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Margaret
E. Tehan’s career as an artist began in the first
grade when she discovered that her drawings were in great
demand. Her classmates clamored to have her drawings in
their birthday books. Her teacher, Mrs. Sullivan, hailed
from the Boston area. She would stand over young Margaret
cooing and exclaiming with her long and drawn out r’s — “Oh,
Margaret! You’re
an artist! You’re an artist!” In 1966, Margaret
was a rather unassuming six–year–old. She would
take it all in stride as she sat at her desk and drew princesses.
 Fast
forward to 1992. Margaret purchased a Macintosh computer –
an LCII. It was a match made in heaven and it led her to
attend Southern Connecticut State University. She became
a student of Fine Art with a dual concentration of Printmaking
and Graphic Design. When she was not doing homework or
waiting tables, she would undertake graphic design
projects for clients in the Waterbury,
Connecticut area. She started a small graphic design firm
called Margaret’s
Folly (aptly named because it seemed an absurdity to Margaret
that she would ever own her own company.) Alas, her computer
was much too slow and had too little RAM. Margaret could
not support herself, her education and her small company
with her little LCII. Margaret’s Folly was put aside.
Ms. Tehan’s waitressing skills paid for the tuition
and the rent and the art supplies.
In 1997, Margaret applied for and received a grant from
the Connecticut Commission on the Arts and Hartford, Connecticut’s
Institute for Community Research. This grant program, currently
known as the Urban Artists’ Initiative (formerly known
as the Inner-City Cultural Development Program), enabled
artists living in Connecticut’s major cities to develop
as artists…
to learn the business side of art. The recipients attended
weeks of training – learning budgeting, grant-writing,
self-promotion, and many other important skills that artists
rarely learn in art school. Each recipient was matched
with a mentor for two consecutive years and received a
$250 grant from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts
for three consecutive years. Margaret invested wisely.
She purchased a scanner and she was matched with a web
site programmer.
In June of 1998, (Ms. Tehan was on the twenty-year–plan
at Southern CT State University) she attended a web site design
course at Southern because a.) it was available and b.) she
needed an elective. Between the mentor and the formal course,
Margaret discovered her calling. In May of 1999, she resurrected
Margaret’s Folly. The name is dually appropriate. While
it still seems an absurdity to Margaret that she actually
owns her own company, Ms. Tehan’s art work, both fine
art and graphic design, are imbued with her warm sense of
humor. Step inside.
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