 Yellowstone Calm, 13" x 8 1/3", Watercolor on Arches 140lb. HP, ©2018 Jennie Traill Schaeffer, AVAILABLE A teaching artist is always giving to her students. Over the years I've taught, I've had students coming from many backgrounds, facing various adversities and illnesses. Since moving to eastern NJ, I've reduced my audience of students due to my own personal family's needs. However, I'm fortunate to live near an amazing organization, Arts Unbound, that aims to provide an art education to adults who are either seniors or living with disabilities. The goal is to help them develop a career working as an artist. Each year, they host an ArtBender, a weekend long celebration of making to raise money for their art coaching program. Many opportunities to create are offered throughout the local area, as well as individual artists supporting the cause. This weekend I'm hosting a 20/20 Sale. What does that mean for you and for Arts Unbound? All work will be discounted 20% for the weekend, and I will donate 20% of all sales to Arts Unbound. My personal goal is to raise $200 for the organization, which means I must sell $1000 worth of art. Can I do it? You betcha, but I need your help. Please share link to my online shop far and wide to art lovers. It's a great time since it's the weekend prior to Mother's Day - might be an opportunity to give Mom a very artful gift. Couple of important details:
Let's make this weekend's ArtBender a success to enrich the lives of so many! PS - I'm continually updating my site, so check back often for new works. Use COUPON CODE: ARTFORALL at checkout. 
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Tonight marks the first of five art exhibits and opportunities to see and purchase my work this month. This show features nine works that focus on food gelato, aprons, appliances, and vintage cars. You can preview the work and purchase from out of the area, here. Any shipping charges will be determined after purchase. Additionally, it's an opportunity for me to help Save the Children, an organization that is actively supporting children in 120 countries including the U.S. have a healthy start to life and have the opportunity to learn and have care when disaster strikes. Given the many recent disasters here and around the world, as well as the growing refugee crisis, I wanted to give back through my work. Throughout the month of September, I'm donating 20% of my profits of art sales from The Maplewood Grille, the Maplewood Art Walk and any direct art sales through my studio / web site. If you're in the New Jersey area, please join me from 6 - 9pm at The Maplewood Grille, 144 Maplewood Ave., Maplewood. If you can't make it tonight, check out my other upcoming shows on my exhibit page.   Jersey Blues, Oil on Cradled Wood, 20" x 10", ©2012 Jennie Traill Schaeffer, available for purchase. Although I have found ways through our modern food system to incorporate blueberries in my diet year-round, I always anticipate Jersey blueberry season. Even growing up in PA on the border of NJ, it was a much-anticipated part of the summer. Back in 2012, while on our annual family vacation to Cape May, my husband and I discovered a local jewel, Beach Plum Farm. We rented bikes, plopped our then 3.5-year old on the back, and rode out to West Cape May in search of local produce. Not only did we enjoy the ride and the food, but were astounded by the beauty of the farm. Upon entering, at the time, was a front garden, planted in an English-style, with herbs, flowers, and smaller vegetables. We were welcomed to follow the rustic seashell path to the back of the farm to tour the rest of the crops and stumbled upon ripening blueberry bushes. Amazingly, this was the first time I had ever seen them in person. The shades of blue got me thinking of my palette and which pigments I would use; surely manganese, a little ultramarine, maybe turquoise, definitely some pthalo. The work above was created upon my return from several photos I took. We've been back to Cape May since, but have had another son in the meantime and haven't had the opportunity to take the bike ride out to the farm. Hopefully we can make it work this August when we take our annual trip, now that the youngest is capable of sitting in a bike seat and the oldest has the endurance to probably bike the distance himself. In the meantime, I'm offering the above piece at a reduced price in honor of the start of Jersey blueberry season, now through Friday only, along with a summer print sale of my works available on Fine Art America. Want a little extra surprise? Subscribe to my newsletter for a special thank you and exclusive offers and insights into what I do . Our local ShopRite is selling flats of Jersey blueberries that I keep hoarding. I used to be able to freeze the extras, but with a family of four, and a 3-year old that could live on them alone, they aren't making it to the freezer. (Great tip: you can pop the blueberries directly in the freezer in the clamshell). Enjoy!  Jersey Blues hanging among my living room gallery style wall. Works are by David Ohlerking, Danny Moyer, and me.  An email came through my inbox recently from a local charity, Oasis, asking for donations to support their moms. With mothers on our mind I thought now is the perfect time to launch a month-long mission to raise awareness about Oasis and donate 15% of profits from my art sales. Oasis is based in nearby Paterson, NJ, a city that exhibits a child poverty rate of 42%, compared to a 16% statewide rate. I've supported them in the past due to their excellent programs and their rating on Charity Navigator, plus 83% of their donations go directly to the women and children they aim to help. I've worked with and donated to other organizations in the past that help moms due to the direct link in helping future generations. By helping moms become self-sufficient, their children benefit directly by a higher quality of life. Moms are important.  All of the art on my web site and anything in my studio qualifies towards my donation (with the exception of a few pieces going out to exhibit this month). A limited selection of works are available for online purchases in my store, and most other available works are in my portfolio. Shipping is available for anything not listed in my store, just contact me with the art of interest and we will determine shipping costs or delivery details. If you're within a 25 mile radius, I'm happy to offer complimentary delivery. Any commissioned works, including my Wedding Cake Portraits, also qualify towards my donation. I would love to aid in Oasis' mission to "change the lives of women and children by breaking the cycle of poverty through compassionate programs designed to feed, clothe, educate and empower women and children in need." Enjoy browsing through my works and I hope you'll find some art to love that will help me lift up a mom in Paterson. A special thanks to my mom, my husband, and my kids as we approach mother's day. I'm grateful for my mom's unconditional love and lessons in becoming a mother, and for my husband in helping me through the ups and downs of motherhood, and to my kids who have taught me a new kind of love and become creative in ways I never thought possible. Happy Mothers Day to my mom, my sister on her first Mother's Day, and to all of the moms out there who work so hard every day to feed, clothe, and love your kids.  Next Thursday, March 31st, I invite you to stop by Trygve Lie Gallery for the Twitter Art Exhibit: NYC to take in and possibly purchase the works of over 1000 international artists, including my own 4" x 6" original watercolor postcard, "At Rest", seen above. This is a really awesome show that was created in 2010 by Swedish Americanized artist, David Sandum, who will captivate you through both his artwork and his efforts to help others while living with depression. Each year the exhibit is held in different cities and supports a local charity. This year's #TwitterArtExhibit will benefit Foster Pride of NYC, which helps support kids in foster care through mentoring and the arts. Proceeds from Twitter Art Exhibit: NYC will go towards their program, Handmade, which provides teen girls in foster care the opportunity to learn about design, marketing, and small business skills, and develop personal and interpersonal qualities such as motivation, collaboration, and sustained effort that will be valuable to these young women as they age out of the foster care system. Wow, I'm thrilled to be able to help such an amazing organization's efforts. And, if that's not enticing enough, cards sell for $35 each or 3 for $95. I've seen a lot of intriguing works pop up over the past several weeks on Twitter. If you'd like to join me, the exhibit opens on 3/31 with a reception beginning at 6:00PM, followed by speaches from Isha Setia, Curator of Twitter Art Exhibit: NYC, Thor-Erik Fjellvang, Director of Trygve Lie Gallery, Lynn Schnurnberger, Foster Pride, and David Sandum, Creator of Twitter Art Exhibit. The reception and sales will run through 8:30PM. If you can't make it to NYC Thursday night, you can watch the exhibit opening LIVE on whatever personal device of your choice via Periscope. And you can view my postcard on the new watercolor portfolio page. |
Jennie Traill SchaefferSometimes called the Kitchen God's Artist, I'm balancing mothering two energetic sons, a big mutt Ringo, making and teaching art. TraillWorks is the apron under which I create and teach. My own art develops mostly in my West Orange home studio, but is sometimes spurred through my teaching. Join my VIPs for First DibsArchives
September 2020
Want to read more from the past? Click here to read archived blog posts from my previous blog on Blogger.
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© 2020 TraillWorks
Studio on the 3rd Floor
West Orange, NJ
Want to Schedule a Studio Visit?
Call 973.271.9104 or email jennie@traillworks.com
Studio on the 3rd Floor
West Orange, NJ
Want to Schedule a Studio Visit?
Call 973.271.9104 or email jennie@traillworks.com
Photos of Jennie by Kat Dela Cruz and Jim Horton.