Thursday, September 27, 2007

Substance Love








'Substance Love'
36" x 24"
oils
ready to hang
Ok, this one is done! I am really pleased with it, the water is the richest red I have ever been able to achieve, so that pleases me to no freaking end. The pictures are weird because of the light here today. I held back finishing it yesterday because I wanted to end it on my birthday morning. Gift to self. So, anyway I have taken this whole day off to play and do anything and everything I want to do...and I am now done painting so I will go get a hair makeover. I need it. Fun!
Love to all,
Heather McSmiley
Scroll down, there is more to this party! I have theme music today!
*grins*

It's my Birthday! Party, party, party!

I am 38 today.

I feel f-i-n-e!

Party on...and go on and leave me some love!

Here is my poem for today:

The Warrior

Once, I was a warrior.

But I've retired from that.

In this life, I stay away from the chaos

of battles I don't understand:

obedience of mind,

sand versus dog,

the naming of areas,

color cannons...

There are others.

Don't worry about me.

I'm harmless. Even if

you see the glint

of sword in my eye.

~Anita K. Boyle

Heather

http://www.badkittyartstudio.com/

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Need a lift? Watch this.

Or if that didn't do it for you...watch this one and tell me that you are not inspired...go on (I dare you to not be inspired!) Oh yeah...turn UP your speakers...there's rock on the way. This song is one of my fav's...I play it almost daily...now I know why.

Love to all,

Heather

Monday, September 24, 2007

When you were a tadpole and I was a fish In the Paleozoic time.~Smith




New work in progress.

'Substance Love'

36" X 24"

oils

Click to enlarge



Here is the quote that is inspiring it:


When oxygen and hydrogen find one another, their joining produces fiery passion. Out of this fire, water is born. Quaint Victorian chemistry gives us an image of one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms in a fixed molecule that bounces around from place to place. The reality of water is not so orderly. The hydrogen atoms are not owned by any particular oxygen atom. Water is a substance very much in love with itself, and the atoms connect in webs and clusters where oxygen shares around the hydrogen atoms freely, a fluid situation indeed.

~
Ian D. Anderson

***

I've got all the final details to do today on this work and then it will be done. I am so enjoying painting fish. Wondering what brought this on...I started looking up stuff about koi fish. Koi have a rich history and koi in the arts are historic for all types of meanings (in the links) and for creating good fortunes for the artists. Interesting right?

Well, I have to get to the easel...hope all is well your your worlds!

I'll post a finished picture as soon as I get there.

Heather



Thursday, September 20, 2007

New Work complete...Carp-tastic!

*New*
Untitled
24" x 36"
oils
Ready to hang
Click on images to enlarge






Hello lovelies!
I have been busy this week...and I just finished this new work. I need to name it...any ideas?

Here's the quote that inspired the work;


Cry Out In Your Weakness
A dragon was pulling a bear into its terrible mouth.

A courageous man went and rescued the bear.
There are such helpers in the world,
who rush to save
anyone who cries out.


Like Mercy itself,they run toward the screaming.
And they can't be bought off.
If you were to ask one of those,
"Why did you come so quickly?"
he or she would say, "Because I heard
your helplessness."


Where lowland is,
that's where water goes.
All medicine wants
is pain to cure

And don't just ask for one mercy.
Let them flood in.
Let the sky open under your feet.
Take the cotton out of your ears,
the cotton
of consolations,
so you can hear
the sphere-music…

Accept your new good luck.
Give your weakness to one who helps.
Crying out loud
and weeping are great resources.
A nursing mother,
all she does
is wait to hear her child.

Just a little beginning-whimper
and she's there.

God created the child,
that is, your wanting
so that it may cry out,
so that milk might come.

Cry out!
Don't be stolid
and silent
with your pain.
Lament!
And let the milk
of loving flow into you.
The hard rain
and wind
are ways the cloud has
to take care of us.
Be patient.
Respond to every call
that excites your spirit.
Ignore those that make
you fearful
and sad,
that degrade you
back toward
disease and death.
-Rumi
***
I hope everyone is well.
Let me know what you think of my new work and direction...I love feedback.
Heather
www.badkittyartstudio.com

















Friday, September 14, 2007

Summers Goddess - finished!

'Summers Goddess'
24" X 36"
oils
click to enlarge
Close up on the swans
Sorry for the not so great photos...the light is terrible here today.
The water has so much life, depth and reflection that's not showing up here, and the tree is also more defined than these images allow.
The swans have happy highlights and movement that is lost...crap I hate not being able to get a good shot!
Argh!
Have a happy Friday one and all.
Heather


Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Treasure Box #1

This is Treasure Box #1 (HMBT 2005) Click on images to enlarge.
Available for sale
made from a recycled silverware box from the 50's, solid wood.
The top is covered in a collage of vintage images, crushed red, yellow and orange glass, tiny gold beads (with no hole), and resin.
Inside...it's a treasure box. Made with silver travel spoons, marbles (round and flat) velum with sayings on them, poker chips from the 50's, a pair of cherubs from a broken Royal Dalton vase, toys, broken glass, lightblubs, charms from a vintage silver charm braclet, glitter, vintage WW 2 patch, paper, a bike flywheel I found at the dump, and other vintage jewlery and knick knacks, peacock feathers, vintage keys and again...covered in resin top and bottom. (there's more in there, but you get the picture)

Top inside close up


They float off the top and are suspended inside the box when closed. I like that.




Inside bottom.

I have way more pictures let me know if you would like to see more.
Well...I hope you liked this Treasure Box.
Be warned I have made more of these....when i take pictures I'll post them too.
Let me know what you think.
G'night!
Heather
www.badkittyartstudio.com













It's all in the details







I'm getting there!












Just a little more work on the swans and they will be done...I like my swans!






The lady in red is today's project...I got her dress right...whoo hoo for me.






I'm still working on the idea of putting some reeds or grass...or maybe another rock in the very foreground...on the left, but am unsure if it's the right thing to do or not.






What do you think?






The tree is giving me fits.






Me and this tree are not seeing eye to eye, so I am ignoring it for now. I've had lots of ideas how to make it 'Right' but don't know what the right thing to do is, so...I just don't look at it right now. It'll come to me. *sheesh*












Guess what I am having for breakfast?






Ok, Ok...I'll tell you.






My friend Sandra read about my broken foot...so she sent me a beautiful box of chocolate from Jacques Torres Chocolate in New York.






I have never had this chocolate before, and can I say that I am in LOVE? Yup seems I can, as I just did and all.






OK, Sandra you rock, thank you so much for this wonderful gift of delight! O.M.G. this is so good... I wish I could share (not really) with all of you. *smirk* The chocolate is mine I say! All Mine! Hahahahaha...er, excuse me, I am on a bit of a sugar rush.














***






Back to work for me, hope all is well in your world.






Heather






Go buy some art today. It's good for your health. It'll improve your sex life. And everyone will know for sure just how incredibly smart you really are.






What could be better?






Monday, September 10, 2007

Pretend you're a goddess. ~cecilia maria

The new painting...it's coming along.
24" x 36"
oils
'If summer was a goddess'
sorry for the not so good picture, I took it in the studio with a flash...because it's still dark-thirty here. Click to enlarge.
***
O Goddess Earth, O all-enduring wide expanses! Salutation to thee. Now I am going to begin cultivation. Be pleased, O virtuous One.


~Ancient Sanskrit Prayer
***
Which is the woman, which the child? The joyous laugh that opens doors, steals sugared moments from the shelf? Or the dreamer mixing metaphors with tears to make a book of self To read aloud in winter's rooms When summer's sounds have ceased to bloom?
***
Ok, Ok... so I've started painting again. Woot!
Having a broken foot is good for making art I find. I got so bored that I was able to shuck the blahs that have hounded me all summer long and started painting again. Thank the Goddess!
I've got a busy day today with coaching clients and I want to get the rest of this painting blocked in so I can start working the details.
I hope you all have a wonderful Monday,
Heather

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Pain is not a punishment; pleasure is not a reward. ~Chodron







The Simple Solution.


To avoid all pain,


unhappiness


and fear ......


avoid birth.


~Ian Gardner


***


Good Morning (well it's morning for me anyway).


Today I am going to tell you a little story about my day yesterday.


It'll explain why my quote(s) today are about pain...and such


***


I broke my leg - after doing the first four days of A Midsummer's Night Dream - at Big Bear in a toboggan accident where I was almost killed. I was in the front of the toboggan with three big guys in back of me with a lot of inertia of the heavy weight, and my foot slipped off the toboggan, went right in the snow and split me up the middle. If it hadn't broken my femur at the exact time, I would have been killed. . . . While I was recuperating there (Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital) to get back on the set of A Midsummer's Night Dream - they were waiting for me - where I did that entire picture in a plaster of Paris cast covered up by Olivia De Havilland's dress . . . while I'm at the Presbyterian Hospital and I'm recuperating, my wife (Jan) is born on the 6th floor. Now that's a billion-to-one shot.


~Mickey Rooney


***


Yesterday morning I was preparing for my work day (life coaching) and I knew I had a mega ton of clients to talk to. I decided it would be a good idea for me to clean up the studio while I talked to my clients...because multi-tasking is a hobby of mine you see.


My first client of the day calls in and we start our session...I am listening to her, wearing my handy dandy phone head set and blithely straightening up the paint cans (quarts and gallons) in the studio.


It's going to be a hour long session...so I am pacing myself with the cleaning...all the while listening to my client catch me up on her life and problems to overcome.


***


The art finds kingdoms in a foot of ground.




***


As I walk from one end of the studio to the other talking a mile a minute, I started stacking the cans of paint. Then I started in on all the paper shreds and open paint tubes.


I know I live a very glam life, for sure.


I had attached the phone to my pant pocket and the cord to the headset was getting in my way...hanging down and snagging on every little thing...I think it was doing it on purpose...nasty little headset wire that it is.


***


The accident of an accident.




***


As I was moving in complete harmony with my mind working on my clients problems and my body left to it's own accord to do the boring work of cleaning...I mean really who needs the brain engaged fully to clean?


I leaned over the stack of paint cans to grab a particularly mischievous scrap of paper that thought it was running away from the paper bin...my client said something that made the body stop and want to sit down...all I know is that there may have been a brain/body strike at that moment...the body demanding more pay and better working conditions and the brain said it had to call the lawyers to see where it stood on the whole matter...


***


Always cut the cards...and smile when you lose.




***


my client was about ten minutes into her hour at this point. As the body gave up the good fight and spun around to look for the nearest sitting device, the nasty head set cord reached out for no apparent reason and grabbed hold of a particularly charming paint can at the top of the stack. Obviously, while the brain and body were working hard...the cord had fallen in love with an unopened, quart sized can of crackle medium (you can tell the cord has no taste what so ever in quality).


***


Hard work doesn't harm anyone, but I do not want to take any chances.


~Unknown


***


The paint can was very upset with the whole snatch and grab of the cord and decided to fall as fast and hard as possible to the floor in an attempt to escape the cords very forward behaviour.


Thank goodness the body had stopped thinking for itself at this point, because it had flopped into the nearest chair to let the brain try to talk it into a lunch date to solve the labor issues and left one of the feet, in just the right place to cushion the fall of the ( really at this point very prudish paint can) paint can.


There was a brief moment, where time stopped and applauded the heroic efforts of the foot in question. Then a urgent Memo was sent to the brain from the foot of the body claiming an on the job injury and demanding quite a lot of money and screaming about lawyers.


The bones in the foot...they had had enough of the really crappy treatment from the the body and decided to break up and look for vacation possibilities in Central America.


***


You see, dear, it is not true that woman was made from man's rib; she was made from his funny bone. ~
Sir James Matthew Barrie


***


At this point my client had asked an important question and I was thinking of the best possible answer and the can fell on my foot...breaking it in several places.


I never even made an owie sound (which according the brains lawyers is in direct violation to the bodies right as an individual)


and answered the clients question.


40 minutes later when the call ended I took a look at the foot and cursed it loudly. Then gathering ice and ace bandages...I re-set the bones in my foot, and took the next client right on time.


Fast forward eight hours later, all clients had been taken care of for the day, and I went in to the ER, really just looking for some good, legal drugs.


They were fresh out of the good stuff...so I got a cast instead and some really not good for anything extra strength Tylenol. Stingy bastards.


So now I have a broken foot...and no good drugs.


Life is grand I tell you...


life is just freaking peachy.


***


Love to all today...and really watch out for falling paint cans, they are moody and unpredictable...and hell bent on foot hating.


Be aware.


Heather








Wednesday, September 05, 2007

The reason why worry kills more people than work is that more people worry than work.~Frost

Hidy ho everyone.


Here are some quotes about reason that I found interesting today...and some more daily doodles from the last week...

I hope everyone is having a good day.

I have got to get back to work so this is short today...

so just Carry on! Click on pictures to enlarge.

Love to all,


Heather
***


Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you the reason for the HOPE that you have. ~1 Peter 3:15 NIV


***





***

"...the unconscious one does not betray. He walks secure through life. But we who are a part of the tradition--the Europeans--and who carry on the tradition we have betrayed with awareness, insight and consciousness, we have carefully analyzed all the wars before they were declared. But we did not stop them. (And many amongst us became the propagandists of the wars as soon as they were declared.) We describe how the poor are plundered by the rich. We live among the rich. Live on the plunder and pander the ideas to the rich. We have described the torture and we have put our names under appeals against torture, but we did not stop it. (And we ourselves became torturers when the higher interests demanded torture and we became the ideologists of torture.) Now we once more can analyze the world situation and describe the wars and explain why the many are poor and hungry. But we do no more. We are not the bearers of consciousness. We are the whores of reason."



~Jan Myrdal




***


Too often it is we who won't let life be simple. Why must we squeeze it and bite it and slam it against what we've convinced ourselves are our great powers of reason? We violate the innocence of things in the name of rationality so we can wander about, uninterrupted, in our search for passion and sentiment.



Let the inexplicable sit sacred.









***




When life knocks you down, try to land on your back. Because if you can look up, you can get up. Let your reason get you back up.






Sunday, September 02, 2007

I refuse to be reduced by fear. The book is done.

New painting to be started...inspired by a work done by Maxfield Parish (I think that's who's it is...and the courage of one of my clients) anyway it's the best drawing I have ever done and I wanted to share.

Cover (front and back of book)

Alligator Skin Paper and fimo stamped and painted butterfly

Book is 3.5" X 5.5" - the theme is: Fear

(Click on images to enlarge)

Page 1

Page 2


Page 3




Page 4


Page 5



Page 6


Page 7



Page 8


Page 9


Page 10


Page 11

*The End*


Well, it's done.

I loved making it,

I am going to make more of these,

as in a series.

I just need a theme for the next one....any ideas?



Feel free to praise me and ask for a commission for one of your own.

They will be selling for $39.00 each + shipping

Order yours now.

Hurry don't wait.

They are functional, durable and perfect for the desk, pocket, side table or shelf. Imagine getting one of these instead of a birthday card this year!

Great for gift giving time and they

can be personalized to fit any theme.

(Graduations, births, weddings, holiday, birthday...you get the idea)



Wait it gets better!

The name of this line...the series...

the name of the series is...

your gonna love this...


BAD! Kitty's Itty Bitties


I know...

I'm farking brilliant.

*Grins*

Happy weekend!

Heather