Hi all, the end is nigh and hopefully that’s good news for us all, and not the end of the world!

There’s definitely a positive vibe in the air and even a little healing sunshine. I hope you share my enthusiasm for what hopefully will put an end to this dreadful past 12 months.
I’m certainly enthusiastic and looking forward to freedom, creativity and going out for a meal at the very least.

Creatively, I’ve been fairly busy which has conspired to keep me sane as well as keep my little business going. Once galleries re-open I’m looking forward to a busier time.

By way of a change I thought I’d show you behind the scenes of one of my works. You’ve seen Blue Man II in the past and the image below illustrates my new method of fixing the butterflies into the panel so that they don’t drop out in transit. What you see is a series of tiny metal bullets that are hot glued into the panel with the butterfly wires then glued through the bullets into place. “Escaping butterflies” have been a problem over the years and it’s taken me ages to develop a methodology for fixing the butterflies permanently. I hope I have it cracked now although it’s much more time consuming. To my eyes the back looks like a work of art in itself and I just thought I’d share it with you.

Martha my beloved Cockerpoo cut her paw a month ago and he’s only just starting to exercise again. She’s like a coiled spring and the joy of watching her run free at last is immeasurable.

Until the next time.

Wishing all of my readers a healthy, happy and prosperous year to come. My wishes to you are in order of their importance to me, health being the river from which flow all the other positives. Without good health there’s nothing.

Surprisingly and despite restrictions in the ability of art galleries to operate, there’s been good butterfly art activity over the last couple of months.

At this moment it’s difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel but my glass being half full keeps me positive, determined & focussed. I’m filling much of my time creating new works so that when we finally get back on an even keel, I will have a collection of exciting designs and projects to whet the appetite of buyers all over the world. I’m not being grandiose mentioning the world because as I write, I’m preparing ‘Blue man III’  who will be shipped to New York in a couple of weeks.

Not quite New York, but Bromley in Kent see’s the arrival of a beautiful work of mine below. It is 2m long and is located in the kitchen of a very happy client.

Whilst not a new years resolution, its my aim to improve the quality of my photography in the year to come. The highly reflective nature of acrylic surfaces make capturing the beauty and colours of my work a challenge. However I’m slowly getting to grips with lighting and ways to improve the image quality and how my work is portrayed on my website.

Finally, I welcome Westover Gallery Bournemouth to my select list of gallery partners. We’re both hoping for great things once all galleries are permitted to re-open. Here’s a link to my page https://www.westovergallery.co.uk/search?s=michael+olsen

Till the next time

It seems that the honesty and openness of my last blog upset some of my clients. If you were one of them, I apologise.

However the thrust of my message when considered in its entirety was about doing what needs to be done to keep my business afloat and I’m not alone in that quest. Paring down expenses is one and extra sales promotion the other.

August is notoriously a poor month for the sales of Butterflyart and I suspect, all other forms of art. For me this August was no different and so instead of creating, I’m spending my time thinking of ways in which I can keep costs in check well as improve sales. I’m pleased to report that I’ve been able make progress in both areas and hope therefore to continue writing my blogs and selling my art into 2021 and beyond.

Online sales now appear to comprise a larger proportion of all selling activities and I am following that trend. Within the next three months I’ll be producing a number of online collections that will be for sale through a select number of my gallery partners. I’ll be building the art works but they will be placed within the acrylic boxes when sold. This will reduce my capital outlay but still enable me to create new designs and generally boost sales, at least that’s the plan.

I recently spent a wonderful 2 weeks in northern Spain and I’m now over the quarantine period which was worth every one of the 14 days. My wife and I drove through France to get to the Basque country and the whole experience made it one of the best holidays we’ve ever enjoyed.

Below is an image of a new piece entitled “Sunrise”. It will be on sale through branches of Cloud Gallery in Sussex within the next few days.

Finally a sneak peek at an unfinished star project. Apologies for the poor quality studio ’snap’.