Artist Blog by Sheep Incognito Artist Conni Togel

Tag Archives: paintings

Another Trip to Columbia, SC Next Week – Spring Craftsmen’s Classic

Springtime Madness is about to start!

Next weekend we will be hitting the road again for a series of Spring shows – we are more than ready for some warmer temperatures, not having to scrape the windows on the car in the morning, and getting to have a cup of coffee outside in the sunshine.

Which makes it quite a nice thing, that the Spring Craftsmen’s Classic in Columbia is right around the corner. It is always one of our nicer shows to participate in – much like a good family reunion, complete with lots of laughs, a tad of drama, and our favorite stalkers, all in one venue: the SC Fairgrounds.

There will be a huge range of handmade, original, creative artwork and crafts there – some good ole favorites, and some new, cutting edge things.

I will be unleashing some new Sheep Incognito paintings and prints there as well – gotta enlarge the flock, because much like a real flock of sheep, they just keep multiplying.

New kids (or lambs) on the block:

Into The Hills – a rather large landscape in oils, complete with my famous poppies and blue trees.

Into The Hills - Oils on Canvas

Into The Hills – Oils on Canvas

 

Pompous Ass

Pompous Ass - acrylics on canvas

Pompous Ass – acrylics on canvas

 

There might be a few others hanging out for the first time as well – ya just never know, with sheep.

Of course, while we are in Columbia, we will also be checking out the local eateries – our favorite part of any of our tours. From what I remember, there is an incredible sandwich shop with lines out the door in town – and, a brewery that has quite a large range of craft beers to try.

Hotels in town? the Marriott downtown seemed to be a pretty nice place to stay – the price was better than some of the other midrange hotels, they were quite good about customer service (computers down? Free dinner, free drinks while they work on the problem). One downside: the noise level on Saturday night out on the street was a bit distracting after a long day at the show – but then again: maybe we should have joined the party instead.

So if you need something to inspire you next weekend, come visit us at the Sheep Incognito booth at the Craftsmen’s Classics in Columbia, SC – we’d love to introduce you to some new sheepish smiles! (And if we are really lucky, our favorite stalker will be there with his camera again – maybe we can all photobomb together :o)) )

 

 

 

 

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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…

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When Sheep Leave the Fold

One of the more difficult things about being an artist selling your own work, is the letting go process when a painting sells.

Not only have you put your inner mind and thinking into a visual statement for everybody to see, but you also are srending that statement out into the world on its own, without hope of getting to revise it or even explain it.

Of course, this makes artist very vulnerable – but it also is the one thing that makes art so intriguing, and it is what lets art critics earn a living: they get to come up with what they think the artist was intending to say out loud in his/her artwork.
Which of course is, in very many cases, very largely guesswork and a big dose of speculation combined with imagination.

Unless the artist has put his intentions and the mind behind the work into words somewhere, all one can go by is the visual statements the artist has made.

This is why I find “the serious art worrld” so entertaining in many cases: who is to say, what was going through Piccasso’s mind when he decided to draw people out of proportion with really screwed up facial elements?
Who says Pollock wasn’t just flinging paint at a canvas, just because it was a fun thing to do on a Thursday night?

Hopefully someday there will be some art critics standing beside my “Haulin’ Ass” painting, trying to interpret it in some way other than it was intended – that is a tour in the museum I really would love to be on…

It will be the perfect opportunity to play BS Bingo – mark off the words as the art critics and tour guides mention them; feel free to laugh loudly, as none of these were part of the statement I was making with “Haulin’ Ass”:

“Social Influence”
“Metaphor”
“Subversive Political Commentary”
“Artist’s Intentions”
“Deeper Meaning”
“Metaphysical Impact”
Etc….

Add more art world bs words liberally, and see how many you can find in the review and critics’s speaches…

Don’t forget to yell BINGO! at the end….

Too bad I won’t be around for that…the main reason dead artists are more famous than live artists, is that they shut up about what is being said about their work….

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When Sheep Leave the Fold

One of the more difficult things about being an artist selling your own work, is the letting go process when a painting sells.

Not only have you put your inner mind and thinking into a visual statement for everybody to see, but you also are srending that statement out into the world on its own, without hope of getting to revise it or even explain it.

Of course, this makes artist very vulnerable – but it also is the one thing that makes art so intriguing, and it is what lets art critics earn a living: they get to come up with what they think the artist was intending to say out loud in his/her artwork.
Which of course is, in very many cases, very largely guesswork and a big dose of speculation combined with imagination.

Unless the artist has put his intentions and the mind behind the work into words somewhere, all one can go by is the visual statements the artist has made.

This is why I find “the serious art worrld” so entertaining in many cases: who is to say, what was going through Piccasso’s mind when he decided to draw people out of proportion with really screwed up facial elements?
Who says Pollock wasn’t just flinging paint at a canvas, just because it was a fun thing to do on a Thursday night?

Hopefully someday there will be some art critics standing beside my “Haulin’ Ass” painting, trying to interpret it in some way other than it was intended – that is a tour in the museum I really would love to be on…

It will be the perfect opportunity to play BS Bingo – mark off the words as the art critics and tour guides mention them; feel free to laugh loudly, as none of these were part of the statement I was making with “Haulin’ Ass”:

“Social Influence”
“Metaphor”
“Subversive Political Commentary”
“Artist’s Intentions”
“Deeper Meaning”
“Metaphysical Impact”
Etc….

Add more art world bs words liberally, and see how many you can find in the review and critics’s speaches…

Don’t forget to yell BINGO! at the end….

Too bad I won’t be around for that…the main reason dead artists are more famous than live artists, is that they shut up about what is being said about their work….

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