D. LaRue Mahlke
Fine Art

Upcoming Workshops
Orchestrating the Landscape in Pastel

June 12 – 15, 2023
9 AM – 4 PM Daily
The workshop will feature soft pastels, but oils are also accepted.
Come paint with me at The Cowboy! I am excited and very honored to be teaching a 4 day workshop, in conjunction with this year’s Prix de West at the National Cowboy Museum in Oklahoma City.

More than just a reproduction or copy of what you see, a painting is your personal response, emotional and intellectual, to your subject.
“What made me stop and take notice of this scene? What is MY response and how do I clarify it?”
This workshop is designed to help you take your work to a new level by considering these important questions, then finding and expressing your own unique vision with confidence and clarity using fundamental principles of value, drawing, design, color, edges and strokes or texture.
Each day we will discuss then put into practice these principles of good art through the use of small, thumbnail design and value sketches which will be our reference (a ‘roadmap’) for our pastel paintings.
The goals are:
Finding your focus
Clarifying your vision
Simplifying for stronger composition
Using Limited Values
Relationships – color and value
Creating harmony and unity
Creating atmosphere or mood
Additional topics will include tips for working from photographs, working from memory, plein-air painting, the ongoing journey,and more!
I will be demonstrating my various approaches to pastel painting with plenty of one-on-one instruction at the easel.
Booth Art Academy

October 4 – 6, 2023
9 AM – 4 PM Daily
I am thrilled to be teaching again at the Booth Art Academy in Cartersville, Georgia, this October. This is a 3 day outdoor landscape workshop.


As a landscape painter, going to the source of our inspiration is key to understanding and seeing subtle value and color shifts as well as aerial and linear perspective. Time spent observing, sketching and painting outdoors will enable you to paint more effectively indoors, especially when using photographic reference. This workshop focuses on the fundamentals of landscape drawing and painting outdoors using the principles of good design, value, drawing, edges, color, and strokes or texture that applies to pastels as well as other mediums. The importance of simplifying the scene using a limited value range to produce a stronger design will be discussed and practiced daily, with emphasis on how to clarify your emotional response to the subject. Students are encouraged to write their impressions down as well and to take photos/video of their scene for future reference. Each day, students will be doing preliminary thumbnail sketches then field studies using soft pastels. I will be demonstrating my various approaches to pastel painting daily, outdoors, and provide one-on-one instruction at the easel. Join me as we explore the great outdoors in and around beautiful Cartersville and experience the joy of working in pastels in a relaxed and fun atmosphere.
Exhibitions
Exhibit Schedule
January 7 – April 30, 2023 :: Bullock Texas History Museum
May 26 – October 1, 2023 :: Houston Museum of Natural Science
October 27, 2023 – February 18, 2024 :: Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum
March 21 – May 26, 2024 :: Stark Galleries, Texas A&M University
June 8 – August 31, 2024 :: The Old Jail Museum
September 22, 2024 – January 5, 2025 :: Tyler Museum of Art
2nd Biennial Exhibition, Shades of Gray II
April 28 – May 7, 2023
The Salmagundi Club, New York City
Invitational Art Exhibiton & Sale
June 2 – August 6, 2023
Art Sale Weekend scheduled for June 9 – 10
1700 Northeast 63rd Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73111
Galleries
Gallery 330

330 West Main Street
Fredericksburg, Texas 78624
Oh be Joyful Gallery

409 Third Street
Crested Butte, CO 81224