio to see if there was a brochure or more information. But then she realized the photo they printed showed the lettering on my window; she was able to make out the phone number. Whew!

I can't express enough the power of self-promotion.

Check back in a couple of days for some important new self-promotion.



jennie@traillworks.com
www.traillworks.com

Vintage Touch

The Easton Express Times, my hometown newspaper, just featured me in Friday's Enjoy Section headlining, Vintage Touch with Emerging Artist, Jennie Traill Schaeffer. Susan Kalan, the arts editor for the Express, recently started a Meet the Artist column in which she wrote about me. I had sent her a press release about a month ago and she suggested I send her specific info for the new column. In researching the format, I discovered Todd DeLuca's Meet the Artist feature from a couple of weeks ago. He and I went to school together and were in many art classes; it was exciting to see another Easton High School Alum working, might I add, successfully, as an artist. Unfortunately I couldn't locate any of his work online.

jennie@traillworks.com
www.traillworks.com

The TraillWorks Grand Opening Weekend

I'm pleased to announce the celebration of The Grand Opening of TraillWorks. The studio unofficially opened on April 19th, and I've begun making plans for the official opening on June 7th and 8th. The weekend is sure to be fantastic; people in Newton are abuzz about the opening of another gallery, bringing more culture to this small county seat.

TraillWorks will be open on both Saturday and Sunday. During the weekend I'll be offering a door prize, showing new artworks, and exhibiting past and current student works. On Sunday from 12 - 2pm I'm inviting the first four pet owners with their pets for a complimentary 30 minute sketch (if they can get their pet to sit still that long) and from 3 - 4pm I'll be giving a gallery talk about my work.

So save the weekend and drop by TraillWorks at 135 Spring Street in Newton, NJ.

Come to Newton and see why the NY Times calls it a Main Street with Real Staying Power; visit the new ice cream parlor, pet boutique, art galleries, antique shops and a variety of restaurants.



jennie@traillworks.com
www.traillworks.com

Impeccable Timing

I received a phone call from the NJ Herald's Lifestyle editor, Kathy Stevens, last week asking if she could come into TraillWorks and interview me. They were writing an article for the Sunday paper featuring the Skylands Juried Show, opening Saturday and wanted to highlight an artist. Luck was on my side because I had sent the Herald a postcard notifying them of my new address and upcoming events.

Low and behold the result was the article below which spends a lot of time discussing my new studio. Thank you to the Herald for the great press!




jennie@traillworks.com
www.traillworks.com

Thumb's Up

Stumble Upon's Gualleygirl gave my link at Gawker Artists a thumb's up on her March 27th posting. She found my work and suggested people take a look.

Stumble Upon is a site where people recommend other web sites, blogs, etc. Thanks for the mention Gualleygirl!

jennie@traillworks.com
www.traillworks.com