The Blackbird Sings

Dark Feather

It's a busy time right now - I'm working on a large commission and new paintings for three different galleries. But alongside all of this, I like to take a few hours out occasionally to work on smaller pieces for the shop or just to experiment with some of the new ideas I've had recently.

During my trip to Paris in December I bought a little wooden box. It has been sitting there ever since, waiting to be painted. I finally decided upon a design for it the other day, so I got to work and then added it to the shop yesterday - it sold a few hours later but I thought you'd like to see it anyway! People have already asked whether I'll be making more of these, and if I'm able to find more boxes when I go back to Paris, I certainly will!

Dark Feather

Wooden box with a hand-painted design. 21.75cm x 8.5cm x 3cm approx.

© Natasha Newton 2011

SOLD

Even though this particular piece is no longer available, I've also added lots of new painted pebbles and postcard sets to the shop over the past week. Some have already sold but several are still available. You'll also find some new paintings that I haven't had a chance to share with you on the blog. If you'd like to see all of the new items, please head on over to the shop! www.theblackbirdsings.etsy.com

Have a nice Thursday! x

Under The Stars 2 and The Story Behind It

Following on from the previous blog post, this is the second painting in the new 'Under The Stars' series. I'm revisiting my night landscape paintings but trying to let them evolve naturally and in a subtle way by introducing new elements here and there. There is a little story behind this particular piece, and I will tell you all about it below...

Under The Stars 2

Original acrylic painting on deep-edge canvas. 10x10"

© Natasha Newton 2011

Back in May 1963, NASA astronaut Gordon Cooper was orbiting the Earth in his spacecraft Faith 7. While making observations of the ground he noticed some chimney smoke, which he was able to trace back to a single Tibetan cottage. So when I decided to paint this picture I gave my own little cottage a trail of chimney smoke leading up into the stars...and maybe there's a space traveller up there somewhere who can see it.

Under The Stars

A new painting. A tiny folk art inspired piece on deep-edge canvas. It will be on its way to a gallery soon along with several others. I decided to revisit my night landscape paintings because I missed painting them, but I also wanted to make sure I wasn't repeating myself and my previous ideas too much. So they're gradually evolving with the addition of very 'starry' stars and new trees. I'm hoping they will evolve further...

Under The Stars

Acrylic on deep-edge canvas. 6x6"

© Natasha Newton 2011

I am still here ;)

I realised a day or so ago that I haven't posted a blog for about a month! This never happens (apart from now, obviously). It takes a lot of time and effort to post regular blog entries and the truth is that I've just been too busy. I've been trying to keep the website updated with new work - although I'm even a little behind with that - and I update my twitter page daily, but I just haven't been able to find the time or inclination to post a blog. I guess it's ok to have a little break though, and when you have a busy life you find that some things have to slide occasionally.

Royal Wedding Day. 29.04.11. Our garden in the Suffolk countryside.

I have however been creating many new pieces of work, and I also managed to fit in a last-minute, spontaneous trip to Paris for a few days in the middle of April! Leon and I had a wonderful time and I was sad not to be there for longer, but due to my schedule it had to be a short trip this time. I even met some of his family - his brother and sister-in-law were visiting for a few days from the United States and it was lovely to spend some time with them. We got on really well, and we enjoyed spending time with Leon's son Yann too.

Ok, that's all for today as I need to get back to the easel and I really just wanted to pop my head around the virtual corner to say hi! See you soon. x