Well, it’s been an incredibly busy year for me and I’m still recovering from the last big event but I’m nearly at the stage where I can focus just on me and mine for the rest of the festive season.
Mind Body Spirit Festival
The Mind Body Spirit Festival in Birmingham that I attended with my online gallery Aether to Easel was a massive ordeal and a huge let down unfortunately. I’m not alone in feeling that many of the stand holders were seriously misled about its potential for their businesses. Suffice to say I will not be doing that again!
Huge gratitude goes to my friend Jenny Gillies who helped me set up in the NEC and kept me company for the rest of the weekend. She is an absolute star and was great fun to be with when everything else was frankly a bit shit!
On returning from that last event I was genuinely exhausted, both physically and mentally. I’ve been trying to rest and recuperate ever since.
The first couple of days at home, day napping became somewhat of a necessity. This picture puts a whole new slant on the term “cat napping” don’t you think?!
I needed more than a few days to recover before I could get on with the business of returning the Aether to Easel artists work to them and tidying up my own space.
Once I was feeling a bit more human this was the sight that greeted me when I finally got into the studio to start.
I have to confess, this is not unusual. If you’ve followed me for a while, you’ll have seen quite a few of these types of photos. It’s no secret that I’m not the tidiest of artists.
It does look a lot better now and I’m pleased to report that I’ve made good progress at reclaiming my work space.
I was all set to get back in to finish off a painting that I started before all these events and then came a very cold snap of weather.
After a bit of rain that froze solid, my patio, path and decking are now like an ice rink. The dogs and cat are skidding around all over the place and I am not keen to attempt that short trip (fall) to the door.
In the meantime…
While I wait for the special pet-friendly de-icing grit I ordered to arrive so I can tackle this slippery issue, I have gathered together the pieces of older framed work that I found during my studio tidy up.
They are all now on a dedicated Studio Clearance page at seriously reduced prices. As they get snapped up they are automatically removed from the page. I started with 8 pieces and at the time of writing this post, 2 have already found new homes.
Winter Offers
Pre-Christmas Studio clear out.
I’m grateful to have had a super successful year with my own work. Although I’ve not much to show for it after the expenses I’ve had to pay. Anyway, apart from a few recent pieces that are currently out with other galleries (see below), I’m in the fortunate position that I don’t have a lot of originals left.
You can find my recent pieces at the following galleries:
I am really looking forward to expanding my latest body of work, “The Emerging Collection” as soon as I can get back in the studio again. I’ve had some really interesting ideas that I’d like to explore and I’m excited to get painting.
At this time of year it is less than comfortable in the studio because everything gets so cold even when the heating is on. I usually try to take a proper break until the end of January when I do my tax return and then I start painting again beginning of February.
The new year is bringing some new collaborations with galleries I’ve never worked with before which is very exciting. I will need to have a fair few paintings ready by then so my break will have to be a short one. As for the cold, I’ll just have to get my thermals on and paint in hat and gloves.
Oh, I nearly forgot!
All this time in the house has meant time on the PC to do things I normally don’t have time for, hence finally getting round to a newsletter!
I have also set up 3 new prints to add to my drop-shipping collection.
Firstly we’ve got Neverlost which is one of my favourite images from my Heads & Twisted Tales Series. All prints are archival quality Limited Editions giclées. This one comes in three sizes from medium to absolutely whopping! They are signed and numbered and come with certificates of authenticity.
Coming Soon
I’m still waiting for the artist proof copies to arrive of the next two. They will appear on my Traditional Wildlife Prints page hopefully by the end of the week so keep an eye out for them.
Running Fox
Running Hares
Until Next Time…
I think that’s about it for now so wherever you are, may you weather the weather, whatever the weather!
Love and gratitude
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