The Blackbird Sings

Long time, no blog... (but lots to tell you)

Firstly, I'm so sorry! I realised today that it's been nearly a month since I posted the last blog entry.

I actually can't believe it's been that long, and I'm appalled by my general tardiness recently when it comes to posting regular blogs. My intention a couple of months ago was to try to post on a regular basis rather than haphazardly as I had been doing (nothing for weeks and then three blogs in quick succession, for example). I think I'm going to have to choose two days per week on which to blog and stick to them. I think Mondays and Thursdays. It's the only way I'll make sure I post regularly, and it's good for my readers to know when to expect new posts. Plus, twice a week is achievable for me and isn't 'blog overload' for you (I hope). ;)

The Journey (1)

Orginal painting in acrylic on deep-edge canvas. 6x6"

© Natasha Newton 2011

Available from Snape Maltings Gallery, Suffolk.

The reason I haven't blogged isn't because I've been lazy. It's actually the opposite. Since I came back from my last trip to Paris in October I've been busier than ever, and I've produced more work in two months than I ever thought possible. I have two large commissioned paintings to share with you after Christmas (I can't do so yet as they're a Christmas present for someone!) and I've been working on several other commissions, new pieces for three different galleries, and lots of new paintings and painted stones for my Etsy shop. Etsy has been incredibly busy for me this year and sales this past month or so have been fantastic! So I've been going with the flow and trying to keep the shop as well-stocked with new artwork as I can. I'm also now offering professionally printed, archival quality signed prints (see below). I'm so pleased with how they turned out - they're beautiful! You can find out more about them here: Magic Forest Archival Print

© Natasha Newton

Alongside all of this, I've been fighting off the worst virus I've had for a long time - a very bad cold with an upset stomach that lasts for more than two weeks! I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel now, and I'm feeling much better. My boyfriend Leon also came over from Paris again between 16th - 18th December to spend a long weekend at the little cottage we rented in early October. It was wonderful to be back there again and we made the most of our (short) time together. We went out for some brilliant meals (I highly recommend The Crown pub in Ufford - the food was the best I've had anywhere!) and we lit a fire in the evenings, celebrated Leon's birthday with a Gu chocolate ganache cake (or something like that), and slept in a heavenly bed. It was just what we needed! We'd both been ill recently and also working ridiculously hard, so the break was good for us. I'm planning on going back to Paris to be with Leon again for three weeks on 3rd January - I can't wait!

And the last piece of news for today is that I've officially started a jewellery design collaboration with the talented jeweller Kirsty O'Donnell. We're calling our collaboration Ghost Birds, and we'll be releasing a collection of jewellery in 2012 that we'll be selling through the new Ghost Birds shop on Etsy. I'll be sure to let you know when the shop is open, and you'll be able to see our designs on this blog too!

For now, have a wonderful Christmas, and I'll be back soon with another new post! I haven't forgotten about a special blog post I promised you last month either (the one about running your own small business). That will be coming soon!

Cupola Contemporary Art Christmas Exhibition | Under Starry Skies 1 & 2

Just a quick post this morning to tell you that I have two new night landscape paintings in a show opening tonight at a lovely gallery in Sheffield.

Under Starry Skies 1 & 2 are available from Cupola Contemporary Art, Hillsborough, Sheffield - the opening of the exhibition is tonight from 7:30pm. For more details or to contact the gallery, please visit their website: www.cupolagallery.com

Under Starry Skies 1

Acrylic on deep-edge canvas. 12x12"

© Natasha Newton 2011

Under Starry Skies 2

Acrylic on deep-edge canvas. 12x12"

© Natasha Newton 2011

I'll be back soon with the blog post I promised you the other day, and more new work! Have a good weekend. x

Oh, and one last thing - how cute are these two? Issey & Ruby are having to wear cone-shaped collars at the moment after each having an operation at the vets this week. They're finding it almost impossible to clean themselves, but Ruby is trying her best to give Issey's head a bit of a wash. :)

Future Growth

I'm busy composing a blog post at the moment where I write about being self-employed / running your own business, and the traits or qualities I've discovered you'll need in order to do this successfully. The idea was sparked off by watching a recent BBC programme presented by Peter Jones of Dragons' Den, where he talks to two incredibly successful British entrepreneurs, and finds out more about their backgrounds, personalities, and exactly what it is that enables them to run such successful businesses. I found it totally fascinating and full of good advice, and I thought it might be interesting to share my 'take' on this subject.

I'm know I'm nowhere near to achieving the success of the people he interviewed - they're running large, successful, well-known companies; I'm a 'small fish in a big pond', an independent artist trying to develop a solid, successful, and hopefully long-lasting career and business. I've been doing this for a few years but I'm only now really gaining momentum, and I still see myself as being at the beginning of my career. So I'm not super-experienced, but I have discovered a few things along the way, and I thought it might be useful or interesting to other artists, people running a small creative business, or even my collectors and buyers, if I shared them. So that particular blog is on its way! In the meantime, I have something new to show you...

Future Growth

Original painting in acrylic on deep-edge canvas. 20x20"

© Natasha Newton 2011

This piece was delivered to the Serena Hall Gallery in Southwold yesterday, along with this painting, which I posted on the blog earlier this month. I'm currently revisiting one of my favourite subjects - trees. Although as you can see, the recent paintings are evolving. I'm using new colours and a slightly different style of tree for the forests, and the tree-stumps with roots are a variation on my tree-stump paintings from 2009. I've enjoyed working on both of these pieces so much - it feels good to work on a slightly larger scale, and I'm keen to work on more landscapes again after devoting so much of my time to the bird paintings over the past couple of years. The birds will continue (I have some new plans for those too!) but the landscapes are back and here to stay.

I'll also be adding some new pieces to the shop this week, because Christmas is coming - sorry to mention it (*ducks flying missiles*) - but I thought it would be nice to have some smaller pieces of original art that will make good presents - for someone else or yourself! So please keep your eyes peeled: www.theblackbirdsings.etsy.com

Have a good week! x

P.S. My new stone collection has been featured on this lovely blog, with a very nice write-up and some great comments. I was very chuffed! 

New Painting: December Forest 1

I just wanted to share one of two new 20x20" paintings I've been busy making for the Serena Hall Gallery in Southwold, Suffolk. I'm just finishing the other one now, and I'm also working on the pieces for the upcoming Homes & Gardens magazine feature.

I also have several commissions and work for two other galleries (one in Suffolk, the other in Sheffield which I will tell you about another time) to finish before the end of this month. I honestly don't think I've ever been so busy! I'll try to keep you updated - I know I've been a bit of a sporadic blogger recently. ;)

December Forest 1

Original painting in acrylic on deep-edge canvas. 20x20"

© Natasha Newton 2011

I'd also like to show you a couple of small pieces I've made for the Etsy shop over the past week. I'm trying my best to add new items regularly these days and it's paying off - the shop has never been busier! Another new development with Etsy is that I seem to be getting a lot of custom orders and commissions on there recently, which is great.

Mountain Range 3

Set of 3 hand-painted pebbles.

© Natasha Newton 2011

Small Night Landscape

Original acrylic painting on canvas, mounted on card. 6x4" approx.

© Natasha Newton 2011

Both are available here.

As ever, thank you to everyone who takes the time to read the blog, and especially to those who leave such lovely comments for me to read - I try to answer any questions as and when I can, but my time is somewhat limited these days as I'm sure you'll understand. Rest assured that I read them all though! x

What's happening in this neck of the woods?

Well, quite a lot actually!

You should know by now that when it goes a little quiet on the blog, it usually means that my life has become busier. Several exciting things have happened over the past couple of weeks, so I'll share a few of them with you today.

May Bird © Natasha Newton

1. My Twitter followers already know about this, but I had a wonderful surprise on October 13th when I found out that my online shop had been featured on the popular Design*Sponge website! This was a huge honour which has resulted in many new followers - or 'admirers' as Etsy calls them - for the shop. And I've also sold every piece - and more! - they featured in the article. You can read the D*S feature here: The Blackbird Sings on Design*Sponge

2. Also as a result of Design*Sponge, I've been contacted by the Deputy Editor of Homes & Gardens magazine who saw the feature and wanted to know whether they could include some of my work in a nature-inspired article next Spring. Of course, I jumped at the chance! I'm incredibly excited because I've loved this magazine for years and have bought countless copies - I can hardly believe that my work is going to be featured. They want to include one of my sycamore 'Feather' plates (like the one in the D*S article) and also a collection of my painted stones. I'm busy working on the pieces right now as the photo shoot is in mid-November. I'll keep you updated with news of this!

3. I've spent some time updating the website recently - take a peek here. A new page has been added, Licensing Images, because I've had a lot of enquiries lately from people who would like to use my images and designs for their websites or projects.

4. You may remember that back in mid/late August I mentioned I was raising money for the charity Cancer Research UK by donating 10% of all proceeds from sales of artwork through my online shop to the charity. This continued until the end of September, and I'm pleased to say that I managed to raise £50.20, which I think is a decent sum! Huge thanks to everyone who bought something during this time. I'll be popping a cheque in the post to Cancer Research UK within the next week or so.

5. I just wanted to mention that I've been overjoyed with the growth of The Blackbird Sings this year and I will share a statistic or two to show you just how much it's grown in the past few months. I posted a blog back in March of this year celebrating the fact that the shop had reached 1,800 'admirers' (people who have added it to their favourite shops on Etsy). I opened The Blackbird Sings in September 2008, so it had taken roughly two and a half years to reach 1,800. Fast forward to today, 26th October 2011, and the shop now has a total of 3,524 admirers (at the time of writing).

Those of you who are doing the maths will realise that in just seven months The Blackbird Sings has almost doubled the amount of admirers! It gives me a huge amount of satisfaction to be able to share this news with you, because building an online business takes a ridiculous amount of hard work and dedication, and I'm only now beginning to feel as if it's really paying off. There's still a long way to go for The Blackbird Sings - I have many plans and exciting ideas for the future - but thank you for giving your support and for following me along the way!

There are now lots of new pieces (stones and paintings) in the shop that I haven't had a chance to share on the blog yet, so please take a look here.

And finally...

The Snape Maltings Gallery in Suffolk have offered me a Solo Show for Autumn 2012! I had a meeting with them at the beginning of October to discuss the details and we're all very excited about it. This type of show takes a long time to plan and we're already compiling a list of people who would like to attend the Private View, so if you would like to receive an invitation nearer the time please contact me via email: natasha@natasha-newton.co.uk - include your name and postal address and I'll make sure your name gets added to the list!