Mentorship is the fastest way to go from where you are today, to where you want to be! Learn How Mentorship Works or join this mentors group below. Not sure what stage you are? Click here for descriptions.
Mentoring Aspiring Artists Not sure if you’re an aspiring artist? Find your stage here.
MEDIUMS: Acrylic | Oil SPECIALTY: ✔ Artistic Process & Mindset ✔ Creating Bodies of Work ✔ Critiques
As a mentor, my group will focus on empowering artists to deepen their creative practice, develop confidence in their work, and navigate the journey of building a sustainable art career. We’ll explore essential aspects of the artistic process, including fostering a productive mindset, creating cohesive bodies of work, and refining personal voice and style. Through thoughtful critiques and hands-on exercises, artists will develop tools to self-evaluate their work, make intentional artistic decisions, and grow their technical skills in areas like color and composition.
Artists in my mentorship group can expect a supportive and collaborative environment where they are encouraged to take creative risks and embrace both successes and challenges as learning opportunities. I’ll provide structured guidance on studio time management, pricing artwork, and navigating the professional aspects of the art world. With a combination of practical advice and personalized feedback, each artist will gain clarity on their unique goals and actionable steps to achieve them.
My mentorship is rooted in a belief that every artist’s journey is unique, and my role is to guide, inspire, and offer constructive insights that help each artist reach their full potential. Together, we will cultivate not only technical skills but also the confidence and mindset necessary to thrive in their creative practice.
Marlene’s EXPERTISE
Listed below are this Mentor’s specialty skills. Join this group if you want to grow in these areas.
Specialty: ✔ Artistic Process & Mindset ✔ Creating Bodies of Work ✔ Critiques
Technique:
Z
Color and Composition
Z
Providing Art Critiques
Z
Teaching How to Self Critique
Marketing:
Z
Pricing Artwork
Z
Studio Time Management
“Mastrius is a perfect balance of accountability, community and fun. It feels like family. Family that makes you a better you.” ~ Elizabeth, Emerging Artist
JOIN NOW
select your mentorship group
If the group you’re interested in has a waitlist, you have the option to join another group to get started. When your group opens we can transfer you over.
Your Membership Includes (click here):
Mentorship Session: Meet via video conference for a monthly 2-hour session with your Mentor and small group. You choose the mentor, we provide the group!
Mid-Month Session: Meet via video conference for a 1-hour session with your small group and Navigator to connect, share progress, encouragement, and support.
Weekly Events: Attend LIVE weekly events online, on hot topics like Finding Your Style, Composition & Critiques, plus master DEMOS. Access event recordings!
MyStudio: Access your private online studio space equipped with business tools and Mentorship Session Recordings.
Chat Group: Access your private online chat group to connect with your small group and Navigator (group facilitator) anytime.
Discounts: Enjoy member discounts on LIVE and ON-DEMAND courses, art supplies, and more!
Aspiring
Mentorship Membership
$ USD87/Month
Next session: January 23, 2025
On the 4th Thursday of every month 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM MST Thu
Not your timezone? Click below
MORE ABOUT THE ARTIST
I’m the third generation of my family to grow up in a rural seaside town on the west coast of Canada; to say that the forest and the ocean are influential in my work would be an understatement. However, I’m not content to replicate nature. I’m an unconventional oil painter using stencils and spray paint like a street artist and markers like an illustrator. I create a puzzle to solve by using crisp lines, colours, textures and shapes that do not exist in the natural environment. The challenge then is to create unity that is aesthetically pleasing but not entirely comfortable. For me, a successful painting shows evidence of a struggle. If a painting is working well too quickly, I’ll purposely make erratic brushstrokes, scribbles and drips to “mess” it up and create tension. I push past the boundaries of outdated conditioning that equate femininity with neatness and prettiness. I look to nature to create work that rebels against order and perfection; I seek a raw kind of beauty.
When I was younger, I never understood why I felt so compelled to create art. I’ve been fascinated by the history and work of the women artists of the Abstract Expressionist movement. Their pushback in a male-dominated art scene and their resilience to carve their own way fuels me. I am following their path. I had good-paying jobs and a clear pathway to a successful career in television. However, after becoming a mother to two girls, I made a series of choices to fulfill a dream that I believe is not only mine but that of a woman whom I’ve never met.
My father’s mother died when he was 17. His stories of her bring tears to my eyes. She acted in our small town plays and weaved bedtime stories about pirates and knights to her little boy in lieu of books. My grandmother was born in 1903 in a rural town by the sea and over a half of a century later I was raised on that same piece of land. She grew up during WWI and struggled to bring up her own children during the Great Depression and WWII, while her husband was away serving in both wars. Grace Hartigan, Lee Krasner and Elaine de Kooning would have been my grandmother’s contemporaries, what would she have created if she had the opportunity to do so?
Two decades into slowly building this life for myself it is now clear that the struggle I create in my work is a metaphor for an old story, perhaps even a healing one. I make large, sensual and expressive oil paintings to use my voice and speak loudly for those who couldn’t. By sharing my work and teaching, I also give those alongside me now and into the future, permission to speak up. For this polite, small town, Canadian girl, painting is a political act; it is an act of liberation.
FREE eBOOK: Secrets You Won't Learn In Art School
✔ Where creative BLOCKS come from, how to identify them, and how to quickly move forward
✔ What not to be a SLAVE to (this feels counter-intuitive to most artists)
✔ Two things to focus on that improve the VALUE range making your art more interesting
Plus 16 other tips from successful Master Artists that you won't learn in art school.
