After trying* to work a little earlier today, Leon and I went out just before dark for a walk in the snow. I spent some time taking photos as we wandered around the neighbourhood, and had to be very careful as I only have totally inappropriate footwear here with me: cowboy boots. Walking in the snow in a heel; not good. Well, perhaps not surprisingly, I didn't expect to see this much snow (if any) this trip - if it does actually snow in Paris it doesn't usually stick around for very long. But this morning we awoke to a thick covering of snow. And it looks like this...
* I attempted to work today and it was an unmitigated disaster, so I'm going to start over again this evening. Wish me luck...
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.
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. ;)
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!)
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!
I've had a lovely Christmas and New Year here in Paris with Leon - it's been quiet, calm and simple, which was what we both needed after the past few months of work and general craziness (particularly Leon; his work schedule has been insane). So we relaxed - just the two of us - and bought plenty of delicious food and drink, decorated the apartment with a couple of strings of fairy lights and several candles, and downloaded lots of films from iTunes. It was my first Christmas outside of the UK, my first Christmas away from my family, and the first Christmas Leon and I have been able to spend together!
On Christmas Day we decided to get out of the house for a couple of hours in the afternoon, and so we went to the Champs Elysees, and walked through the huge Christmas market (I was really surprised that this was actually open on Christmas Day!) and the super-fancypants area that surrounds it. It was pretty chilly, with a bitterly cold wind, but I managed to snap a few pictures with my Canon camera while we were there. I thought you might like to see them too...
These pictures of the Eiffel Tower were taken from Avenue Montaigne, a really beautiful street with very expensive hotels and lots of designer stores. That's pretty nice, but what was I most interested in? You guessed it - just look at those trees! They may inspire some paintings in the not-too-distant future.
I love this little cream-coloured scooter - tres Parisien!
This little dress was displayed in a shop window - I love it. I could imagine if I ever have a little girl (which may or may not happen; you never know ;) I would definitely dress her in something like this.
And do you recognise the hotel below? You may do if (like me) you're a fan of Sex and the City. I was so excited when I first saw it - it looked, to me, a lot like the hotel Carrie stays in when she visits Paris with Aleksandr Petrovsky in Series 6. You know the part when she steps out onto the balcony after arriving and sees the Eiffel Tower in the distance? Those little balconies with the greenery are very distinctive. Anyway, I took this photo, did a bit of research when I got home, and found out that this is the Sex and the City hotel! It's called the Plaza Athénée and it's beautiful. I'd love to have a look inside...or maybe stay there when I'm rich and famous. Which, as we all know, will be soon. ;)
Some lovely waffles from the Christmas market...
One thing the French seem to do very well is street food. Waffles with a variety of toppings, crepes, and all sorts of delicious nuts seem to be available at this time of year. We bought a bag of caramelised almonds (something I've never seen in England) and they were unbelievably good.
In other news, I've been busy buying art materials and making new art, which I'll share with you soon. Thanks for reading the blog during 2012, and if you're one of the few people who leaves a comment too, thank you for that also. I love reading them, and I try to reply to a few here and there whenever I have the time. I am aiming to make the blog even more varied and (hopefully!) interesting in 2013, with more regular updates. In 2012 I deleted my Instagram account and also my personal Facebook page (I now have a Facebook page for my art only, which is updated occasionally) in an attempt to streamline my social media / internet presence, and to concentrate on the things I feel are more important - and my blog is one of these things.
I'll leave you with this - my last portrait of 2012, taken on 31st December at around 8:30pm Paris time. I felt the need to document the moment for some reason, so I snapped a quick self portrait in the bathroom mirror. Another year has passed - let's make this new year a great one!
Hello and welcome! I'm Natasha Newton: artist, illustrator and image maker. I divide my time between Suffolk, UK and Paris, France.
I've recently started a new project for 2013 called A Bird A Day. Please click on the links at the top of the page to find my website, shops, and the A Bird A Day blog.
For questions and enquiries, or to be added to my mailing list, please send an email to natasha@natasha-newton.co.uk and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
