Nancy Farmer's Journal [entries|friends|calendar] Nancy Farmer [ website | nancyfarmer.net ] [ userinfo | livejournal userinfo ] [ calendar | livejournal calendar ]

Newsletter 2nd May [02 May 2009|05:39pm] Ok, so I have totally neglected this blog, but I've just compiled a newsletter to send out to my emailing list so I thought it would do no harm at all to post it here, too, that way you get to read a bit of an update, too. If anyone wants to be on my emailing list send me an email to mail@nancyfarmer.net and let me know. It's ok, I don't pass the mail on to anyone, and everything is BCC'd. SO here, complete and unabridged, is the latest newsletter....   Newsletter 2nd May ’09   Hello! It's been another long time since I did a proper 'newsletter'. As I now have exhibitions coming up it's really time I got round to emailing a bit more frequently over the next few months. For the moment, here goes with a bit of catching up... again, I have left it too long! I'm sorry it's a long one - if there are too many words you could always just look at the pictures! The Facebook page I've been keeping up the Facebook page pretty well over the last couple of months, or however long it's been. It's a public profile, so even if you don't have a Facebook account you can still see it. Amongst the postings there were some step-by-step photos of one of my latest paintings emerging - there's a link further down this newsletter under 'Medusa's Hammock'. Other posts included some of my life-drawing sketches, which have finally (yesterday) made it on to my 'proper' website - read on for more of that, too. Exhibitions There are a couple of exhibitions coming up, including a possible one in London, but since not everything is planned and confirmed as yet I will mention only the confirmed things: Sirens in Stockings... in Glastonbury "In a meeting of the Divine and the Demonic, seductive she-devils and decadent deities slink through paintings inspired by classical tales and classic glamour." I have a joint exhibition booked with Nottingham artist Charlotte Thomson which will run from the 14th - 26th July 2009, in Galleryeight, 8 Market Place, Glastonbury, BA6 9HW. There will be a Private View on the Sunday beforehand, and I'll send out an invite to anyone on the emailing list nearer the time. If the title sounds familiar, it's the same one we used for the exhibition in Nottingham a couple of years back, but this time with a whole raft of new Sirens... or possibly an 'lure' of sirens? Full details of opening times etc. are on my exhibitions page. As you can probably tell, my painting is the one on the right, 'Death by Chocolate', from a series called 'The Department of Dangerous and Unusual Canapés. These haven't actually appeared on my site yet, as I'm kind of keeping them until nearer the exhibition. However, they already escaped onto my Facebook page, so if you want a preview have a look at this photo album, where you will also find the explanation for this rather curious title. Xpo 2009 / London Fetish Weekend I've just this week booked gallery space at the Xpo for this year - Saturday 3rd & Sunday 4th October Hall 2, The Barbican, London EC1. This is an annual event, part of London Fetish Weekend, and the Xpo is a kind of all-fetish marketplace / fair, with art gallery, cafe etc. A lot of rubber is involved. Needless to say some of my artwork goes down rather well there, especially the dolls photos from www.fetishdollies.co.uk. For those who remember it, this used to be the Skin Two Expo, now just the Xpo, same organizers, but without Skin Two. It's been several years since I've done this show, and I'd always rather missed not going so I thought I'd give it a go again. It's partly worth it for the entertainment and general freakshow (in the nicest sense), but also the whole thing is on one floor this time, so hoping the art gallery bit will get some reasonable traffic, too. Plus I get to run around in a corset and stockings and a very small skirt :-) Anyway - definitely worth a visit if you're in London: www.thexpo.co.uk New Website: www.FornicatingFairies.co.uk Introducing Fornicating Fairies - the website! For those who've not read the previous notes I've posted here and there about this, I have a little group of artwork that is a bit more risqué than the rest of my stuff. So, partly in an effort not to alarm those who think I only do 'nice' fairies, and partly because it's a very fine name for a website, I have created www.fornicatingfairies.co.uk. Do take a peek, though depending on where one works these could generally be described as 'not safe for work!'. The website more or less does what it says on the tin... One final note on these pictures - yes I'm doing calendars next year - I've already been asked about them! Discrete little postcard calendars like I made last year... but this time with Fornicating Fairies on them, though I will also have 'normal' ones and dolls ones, too. New Artwork There has actually been quite a lot of new artwork since I last did a newsletter. Most of it's been popping up on the website from time to time, so you may already have seen it. Amongst my new pictures are of course all the images on the Fornicating Fairies website, though some of them were done as long ago as October of last year. I think you will have to visit that site on your own, and instead I'll show you my very newest painting: Medusa's Hammock Oh yes, another Medusa picture! Click here to see this picture on the website (including a close-up bit). Medusa's garden naturally tends to be rather full of somewhat horror-struck stone 'Statues', and they clutter the place up and make it look untidy. Occasionally, however, she finds a use for one or two of them. Here is Medusa herself, relaxing in her hammock, with its unusual supports. There are koi carp in the pond, a kind of fish that harbours few opinions on beauty or deformity, and who consequently have no problem whatsoever with Medusa's unusual appearance. This is good, because stone fish would sink to the bottom of the pond and be boring. I also posted work in progress photos in a facebook album if you would like to see this painting develop - click here to see the album The photo below is one of those I took. Illustrations for Murky Depths Click here to see bigger images on the website. This pair of drawings were done to illustrate the short story 'The longest road in the Universe' by C.S. MacCath. I particularly loved this story; it's compelling, touching and very strange and creepy all at once. And the second image 'The Ash Room' is a really rather dark gothic / sci-fi kind of image that is one of the reasons I like to do these illustrations. To read the story, though you'll have to buy issue number 7 of Murky Depths Coincidentally, Murky Depths issue 8 has just dropped through the door today, so I'll be posting another image on my site just as soon as I get round to it - it will be in the shiny new Illustrations section of the gallery. Cocktails with the Nouveaux Morts Click here to see this on the website (along with some bigger images) Back around Christmas I had a bit of trouble with Vampires. Not the sort of trouble where one has to be careful who one invites over the threshold - the problem I have is that I always think they ought to make a good subject for a painting, and yet somehow they generally evade me. They are slippery so-and-sos. I think it comes down to the fact that vampires aren't actually for anything. Devils, now, they're useful - they serve a necessary purpose. All vampires ever do is pose about, or do that mad bared-fangs staring-eyeball thing that makes them look so much like Christopher Lee. Anyway, after some mental meanderings I did in fact come up with a vampire picture - and an entirely new kind of Vampire - the Nouveau Morte. This is a picture about Vampires, old and new. Let me be clear: there are no mortal people in this picture, only Vampires. The Nouveaux Morts are ‘making friends’. Trying their best to impress their guests, they are serving blood in sophisticated little cocktail glasses decorated with eyeballs on sticks, in much the same way as one might ruin a fine vintage port by dousing it with bitter lemon. There are probably ice cubes and, Hell forbid, there probably really is bitter lemon in there somewhere too. Some of the guests are doing their utmost to be tolerant in the hope that the effort will be to their ultimate advantage; nonetheless these ancient and evil Creatures of the Night are finding it hard to come to terms with such depraved behaviour as this. I could go on. In fact I did go on - if you take a look at this picture on my website you'll find that I went on at great length on the subject, in words. But to no further avail. That seems to be it for vampire pictures for the foreseeable future. The Small Stuff Gallery This is a new bit of my gallery that I made some time ago, so if you've already read all this on my site I apologize for repeating myself here.... If you haven't: I had a few series of things that were all original pieces, but, well... small. And not necessarily simply paintings and drawings - they include coasters and badges, too, but all containing an element of original artwork. I've gathered them up into the Small Stuff gallery in an attempt to keep the front page of the gallery down to a manageable number of categories. In there you'll now find the Permanent Sketches, which have been on my site for years, along with a couple of new(ish) additions: Demons in a Coaster The first lot of these that appeared on my site are actually for sale on the 303 gallery. I've now added a few more, available straight from me, but you might have to be quick, as there aren't very many of them at present. More on the way when I have time. Go to Demons in a Coaster where you can see all of them, and below is the story of how they came about. The gold leaf I use for the Gold Fairies (and the now-unveiled and rather naughtier Fornicating Fairies), comes in the form of gold transfer leaf - the leaf is loosely stuck to a little 4 inch square of waxed paper. This means that I've been building up quite a pile of these little bits of paper, all with shreds and bits of precious metal leaf stuck to them - not enough to sensibly use for the next fairy, nor nearly enough to make it worth taking them to a gold-refiner as I'd probably need a decent sack-full... So instead I have come up with a much more attractive use for them - I have been making coasters. On the back of each one is a little paragraph that explains everything: "This coaster contains the remains of 2 sheets of real gold or platinum leaf; the leftover pieces from my Gold Fairy series. It also contains a number of demons. Through a process of equal and opposite reactions, thereby keeping the universe in equilibrium, demons are necessarily created as a by-product of fairy creation. However, in an attempt not to add to the chaos of out times, the demons thus created have been trapped and encased in timeless acrylic, where they can be viewed without danger. As a bonus, they will also protect your furniture from hot mugs of coffee. This coaster is wipe-clean, however, do not immerse in water. Certain demons are water-soluble and will probably get out." Incidentally these drawings are actually some of the trickiest to do - the drawings are done straight onto the waxed paper backing that the gold leaf is attached to - a surface that (so far as I have found) nothing will write on, apart from Indian Ink and a dip pen, and that only because the dip pen also slightly scratches the wax surface as it goes along. The trickiness of the surface adds to the randomness of the drawing style, but demons are pretty random things, so that's all right then. Buttons (or badges) The other things in the Small Stuff gallery are a little series of Buttons. Actually they're what I would call badges - the little round things with the pins on the backs - but I've been listing things on the American Etsy.com now that I find it hard not to call them 'buttons' now, like they all do. Anyway, this was rather a case of 'have badge-making-device, will make badges', and so I did. All with little drawings in them. A few are displayed under the title of Original Buttons on my site, and I've been listing them on the aforementioned Etsy.com in the Original Buttons section of my Etsy shop. Unfortunately interest has been limited over these little fellows, and so I've not listed them all. If anyone is interested in any of these send me an email and I can either continue to list the lot of them or post an image of the rest of them - I believe I have around 35 or 40 of them. here are just a few: Life Drawing Sketches Just yesterday I added yet another section to my site. For some time now I've been doing a lot more life drawing, which is immensely useful, especially for one who generally sits at home and makes things up rather than going out and actually looking a them. So it seemed about time I put some of these life drawings on my website. Actually there are rather a lot of them on the site suddenly, but you don't actually have to look at all of them... They're all here in the Life Drawing gallery. I have even put prices on them. Whether people are actually interested in buying them remains to be seen, of course - at least they are getting an airing. They are almost all sketches in biro, which I'm lamentably attached to when it comes to this kind of thing. I'm afraid I have never yet got to grips with that traditional medium for doing life drawing, the stick of charcoal; being firmly wedded to the belief that a burnt twig is not a proper drawing tool. I really do like other people's drawings in burnt twig, though, so one day I may actually break out and give it another go, though I would need to get some bigger paper... For the moment, what you will see if you take a look, is a lot of biro, and a bit of coloured pencil. Auction sites and the like... Some people may have noticed I listed a lot of things on Ebay over the last fortnight. This is an experiment. I'm having one more go at seeing if it's economically viable under Ebay's new shop arrangement, which currently encourages one to list items at a fixed price rather than in an auction format. All the prints there work out at pretty much the same price as I charge for them myself, so there would be no point rushing over there just now, but I may run some items on special reductions to see what happens. If you want to keep an eye out for these then the go to http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/Art-by-Nancy-Farmer/ and put yourself on the list to get the shop newsletter. The current score is something like me:£0 Ebay:£35 so this may be a short-lived experiment, but I'll give it a few weeks... I'm still listing on Etsy, the site for handmade things. In fact I now have two shops there - the original one which has prints of my painted stuff, and a second one which I'm moving the Dolls cards into, which also has prints of the Fornicating Fairies: My Original Etsy Shop Etsy shop for the FornicatingFairies and FetishDollies cards Well, that's it for the moment - once again I'm sorry for the monster newsletter - still trying to make them shorter and a bit more frequent. Anything else you want to know, please email me... take care Nancy x Nancy Farmer Visit my Gallery of Paintings at www.nancyfarmer.net Visit the Dolls website at www.fetishdollies.co.uk Visit the FOrnicating Fairies at www.FornicatingFairies.co.uk post comment

A message from the Other Side... [12 Mar 2009|07:53pm] A message from the other side... Hi, just wanted to let you know that after some persuasion I'm now maintaining a 'Public Profile' (formerly know as a Page) on Facebook, and if you want to be kept up to date more frequently that would be the place to go to! You can view it without having a Facebook account, and if you do have an account you can join as a 'fan' if you want to to receive updates there.. Here you go: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nancy-Farmer/22600840729 (I'll still add stuff here, but it's not as handy for adding updates) cheers, Nancy post comment

All the really naughty pictures... [06 Mar 2009|06:18pm] Shops on Etsy.com I have opened up a new shop on Etsy.com with all the really naughty pictures....This comprises the FetishDollies photos and the new Fornicating Fairies from the new website of the same name that I haven't actually made yet. (there is a holding page at fornicatingfairies.co.uk, but honestly I will let you know when there's something worth seeing there :-) In the meantime, here are the links to the shops: www.fetishdollies.etsy.com For the naughty bits. www.nancyfarmer.etsy.com For the nice bits. And here are a few tiny pictures, not quite big enough to see everything that's going on... Pop into Etsy if you want to see the close-up bits! post comment

The Gatecrasher - new picture on my site [17 Feb 2009|10:33am] New Piccie on my website: here's one I finished just a few weeks ago, 'The Gatecrasher'. If you want to see the full picture, have a look at my site here: www.nancyfarmer.net/im_gatecrasher.html. As the image is too long and is messing up my LJ page, I've taken it off and just put up a close-up bit here. Demons, as previously discussed, are quite keen on social gatherings, and frequently have cocktail parties, to which they naturally invite their friends and colleagues. Unfortunately a few 'undesirable elements' are wont to appear once word gets out about free drinks and the possibility of picking up a 'bit of rough'... post comment

New Pictures for Murky Depths [02 Feb 2009|09:38pm] I've just added a couple more images to my website... It's starting to look like half of everything I do has been for Murky Depths lately - really, I promise this isn't true. I just haven't got the other stuff up yet, partly as some of the pictures are a little bit... well... they are going to need their own little website to save my main site from sliding from disreputable into downright filthy :-o Ahem... well for the moment here are new pictures to look at of a fairly clean nature. Of course they won't make a lot of sense unless you go and buy the publication, but you could always do that ;-) This pair of drawings were done to illustrate the short story 'The longest road in the Universe' by C.S. MacCath. I particularly loved this story; it's compelling, touching and very strange and creepy all at once. To read it you'll have to purchase issue number 7 of Murky Depths. If you want the details, they are both done entirely using propelling pencil (and a few cotton buds), 'The Ash Room' is about 13.5 x 10.7 inches and 'Growing Roses on Europa' is about 7.2 x 11.7 inches To see a couple of close-up sections of these drawings have a look at this page on my website: www.nancyfarmer.net/gal_murky-depths_the-longest-road.html. 'The Ash Room' 'Growing Roses on Europa' post comment

New picture - 'Cocktails with the Nouveaux Morts' [22 Jan 2009|09:47pm] Is it me, or are there a lot of Vampires around lately? Now, I've never been strong on Vampires, they somehow elude my paintings; however I tried really hard this time and managed a whole picture of them, and I have just put it up on my website. All done in pencil, overlaid with coloured pencil, and measures about 31 x 15 inches. For anyone who wants to see the full lengthy explanation all about the Vampires, and more images of it, it's this page here: http://www.nancyfarmer.net/im_cocktails-with-the-nouveaux-morts.html Cocktails with the Nouveaux Morts. This is a picture about Vampires, old and new. Let me be clear: there are no mortal people in this picture, only Vampires. The Nouveaux Morts are ‘making friends’. Trying their best to impress their guests, they are serving blood in sophisticated little cocktail glasses decorated with eyeballs on sticks, in much the same way as one might ruin a fine vintage port by dousing it with bitter lemon. There are probably ice cubes and, Hell forbid, there probably really is bitter lemon in there somewhere too. Some of the guests are doing their utmost to be tolerant in the hope that the effort will be to their ultimate advantage; nonetheless these ancient and evil Creatures of the Night are finding it hard to come to terms with such depraved behaviour as this. A misunderstanding of values such as this is not uncommon amongst the undead nowadays. Interestingly, this kind of friction has echoes in the mortal world, such that I thought it relevant to collect a few notes on the rise of the Nouveau Mort Vampire. If you are interested, I've put it all on my site, too... post comment

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year [22 Dec 2008|10:51am] post comment

New Piccy! [11 Nov 2008|05:26pm] Sorry, I've really not being keeping up with this lately, so here are a few new bits of news, but mostly a new picture.... Murky Depths illustration: Are You Lonesome Tonight? pencil, 12.5 x 16 inches, 2008. This was an illustration for issue 6 of Murky Depths (issue 6). The image is arranged so that it will also work with a fold down the middle, the background setting largely appearing on the left, while the right hand side contains the main 'action' of the composition. The whole thing is done in my usual sharp-pointy propelling pencils, involving a combination of detailed drawing and mad scribbling, and I have to say it printed up superbly in the magazine. Of course for the actual story, by Alan James Roll, you will have to buy the magazine, copies of which can be got from www.murkydepths.com. Go to the page on my website to see a bigger piccy of it... I have even added an 'illustrations' section to the gallery, so they no longer have to reside in the 'commissioned portraits' bit, which wasn't really appropriate anyway.... Christmas Cards: well, obviously I have Christmas cards for sale... but I'm running very low indeed on 'Bauble' so if anyone is planning on ordering lots of cards including these, then you'd better get in there quick!</a> I have another exhibition coming up at the end of this month, in Wells, Somerset. For more information please visit my Future Exhibitions page. New work - new work has been a little thin on the ground lately (partly due to too many exhibitions), but I shall shortly have some new stuff to show you - I'm currently constructing another little website to display a few more risqué pictures, though, so all in good time... post comment

Ebay is dead, long live Ebid... [20 Sep 2008|12:22pm] Ok, wishful thinking, I know.... However I opened an account with ebid in the vain hope of selling things online without it costing an arm and a leg. Here's my stores: Art by Nancy Farmer FetishDollies by Nancy Farmer The Naughty Bits The observant amongst you will see that I've not to date managed to sell anything, but I've got some stuff running quite cheaply, especially cards, and any site that stands even a glimmer of a chance at knocking E(vil)bay off its perch deserves some encouragement.... I still have stuff for sale in my Etsy Shop, too. post comment

Blimey, another exhibition! [02 Sep 2008|12:26am] I have an exhibition of my paintings, as part of Somerset Art Weeks 2008 Open: everyday except Monday from 13th to 28th September, 11am-6pm As before I shall be exhibiting all my available paintings that I can lay hands on, and will also have prints, cards and calendars for sale. For more information please visit the Future Exhibitions page. on my website post comment

Murky Depths Illustration [18 Aug 2008|11:01am] Murky Depths illustration: So this is Mi Gouache, 10.8 x 8.4 inches, 2008. I don't often do illustrations, but this one was fun! This painting was done as an illustration for a short story in 'Murky Depths' issue number 5 (summer / autumn 2008). Of the magazine, I can do no better than to pinch the description from their own site: Murky Depths is a quarterly anthology with a difference. It features top quality speculative fiction with sprinklings of horror and fantasy that push the boundaries of science fiction. Each story is complimented with its own unique artwork. Alongside the straight prose stories are cutting edge graphic strips. Articles across the genres and mixed disciplines add authority, humour and maybe a little controversy. Can you afford to pass on this? www.murkydepths.com Illustration for Murky Depths: 'So this Is Mi' (scroll down to see the close-up) Wouldn't want to spoil the story by saying anything here, but you can go to the Murky Depths website to buy a copy and see for yourself... Nicely bound 80-odd pages which I haven't as yet had a chance to peruse... (the illustration is printed in black and white, incidentally, but if you're interested in a colour print I have them available) 1 comment|post comment

Calendars.... [18 Aug 2008|10:59am] I have Calendars! Yes, yes I know it's only August, but I can do these either for the 2009 year, or the academic year 08-09, for which they will be just about in time. And this time I actually have the calendars - they are available directly from me. They are even signed on the back! I've mede these up to my own design, and they contain not 12, but 14 interchangeable pictures. They are currently listed only in my Etsy Shop, but as soon as I get round to it I will put a page on my website, too. In the meantime, please see the blurb in the shop, and if you'd prefer to get one straight from me, just drop me an email at mail@nancyfarmer.net. I have one with my paintings in, in large and small size, and even a small size dolls one. post comment

Lots more cards.... [28 Jun 2008|12:33pm] Lots more cards: I have updated my greetings cards page with lots more cards. Some cards are brand new, and some I just hadn't got round to telling everyone about. There are now nearly 50 images as cards, and I've made the page less fancy but easier to keep up to date. Please note - some of the cards I have in VERY small numbers (like about 5, at present...) however, I hope I have guessed the popular ones and got lots of them. Thank you to everyone who came to my exhibition at Glastonbury!. It was lovely to see people. The next exhibition will be as part or Somerset Art week in September - see my Exhibitions Page for details. post comment

Newsletter, Devils, Demons and Sphinxes.... [09 May 2008|04:57pm] I've just posted another newsletter to my emailing list... if anyone wants to be added to the list just let me know at mail@nancyfarmer.net In the meantime I thought I would post the whole thing here, too, so you can read this one anyway.... From Nancy Farmer - Newsletter 9th May '08 Hello! Ooops... it's been another long gap since I did one of these, sorry... still, at least that means I have more things to show you, plus another exhibition coming up soon that I wanted to remind everyone about... This Newsletter covers both my painting and photographic work - if you've only seen one of my websites, here they both are: Visit my gallery of Paintings at www.nancyfarmer.net Visit the Dolls' website (photographs) at www.fetishdollies.co.uk If you can't see the images, this newsletter is also in my website at http://www.nancyfarmer.net/newsletter_08_05_09.html An Unholy Trinity I have an exhibition coming up in Glastonbury during the first 2 weeks of June, in Gallery Eight - see below for details. Actually I already sell prints there, and have a couple of paintings on display too, which gives me a good idea of what pictures go down well in this, my almost-nearest town. Not to put too fine a point on it what people in Glastonbury like is devils. Preferably she-devils in corsets. Preferably sitting on men. In fact for every other print of something else sold from Gallery Eight I seem to sell one of The Devils' Tea Party. Well, who am I to judge? So, back in March, and with the exhibition looming in the not too distant future, I thought it was high time to return to Hell, so to speak, and paint a few more of the locals: 'Painted Devils' see painting in more detail in the gallery No self-respecting devil would be seen dead with scruffy hooves, and though sadly there are many devils without a shred of self-respect, these elegant girlies are not amongst them. They are having their hooves painted in fetching shades to match their outfits. All the naked blokes are the Damned, of course. There are no tables, chairs and standard lamps in Hell - that would just be silly - but there are a lot of Damned, so one may improvise. I couldn't say whether there are many manicurists in Hell, but there are almost certainly a great number of painters and decorators who could learn to put a nice finish on a hoof, especially if the alternative was the Boiling Lake of Fire. And then, well, there was yet one more trinity of She-devils, because I was on a roll, and because I wanted a more compact composition suitable for the postcards, and it seemed like a good idea to come straight out with a painting called 'Hell and High Tea' - the title that this exhibition is going by. But, well, devils being a capricious bunch it just didn't come out that way, and half way through the preparatory sketch they already had their playing cards in their hands and had done away with any 'high tea' and so the resulting exhibition invite now looks like this: 'Five Aces' To see in more detail go to the Five Aces page in the gallery. Devils cheat at cards, just as one would imagine. The trouble is they all cheat, which is fair, in a way. Unfortunately all of them have an ace up their... well they have an ace anyway... and it's the same ace in each case, which is going to cause trouble. The she-devil on the right also has a '666' - which is probably a winning hand in Hell. I don't know, I've never been much good at cards. So, on to the actual details of the exhibition: 'Hell and High Tea' - Solo Exhibition in Gallery Eight, Glastonbury, UK Tuesday June 3rd - Saturday June 15th 2008 The exhibition will be in the upstairs room of Gallery Eight. As already implied, there will be a good turn-out of demons for the exhibition (amongst the paintings on the walls, I mean - I can't speak for the visitors...). As ever, though, there will be plenty of other creatures represented, from mermaids and maidmers to fairies, and those Greek ladies Medusa and Mrs Minotaur. I also hope to find a small corner for some of the dolls photos, so there really will be something for everyone. Prints will also be available. Entry is free and you are welcome to just pop in and browse. Private View: Sunday 1st June 2-4pm I'd like to invite you to the private view on the Sunday afternoon to mark the opening of the exhibition. Please note - the exhibition will not be open before 2pm on this day as I will still be putting paintings on the walls, although the rest of the gallery downstairs will be open. Meet the Artist: Saturday 7th and 14 June 1-3pm In addition to the 'proper' private view, I will also be in the gallery on both the following Saturdays. Gallery Eight: 8 Market Place, Glastonbury, BA6 9HW opening times: Sunday: 11am - 5.30pm Monday: closed Tuesday: 10.30am - 5.30pm Wednesday: 10.30am - 5.30pm Thursday: 1pm - 5.30pm Friday: 10.30am - 5.30pm Saturday: 10.30am - 5.30pm Somerset Art Week: I'm also taking part in Somerset Art Week again, which this year runs from 13th to 28th September - more on that later. You can also check my current and future exhibitions page on the website for more information. A Rogues Gallery Every now and then someone wants to actually be in one of my paintings - usually they seem to want to be devils and demons, but that may simply be because those are the sorts of people I know. Some of them have even asked so nicely that I have started saying yes and actually painted some of them, so, I'm delighted to be able to announce a new bit to the Gallery on my website - a 'commissions' section. For anyone else interested in a commissioned painting I've put a few bits of information on that page too, and if you want to know anything else, do email me. Commissioned Portraits - click here to see the paintings in full. Paypal Buttons, at last! I finally got the paypal buttons on my website! If you so desire, you can now buy prints and cards online, in the middle of the night, without waiting for me to get back to you (though of course I won't generally be posting in the middle of the night). That said, I am always happy to hear from people personally. To get to the bit where you can buy prints, you have to visit the particular picture you're interested in and click the link to the left, under 'Prints' - I have created a whole new page for each image, with all the sizes and variations of prints listed, so even if you don't use the buttons I hope this may be useful to someone. More Ancient Greeks: It's not all Devils and Hell down here - I still have a few Ancient Greek monsters hanging around: The Sphinx changes the Rules larger image in the gallery It was the Sphinx who menaced the ancient city of Thebes, lurking by the road and asking every traveler to and from Thebes a certain riddle. When her victims couldn't answer the riddle, she ate them. Monsters do this kind of thing for fun. Oedipus, however, answered the riddle correctly and apparently the Sphinx was so upset she threw herself off a cliff and killed herself. Well that's what Oedipus says happened. It's not very likely, though, I mean, one single riddle? Don't you think she would try a bit harder than that? This is a terrifying ancient monster after all... who eats people. And another thing - she has wings. Jumping off a cliff is hardly a convincing way to commit suicide if you have wings. So, this is my version of the story... the one where the Sphinx really isn't very upset about Oedipus' ability to answer the one poxy riddle... oh no... Oedipus is gonna have to work much harder than that if he wants to show how bright he is! For the whole story about Oedipus (and the riddle, if you're interested) have a look at the painting of Medusa and Oedipus - scroll to the bottom of the page and you'll find I've put the whole story there, underneath the pictures... On second thoughts - I will leave you with the riddle, and you can guess it yourself: "What animal goes on four legs in the morning, two at midday, and three in the evening?" 'Medusa and Oedipus' The answer to the riddle, if by chance you've never heard this one before, is there along with the story... Dolly Greetings Cards Unfortunately I daren't add paypal buttons to the dolls site. As an artist friend of mine, Georgie Tier, already found, paypal are a little touchy over their buttons being used to sell 'rude art'. However, I now have a full selection of my cards on Etsy.com, which, although in dollars, is hugely preferable to Ebay, though I still have items there, too: My Etsy shop: Main storefront: www.nancyfarmer.etsy.com Or you can also go straight to the dolls section here My Ebay shop: Main storefront: www.stores.ebay.co.uk/Art-by-Nancy-Farmer Or you can also go straight to the dolls section here Ok, well, that's all the news I can think of for now, anything else you'd like to know, do email me... take care Nancy x Nancy Farmer Visit my Gallery of Paintings at www.nancyfarmer.net Visit the Dolls website at www.fetishdollies.co.uk post comment

The Unholy Trinity returns... [02 Apr 2008|10:21pm] New painting! 'Painted Devils' The unholy trinity of she-devils returns - this time they are having their hooves painted in fetching shades to match their outfits - no self-respecting she-devil would be seen dead with scruffy hooves, and though sadly there are many devils without a shred of self-respect these girlies are not amongst them... If you are wondering who all the naked blokes are - well, this is Hell, and they are all the damned souls, only the problem is there are rather a lot of them, and since the devils have an eternity to torment them they don't really bother most of the time, they just sit on them mostly (Hell being rather short of tables and chairs). Sometime they come in handy with a paintbrush, too. 2 comments|post comment

Exhibition... [22 Feb 2008|10:54am] I have an exhibition coming up: 'Understating the Obvious' - Solo Exhibition at 'Frameus' in Wells, Somerset, UK. March 1st - 29th 2008 - for details have a look at my future exhibitions page Opening times: Monday to Saturday, 9am - 5.30pm 'Frameus', The Workshops, Market Street, Wells, BA5 2DS 2 comments|post comment

Medusa again.... [16 Feb 2008|01:42pm] Another one I just added to the website, hot off the... um... large flat chunk of wood I use to stick paintings to... Medusa in Venus' Bedroom - whole picture It's becoming a good year for Medusa. This is the second painting of that redoubtable femme fatale so far this year, in fact all paintings have so far been of Medusa and it is high time she had a gallery all of her own - an issue I shall shortly be addressing... This is a painting thought up rather on the spot last week as I sat making a sketch of the shapely behind of a life model. This picture is more or less the same pose, and   though I generally don't work from life for my paintings (the life-drawing being more like practice than actual source material) it did seem a shame not to use the pose, which reminded me of 'The Rokeby Venus' which hangs in the National Gallery - see below. Of course the thing with the mirror in this case is, I suspect, rather because to painting was done for someone who rather liked bottoms, and wasn't overly interested in faces. The Rokeby Venus, by Diego Velázquez (1599 - 1660)      There's no reason why one shouldn't see Venus, the Roman goddess of love, face-on. But Medusa now - she's a different prospect entirely - quite deadly to look straight at her, though according to the story it's perfectly safe to view her reflection in a mirror. So I've swapped Goddesses. Yes I know that Medusa isn't technically a goddess, but she was around at the time in any case before she met an untimely demise at the hands of Perseus. Detail of Medusa and Cupid So here is a Medusa safe for the viewer, though no-wonder Cupid is covering his face - one glance at into her eyes and he's a garden ornament, like the one outside. Of course had this had a medieval Christian setting I might have littered the garden outside with petrified cherubs, but this being Classical times there seems to have been only the one small winged fellow available so the statue behind Cupid is either his imagination or may serve as a warning... Detail of Medusa and reflection The colours are a little far from my usual pallet - VERY pink and purple, but then again this is Venus' pose, so perhaps it's her bedroom, too, or Cupid would not be nearby. Don't ask me what Medusa is doing there, she just is. The Apple - detail below - belongs to Venus, too, though for the story of that and how she 'won' it you'll have to look to the story accompanying one of my other paintings: 'For the Fairest'. Venus's Apple (very much enlarged) 2 comments|post comment

updates on my main site.... [16 Feb 2008|01:32pm] Hi, Just a few new things on my ‘proper website’: New gallery: A few more changes to the website have been happening - all the menus pages in the gallery have had an overhaul, and I've added a few new categories as you can see from the top gallery page. Some stuff has moved around, so paintings that you thought were in a particular section of the gallery may not be there anymore - sorry! but don't despair because I've also re-done the 'everything' page in the gallery, and now it really does include everything, all alphabetically listed, so if it's on the website, it will be there. I hope. Anything that doesn't work, feel free to tell me so... New/old pictures: A few images are new to the website, though not new to me: 'Extreme Clothing' was a little group of three drawings I did a while back, and all the 'Permanent Sketches' are up on the site, too (see the thumbnails)... CafePress and Spreadshirt are going: As I mentioned to anyone on my emailing list, I'm largely getting rid of my CafePress and Spreadshirt 'shops' as they do not - unfortunately - make any money... so you have until the end of the month if you wanted to buy a t-shirt, mug, or anything like that. I may keep a couple of things on, and hope to do calendars next year but apart from that most of the content will be going. If you're not on my emailing list, by the way and would like to be, just email me... post comment

blood and guts and Boxing Day [26 Dec 2007|03:48pm] [ mood | naughty ] To cheer you up for the post-festive season, this is a thing I wrote years ago - 1998 to be exact. Seemed timely to air it on myspace. Surprisingly it's not especially rude.... But there's quite a lot of swearing and violence... Merry Boxing Day ;-) "What happened on Boxing Day" 'Twas the night after Christmas and, utterly shagged, sat Santa and Fairy enjoying a fag. The table was set, the hour was late, the candles were lit, Santa heartily ate. the brats had been dealt with, "That's it for the year," sarcastic raised glasses: "fuck this Christmas cheer." But two glasses clinked. Two glasses. Not three. "Where the bloody Hell's Rudolph," said he testily. "Not seen him since morning" she casually lied, smoothed out her tutu, and smiled, as he tried to put on an unconcerned air of disdain, his spirits to lift and indifference to feign. 'Twixt pudding and cognac as Santa lit up "Delicious, my darling, that was a fine sup," said he to the winged bint, hand on her knee, "So glad you liked it," she gleamed brittley, twiddled her wand and was inwardly smug: the dirty old git could be oh! such a mug! The meal was finished, the elves cleared the plates, And Santa complained of his pains and his aches: "I'm getting to old for this HO HO HO shite, and to shift all the gear in one bloody night? Which bloody god was it this bloody stunt started?" "Buggered if I know." said fairy, who smarted from sitting on tree tops with thin underwear that was no protection 'gainst pine needles there. And scrab'ling down chimneys - yes she did that too, or if there weren't any she came up the loo, with magic and curses that might keep her dry but stuff she went through'd make an honest girl cry. She glared at him darkly when he looked away, at his putrid pink belly - long gone was the day when his flatulent form could slide down the flue - now sweaty and smutty. And shockingly few were resemblances now to the jolly plump chap depicted on cards. He was crass. He was crap. She twinkled. She sparkled. And brightly she lit the festival season while this stupid git was lauded and praised and held high in the eyes of little scrubbed faces whose yesterday's cries of endearing delight as the wrappings they tore had echoed 'cross continents. And, what was more, he no longer singled the good from the bad. She was tired. She was used. She was pissed. She was mad. So she looked on the scene now with some satisfaction as the bloated old fool, now disturbed to distraction, stroked overfed belly, a boxing day feast; his pallor was nervous, his forehead was creased in furrows of worry and effort of thought as his far brighter partner dear Rudolf he sought. A new day was dawning! Bright future! What joy! She inwardly twinkled; was outwardly coy. The world would be sparkly, glittery, bright. And everyone'd soon see she'd always been right. And no one would argue, at Christmas no tear, she'd abide no dissenters, no cross word she'd hear. At gunpoint (if need be) they'd play happily, And no one'd stick fairies on no fucking tree. A murmurous belching her reverie shook. "Oh Rudolph! Dear Rudolph! Oh please help me look!" Troubled eyes sought for Rudolph, the brains of the pair. Said Santa (approaching the edge of despair), "He should have been here. We should have been three." "But he was," said a voice tinged with murderous glee: "Oh Rudolph, dear Rudolph was your second course: on a platter of silver, with a dash of mint sauce!" His jaw dropped. His face paled. His eyes boggled out. "And this is the last of that brown hairy lout!" Triumphant she brandished one last serving dish and with voice dripping malice said "what's your last wish?" "No! No! It's not true!" Santa, quavering, wailed. But his plumpy complexion (which had at first paled ), was rapidly shading a nauseous green as he, terrified, stared at the dish cover's gleam. With the calmness and grace of one truly crazed, like an angelic waitress the dish lid she raised. Beneath the fine silver lay Rudolph's fine heart and terrified Santa drew back with a start. The table top jolted, a wine glass fell off, while smoothly she lifted a Kalashnikov. Up his spine ran a chill and, with terrible leer her face grinned before him: "There'll be changes round here!" Then she shot him. Just shot him. Without more ado: for she'd seen all those movies with arch villains who believe they're immortal through pride and conceit and, leaving the heroes to hang by their feet o'er pools full of sharks and piranhas and stuff then exit the room, while through some crafty bluff the heroes escape. Oh not her. No not she: she just splattered his brains out, he died instantly. The noise brought the elves in, the reindeer came too. And brightly she welcomed them: "Do come in! Do!" Then she let them all have it: the panic was utter As she sprayed them with bullets and laughed like a nutter. There was blood on the carpet and blood on the door. There was goo on the ceiling and guts on the floor. And no one escaped through the din and the haste. And the pieces went flying all over the place. And when it was over, the blood and dust settled, said Fairy, at length, in a voice slightly nettled, "Now I just want to get a few little points clear and I know you all think I'm the airhead round here and you just wouldn't listen, you gave me no choice but now I'm in charge." And with strengthening voice she told them how lovely the world would be now, with presents all year and such sweet things and how no one would ever be sad or be poor, there'd be no more strife and there'd be no more war. They'd always be happy and smiling, she trilled, "and those who don't laugh : they'll be painlessly killed," but what did that matter? She asked so sincerely. All those who weren't happy, well really, they clearly should be tidied up and put out of the way. Oh bright dawn! Oh new life! Oh wonderful day! She glittered and sparkled and told them these things (surveying the carnage while smoothing her wings). Then she picked up her wand and she danced out the room as blood dripped down curtains in the gathering gloom. 'Twas the night after Christmas, so silent the house, except for the very small sounds of a mouse who, just for a change from the sugar and spice of mince pies and puddings and other things nice munched steadily through Santa's startled eyeball, while soft fairy footsteps slipped out through the hall post comment

The Infernal Gallop (or - a bunch of demons doing the Can-Can...) [13 Nov 2007|10:38pm] [ mood | silly ] Yay! I got a painting done for Bridgwater Arts Centre's Christmas Exhibition... and I must admit I got a bit carried away here, meaning only to do a little set of 3 sketches. Trouble was the theme is 'Razzle Dazzle' - to my mind the idea of a line of demons doing the can-can seemed to fit the bill almost exactly, it it really needed to be a big, bright picture - so here we are - a very festive and somewhat lurid painting - yes, it's really that bright in real life. The Infernal Gallop - painting in gouache on paper Click to visit my website of you want to see a bigger version of this! Of course then I had to find a title - Iwas aware that that really familiar piece of music associated with the can-can is from the operetta 'Orpheus in the Underworld', but what I didn't know until today was that the title of that actual piece of music is the 'Galop Infernal' - or 'Infernal Gallop', to put it into English (which, considering my French, is probably the best thing). Perfect - a ready-made title... If anyone's passing by Bridgwater here's the details of the exhibition, by the way: Christmas Open Exhibition - Bridgwater Arts Centre, Bridgwater, Somerset, UK. Tuesday 27th November - Friday 21st December 2007 11/13 Castle Street Bridgwater Somerset TA6 3DD www.bridgwaterartscentre.co.uk post comment

navigation [ viewing | most recent entries ] [ go | earlier ]