Dear Atelier Community,
I discovered Classical Realism in 2007, and it changed my life.
I had gone to a 4-year art school to get my undergraduate degree in 1993, but it wasn't until my early 30s that I discovered classical art training. Within just a couple years of focused study, I found my skills had dramatically improved, and issues I had struggled with for years were no longer a barrier.
I was so enthusiastic about the classical drawing methods and old master painting techniques I was learning that I wanted to share it, and I began to teach private students in my studio.
I was hired the next year to teach graduate MFA students at a major art school, and I was excited to share these methods with eager art students. But I found myself dismayed by the astronomical tuition fees the students were paying the school, setting them up for the same kind of art school debt I myself had struggled to recover from.
I was also frustrated by the modernist structure of most art schools, in which students move between different classroom studios each day of the week, without dedicated space for long-term projects. As much as I wanted to bring classical training into a modernist school, creating multi-session paintings and drawings from life, without relying on photos, is very difficult without dedicated studio space designed for that purpose.
So I decided to teach exclusively from my own studio, where my students were able to work from models, casts, and still life setups for many days or weeks, and at affordable prices.
I have since then made it my life's mission to make traditional methods of art instruction easy to find, and affordable to study.
Thanks to my husband Nowell's skills with filmmaking, music and technology, together we were able to film my demonstrations and offer my classical art training program online, starting in a Facebook group in 2014 and on our own platform in 2016.
Since then we've continually developed my online program, adding to it and making it better year after year, while keeping it affordable and accessible.
I am so proud of this online classical art program, and so proud of the hundreds of students a year who dedicate themselves to it.
But, we have a problem. The problem is staying connected.
In order to continue to be able to offer my online program, I depend on my emails reaching you. Even though many of you probably originally found me on social media, the algorithms on those platforms change all the time, so my weekly newsletter is our only truly reliable connection.
So I need to ask you to do something. To make sure you keep hearing from me, I need you to please add me to your email contacts or whitelist. This will help me continue to tell you about all the new features and offerings we are continually developing for you.
Here are instructions for how to do that for the main email platforms:
Find an email I recently sent you from sadie@sadievaleri.com, open it, and follow these instructions. (If you are not yet on my mailing list, you can sign up here, and you'll get a confirmation email from me.)
Gmail
Hover your cursor over my avatar in the FROM field above. Press the + sign and I will be added to your contacts.
Outlook
Go to Settings > Junk > Safe > Add sadie@sadievaleri.com to your safe senders list.
Yahoo
Click the "three dots" or "burger" menu in the upper right of your screen and click "Add Sender to Contacts". If these instructions don't help, you can Google "how do I add an email address to my whitelist in [list your mail provider]"
Thank you so much for helping me to continue offering classical realist painting and drawing online. For most of the 20th century it was almost impossible to find art teachers who were teaching Bargue plates, cast drawing, long pose figure drawing, or pre-Impressionist oil painting techniques. I'm really proud to be part of the movement reconnecting artists to our roots in the Renaissance.
-Sadie
I was so happy to find you some years ago! Your online classes are marvelous, and I can keep refreshing my take on a technique by rewatching the videos. I have ADHD and being able to go over lessons repeatedly is so helpful! I have not yet managed to “dedicate” all my time to making art, but am trying. You are so encouraging, supportive and kind! I would never have “survived” a traditional art environment but have found a wonderful place where you create such beauty with a realistic approach and you make it so approachable and inclusive. I also find your voice on the videos so calming and almost meditative. Thank you for your terrific atelier! I als…