I am taking a year’s sabbatical (November 2016 to November 2017), so Gransden Agricultural Show is my final exhibition for a year.

In order to unload existing stock (ready for new designs at the end of 2017) I am having a great big sale at the Gransden event.

See below for some really fabulous bargains:

• A4 Hardback Coffee Table Books (pictures and poems by Tina Bone – full page colour plates and explanatory texts) reduced from £15.50 to £7.50
• A5 Notebooks reduced from £6.00 to £5.00

  

• 4 x Coasters in a box (10 designs) reduced from £8.00 to £7.00
• Snap and Name the Bird Educational Card Game reduced from £7.50 to £5.00
• A5 Greetings Cards: some to be discontinued, some with envelopes, some just card, reduced from £2.00 to 10p and 20p

  

• A5 Card Botanical Card Bundle (4 cards in pack with envelopes) reduced from £6.50 to £5.00
• Postcards reduced from 30p each to 5p each
• Whimsy Jigsaw puzzles: only 2 left – 1 x 250 only £15.00 (Wentworth RRP £29); and 1 x 300 only £18.00 (RRP £32)
• Traditional 1,000piece cardboard jigsaw puzzles reduced from £13.00 to £12.00
• Tina’s famous Diwejisaw Magnetic Puzzles reduced from £12.99 to £7.50
• Cambridge Ceramic Mugs: Only 3 left Nature’s Gems design (November, March, January) reduced from £8.50 to £6.50
• Large Placemats Fine Fruits design: 3 x sets of 4 placemats with 4 matching coasters – reduced from £24 a set to £20
• 2 x lovely unique little cushions reduced from £20 to £15
• Mounted limited edition prints reduced from £50 to £10

  

• Box Canvas prints reduced to half price – range from £5.00 (was £10) to £22 (was £44)

  

• And last but not least: a basket of goodies at silly prices!

  

I look forward to seeing you all in the nice big craft tent at the show.

Just heard from the Mall Galleries that my pre-selected painting for the Society of Wildlife Artists has not been selected for the main exhibition. However, I am not too disappointed. I shall be happy with pre-selection, and try again next year – provided I can afford it!!

Just out of interest, I wondered how much it actually cost me to enter this “prestigious” exhibition. I list below costs associated with my pre-selected painting. I am sure you will be amazed, as I was, so I shall have to think very seriously whether I actually need to show my work in a “prestigious gallery”, or whether I keep doing what I am doing, and be an artist for the people – hopefully within everyone’s price bracket!

Paintings entered online 2 x £15.00 = £30.00

Handmade Frame for one painting which was pre-selected = £50

Cost to transport by specialist courier 1 x £80 = £80

And upon rejection, another 1 x £80 = £160 total courier costs

So the total costs for one painting before being [selected] for exhibition = £240

Other costs which are involved had the painting actually been selected and subsequently sold:

Commission: 45% plus VAT

The price of my submitted painting was £500.

Had it been selected and subsequently sold at the main exhibition, what would I have been left with as “profit”?

£500 less 45% @ £225 plus £45 VAT = £270 total commission.

So, total commission of £270 + £240 costs = £510. [Gasp] a £10 loss!!!

The upside is that it will come back to me and be available to sell elsewhere; I shall write-off the £240 costs so far and hopefully recoup a bit if it actually sells at the end of the day – but I can now sell it at a reasonable price, probably about £300.

This is the water colour painting which I thought for a tiny moment, might have made it to the big time:

I have just spent a few wonderful days away (with hubby, David) in my touring caravan at Hatton Country World near Birmingham. The site was right next to the Grand Union Canal, and it was lovely walking the canal path and seeing all the locks (nicknamed “Stairway to Heaven”). We saw a few barges go through them, but it was not as busy as one would have expected for a bank holiday weekend. The weather was kind except that there was one torrential downpour – but that did not dampen our spirits at all. David and I walked along the canal tow path in to Warwick, had a lovely lunch, then walked back again (8 miles!). I did manage two days of painting on a work which I sketched out last year (hence the 1509 Artist Code), and see below for two progress pictures. Also, last Saturday at my Meet the Artist Day at Hinchingbrooke Country Park, I took along an illumination idea I had been toying with. The progress pictures below show the initial drawing and the “important” elements filled in with metallic gold. Unfortunately, I now have to turn my hand to a commission which has a looming deadline, then two others to complete, before I shall be able to return to these two pieces. But these will be the incentive to get my “paid” jobs done on time!

I had a wonderful time today at Hinchingbrooke Country Park at my Meet the Artist event. I took along some work to do, but did not manage to do much because I spent all my time talking to the lovely people who came to visit. Thank you to everyone, but special thanks to Alison, Steph, Ian, Sue (with Daisy and Suzie), and Jean and Den who all spent time with me – it was just lovely.

Here are a couple of photographs I took before the exhibition opened for the day. It is open tomorrow – sadly the last day – from 10.00am to 4.00pm, so if you are visiting the park, please pop in and view the wonderful botanical and wildlife artwork. There are also a lot of Christmas Present-goodies on sale – calendars, cards, puzzles, prints, etc., so something for everyone’s pocket – in particular I have some mounted botanical and bird fine art limited edition prints (20″ x 16″) reduced from £50 to £20. Have a lovely day.

Just heard from the Mall Galleries that one of my two submissions to the Society of Wildlife Artist’s annual exhibition (SWLA) has been pre-selected, so that is very hopeful. I shall keep everything crossed that this time I might be successful and be included in the exhibition.

Tomorrow is the start of the art exhibition at the Hinchingbrooke Country Park Visitor Centre (Wednesday 17th August to Sunday 21st August, 10.00am to 4.00pm each day). I took my artwork, cards, mugs, prints and calendars today and have left it in the organizer’s capable hands to put everything up. It will be a splendid exhibition so do please get along if you are in the vicinity. The theme is flowers and wildlife – very appropriate for the venue.

All the artists are members of Creative Coverage. As well as myself, the other showing artists are:

Vivienne Cawson RBSA
Paula Hamilton RBSA
Ingrid Skoglund
Fiona Scott-Wilson

We are five artists with five completely different styles, so that makes it a lot more interesting for visitors.

I am doing a “MEET THE ARTIST DAY” ON SATURDAY 20TH AUGUST 10.00am to 4.00pm. The theme will be “What you can do with your artwork” – DO PLEASE COME ALONG AND HAVE A NICE CHAT, IT WILL BE LOVELY TO SEE YOU.

Here is a little slide show of my visit this morning. You will see that the park is a vibrant country space for families, dog owners and walkers alike. The cafe has just been refurbished and the food is delicious and great value for money. The exhibition venue in the actual visitor centre is a beautiful wooden building with a lovely high vaulted ceiling, with a nice lot of space. The whole facility is just wonderful.

Received this lovely email from the BBC, but was not at home to take advantage of [another] few minutes of fame, although I did send a reply with my thoughts after the event (see below) – it is always a wonderful feeling to be asked!

I discovered that Ian Griffiths was the eventual speaker on the programme, after he was contacted via the David Shepherd Foundation. The interview was 8.30am. This is a link to  Ian’s Facebook Page

From: Joshua Kelly, Date: 12 August 2016 14:31:23 BST, To: “‘tina@tinasfineart.uk'”. Subject: BBC R4 TODAY / Birds

Hi Tina,
I hope you are well. I’m a producer with the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. We are currently trying to set up a discussion for our programme on Monday about birdwatching books. In particular, we want to talk about the relative merits of photography and illustration/painting. Which is better? Why are illustrations usually preferred over pictures in bird books? What does an artist try to do when they are depicting a bird? This is pegged to a new book coming out next week which makes a point of using photography rather than illustrations, so we thought this was a nice time to have this discussion! We would have somebody from the book singing the praises of photography, and then we would need somebody to come on and sell the idea of painting / illustrations. I see that you are a wildlife illustrator, so I thought that this might be something that you would be interested in taking part in? Have you illustrated any bird books in the past? If so, perhaps we could have a chat and with a view to possibly setting something up! Do let me know what you think.
All the best, Josh, Joshua Kelly, BBC Radio 4, Today Programme

My reply:

I have completed the little lavender and wild rose study. It makes a lovely card – which will be on sale at the Comberton Village Hall Art Exhibition this weekend. I shall be there all day today (Saturday) and look forward to speaking with any interested party. But the exhibition artwork is by Comberton artists and there is a great and wondrous variety of work to be seen. Do come along and enjoy the exhibition, have a nice cup of coffee/tea and some great home-made cake. Lovely!

Had a very good round of golf yesterday, playing for the County Vets (yes I am old!) at Pavenham Park Golf Club against Bedfordshire. It was a wonderful day and my partner and I managed to win our match, and the overall score was an amicable half. I can heartily recommend the food at this golf club: the roast beef and tatties and vegetables were superb, and the lemon cheesecake for pudding was so light it melted in your mouth!

But this morning back to earth to get on with my lavender and rose piccy. I have made good progress and now have only 2 roses to paint – I would have finished it today I think had it not been for the fact that I am going off to play in a bowls match in a minute! But tomorrow morning is free so hopefully by the end of the morning it will be completed. Here are a few update pictures for your perusal.  (And see below them for a couple of beautiful insects which came through the window and settled on my window ledge and side wall.)

The Hidcote and Munstead Lavenders are complete; all that remains is for me to paint the dog rose (Rosa canina). Trouble is, I have to go to Nottingham tomorrow to pick up unsold work from an exhibition, and the next day I am playing golf! So it looks as though Thursday will be my next painting day.

I have been working on my little posy and have completed the stems of Hidcote. Now to work on Munstead (I just love these names!).