The Blackbird Sings

New.

Just a quick update because I'm currently getting ready for my trip to Paris tomorrow. As you probably know, I was supposed to go on Valentine's Day, but due to one thing and another it was postponed for two weeks. So my four week trip is now a two week trip. C'est la vie. I just hope I can stay well this time because the migraines are still being a total pain in the butt.

By the way, I really want to post the blog I've been promising for a gazilllion years (I believe I first mentioned it around the time of the Big Bang) about running a small creative business, and I'm hoping to do that soon. I have actually started writing it.....it just needs to be finished. Let's hope that my time in Paris will allow me to not only post that blog, but also my very first podcast! Truth be told, I'm not sure how to use my new sound recorder properly OR how to edit the podcasts yet, so I'll need Leon's help with that. We did a little recording while I was in Paris in January, but we ran out of time.

Anyway, look what I have here - new stone collections! Yes siree.

Nature Set 8

© Natasha Newton 2012

Nature Set 9

© Natasha Newton 2012

You can find both of these and other painted stones in the shop. It's good to be able to stock up again as I've sold so many stones since the Homes & Gardens magazine feature (thank you H&G!), and I've also accepted several commissions for the stone collections too. I'm looking forward to making more canvas paintings soon as I feel I've painted so few of them over the past three months. I want to continue with the new We're Almost Home series (both of which have now sold - you can see them here) and try out several new ideas too. And I'll have a proper studio space again from the end of March / early April onwards...oh yes. :)

Look Up And See The Milky Way

Hope you're all having a relaxing Sunday afternoon. I'm in the studio working on some new canvas paintings today because my intention is to take tomorrow off and go out for a day of shopping with my mum. It's been a while and Norwich - with its gorgeous shops - is calling. Of course, I'll be stopping off at Jarrold's art department too - fingers crossed they have some half price Winsor & Newton canvases (as they often do), because I need to stock up for my shows later this year. If not, I'm sure I'll find some other art materials to tempt me. It's rare for me to leave there empty-handed...

I went to the doctors about the migraine attacks the other day and it was pretty helpful, but I'll tell you about that another time. Today, I just wanted to quickly share these small canvas paintings I've completed for two special little girls. A couple who are collectors of my work recently had twin girls and they wanted to commission two paintings especially for the twins. So here they are:

Look Up And See The Milky Way 1 & 2

Acrylic on deep-edge canvas. 6x6"

© Natasha Newton 2012

SOLD

[Edit] And here's how they look together (because I always think you can't get a real feeling for how a work of art actually looks in reality just by seeing a 'flat' image on a computer screen...)

I've also added a couple of new pieces (a framed bird painting and a new 'feather' stone) to the shop. You can go here if you'd like to see.

Good (but sort of bad too...)

Well, it's been a strange week and a half since I last popped my head above the parapet and said hello to all of you out there in Blogland, Internetsville.

* It has been incredibly creative. (I've made so much new work even I can't quite believe it).

* It has been busier than I've ever known it to be when it comes to selling my art, which I am hugely grateful for. (I made another trip to the Post Office today and took NINE parcels with me. The ladies behind the counter at the PO were friendly and lovely as usual, and didn't seem to mind that I had so many parcels going to several different countries plus customs forms to fill in. They're absolute stars).

* It has been frustrating and scary and disappointing all rolled into one because I have been suffering from ANOTHER hideous migraine attack. I am so sick of these I cannot tell you. I had been feeling 'not quite right' for most of last week (vague headache/face-ache, blurred vision, slightly giddy and nauseous every now and again - all warning signs of a migraine) but I was functioning. Then on Friday it became so bad I couldn't continue, and I had to spend the next two days in bed. I slept and slept. And do you know what? Sleep seems to be the number one thing that really helps these attacks. (That, and painkillers...). Anyway, long story short, I'm much better now but I've postponed the trip to Paris until next week as I have an appointment to see the doctor here on Thursday. I also had no idea at the weekend whether I'd be ok to travel this Tuesday as planned, so we cancelled our plans. I am mightily peeved about this, but what can I do? I hope the docs can get to the bottom of what's causing these attacks and somehow help to prevent them...

We're Almost Home 1 & 2

Acrylic on deep-edge canvas. 8x8"

© Natasha Newton 2012

SOLD

By the way, these paintings were made last week and they're part of a new series, so expect to see more - hopefully soon! They both sold within a day or two of sharing them with the world, and they went off to their respective homes today (Seattle, USA and Norfolk, UK). I've also been adding several new things to The Blackbird Sings shop, but they keep selling before I have a chance to show you! I'll try to be quicker about posting them on the blog in future.

I hope you're all well, and as always thank you for your support and the brilliant comments you post on the blog. I really enjoy reading them!

Homes & Gardens magazine features my stones this month!

You may have noticed that I missed a week when it came to updating the blog last week - the reason for this is because I was making the transition between Paris and Suffolk again. I travelled back home last Wednesday (25th), and it always takes a lot of organisation and time to move from one 'life' to another.

It's great to be back in Suffolk again (I really missed the light here and the nature, as well as the fresh air and huge skies), but it's only a quick stay because I'm heading back to Paris for another month on 14th February. So I'm trying to do as much work as I can before I return - several commission requests have come my way over the past week - and I'm even planning what I'm going to be working on when I'm back in Paris. Add to that the fact that I also had to do all the paperwork and accounts so that I could file my annual Tax Return by the end of January, and as you can imagine I've barely had time to come up for air!

But I have some really exciting news to tell you: the March issue of UK Homes and Gardens magazine is now available, and my painted stones are featured in one of their nature-inspired articles!

I only saw the magazine for the first time yesterday - as soon as I heard that it was out (via an excited text message from my mum), I went straight to the newsagents and bought several copies! I couldn't be happier with the way they've photographed and presented my work - and the fact that the stones have been given a whole page is beyond any expectations I had from the moment I found out they were going to feature my work back in the Autumn. I assumed they'd have maybe a quarter of a page at most. The whole article is so beautifully shot and designed - if you own some of my stones I'd urge you to buy a copy of H&G so you can have a proper look, and it makes a lovely keepsake.

The only thing that was slightly disappointing is that they didn't use the painted sycamore plate with a feather design (as they'd initially planned to, and which I also sent to the photo shoot). I'm guessing that it just didn't fit in quite as well with the theme of the article in the end, and I can kind of see why. But the plates have been so popular - they've now totally sold out! - that I will definitely be making some more this year, and I've been talking to the woodturner/supplier about the possibility of making some larger ones as well.

And finally, before I go, I'd like to show you just one of several new stone collections I've been making this week - I added this set to the shop this afternoon...

Nature Set 6

© Natasha Newton 2012