The Blackbird Sings

The Moon Series

Since returning from our week-long holiday by the coast in Aldeburgh (it was brilliant, by the way, and just what we needed - I was hoping to update from the cottage but it proved a little difficult, as I mentioned here on the other blog), I've started a new series of Moon paintings. These have been on my mind and in my sketchbook for a while, but I needed to set aside the time to work on them, and before I actually made a start, I needed to figure out how I wanted them to look.

It seems like such a simple subject and in many ways it is, but I wanted to find the right balance between detail and minimalism for the paintings - they needed to be striking, evocative, and simple, without being boring. To me - and I'm sure many others - the sight of the full moon hanging in an inky black sky dotted with little points of light, is beautiful and intriguing. Maybe the stark simplicity enhances the beauty? Anyway, I never tire of looking at it, and I love painting it. I have plans for this series; I've started small, but I've already begun measuring and cutting larger sheets of paper in preparation for huge moons, and I think they'd work well on canvas as well as paper. It has also come to my attention just how much young children are obsessed with the moon, so maybe I can develop something with this in mind...? For now, here are the first two from the series:

Moon 1

Original painting in gouache and acrylic ink on paper. 6x6"

© Natasha Newton 2013

Available here. [Update: SOLD]

Moon 2

Original painting in gouache and acrylic ink on paper. 7x5"

© Natasha Newton 2013

Available here. [Update: SOLD]

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Studio Tour

Images from the studio...

I've been kind of busy over on the other blog recently, and I certainly don't want to neglect this one, so I thought I'd share some images from the studio today until I find the time to write a longer post. I've had several topics floating around in my mind recently that I'd like to write about; my feelings about art, running a business, and creativity in general. Once these vague thoughts turn into something more concrete, I'll make the time to share them properly.

To be totally honest, I'm feeling a bit frustrated at the moment because there are so many things I want (and need) to do, yet life keeps throwing distractions and complications my way, and at the end of each evening I think, "Where did the day go?". The time flies by, and no matter how organised I've been during the day, each day ends with the feeling that I didn't achieve as much as I wanted to. I know life is like that - it's always going to be full of interruptions and distractions - but I've really had my fair share over the past month or so, as you'll know about in more detail if you've been reading the blogs or following on twitter.

I gave up Instagram and my personal Facebook page (I still have an art page, and it's here if you'd like to see it), partly because I wanted to concentrate more on my blog(s) and I knew I didn't have time to do everything, so I had to choose. I want to write more posts, not just featuring my art but also talking a little more about the 'behind the scenes' type of stuff, and I want to podcast too - I bought a great sound recorder last year and haven't even really used it yet! I want to be able to offer more advice to other artists and people running their own creative business, and I'd also like to do some 'work in progress / progression' blogs. I'm hoping that once things have settled down here, I'll be able to do that.

Anyway, it was a bright afternoon in the studio (so nice to have some sunshine in the midst of this long winter), so I took a few photographs to capture the moment, and the little painted stone I was working on earlier today...

© Natasha Newton 2013

{ By the way, the owl cross-stitch is by Kimberly Scola. }

Getting Into The New Project

As I mentioned the other day, I've started a new project for 2013 called A Bird A Day. I'm only a few days into this enormous undertaking but I'm really enjoying it so far. It's taking a fair amount of discipline to create and finish a new piece of work every day, as I've written about here, but I also think it's one of the best - and hopefully most rewarding - things I've decided to do in recent months.

Here's a little snapshot of the pieces I've made for A Bird A Day so far. The fifth piece will be up on the new blog later today (edit: tomorrow - I totally messed up today's piece, so I'm going to post two paintings tomorrow instead!) as well as in the shop. I won't be posting each individual painting on The Blackbird Sings blog (saving The Blackbird Sings for my other work and projects instead) but you can follow the project daily on this blog here, and see any pieces I add to the new shop here.

© Natasha Newton 2013

P.S. I'm still in Paris until Wednesday, but given that both the UK and France are covered with a thick blanket of snow and travel is somewhat disrupted, I'm not sure I'll be able to leave. ;)

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A Bird A Day: A New Art & Illustration Project for 2013

i mentioned in a recent blog post that I'd be starting a new project soon. Well, today it started!

You can find out more about A Bird A Day on the special new blog here: www.theblackbirdsings.typepad.com/abirdaday and most (if not all) of the pieces I'll be making will be available to buy exclusively through the new A Bird A Day shop on Etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/abirdaday

You'll find out via the blog and shop the 'rules' I've given myself for the project, why I've set myself this challenge, and the other products and items I hope to offer once the project really gets going. I hope you'll enjoy following the series over the course of the year!

(The artwork created for the project will be posted daily - or almost daily - throughout the year on the A Bird A Day blog rather than here on The Blackbird Sings, so please add it to your bookmarks/RSS reader/whatever fancy device you use for following blogs, and feel free to share the links around too if you like. Thank you!)

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A Quick Update and Some Recent Pieces

Do you know what? 2013 hasn't been the easiest of New Years for Leon and I so far. On January 1st, we heard the very sad news that one of his close friends, the writer Simon Lane, had sadly died between Christmas and New Year. Leon has also been ill himself since December 27th. He had a strange cold virus with swollen glands before I arrived in Paris on the 18th, but seemed to get over it. However, on the evening of 27th, he came down with a fever and a very painful gland on the left side of his neck, which swelled over the following days and became enormous - we're talking tennis-ball-size kind of enormous - and he was also exhausted, had aching joints and so on. To cut a (very) long story short, we are now at the stage where, two weeks later - with a misdiagnosis, countless trips to various doctors, clinics and specialists, a course of antibiotics, and finally a definitive diagnosis of an infected lymph node stemming from a virus - he now has to go into hospital tomorrow to be put on an antibiotic IV drip for a few days to cure this thing once and for all. We're really sad about this, but glad he'll be getting some proper treatment. So I will be all alone in the apartment for a few days, but I'm going to try to immerse myself in my work and hope the time goes by quickly.

Unsurprisingly, with all of this going on, I haven't been able to complete much work over the past couple of weeks, but I do have a few new watercolour paintings to show you. Two of these have already sold (the bird was a commission), but Night Rain is currently available in the shop. I also have an exciting new year-long project for 2013 lined up - I'll tell you more about it in the next post. I'm looking forward to sharing details about that!

Night Rain

© Natasha Newton 2012

Available here. (Update: SOLD)

Imaginary Star Chart 4

© Natasha Newton 2013

SOLD

Akemi Bird (Meaning: 'Bright Beauty')

© Natasha Newton 2012

SOLD

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