Artist Blog by Sheep Incognito Artist Conni Togel

Category Archives: New Sheep Incognito Art Paintings

Meet the newest paintings in the Sheep Incognito art series by Conni Togel.
Original oil and acrylic paintings on canvas, digital paintings, and paintings on reclaimed wood.

New in the Flock: “Mom’s World”

My kids are to this day the best thing I’ve ever accomplished – and they are now starting families of their own.

Three daughters – it seemed like a lot, when I was younger. Being a Stay-Home-Mom seemed like a lot. The messes in the house all day – every day. The bickering. The laundry – oh, the laundry! The sheer avalanche of smallish socks, that mysteriously lost their partners, never to be paired again (unless, of course, I threw out the lone socks…invariably, the other one would turn up again the next day…).

The sleepless nights filled with one, two or three crying kiddos (and sometimes a crying mom, too).

The very early morning wake-up call from the husband, traveling for business overseas, from his cushy, clean, expensive hotel, to complain how wronged he was, when his fancy steak in the restaurant the evening before was not cooked to perfection, the fluffy clean towels in the hotel room were too small, the conversation with the other adults there did not circle around his particular – and, even then, very strange interests…

It seemed like I was being buried, never to emerge again from an avalanche of, well, EVERYTHING.

but even in all of that, there were hugs from my girls. Snuggles in the morning. Teaparties with hats, and bears, and fishhie-crackers. Playground picnics. Hikes in the canyon, walks in the woods, butterflies, and horseback rides, bowling alleys and cookie bakings… soooo many fun moments with my favorite people on earth.

My duaghters always were – and in fact still are – my world (and the avalanche of missing socks is about to descend on their homes as well)- seeing their worlds emerge in their own ways, is nothing less than magical.

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Fiddler On The Woof PRINTS

A throwback to the good ole musical days
– having a singing friend is awesome, and sometimes just a little oppressing…

 

Fiddler on the Woof

Fiddler on the Woof

Fiddler On The Woof PRINTS

An original digital painting by american contemporary artist Conni Togel

 

Source: Fiddler On The Woof PRINTS

 

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NEW! Lass of Legends PRINTS

Lass of Legends Sheep Art

A New Sheep in the Flock!

Here is the little Lass of Legends, a strong-willed survivor of tempests, a defender of the weaker sheep in the flock, and a red-headed fury with a sword – not to be messed with, yet with kind eyes, and a soft heart.

Surely, you know a woman like that in your life. This is to celebrate all the women that have stood strong through the winds of life, defending their flocks, and loving those around them.

Lass of Legends PRINTS by Conni Tögel

Lass of Legends PRINTS by Conni Tögel

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The Sheep Incognito Book Adventure Has Begun!

A Kid’s Book with Sheep Incognito? Why, yes. Yes, we can.

Many years – 15 of those, to be exact – have happened since I painted my first sheep painting (something about a set of three sheep on a green hill, placed against a balck/red ominous sky, with one sheep blowing away – sold on ebay, to an unknown buyer…if you are the owner of that original painting, please let me know it’s whereabouts -I love catching up with my flock, wherever they have roamed in the world).

And countless sheep paintings, art shows, fiber festivals, and conversations with fans and collectors from around the world later, I do believe it is time to add a Sheep Incognito book to my flock of artistic endeavors.

But rather than just re-publishing my “Sheep Incognito” book that was published in 2008, but which was effectively pulled out of circulation by my former manager who also made off with the royalties from the book that was published through LuLu.com, I’ve decided to add a new book.
A happy book.
A book straight from my heart.
And, a book that is designed to make you smile, whether you are 3 or 95 years old.

Sheep tend to have that quality of “awwww-someness” – adding smiles, fluffiness, peacefulness, good food, and yes, weird smells to our human lives.
Which is why I love them.

The progress has already begun on the new series of Sheep Incognito books – two stories are written, one is already in the editing and illustrating phase, and I’ve already started the layout for the book as well.

There will be a Kickstarter Campaign put in place, where you will get to help the project come to life, by adding your financial backing to it, in return for exclusive sneek peeks at the illustrations, previews of the upcoming book, signed copies of the new book when it arrives, and, even a day hanging out in the studio and surrounding area in search of sheep with me – this is the part I am most excited about to be honest.

So, keep your goggles focused and unfogged in then next few weeks and months, as I prepare to unleash the first hurrah of Sheep Incognito Maaahem Books on the literary world. And I promise, they won’t be of the kind that set you snoring during the reading sessions…

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The New 2019 Sheep Incognito Wall Calendar Is Here!

2019 Sheep Incognito Calendar

The New 2019 Sheep Incognito Wall Calendar Is Here!

Snag ‘Em While Ewe Can – only 500 available!
…and, a free blooper is included this year…

As every year since 2006 or so, we have created a new Sheep Incognito wall calendar for you – it has become a favorite in many offices, conference rooms, class rooms, and family homes. Mainly, because the cute Sheep Incognito will make ewe smile!

Click the link here, to purchase it now:

https://www.charisma-art.com/2019-sheep-incognito-calendar

This year – due to a very hectic time during the layout process – we overlooked the most prominent bit of text on the front page of the calendar: the year’s date.
Duh.
Everything else inside the calendar, such as months, year date, and holidays are correct – just that front page number was not noticed and changed on the front page.
So Ewe will now own a bit of “Bloopery Art History”, when you snag one of these limited edition wall calendars.

13 months of Conni’s sheepish humor, some really strange, some really funny, some just happy, holidays during each month, so ewe will always have something to look forward to in each month.
And, this being a limited edition calendar – we have cut the edition down from 1200 copies to only 500!

If you would like your copy signed by the artist, Conni Tögel, please specify at checkout, or give us a call at the studio.

And this year, we are offering sweet “Flock Discounts” on them as well – get your entire Christmaaaahs shopping done in one fell swoop – the more ya buy, the more ya save, kind of thing.

We do love sending smiles to the world – so thank ewe for helping our efforts by letting the Sheep Incognito hang out wherever ewe happen to be hanging out!

2019 Sheep Incognito Calendar

Front Page of 2019 Sheep incognito Calendar

 

Inside Page of 2019 Sheep Incognito Calendar

Inside Page of 2019 Sheep Incognito Calendar

 

Thumbnail Page, back of 2019 Sheep Incognito Calendar

Thumbnail Page, back of 2019 Sheep Incognito Calendar

 

 

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New Sheep Incognito Original Paintings This Month

There are some new paintings in my flock, and here they are:

The Great Flock Defender Sheep Incognito Art

The Great Flock Defender Sheep Incognito Art

Lass Of Legends Sheep Incognito Original Oil Painting Image

Lass Of Legends Original SheepIncognito Painting by Conni Togel

Party Animals Sheep Incognito Original Oil Painting by Conni Tögel

Party Animals Sheep Incognito Original Oil Painting by Conni Tögel

 

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Sheep In Mount Dora, FL – and What’s Wrong With The Art Market Lately?

A Trip to Florida in February, and Why Some Places Won’t, and Another Place Will Have Sheep This Year

After a short hiatus from the center of Florida last Winter, the Sheep Incognito are heading back to the always fabulous Mount Dora Fine Arts Festival on the first weekend in February!

This will be the kick-off of a year of “sheepishness” near and far – we’ve already booked shows from North Carolina to Colorado, from Florida to New York, and many places in between.

For this year, some of our favorite shows will have a different artist in our spot – some shows like mixing things up every year, so Mount Dora will have us in Booth A-029 this time.

For a few other big shows this year, scheduling conflicts due to some family events that fall on those exact weekends will have me being home with family instead. Not a bad thing at all. It will give all of you a chance to support some of the other fantastic artists there this year – keep art alive, by purchasing directly from the artist!
With the influx of “junk art” – the big, cheap, canvas prints with gel-medium as texture, that you can buy for little money at home furnishing stores, craft stores, and discount clothing stores – many artists have noticed a downturn in sales and interest from the people attending even the juried fine art shows.

Galleries have closed. Art programs in schools have been slashed. More and more of the cheap import art is cropping up everywhere. Shows are being added at a dizzying pace. Existing shows are adding more and more booths (some even adding on booths for “commercial” wares – gutter guards, windows, mass-produced wares, etc.) that increase their income, but also water down the sales for the artists at the same time. Booth fees have gone up, hotels are more expensive, etc…
Very concerning trends, and not easy to cope with as a full-time professional artist.

Nonetheless, I will continue to paint – because, it’s my game, not theirs. And, I love what I do – whether I am traveling or not.

So, to make things a bit easier, I’ve also begun adding painting lessons in my studio – great fun to do, relaxing, no mass-produced wares to compete with, and, best of all, new friends to make.

Come join me there sometime! Or, check my schedule every now and then to see where I will be – if we are close to where you are, we can meet in that area somewhere to do some “paint flinging” together. If you like painting outdoors, we can do something out in the Rocky Mountain National Park this June – we’ll be there, and it would be awesome to paint some beautiful landscapes there together!

Either way – keep checking the schedule – though we might not be at some of the big juried shows this year, we’ve added a few fun Celtic/Irish/Highlands Festivals this year, and as always, our big Sheep & Wool Festivals are always a blast as well!

As always, I LOVE hearing your comments and ideas for new Sheep Incognito paintings – leave a comment, share this post, and thanks for being part of the Sheep Incognito Flockies in the meadow of life!

Also, if you are in connections with a decent children’s book publisher by chance, I would love to have some feedback for the two books I’ve written and am illustrating as well. They do involve sheep in some capacity, but do appeal to the general market more than the sheep arena.

Here is my newest painting:
“The Great Flock Defender” click this link to order prints of it!

The Great Flock Defender Sheep Incognito Art

The Great Flock Defender Sheep Incognito Art

 

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Merry Christmaaahs From the Sheep Incognito Flock!

A Baaahrtridge in a Bear Tree Wall Art

Fleece Navidad Prints

Fleece Navidad Prints

We want to take a moment to thank all of Ewe for being faithful flock fans for the past year – and years before: because of you, we can continue to bring smiles, happy giggles, and a few heartfelt “awww”s to your world and the art world at large.

This past year, we were so lucky to get to meet so many of you in person – we LOVE getting to see smiles in real life, and hugs make our day, and bring back some warmth to the world, so THANK EWE for stopping by!

To those of ewe that have placed orders on the website, or called in, or snagged art in our #SheepFling events on Facebook and Instagram: thank ewe for giving the Sheep Incognito such maaahvelous friends to hang out with – I consider myself blessed to know that so much of my art is getting to bring smiles to peoples’ lives every day, instead of just hanging on a museum wall for brief glances by passerby visitors.

Starting in January, there will be workshops and training sessions available – whether painting on canvas, or intruductions to ProCreate App, the studio will be buzzing with lots of learning getting done.
Also, though it is taking much longer than I wanted it to, I am working on my first adult/kids book.
Or maybe two. Not sure.
What I do know, is there might be monsters. And sheep. And some smiles. And the color pink. Who knows where that might lead…

I might start a Patreon account for that purpose – it’s become almost impossible to keep up with the business side of things while we travel, so we have cut wayyy back on shows for the first quarter of 2018, to give us time to work in the studio, get the book written, add some wholesale connections, try a few new painting techniques, add some workshops, and all that fun stuff.

As always, we LOVE hearing from you: how are the sheep in your home behaving themselves?
Any special requests for workshop themes? Any feedback is appreciated, of course.

We hope your holiday season is filled with fluffy things, big hugs, maaahvelous moments, and silly giggles, on top of good friends, good memories, and good things all around.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your patronage over the years – and keep a lookout for many new things happening in the Sheep Incognito studio in 2018.

With that:

MERRY CHRISTMAAAHS and have a Maaahvelous New Year!

Conni & Scott at Charisma Art Gallery / Sheep Incognito Studio
email us: conni@charisma-art.com

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