The Birdfair 2012

Our fifth year at The Birdfair and due to the dreadful weather this summer it wasn't until August 1st that we knew for certain that the event would be going ahead.  Still, conditions in the art marquee were less than ideal. You can probably see from the photograph how muddy the ground inside was, and to make matters worse it soon became cloying and sticky in the humid atmosphere.

Nevertheless, it didn't stop the public visiting, though I suspect numbers were down from last years record intake. 

Friday started quietly, which bucked the trend for us based on previous fairs but mid way through the morning I sold my first original, "Ebb Tide, Dunlin & Ringed Plover" (see below). After that print sales picked up and we ended the day in profit, which is always a relief in the precarious life of the artist!

Saturday started much the same as Friday though the weather was glorious, perhaps a little too glorious in the marquees where temperatures touched 30 degrees. Definitely an ice-cream day. Quite a few print sales but just one small original sold today - the last of the puffins painted the previous week which was still wet! Thankfully, due to the hot weather it was dry by the end of the day when the buyer came to collect it.

Sunday at The Birdfair is usually quieter for us and tends to attract more family parties. It was certainly another hot day, interspersed with sudden cloudbursts and thunderstorms.

Just to prove that you can never second-guess any event, Sunday typically ended up the best day of the weekend. Two paintings sold to a couple who had previously bought one of my bigger originals (of oystercatchers) at The Birdscapes Gallery in Glandford, and at the end of the day one of my framed puffins was on it's way to it's new home in Bristol.  Add to that two unframed puffins which had sold off my newsletter a few days before and 2012 had suddenly become our second best Birdfair. 

I would like to thank all those people who bought paintings and prints over the weekend. It was lovely to meet you all, to chat about your wildlife experiences and to share my own thoughts and observations on the natural world with people who have a genuine interest in how I paint and what inspires me. 

 It's quite easy as an artist, working for long hours in isolation, to develop a blinkered view of both the world and your own work. Meeting and chatting to new people and fellow exhibitors and seeing other artists' work can act as a catalyst, giving you new ideas and helping you to see a subject in a whole new way.

I'm already excited by the thoughts of tackling new media, more of which in the future, and of pursuing new subjects both here and abroad. Some of this new work will be on display at The Birdfair 2013, so see you there next year!

New Newsletter

This week I launched my first newsletter, the link for which you can find down in the right hand column on this page.  I am not the most prolific blogger as you can probably tell from the scarcity of my posts! 

I still plan to add the odd blog here and there on this page, particularly when it comes to fishing trips and hide work and the occasional in progress painting development. 

Exhibitions, events and seasonal round ups will be transferred to the new newsletter which I plan to send out to my mailing list on a regular basis throughout the year.  If you would like to take part mail me at:

mail@davidmillerart.co.uk

Swimming with the Fishes

Over the past couple of days I've spent a fair few hours underwater photographing roach (pictured, with dace), grayling, brown trout and perch.  The weather was very kind to me and for once the water was very clear (which is no mean feat here in the UK!).

Painting fish underwater is especially dificult without good refrence.  I've never used a 'held' fish in any of my work, apart from using such shots for details such as scales, fins and eyes.  there is no substitute for a naturally swimming fish and I hope this is reflected in my paintings.

I'm really looking forward to winter in the studio now. It's great to have so much to get your teeth into!

Rod Licence Artwork

Both these paintings are still 'in progress' but will be delivered to the Environment Agency in a couple of weeks.  The coarse licence will feature a brace of roach (painting based on a 2lb 4oz and 1lb 9 oz fish) and the game licence a single sea trout (or sewin here in Wales).  It's been suggested by one of my Facebook fans that I run a competition to win one each of the prints on April 1st next year, so watch this space!

Join David Miller Art on Facebook

I now have a dedicated fish-centric page on Facebook.  Sign up for Facebook exclusive promotions on prints, competitions, and a sneak preview of new paintings and prints.  I also plan to add video footage of my adventures in due course. You can find us at: David Miller Art.






All Facebook members will be PM'd a special discount code in late October entitling them to 10% off all prints sold on my website during the whole of November, so if you fancy a print for Christmas join up now.

Swimming with Salmon

I've been up in Scottish Border country this week in pursuit of salmon.  The water wasn't very clear and I'm beginning to think that salmon, far more than sea trout, are pretty camera shy. 
This beauty reversed out from under a rock he was sheltering under and shot off into the gloom!

New Web Site Launched

The new web site has finally been launched!  It's much smaller than the old site and less 'organic', and although the old site has been a good friend to us over the years, hopefully this one will be easier to navigate.

There aren't too many fish originals on there at the moment. I've been busy over the summer collecting reference and seeing some fabulous sights.

I will, however, be getting down to some serious fish work once the weather breaks as I'm planning a one-man exhibition next year.