New Original Now Available + news updates!

Oops well bang goes my promise to update my blog on a monthly basis! lol Sorry about that, please bare with me and I'll try to make up for my slip-up in omitting January from this years blog calender ;-) Anyway better late than never eh, and what couldn't be better than two for the price of one so here goes for a January/February update
(items in no particular order as usual ;-)

Okay for starters its the newly completed 'SPLENDOUR' - a male Barbary Lion

This original is now available along with limited edition prints.

It is with much delight and excitement that I am able to write and share with you all the good news that I was, during the latter part of 2010, approached to work in partnership with, and in some areas exclusively for, Twycross Zoo (Warwickshire, UK)
On the evening of Thursday 27th January I attended the 'Twycross Gallery Preview Evening' where some of my work amongst that of other local artists was being displayed along with the plans for the new Twycross Gallery. The evening was a 'roaring' success (pardon the pun) as my Amur Tiger painting entitled 'MAJESTY' sold along with a framed limited edition print of
'SOUL SURVIVOR'.

More news about this evening can be found on the Twycross Zoo site:

http://www.twycrosszoo.org/news/currentnews.htm

3rd February 2011

Twycross Gallery Preview

"Twycross Zoo – East Midland Zoological Society is opening a ground-breaking new contemporary art gallery this summer and is celebrating a highly-successful preview evening at which several major works were sold. The preview showcased a cross-section of the high-quality art and two of Wigston (Leicestershire) artist Kerry Newell’s ultra-detailed pastel on velour works, both an original and a limited edition print, were snapped up for almost £3,000 ............."

'MAJESTY' - Original Sold

Working in partnership with the zoo and the inhabitants that reside there is like a dream come true, many exciting plans have been talked about and the first to be put in to place is the opportunity for me to begin running workshops there, a meeting to discuss this strategy in more detail will be taking place next week, I've a hundred or more ideas I guess they just don't know what they're letting themselves in for! lol :-) More news on this adventure soon :-D

Following the success of the Twycross Gallery Preview evening I was interviewed by a journalist from a local newspaper, The Leicester Mercury, and as a result made the front page and page nine of the following Monday's issue:

Mum-of-three Kerry begins to earn her stripes as an artist


To read the whole article please see the following:

http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/news/Kerry-begins-earn-stripes-artist/article-3161809-detail/article.html

And as a roundabout result -

Sold Another Original:

'FIVE MORE MINUTES'


Okay, nearly finished you'll be pleased to hear! lol Just a quickie to say that this year's 'Spring' workshop (Saturday 26th February) is fully booked - sorry to those of you who missed out on a place this time, but I hope you'll be pleased to know that there are a few remaining places left on this year's 'Summer' workshop on Saturday 14th May.

Take care & God bless
Kerry x

Merry Christmas and some exciting news!!!

Hi there I hope this message finds you all well and looking forward to the festive season.

I'm sure that those of you who know me will know that I enjoy the varied aspects of my work - creating work for exhibitions, painting domestic and non-domestic animals for commissions, whilst also running workshops and demonstrating to schools/colleges and art groups etc. Well my work/career has now taken another turn in the most exciting and at the same time knee trembling way - I have recently been invited, by Chris Packham (tv presenter, photographer & author) and his partner, to visit a big cat sanctuary on the Isle of Wight where I'll be able to get ‘behind the scenes’ enabling me to photograph these majestic felines ’up close & personal’. And just when I thought things couldn't get any better this came along - I have also been approached to publish a book fronted by the famous television presenter and cameraman Simon King OBE, where I will be showcasing a whole new collection of ‘big cat’ paintings whilst raising funds and awareness to the plight of these majestic mammals of which I am so very fond. So my life has just shifted into the fast-lane, and the New Year will, God willing, see me buckling down and getting some work done for a change! lol Only kidding, but it does feel like a helpful shove in the right direction - straight towards the studio with a plentiful supply of coffee at the ready! lol

Although we're still in December and all conscious thoughts are of Christmas my subconscious is already well into the New Year, deciding on subjects and techniques for the 2011 demonstrations and workshops that will soon be upon me. For those of you interested in booking a place on the Spring 2011 Workshop (Sat 26th Feb) there are only two places left, I may add more dates to my penciled-in diary for 2012 so that eight workshops run each year to keep up with the ever-increasing demand but even I don't want to think about that until the New Year! lol :-)

Okay I'll leave it at that for now but may I take this opportunity in wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Peaceful New Year! :-)

Take care and God bless
Kerry.

Resident Professional Artist

Hi there folks just a quick update on what's happening this end:

As of yesterday 01.11.10 I am pleased to announce that I have been appointed the position of Resident Professional Artist of a local art group:

The Bushloe Art Society
www.bushloeartsociety.co.uk

I hope that by working together with existing members I can encourage and hopefully inspire an increase in confidence & ability, and during the coming months an increase in the amount of members attending the weekly meetings on a regular basis too. I also want to actively encourage new members into the society whatever their artistic ability and chosen medium, beginners to the more advanced, all will receive a warm welcome.

If you're interested in finding out more about this art society then please check out their above website (soon to be redesigned and updated)

More news on this and more real soon

Take care & God bless xx

New Original Now Available!

Hi there folks just a quick update on what's happening in the studio - Friday saw the completion of this little guy:

An Amur tiger, 16" x 16", pastel on velour

As yet untitled, this painting is now residing at the local framers where it is due to be scanned for the production of limited edition prints and then framed, God willing prints will be available for purchase within the next two weeks.

Working on a new commission and in the process of sketching out a new original ;-)

Take care & God bless

Kerry x

Life in the fast lane!!!

Oh my word has it really been over a year since I last updated my blog? If there was an image of my embarrassed face right now I'd add it to this post, but as there's not I'll brush that last comment under the carpet and move straight on to updating you all with a little of what's been happening during the last 12 months or so......

Okay here we go, my brain really is like a disorganized filing cabinet (more like a bin of information actually) so bare with me as the following things may or may not be in chronological order, okay they most probably wont be in chronological order but hey at least you've been warned! lol:

Earlier in the year I was fortunate enough to be employed as a demonstrator of Unison soft pastels and Fabre Castell pastel pencils at the prestigeous 'Patchings Art Festival' 2010:

While demonstrating at 'Patchings' I was approached by the 'Research & Development' Manager for Caran d'Ache (an art materials manufacturer in Switzerland) and asked if I would like to be involved with the trialing and development of a new pastel product? After quietly debating the pros and cons of such an offer (which must have taken between 3-5 milliseconds as I'm not one for spontaneous decisions lol) I eventually agreed :-) So samples were received, self formulated tests carried out and results emailed back to the Caran d'Ache head-quarters in Switzerland, everyone seemed happy. Now it seems they were far happier with my labours than I first imagined as I have just received an invitation to go to Geneva (all expenses paid) "within the next few months" for the launch of this new product! More news on that real soon :-)

During August I exhibited at the Rutland Birdfair! Sales were excellent and interest high (as was the humidity - it isn't called Rutland Reservoir for nothing! lol)

Sales included the only just released Sole Survivor (having only come from the framers the previous weekend):

Whilst there I received lots of 'celebrity' interest too! Having personal visits from Johnny Kingdom (I ended up wearing Johnny's hat and together we ran off hand in hand through the marquee much to the surprise and cheers of the watching public! lol),
Chris Packham & Simon King:

Wow talk about 'heard it on the grapevine'!!! lol

Whilst exhibiting at events like the yearly Rutland Birdfair I do like to demonstrate my artwork and techniques too, its amazing really that I can be working away concentrating on my painting while being oblivious to the hustle and bustle of the sometimes crowded marquees and the unblinking gazes of onlookers standing behind me - weird or what! lol It's almost like having blinkers on except these blinkers cover my ears too! lol A tap on the shoulder and it's question time, and what amazes me is the variety of questions asked, anything from questions regarding my artwork & techniques to the views I have on conservation & environmental issues (the latter things of which I've never claimed to know about, well not in depth anyway).

This past year has seen the pace of my career as a wildlife artist really hotting up, with next year looking more than promising already - quarterly Wildlife Art Workshops running and bookings already being taken for my Fur & Feather Demonstrations.

I believe God has blessed me with a wonderful creative gift, one which I didn't have to earn but was given and one which I gain great pleasure in sharing with others, but apart from that He's also made it a gift of the heart, my heart which I'm sure reflects a tiny amount of the greatness of His, to be able to bring about inspiration & encouragement in others, and hopefully a glimpse of the wonderful glory of creation that surrounds us all on this tiny fragile planet we call home - its the only one we have so lets work together to make it a better place for us all xxx

Some news involving myself and Simon King OBE coming soon ........... now that should keep you all guessing for a while! lol ;-)

Oh yes and while I still have your attention I'd just like to say that I now intend to update this blog once a month if possible (and you can hold me to that if I don't! lol)

Thankyou for dropping by!
Take care & God bless xx

Siberian/Amur Tiger

Okay I feel as though I'm catching up with my blog now so here's an extra item to keep it ticking over ;-)

Whilst exhibiting at The Rutland Birdfair in August I started a new wildlife painting, it was lovely being able to share my art this way, and the public were genuinely interested and some alomost hypnotised while watching! ha!ha! The feedback from this alone has been wonderful!and progress so far:You can stay up to date on the progress of this painting and others on the 'Studio' page of my website www.kerrynewell.com

Okay that's my 'longer than usual' teabreak over, back off to the studio now :-)

Thanks again for dropping in & bye for now xx

Oh my word this year is whizzing by so fast, as always life is hectic but I thought its about time that I should update my blog while I have a spare five minutes, so with a cup of tea in hand here goes:

From April of this year onwards I was working towards the world renowned Rutland Birdfair, the pressure was on and the workload heavy but boy did I enjoy the excitement that went along with it - fantastic, it really does you good to step out of your comfort zone once in a while and push forward towards a new goal. The weeks seemed to blend together and before I knew it August had arrived, limited edition prints were ordered and required framing was underway, then the nail-biting journey to the Rutland site with cars loaded to the full, then the problem dawned on me (and thankfully it was the only problem) - Rutland is the home of Rutland resevoire, hence high humidity = damp nights!!! Now anyone who works with velour paper knows how it hates moisture, so much so it almost leaps off the drawing board and heads for the nearest door! ha!ha! So an answer had to be found, yep thats right every evening the paintings had to be packed back into the car and taken home again, much to the amusement of 'old hands' who now only hang canvases etc! ha!ha! Apart from this hiccup exhibiting at The Rutland Birdfair was an awesome experience with over 22,800 people visiting over the three days!!

Yep that's Simon King (Wildlife film-maker) collecting his SOLOMON Limited Edition Print :-)

New wildlife paintings that were completed for the exhibition included

BEST FOOT FORWARD:and THREE OF A KIND:But as the saying goes 'time waits for no man' and so I've no time to sit and reflect on what has been too much as I've a new solo exhibition opening tomorrow, commissions for Christmas to be completed and of course my next wildlife projects to work on, oh yes and one more thing (not that I'm likely to forget) the dates have now been set for The Rutland Birdfair 2010!!! So the preparations start all over again on this wonderful rollercoaster ride of living my dream as a wildlife artist - God is good & life is sweet!

Thankyou for taking the time to catch up on my blog! Take care and bye for now xx