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 SHEEP INCOGNITO PAINTING ON THE EASEL: “GRASSHOPPER”
this is a new painting I’ve started on this weekend – we have two shows happening this weekend in Nappanee, Indiana (Amish Acres Arts & Crafts Festival), and in Dublin, Ohio (Dublin Irish Festival), so we needed to beef up the walls of the booth…
Title: GRASSHOPPER
Size: 24″ x 48″
Media: Oils on canvas
Starting with a quick sketch of Burnt Umber thinned with orange oil, I first established the general shape and figure, then painted the background in.
Initially I thought a black sheep would be the best, but with the background being a bit darker, the contrast will be to weak – so I am adding a warmer, wool colored touch to the sheep, to make it look less cold and stand out more.
Forced vacations sometimes are good events – especially those that involve the Sheep Incognito flock getting stuck in Colorado….
We seem to have found possibly the best car repair shop west ofthe Mississippi in Loveland Colorado: Stan’s Auto Service not only got the RV rolling again, but they were fantastic people to work with, and, for the first time in a year, the follow-up mechanic wasn’t shaking his head in despair at what crimes to the RV his predecessor had committed…in fact, he said “that was an excellent repair job they did”.
Wow.
Miracles DO happen.
So, not only did we make it home from Colorado, we’ve also made it up to Pennsylvania for the 4th of July Westmoreland Arts & Heritage Festival, and are heading to the Plymouth, MI Art in the Park Festival for this weekend.
Maybe we’ve finally turned the page to actually getting some time to paint and create, instead of sitting in repair shop waiting areas…
NEW WORK IN PROGRESS AT THE SHEEP INCOGNITO STUDIO
Back in the Studio for a bit of painting – with a new one on the easel:
“Birds Of A Feather”.
Completed the initial sketch, not a bit of drying time, and then I’ll start adding the colors. This will be a new knitting painting for all my knitting, spinning, crocheting, weaving, sheep breeding, and Sheep Incognito friends. Of course, birding friends might like this one as well – though I’m not sure what breed these birds are…Kni-Twits?
We are at the Richmond Raceway Complex this weekend for the 30th Craftsmen’s Classics Arts & Crafts Show.
Which of course is the perfect environment for some more work on the new Sheep Incognito painting
“Stock Car”.
This one is much more work than I bargained for – progress has been slow, and there are sections I’ve repainted about five or more times.
Which has to do with me not liking to work with acrylics, and the fact that details are not my specialty at all.
This has been a bit of a mind- altering project for me in a way: where is the finish line on a painting? Is a painting ever really finished, or is each session the beginning of a new artistic path?
Here is the current status of “Stock Car” – it is 16 inches x 16 inches, acrylics on canvas, and the unframed painting is priced at $795.
We will have giclee prints of it available , both on paper and on canvas.
Email me if you would like to offer Stock Car a living home – I have a waiting list in place, but it is still short enough to give you a good chance of owning the original painting.
We made it through this year’s Springtime shows in Florida, just in time for a bit more seasonal weather than we’ve had so far this year. Florida was colder than I ever remember it being for the past ten shows there – so hopefully that will statistically give us warmer temperatures for next year’s shows there.
With the rain and the cooler temperatures, we did not get to do a lot of venturing that we had planned to be doing this year – we spent quite a bit of time indoors, trying to dry out damp jackets and socks from the few times we did manage to go out.
We also spent quite a bit of time in mechanics shops – the mobile studio RV we travel in was having some severe digestion problems, causing it to stall out in the middle of traffic (always exciting to be the jackass at the front of the traffic jam in rush hour at a major intersection and be stuck there for 20 minutes or more.) We managed to oggle our way home with lots of stops on the way, so next week will no doubt bring more of that along with some major costs for repairs. But still – would not trade my job for the world. We meet quite a few “successful” people – stressed about their retirement funds they are trying to fill so they can do what we do when they are too old to enjoy it…I’ll take that pay cut and do things now instead.
My retirement fund is non-existent – might buy me a burger when I retire.
My investment fund – I think I remember having one, but don’t know if any of the companies are still alive. I prefer to invest in my kids instead.
My savings – hmmm…I think those went to the ex to buy my freedom from him.
My way of life – “disorderly”, “uncommon”, “unprecise”, “unplanned”, and “adventuresome” – yep. And what I was planning to do when my retirement fund was filled, my investment fund was doing well, my savings were enough to live on, and my kids were all grown.
I’ve decided life does not wait for you to accomplish things – you are meant to live, and roll with what comes your way. That is what I am doing. For better or for worse.
So in keeping with that, I’ve been spending some time in the studio again (liking the look of the word “Studio” much better than the word “Cubicle” for myself) – here is the status of the Work-In-Progress “Ewe’s My Sunshine”:
Ewe’s My Sunshine
The purple will be mostly covered by extra white wool, the sun will be more defined and a bit lighter. So far, I’m liking his face – makes me happy to see him sitting on my easel when I walk into the studio.
It is often easier for me to update the facebook page, than my blog here, because I can do that via my iphone. So your best bet is to go visit there as well for updates, specials etc.
Right now, we have the Sheep Incognito Spring Fling 2014 going on – search Twitter for #SISpringFling for special discounts on original paintings, out of print giclées, prints, etc.
If you are a yarn shop owner, contact me at conni.togel@gmail.com to inquire about our affiliate program.
After spending most of my day working on the paperwork associated with running an art business, I have decided that I am not made of the stuff that it takes to be a “paper pusher”.
The two brain hemispheres that it requires to be both a creative artist, and a business owner/tax filer just do not work well together. I can keep my desk rid of piles of random bills, receipts, invoices, show applications, sales records, to-do lists, and idea sketches. I can answer emails in a timely manner, and I can get all bills paid, all taxes filed on time, and have everything neatly sorted into my filing cabinet. I can post daily on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Flickr, Instagram, Etsy, and my website.
I can also break out my pallette, sketch out a brilliant idea for a painting, lay out my colors, pick the right brushes, dance with the brushes in hand, turning a blank canvas into something that makes people happy, sad, or silly. I can evoke emotions adult people had long forgotten.Taking pictures along the way to share with my followers on Facebook. Gathering Ideas for a grownup children’s book. Coming up with new titles, new color combinations, new projects to work on. I love doing that.
What I seem to be NOT able to do, is to do both processes together, without compromising the quality of either part. My desk is usually a mayhem of various papers in varying stages of “dealt with”. Paintings – I usually have about ten standing around unfinished, abandoned, or not even started yet. Projects – I have a list as long as a diving board, with not enough time to even get started on one of them.
How do you keep it all rolling smoothly without dropping the ball on either one? It seems as soon as I devote time to one side, the other falls apart. I’m frightened of the day the IRS decides to audit me – how will anybody be able to find anything or make sense of any of it?
I’ve found that the more I work on the office/business side of things, the less creative I become. It seems to be a downward spiral…
If you are of the creative sort – how do you keep track of everything without losing the ambition to create?
