Sheep Incognito Art By Conni Togel

Category: Sheep Incognito on the Road

  • Sheep Meanderings…

    Hopefully your year has started off as good as ours has – the Sheep Incognito flock has been meandering around the art meadow already, even though much of it is still in Winter Mode. To avoid the cold and the Snowpocalypse that gripped the Southeast a few weeks ago, we took my flock of Sheep Incognito paintings and prints on a road trip to Sunshine State Florida. Except, it really did not live up to it’s name…

     

    The first show of this year was the always lovely, and perfectly managed by Paragon Events Sarasota Fine Art Show. Right across the road from the Marina and Marina Jack’s in Sarasota, the show was comprised of some very nice, high-end artwork from about 100 artists. The visitor numbers from last year’s show there (which was the first year this event took place there) had almost doubled, it seems.  We received so many nice comments and smiles from everybody, that this most likely will remain in our top three list of places to spend January in Florida at.

    Of course, because we needed a bit of a break from the cold, the weather decided to remind us why we brought some long sleeved shirt with us on the trip: it started raining. And the next morning, it rained some more. And then, it decided it needed a bit more rain…We spent quite a bit of time sitting in the mobile studio (our RV), rather than meandering, visiting the manatees, or checking up on the Mouse with the big round ears.

    But we did get a chance to take a few walks along the beach, gathering inspiration for some nature themed jewelry, and just letting our right side of the brain do some playing. So even with the lower temperatures, the ideas for making new things happen, how to make people smile, and to make the world a little brighter with my art kept coming. A very comforting fact…

    After a week of sitting in the tin can there, we felt energized enough to get back on the road, heading north-east to lovely Mount Dora, Florida to attend the Mount Dora Arts Festival. This was my fourth year there (maybe third instead? can’t remember…hello senile me…), and though attendance was down quite a bit on Saturday, it was still packed with people all weekend long. Sunday finally rewarded us with mid 70’s and 80’s for temperatures, and a large crowd of people. Not very many art pieces walked out of the area, but still, all in all, my top Florida show historically.

    The nice part is getting to re-visit with artist friends – some only do 5 shows a year, so it’s almost a miracle to cross paths with them at all the shows we do…

    The other nice part, is the people that stand out from the crowd – the ones that make a memory, that make us smile, that make the world a better place, if even just for a moment in time.
    Once such person – whose name I do not know, and whose face I probably would not be able to call out of a line-up – was a gentleman who just casually walked up to my desk, handed me a handful of candy, and said: “Thank you for being here – your work made me smile. You deserve to have some candy…”.

    Another such moment, was a lady walking out of my booth with a big smile on her face. She said “I needed that smile today – my friend is very sick, and will not be getting better. I REALLY needed that smile. And, this is the first time since my husband passed on one and a half years ago, that I’ve been out and on a trip by myself”.

    Or the lady at the table next to us, after looking through one of my calendars, who started silently crying, because one of the images captured her and her son and their relationship perfectly – even though we had never met before.

    Or the guy fixing our trailer, who generously let us park the trailer in his lot for free, and who gave me a big bear hug as we were leaving his shop. Just because, it’s a thing one does. Or should be doing more of.

    The world is filled with these sparkling stars in my world – I do count each one of those people and events as blessings – they do not go unnoticed.

    I may forget faces, I more often than not forget names, I regularly forget appointments, birthdays, events, papers, etc. – but I do not forget the people that make my world a better place.

  • Last Day at the Roanoke Civic Center Craftsmen’s Classics Tomorrow

    Fall Tour Season Has Begun!

    After a very sandy and windy show at this year’s Neptune Festival in Virginia Beach, and a big flood that shut the show early at the St James Court Art Show in Louisville, we are really excited that we are done with outdoor shows for this year.
    Summer this year was weird. Out of all the shows we did, only two were without excessive heat or excessive rain – which of course took a huge chunk out of sales as well…
    After the rain last week, we were sure a lot of my work would be completely destroyed after a few days in the trailer – but we got lucky.

    And: FALL IS HERE!
    So we made it to the Craftsmen’s Classic In Roanoke, VA to reconnect with long-time fellow “Carnies”, Artists, and Crafts people, as well as owners of my Sheep Incognito flock of art pieces.

    It’s so lovely to meet smiling faces, catch up with everybody, and see what is happening in other people’s lives.
    And of course, there is always a bit of gossip involved. My favorite tidbit this weekend: my ex had been claiming that my paintings were his, and that I only painted because of him.
    I was not the only one laughing about that one….

    Anyway- as always, good fun, good times, and, good things are to be had here in Roanoke this weekend.
    Admission is free. Free. No cost. And, bring a food donation for the foodbank.
    Free.

    My two favorite booths this year: right beside us is fellow artist Ayenne Applebaum – she makes the most beautiful porcelain and clay pottery sculptures of coral reef and whimsical vessels. Love her stuff! And, she’s a lovely lady to get to hang out with – I love people that think!

    The other booth is a brand new addition to the show circuit – a photographer that does local Roanoke images, but in a contemporary style. His booth was packed all day long…he looked exhausted by the time evening came around.

    Tomorrrow is the final day here – lots of new Sheep Incognito paintings, prints and giclées, along with the new Sheep Incognito Bling and the 2014 Calendars.

    If you can’t make it here, you can always visit the website at Charisma-Art.Com

    The best prices will still be at the show though…drop us a line, introduce yourself, or let us know how your life works – we love getting connected with you!

  • A Laugh and a Cry

    A Laugh and a Cry

    Saying Good-Bye To One Of My Favorites

    they say paintings come from the artist’s heart, and there will always be strings attached, when you sell the original painting.

    In this particular case, I tend to agree – one of my most popular and recognizable paintings, “Thinking Outside The Box” has meandered on to a new home a few weeks ago.

    Picture 25

    Granted, it was a trade for some completely awesome work by Mauro Pozzobonelli (his work is phenomenal – reminiscent of old pieces of Venice and Florence architecture) that will be hanging in my livingroom and inspiring me for years to come – but nonetheless, there is always a tug at my heart when I see someone walk out of my booth with one of my originals.

    Then again, this just makes space for new work – new ideas – new processes – new attachments…it’s a never ending circle; and, it is what keeps artists creating to put a new face on space in the world. There are definitely worse jobs to have…

  • The Big Ann Arbor Art Fair

    We finally made it into the famed Ann Arbor Art Fair – we’ve heard soooo many good things about it, we simply had to give it a try.

    It is one of the top three art fairs in the nation, certainly ome of the biggest with over 1200 artists exhibiting their work.

    Today is the first day – it is Wednesday – it is Very warm today. But apparently that is not a deterrent for the visitors, they are still meandering, even though it’s in the mid nineties.

    Us? We are camped in front of the fan, which seems to only make hot air. Someone turn off the heater!

    If you are looking for us in Ann Arbor- look on Liberty Street, in front of Jack’s, between 4th $ 5th Streets, Booth 274.

    Back to the fan – it’S what is helping us survive

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  • A Day in the Woods

    Today we set up the Sheep Incognito booth at the Indian Fort Theater in Berea, Kentucky.

    In the middle of the woods – a very serene setting…

    Last year it rained. And rained. And rained. But – it still was a decent show for us…this weekend is supposed to be much drier, so hopefully people will take the opportunity to come hang out with all the artisans here and not have to surf the mud.

    Who knows, I might even get some painting done – anxious to finish the pompous ass painting…

  • Sheep Incognito celebrate Independence in Pennsylvania

    To celebrate not only the birthday of our nation and the freedoms we enjoy in living in this awesome country, but also to celebrate my own personal freedom from oppression, we’ve traveled North to be a part if the Westmoreland Arts& Heritage Festival.

    It takes place every 4th of July at the Twin Lakes Park in Greensbugr, PA.

    A lovely piece of americana, combied with a lovely setting, good bbq, good music, and good people.

    Can’t think of a better way to celebrate!

  • Weatherworn Sheep

    “When it rains, it pours” – that has most certainly been the case at quite a few of my outdoor shows this year.

    We’ve been sitting in the booth in torrential downpours, have seen/ heard a church steeple across the street get blown to smithereens by lightning, have very narrowly escaped a tornado in Tornado Alley, and have waded through ankle-deep rivers in the booth to tear down in the rain.

    Of course, we then also had the frying pan days, like the ones of this past weekend in Columbus, Ohio, where one becomes a sitting duck (a very crispy one at that) for sunburns, heat strokes, and dehydration.

    Those are the days when I question whether I should be sitting in a little air conditioned cubicle somewhere, stapling sticky notes to my forehead instead, for the next twenty years of my life.

    Usually, I quickly determine that a) sitting in a cubicle for longer than a few hours would totally do me in, and b) I would be stapling sticky notes to other people’s heads as well, which I’ve been told would be a problem on my recommendation letters they would give me after they escort me to the door in handcuffs…so I guess I’m on the right track here….

    Most patrons at the art festivals do not realize the amount of work it takes the artists to be there – driving seven hours, setting up for five hours (passing out from heat exhaustion all the while), sitting at the booth all day, mainly without having had breakfast, tearing down and driving back for another sr en hours, only to rinse and repeat the next weekend.
    Sometimes that hard work pays off by being able to pay the rent and the electric bills (sometimes, the phone bill is paid late, or not at all…).

    And sometimes, we’ve heard of comments like “Is this all you do, or do you also work for a living?”, which to an artist, who set up the booth at five in the morning, in the rain, with no breakfast after a seven hour drive might just be the ultimate insult to add to the wet tent, soggy shoes, and slow sales that won’t cover expenses.

    And yet, we keep coming back to these shows to bring our visions of art to the show visitors – because there is a magic spark that happens when a patron walks in and “gets it”, or when a gaggle of church ladies spend half an hour laughing out loud at the titles on my work, or when a little kid walks in and asks about why I only paint sheep, and the asks me “Are you kinda crazy?”.

    Those moments make every soggy tent packed into the trailer, every jump at a loud thunderclap, every dizzy spell during setup, every sleepless night about unpaid tax bills worthwhile…

    I may never be rich – but I am blessed to get to do what I love.