The Blackbird Sings

Recent Experimentations

Some new ideas I've been playing around with recently on paper and woodblock...

Patterned Landscape 1

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

© Natasha Newton 2011

SOLD

Silhouette of a Bird with Leaves 4

Original acrylic and acrylic ink painting on woodblock. 6x6"

© Natasha Newton 2011

(Available from the Serena Hall Gallery, Southwold, Suffolk)

Silhouette of a Bird with Leaves 1

Original gouache and acrylic ink painting on paper. 6x4"

© Natasha Newton 2011

SOLD

And last week I was lucky enough to have my work featured on one of the US west coast's leading interior design blogs, Victoria Smith's hugely popular sfgirlbybay. You can read the article here.

In addition to receiving some wonderful comments from readers of her blog and valuable publicity for my work, I also sold many of the pieces she featured in the article as a result!

Where has it gone?

For those of you looking for the 'A horrible situation...' blog post (Wednesday 29th June 2011), you can't see it at the moment but it's still here, comments and all. I've taken it down temporarily, but I certainly haven't deleted it. It will be back in due course.

And with that, I wish you a very good night! I'm off to bed. See you soon. x

Edit: I wanted to thank all of you - gallery owners, buyers of my work, friends and fellow artists, for your comments and support, both on the blog and via twitter too. I would like to make it clear that despite repeated requests to do so, I will not be naming the gallery in question because I feel it's incredibly unprofessional to do so. This wasn't about getting revenge for bad treatment of my work, the idea was to share a difficult situation I'd had to deal with, to alert people that this type of thing does happen and to be very careful. There have been buyers who have bought my work from other galleries and had it shipped to them, and they've contacted me to tell me how well it was packaged! So please don't think that all galleries behave in the same way as the one in the blog post. This is precisely why I won't be exhibiting with the gallery in question any more, because I want to be sure (for my buyers and myself) that my work is taken care of.

Watching The Leaves Fall

I finished this little canvas painting the other day - he was a tricky little critter who took far longer than he should have done to reach the stage of completion! Nevertheless (yes, that is a real word even though it doesn't look like one), I am pleased with how this autumn birdie turned out.

Watching The Leaves Fall 

Acrylic on deep-edge canvas. 6x6"

© Natasha Newton 2010

Currently available in the shop: www.theblackbirdsings.etsy.com

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Last week, my work was featured on a lovely blog as part of 'Illustration Thursday': Illustration Thursday - Natasha Newton. It's a very nice article, so please take a look!

One last thing - if you haven't yet taken part in my competition to win an original illustration (there's even a runners-up prize too!), then you can do so here.

Bank Holidays No Longer Exist

...at least they don't seem to when you're self-employed! Not in the same way, anyway. For readers not in the UK, today is August Bank Holiday Monday: a day when those who happen to be employed are entitled to a paid day off. For me (self-employed artist with a deadline) it's pretty much like any other Monday, except there are other people in the house and there might be a good film on TV later this afternoon to distract me from my work. ;)

I have a few things to tell you today, but I'll try to keep it as brief as I can!

Thank you...

Firstly, a big thank you to those of you who have taken the time to comment on the previous blog post, offering your tips and advice for artists, illustrators and craftspeople. We're gathering some great information, but I need more to make the post worthwhile, so if you have any advice at all (it doesn't need to be long or complicated, just something simple that's worked for you; you can make it as short or long as you like!) please leave a comment on the blog.

Website

Secondly, I spent a few hours this weekend updating the website; I've made several changes and tweaks here and there to make it easier to use, fresher, and (hopefully) more professional. I just felt like giving it a slightly new look for the Autumn. A change of season is always a good excuse to clear out the old and bring in the new! If you follow the blog but rarely look at the website, I'd urge you to click away: www.natasha-newton.co.uk - you'll find lots of work on there that you probably haven't seen before!

New Work on Etsy

I've been a busy little bee during the past week working on paintings (which I can show you later this week) and some illustrations and customised Moleskine notebooks for The Blackbird Sings shop. Here are the two most recent pieces: the notebook is still available but little 'Evangeline Bird' is now reserved for somebody (another Evangeline, no less!) in the US.

 

Evangeline Bird

Original ink illustration on textured watercolour card. 14.5x10.5cm

© Natasha Newton 2010

I'm really enjoying working on these new-style birds, so expect more in the coming weeks!

 

Bird Series (2) - Hand-illustrated Large Moleskine Notebook

© Natasha Newton 2010

Available here: www.theblackbirdsings.etsy.com

Blog Feature

The final piece of news I'd like to share is about a blog feature. Both of my shops, The Blackbird Sings and the new shop Le Merle Noir, got a fantastic write-up by @riaface on her blog a couple of days ago! I was so pleased when I saw it; she has presented my items really well, and any publicity or promotion for the shops is always welcome! You can see the article here: Feature on The Blackbird Sings & Le Merle Noir

See you soon!

My Article about Illustration for Etsy's Blog | New Pieces

Followers of my Twitter or Facebook fan page will already know this, but last month I was approached by the Editor-in-Chief of Etsy's official blog The Storque. She asked whether I'd be interested in writing an article for the blog about my recent book covers for Random House and getting into the world of illustration in general.

 

I was so pleased and excited to be asked (especially when I found out that their blog gets 2 million views a month!) that I jumped at the chance! I found writing the article a hugely enjoyable experience, so if you'd like to read it and see the comments it has received, you can do so here: My Big Break: Intro to the World of Illustration and Book Cover Design

Other than that, I am being a busy little bee working on several paintings that I'll be able to show you soon. I also found the time this week to make a few new pieces for The Blackbird Sings shop. At the time of writing, two of these are still available but the Arctic Volcano Moleskine notebook has already sold!

 

Ghost Trees 3 Moleskine Notebook

© Natasha Newton 2010

 

Available here: www.theblackbirdsings.etsy.com

 

Arctic Volcano Moleskine Notebook (SOLD)

© Natasha Newton 2010

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Violet Rain Original Illustration

© Natasha Newton 2010

Available here: www.theblackbirdsings.etsy.com

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I also wanted to mention that Simon Wild and I will be making an announcement regarding the Northern Lights exhibition very soon - watch this space!