Art of the Day - The Key

Full painting

click on images to enlarge

Close up

The blue of her robe is much deeper and has darker shading than these pictures allow for (Prussian blues and deep purples). The background and hair are well represented in tone, the hair is Prussian green, Ivory blacks and ultramarine blues as well.

There are also shadows of deep plum under her hair (on the robe) that are being washed out in this lighting. This painting looks foggy. It is supposed to look that way, she is in the world in between...between what we know and what we struggle to understand. Hence she is in and out of the fog that surrounds her.

***

'The Key' #6 in the Choir Series

18" x 24"

oils

Painting extends around sides of canvas, no frame needed.

Ready to hang.

$120.00

Free shipping Inside the USA.

Email me HERE for purchase.

International and outside the US Email me here for a free shipping quote.

***

Here is the quote that inspired the painting:

All persons are puzzles

until at last we find

some word

or act

the key

to the man,

to the woman;

straightaway all their past words

and actions lie in light before us.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

(1803 - 1882)

***

It felt good to get this work out of my head.

I have many drawings of variations on this theme, in my journals; the key hole in the head space.

This is the first time that I tried the back of the head.

I like it much better this way.

Because of course we would not have

our secret key hole on our faces...I mean any one could see them!

The horror!

Only those most close to us will be able to ever find the secret key, button, handshake or password that opens us up.

That's what makes it scary and exciting to share our lives with others.

Love and Trust.

Faith and Work.

Those things make us grow, make us embrace the power of change, make us find our lost keys and then use them.

Keys.

We all have a key that will turn the lock inside our heads, that will free us from what we fear the most.

All I have to say is,

"I'll take what is behind door number two, Jack!"

Have a wonderful, magical day.

See you on the flip side,

Heather

http://www.badkittyartstudio.com/

PS. A big Thanks to Cynthia who was my muse for this work. Her recent series of unfortunate events made me think of this subject again. So, thanks for the inspiration Cynthia...I hope you found your keys!

Art for the day- Abandon

BAD! Kitty Art Studio

(above) Abandon

18" X 24"

Charcoal on canvas

Finished sides, ready to hang.

$110.00

Free shipping inside the USA.

Email me HERE for purchase.

International and/or outside the US?

Please email me HERE for a free shipping quote.

***

Quotes about reality:

***

Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.
George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)

***

"The dream reveals the reality which conception lags behind, that is the horror of life, the terror of art."

~Franz Kafka (1883 - 1924)

***

One of my favorite Zen puzzles, otherwise known as koans, is: “Things are not as they seem, nor are they otherwise.”

It’s a reminder that life always has two sides.

The side of personal perception is the way things seem to us from the position we’re looking from.

Every vantage point has its built in biases and is never the whole picture.

The other side is the whole picture that includes everything beyond what we see - beyond what they seem.

The answer to this and most koans is that there is no way out.

Our view is always limited by the point in time and space we’re in.

This view is always real, valid, and accurate for what it is.

And there is always more.

This explains why we are smarter together;

that truth lives in the intersection of curiosity and conversation.

Things are not what they seem, nor are they otherwise.

~Jack Ricchiuto

***
I tell you this:

There is no coincidence, and nothing happens “by accident.”

Each event and adventure is called to your Self by your Self in order that you might create and experience Who You Really Are.

All that is required is to know this.

For you are the creator of your reality,

and life can show up no other way

for you than that way in which you think it will.

~Neale Donald Walsch

***

Reality.

It is what you think it, what you make of it, and what you desire it to be. Therefore...working towards one definition is a futile process for me as an individual.

I want to explore and learn and fail.

That's what makes me feel alive.

I used to think it was some kind of failure inside myself that I could not just pick one thing to loose myself in.

Not one subject matter has been able to hold my passions forever.

The discovery of new things is what fuels the journey I am on as an artist and a human.

I am saying I want to create my own world and I no longer believe that is pie-in-the-sky thinking.

Maybe I can do it all and that will be my personal style...to not have one at all. Well, that's not true about style,

I have a style that is all my own...I understand that I am always going to do things my own way.

Hmmmm, I wonder what I will think of this tomorrow?

We shall see I guess.

We shall see.

Keep the faith,

Heather

http://www.badkittyartstudio.com/

Buying art from living artists has been proven to reduce wrinkles, enhance your sex life and make your teeth pearly white.

Buy some art today.

Art of the day- Batting a Thousand

Full image

Click on images to enlarge

Close up

BAD! Kitty Art Studio
Art of the day
***
Fairy World Series #12
"Batting a Thousand"
18" x 24"
oils & mixed media

$185.00

Free Shipping Inside the USA.

Email me HERE for purchase.

International buyers and outside the US buyers please email me HERE for a free shipping quote.

***
Batting a Thousand:
The Words that inspired it:

Life is described in one of four ways:
a journey,

a battle,

a pilgrimage,

or a race.
Select your own metaphors,
but the necessity of finishing is all the same.
For if life is a journey, it must be completed.
If life is a battle, it must be finished.
If life is a pilgrimage, it must be concluded.
And if life is a race, it must be won.

~Unknown
***
The Fairy World Series has been an exploration of my unique brand of Woman. Growing up, I experienced the extremes of the 1970's stereotypical behavior: both of the genders were represented clearly to my little-grrrl self. I learned to fight, to fear the adults of the world, and to loath my biggest birth defect, being born female. I wanted to play war, and I fought regularly, boys mostly.

I hated the color pink, which was spoon-fed in every petite little girl bite I took. In long hair and dresses, I went about my life trying to make sense of what it was to be a girl in this world. Seeking balance, seeking my inner truth, coming to grips with the body that was at once, object/commodity, weapon/tool, and all the time weak/powerful, and shameful/virtuous.

Learning how to play the roles with gusto, I have traveled 38 years in a body that has not always felt like my own; a rental that is a little short in the legs and itchy in all the spots that are just out of reach.

Fairy World allowed me to marry the warrior, and the type, or brand, of woman that I am. I love my grrrl-ness now, a beautiful, complex and scary uniqueness that defies definitions and allows ultimate flexibility. The female form is inherently preprogrammed into us to bring forth many emotions from every human being on the planet. I am one such human, and this is what I see/feel about also being classified as Female Human.

My fairies are not average beauties; they represent the different aspects of my new breed of human being; complex beings.

We are all creator and destroyer, we all also have a terminal illness; it's called birth. I am proud to be this complicated being commonly known as Woman, privately known as my tiny, infinite universe. This life is full of potential, pain and change.

Choice is like mathematical equations;

never ending numbers spiraling into the void,

life is choice; choose wisely and often.

Welcome to my world.

Fairy World.
***
I have a no questions asked 7 day return policy. If you don't like it, let me know and then wrap it back up, and send it back, I'll refund you the sale price, minus the shipping charges. No problems, no hassles, no waiting. I also offer to get you an exact shipping quote, to anywhere for free. Just send me an email with your zip code (or country and code) and I'll get a quote for shipping to you within 24-36 hours (depending on the day/time you ask for it.)

Just ask, I add no extra costs to ship,

just exact shipping charges.
***
I hope you enjoyed,
please consider supporting living artists; if not me
then one that resonates with you.
Heather
www.badkittyartstudio.com

Art For the Day- Ego Death

'Ego Death'

18" x 24"

oils

sides painted black no frame needed

$90.00

Email me HERE for purchase.

**Shipping inside the USA FREE.**

International/outside the US buyers please email

me HERE for a free shipping quote before you buy.

***

As I search for meaning in my humble life I have fallen into several pits that threaten to trap me in a tar like form of living.

The biggest Beast by far is my own Ego.

Meditation on the subject of how to have

Less Suffering and Torment

in my everyday living has led me to come to understand the important role that Ego plays in the discomfort of living at 100%.

If I am truly giving 100+% to my life and work, then I must learn to push aside the Ego.

Creating room inside my soul for the beauty of success and failure.

I must create a space where judgement and fear do not live. I must make room for my true self; make room for the lightness of being.

That is what this work is about.

Making room for the beauty of living a whole life with a whole heart.

This is a work of manifestation; of the life I am leading and the life I am leaving behind.

Here is the quote that inspired the work,

***

"If you want to reach a state of bliss, then go beyond your ego and the internal dialogue. Make a decision to relinquish the need to control, the need to be approved, and the need to judge. Those are the three things the ego is doing all the time. It's very important to be aware of them every time they come up."

~Deepak Chopra

***

This work is done in five colors: Ivory black, french ultramarine, titanium white, Payne's gray and brilliant turquoise. I look forward to releasing this emotion and lesson into the world.

Live Bold and Free today,

Heather

www.badkittyartstudio.com

Art of the Day - One with her Nature

Pictures taken outdoors no flash

'One with her Nature'

24" x 18"

oils

painting extends around sides no frame needed.

This canvas is back stapled.

$110.00

Email me HERE for purchase.
Shipping inside the USA FREE.
International/outside the US buyers please email me HERE for a free shipping quote before you buy.
***
Here's the quote that was my inspiration:

Failure is an opportunity.
If you blame someone else,
there is no end to the blame.
Therefore the Master
fulfills
her own obligations
and corrects her own mistakes.
She does what she needs to do
and demands nothing of others.
~Source: Tao Te Ching

***

See you later alligators,

Heather

http://www.badkittyartstudio.com/

Art for the Day - Out on the Rocks

'Out on the Rocks'

24" x 18"

oils

Painted black on the sides no frame needed, back stapled

ready to hang

$110.00

Email me HERE for purchase.
**Shipping inside the USA FREE.**
International/outside the US buyers please email me HERE for a free shipping quote before you buy.

***

Here is the quote that inspired me to just do it:

Roads go ever ever on,

Over rock and under tree,

By caves where never sun has shone,

By streams that never find the sea:

Over snow by winter sown,

And through the merry flowers of June,

Over grass and over stone,

And under mountains in the moon.

Roads go ever ever on

Under cloud and under star,

Yet feet that wandering have gone

Turn at last to home afar,

Eyes that fire and sword have seen

And horror in the halls of stone

Look at last on meadows green

And trees and hills they long have known.

J.R.R. Tolkien (1892 - 1973)

Here is the quote that was just for my inner self while working:

Most of us have two lives.

The life we live, and the un-lived life within us.

Between the two stands Resistance.

Steven Pressfield

Source: The War of Art
***
Heather (the dragon slayer)
http://www.badkittyartstudio.com/

Art of the day- new work- When Daises Attack

picture taken outside no flash

Outside no flash


outside no flash

inside with flash

***

When Daises Attack

From the Choir Series #5

oils

back stapled, finished sides, ready to hang.

$120.00

Free Shipping inside the USA.
Email me HERE for purchase.
Outside the US and International buyers please email me HERE for a free shipping quote.

***

Here is the quote that was an inspiration to the work:

"There's a new and virulent cultural virus ripping through the world. . . .

The symptoms of those infected include

attacks of optimism,

strong feelings of community,

lower stress levels

and outbreaks of pronoia -

the sneaking feeling that someone

is conspiring behind their backs to help them."
Jules Marshall

***

When Daisies Attack,

is a fun romp through a field of ambushing African daisies. They defy reality, they ask you to suspend rational thought, and demand to be admired...if you want safe passage through their land.

Each flower has a blue green eye that has seeped into each pale petal in varying degrees, and because the bottom side of each creamy petal is a dark purple, there are hints of lavender too, as they swirl and dance around their captive audience.

The earthy rich background suggests that a sunset walk through quiet fields was going to be just the thing... and then...

the Daises attacked.

Hope your day is bright.

thanks for being here,

Heather

www.badkittyartstudio.com

Post Script:

I have been asked by several people recently, "why do they not have faces?"

I would like to explain just a little...here it goes.

***

The magic of a face.
Thomas Carew (1595 - 1639)
Source: Epitaph on the Lady S

***

Painting is a form of communication for me.

I can and have painted many a fine face.

In fact this work had a wonderful face drawn in, but it was just not right.

These works without faces are about the face-less inner self. The one you can not see in the mirror, but that none the less lives inside each of us. I am talking about the soul.

***

Spirituality is the consciousness of victory over self and of communion with the Infinite. Spirituality impels one to conquer difficulties and acquire more and more strength. To feel one's faculties expanding the soul is one of life's most sublime experiences.
David McKay (1873 - 1970)

***

These works are what I see in my head, my face-less self. That's why they are without eyes, nose, mouth and sometimes even hands and feet. They are representative of what I am learning, and the expression of something that at once extremely private, also compels me to make it public.

Make it graphic.

Make it large and undeniable.

Make it Universal and fits all in size.

Make it possibley for some un-comfortable.

They have no face because they are mirrors, for what we see and make of our reactions to them.

You need not see my eyes at this moment to have already formed an inner idea about what you think of me or my work.

Neither does my work need eyes for you to feel what it is saying to your inner faceless self.

For me art is communication, from the soul, my message in a bottle to the inner divine then outward to the world at large.

***

So long as you live and in whatever circumstances the kaleidoscope of life may place you, think for yourself and act in accordance with the conclusions of that thinking; avoid so far as possible drifting with the current of the mob or being too easily influenced by the outward manifestation of things. Take your own look beneath the surface and don't trust others to look for you. If you will follow this rule consistently, I am sure you will keep out of much trouble, will make the most out of your life and, what is more, will contribute most of value to the community life.
Dr. Frank B. Jewett

***

As far as the choir robes goes...

I am a heretic. *tounge in cheek*

Simple really.

***

In regard to religion, mutual toleration in the different professions thereof is what all good and candid minds in all ages have ever practiced, and both by precept and example inculcated on mankind . . . The only sects which he (Locke) thinks ought to be and which by all wise laws are excluded from such toleration are those who teach doctrines subversive of the civil government under which they live. The Roman Catholics or Papists are excluded by reason of such doctrines as these: that princes excommunicated may be deposed, and those they call heretics may be destroyed without mercy; besides their recognizing the pope in so absolute a manner, in subversion of government, by introducing as far as possible into the states under whose protection they enjoy life, liberty, and property that solecism in politics, imperium in imperio, leading directly to the worst anarchy and confusion, civil discord, war and bloodshed.
Samuel Adams (1722 - 1803)
Source: The Rights of the Colonists, 1772
***

The robes represent the most in love I have ever been with religion. I went to church as a child; and as an adult went to many churches, temples, books and people looking for the answer.

I never came any closer to any religious answer than the rapture I witnessed from every choir I have ever attend. Be it chanting Monks, or Southern Baptist swaying, or the Gay men's chorus... I love all of that...the joyful release and holy communion with what makes us all one and all alone, individual. Soul, spirit, God, the Universe...whatever you call it.

The architecture of humanity.

So, that's why the robes.

They symbolize purity, innocence, fear-less-ness and faith to me.

And I guess a little of my inner, "I make my own rules" heretical way of seeing the world. Like swinging upside down on a tree swing, it's the same world as sitting on the swing swinging up but it sure looks and feels different from that angle.

That's all.

***

I've said it before...

Welcome to my world.

Have a good one,

Heather

Art of the day- New work- First Watch-Choir series #4

First Watch from the Choir series #4

oils

18" x 24"

back stapled, finished sides, ready to hang.

Close up

$120.00

Free Shipping inside the USA.

Email me HERE for purchase.

Outside the US and International buyers please email me HERE for a free shipping quote.

***

Here is the quote that I was working with while creating:

Watching

I watch myself

what I see is my creation

as though entering through my eyes

perception is conception

into an eye more crystal clear

water of thoughts

what I watch

watches me

I am the creation of what I see
Octavio Paz
Source: Blanco, 1966

***

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend.

This work is one of two that I have completed in the last couple of days. I will show the other one tomorrow, so stay tuned.

***

First Watch, for me is all about the ever present act of watching my inner self for signs of fear induced thinking. Limited thinking. Boredom. Stinky Thinking.

And too, the activity of listening to/for intuition, clarity and truth.

I watch for those body feelings so I can know better what is "right" and "wrong" for myself. The body knows before the brain...that's soul power, the soul speaking up.

So I listen to the wind, lean in and listen for the quiet voice that calls me out into the gale force of this life. Knowing is Wisdom. Virtue is in the action.

Don't worry, I'll take the first watch.

Heather

http://www.badkittyartstudio.com/

Buy some art today,

support living artists.

Art of the Day- Bubble Trouble-now at auction

Bubble Trouble

oils

12" x 24"

Painting wraps around edges, ready to hang.

Now at art auction

Here's the link.

Click on images to enlarge
***
Close Up

Here's the quote that was my inspiration:

"A smile starts on the lips,

a grin spreads to the eyes,

a chuckle comes from the belly;

but a good laugh bursts forth

from the soul,

overflows,

and bubbles all around."

~Carolyn Birmingham

***
The background on this work is a deep plum, burgundy.

All in all there are almost 20 colors (tones) in the reflective bubbles. This work was one of my very first all abstract works, I had a lot of fun creating it. I had no idea what I was doing so I kept laughing to myself the whole time I was working thinking, "this is going to turn into a mess!" and it didn't. Bubbles are surprisingly architectural and gave the work a good solid feel...while remaining soft and bubbly. Fun, right?

Because of it's size 12" x 24", it will fit in those tight spaces, like in my studio; we have a short little piece of wall between the window and the front door, it fits perfect right there. Energy wise (human energy, it won't save you any money on your light bill, sorry) it's been great having it by the studio door, because it always makes people smile when they see it...who, I ask, doesn't like bubbles?

Crazy people, that's who...but I've known many a crazy person and they have all liked these bubbles, so I think this work is safe, even for the crazy people.

This work has a hanging wire to hang it vertically, but it will also look and work just fine being turned any which way as the bubbles are random and joining the picture and leaving the picture at every angle. So, truly it's up to you in the way you display this work.

This work has never been offered for sale before.

It has gone to the Art Auction Folks, see it there.

Links above and in the side bar to the auction site...good luck!

***

I hope you enjoy your day,

thanks for being here.

Heather

http://www.badkittyarstudio.com/

Art of the day-Mississippi Grrrl-Now at Auction

Mississippi Grrl
Oil Pastels on Canvas board
& Mixed Media (August 2006)
16" X 20"
40 cm X 50 cm

***

Now at art auction.

HERE's the link.

***

Here's the quote that was my inspiration:

I am part of the sun as my eye is part of me.
That I am part of the earth my feet know perfectly,

and my blood
is part of the sea.
My soul knows that I am part of the human race,
my soul is an organic part of the great human race,
as my spirit is part of my nation.
In my own very self, I am part of my family.
~D.H. Lawrence
Source: Apocalypse, 1931
*****
(This was written when the work was completed, I left it alone because it speaks to the reasons and feelings I was going through at the time. This is the only work I ever completed while living in Mississippi for 4 months, I thought I was going mad)

***

Mississippi Grrl is all about my quest for peace.
Peace in my heart, peace with my surroundings,
peace with my circumstances.
Loving myself isn't always easy to do.
I fail, I get stuck, I don't always make the right choices with people, places or situations.
The peace I seek is within myself, this world I live in and the places I dwell in. This is a break through work for me, as I have been
in a artistic rut for a few months, sick of myself, my situation, my choices in people to trust.
I choose to move past those realities,
I choose to make my own path, and capture the moments of living,
like the reflections of birds on the wing, in a sunset sky.
All places and people have meaning,
sometimes you have to be stuck to see them more clearly.
I am leaving Mississippi soon, but this is my painting
to document what I learned in my brief time here,
that I am free no matter where I lay my head.
I hope you enjoyed the work, and thank you for being here.

***

This work is now at auction.

There is also a quick link in the sidebar to all art auctions.

Good Luck!
Heather

http://www.badkittyartstudio.com/

PS. Three of the (7) new art auctions now have bids! Woot!

Art auctions for the week are two posts down, just scroll down baby and bid!

What have you been doing BAD! Kitty?

Well, I've been a little busy,

here's what's on the easel today...

it will need to dry before shipping.

If this picture isn't showing well on your monitor email me and I'll try for a better one. The background is a little lost in this picture (because I suck at taking pictures, my work rocks), it's really a fun bright work.

'You Gotta...' From the Choir Series #3

(#1 & 2 sold already)

18" x 24"

oils

$120.00

**shipping to anywhere inside USA free.**

International/outside US shipping quotes free, just email me here.

Here's the quote:

"Dreaming permits each of and every one of us to

be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives. "
William Dement

***

I have been able to be in studio every single day so far this year.

Great news, right? :)

The work is drying so slowly but I am just hanging them all over the house so I can move on. (and then yelling at people, "be careful that one's wet!")

I have a big box of blank canvas, and I am not afraid to use it.

I have this idea...

I'll post auctions weekly, and also post a work of the day here on the blog for a super duper price. One day only. What do you think?

I have done this in the past, and it was really successful, but I have taken to being a little more personal in my blog and don't want everyone to think I am sell, sell, selling all the time.

(I am in reality doing just that, uuummm hence the name BAD! Kitty)

I think I'll give it a go, which will mean that sometimes it'll be just the art of the day or the newest art off the easel and not so much of my witty charms.

(Santa forgot the modesty I asked for this year...again.;)

I have another blog that I could be using

for the more personal side of my life.

A heads up then dear readers...

I will be posting an artwork a day,

and weekly art auctions until further notice.

Seriously, I am having a space crisis...I can't stop painting, (crazy in the membrane) and if some of this work doesn't get out of my studio [my way] soon, I'm gonna scream. I don't want to under-value my business so I'm not going to have "sales". I work hard on each of these works...come on!

I will instead have art auctions, where opening bids are kept low and with no reserves, that's a BAD! Kitty fire sale...and because I am churning out new work steady, I will post the newest art and finished artworks everyday.

I am so smart.

This is the BAD! Kitty marketing plan for 2008.

If you would like to team up with me in this

we can link up and spread the "I sold some work!" love.

We could even just give it a trial run to see what happens...that's what I am going to do, if you wanna just watch and see what happens first, that's cool too. Whatever...

Lemme know.

Have a great day everyone,

Heather

www.badkittyartstudio.com

Feel free to feed the artist, she's friendly.

Buy art, it's smart!

New art auctions for the week

Mask Man

oils

18" x 24"

Queen of the Unknown

From the Fairy World series

18" x 24"

oils

Putting it all together

table top art work

acrylics and mixed media

' Knowing makes all the difference'

From the Fairy World series #15

18" x 24"

oils and mixed media

Close up of

Break Out

oils and mixed media

18" x 24"

want to see the whole painting? Go check out my auctions!

Link is at the bottom of this post.

Hello you all, how's life?

This weeks art auctions are shown above...check them out.

Now for the quotes I am working with today:

We are less lonely when we connect.

Art is connection."

Nikki Giovanni

***

Modern paintings are like women:

You'll never enjoy them,

if you try to understand them..
Freddie Mercury

***

For art to exist, for any sort of aesthetic activity to exist, a certain physiological precondition is indispensable: intoxication.
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900)

***

Well now, that about covers it for me today. I have been busy with coaching clients for the past few days so, no new artwork...still waiting for them to dry enough to start in on them again.

Not much to report round these parts...just working and painting, and keeping house...and parenting, there is always that.

So, go check out my new art auctions, here is a handy dandy link to see them all:

I hope everyone is having good times,

see you in the funny papers,

Heather

http://www.badkittyartstudio.com/

And I must borrow every changing shape To find expression.~ Elliot

Hope is a thing

oils

24" x 36"

"Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all. "
Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886)

You just have to trust me, this one is really fantastic to look at in person. I just can not seem to get a good picture of it.

I love the rich, Richy ness of it.

Here it is hanging on the drying wall in the studio.

***

New Work in process:

'evolution as a familiar'

36" x 24"

oils

work is in process, with things being so cold and damp here drying is an issue. The next stage for her...includes a juicy, tasty treat. Yes indeed, ummm, hmmm. I am loving the background, which sorry, you can't see...she's just electric.

well...back to work for me...I must move on. This one needs to dry and the the next one is on tap. Here is the quote for this one:

My task is really not to change myself but to become familiar with who I am.
Maureen Cook

***

Have a happy day,

Heather

www.badkittyartstudio.com

New Art - Calling it done, put a fork in it.

Close up of the birds, they are really not this bright in the painting, but it does give you a hint of the swirly background that I created with thick gesso before painting.

My new work.

I think it's done. I have thought about it [and thought about it] and looked it over for a couple of days now and I like it the way it is. The two styles of painting are working for me. This one has a rich background that is lost in these pictures (no matter what I did they didn't want to come out!) I'll try for better pictures of this one later.

So now I am looking for a title for it.

Later [when the light gets better here] I will show the new one that is on the easel...I'm excited about that one too.

Two new large works for the new year...gotta love that.

24" x 36"

oils

Any ideas for a title?

Happy day to you,

Heather

http://www.badkittyartstudio.com/

The excellent is new forever. ~Emerson

Happy New Year!

It's 2008 already? Some one must of slipped me a mickey because it was just 2007 a minute ago.

Why is time speeding up as I gain years? So. Not. Fair. Of time...

*Grins*

Now to start the new year...the quotes please:

***

The difficulty lies, not in the new ideas, but in escaping the old ones, which ramify, for those brought up as most of us have been, into every corner of our minds.
John Maynard (1883 - 1946)

***

When I start talking about making choices some one come on over here and slap me around a bit will ya? Remind me that I get what I ask for when it's done right, and that I should not be surprised when it happens, then pick me up off the floor...please, it's freaking cold down here. *grins*

Let me back up a little,

I have a tale to tell.

In my world it works a little like this:

I say "Universe...umm it's me and well I was thinking about what happy looks like to me again and well...er, um I have come to a conclusion or two."

***

Thought is only a flash between two long nights, but this flash is everything.
Jules Henri Poincare (1854 - 1912)
Source: J. R. Newman (ed.) The World of Mathematics, New York: Simon and Schuster

***

The Universe quietly, says nothing....and I go on with:

I just want to return to the path that I was on when I lived on the land that most of my food and livelihood came from. I would just like an opportunity to become available to us for that to happen. OK, that's it thanks for listening."

***

I cannot judge my work while I am doing it.

I have to do as painters do, stand back and view it from a distance,

but not too great a distance.

How great?

Guess.
Blaise Pascal (1623 - 1662

***

Then...I go on with life, you know? That's the faith part.

Then...Mate Man sees an ad for a mini-farm. Not in a place we would have been looking for one. Calls me up and says go here...read this.

I do. No, it's not a recycled home, but it is a working organic farm! Yippeee!

All the grid and Eco building projects and dreams are not dead...Oh no! It's just that I asked for an opportunity...not for exactly what I want, because I can always make for myself the exact parts I just need the chance to do so. In fact that's what the Gods put me here for...hard work and to be smart enough to go after what I want. Oh, yeah and stay out of my own way while I do it....that too.

***

The ninety and nine are with dreams,

content but the hope of the world made new,

is the hundredth man who is grimly bent

on making those dreams come true.
Edgar Allan Poe (1809 - 1849)

***

So we are making plans to go out and see it next week. I am just excited to get out into farmland and less city, new sights, new everything! First times for anything...are very cool.

I am not putting any pressure on it all working out and being perfect, (the secret nor the answer) I am just letting myself dream a little dream, enjoy the excitement that we are going to see a place where whole hearted humans have put heart, hand and head to the earth and grown a life. How very darn cool is that? The energy will be inspiring I am sure.

***

Earth Is Enough.

We men of Earth have here the stuff Of Paradise - we have enough!

We need no other stones to build

The Temple of the Unfulfilled - No other ivory for the doors - No other marble for the floors - No other cedar for the beam

And dome of man's immortal dream.

Here on the paths of every-day -

Here on the common human way

Is all the stuff the gods would take

To build a Heaven, to mold and make New Edens.

Ours is the stuff sublime

To build Eternity in time!
Edwin Markham (1852 - 1940)

***

I hope everyone is enjoying the new beginnings of the season.

I finished the big Commission work on New Years day!

I got to start the year putting 08 on a huge work, that I feel real proud of.

It's all been very cool indeed.

I also started some new art auctions, 5 in all. All with no reserves and reasonable opening bids. Two of them are from the Fairy world Series, that's a first!

I have made it my way of dealing with the art overflow that is in my studio...I am going to run auctions and that is my big marketing plan of 08 so far. Work my tail off and run auctions. And maybe if the Gods are smiling on me...get to live on a wonderful farm someday. You must dream for them to come true!

Here's a link to the auctions:

HERE!

Love to all, stay warm!

Heather

BAD! Kitty's End of the year Roundtable

" I Am"

by HMBT 2006

Laminated Collage

***

Good Morning the day before the Christmas Holiday Day, here in the states and elsewhere.

Whew! what a mouthfull...

OK, Hey how ya'll doing this morning?

That better?

*grins*

So round these parts we don't ever set resolutions or make set in stone goals each year either.

We tend to reflect a bunch on what the last twelve months have been, what we learned from our experiences and like a house of scientist, dissect what the real issues were/are in our progress, path wise.

In fact we take on missions each year as a group and individually. The group ones we all talk about, as the year ends but....the personal ones, each person can share or not as they see fit.

We love to think of these talks as a round table of light warriors. It's really great when the Earth's own light is at it's lowest to charge our inner lanterns up real good, before beginning a new year long mission...well that's a no brainer, of course.

***

A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.
Gandhi (1869 - 1948)

***

We had one of those weekends, where people got used to being close up on each other, (again) with out each person having a given set schedule to follow and perform well at. Saturday was given over to going into the world and getting every. single . thing. done and quick, so that we don't have to go out into the world again until the madness subsides. Which won't be until after the Holiday returns and Super sales are made and had. Ahhhh the joys of stuff, of getting and giving more stuff...sweet capitalism...how it makes my ass twitch.

***

If a glimpse of the future is possible, it must come from an intimacy with the present clarified by the great works of the past.
Robert Kaplan

***

We Spent Sunday putting up our little tree, it's one of those pre-lit 4 foot tall, pull it out of the box and plug it in types. Really this works best for all of us...we don't celebrate the holiday as most folks do...we love giving gifts to each other! We don't buy anything except on special days. Birthdays, and Christmas. So, it's our time to have an excuse to party, and play at years end. The tree thing...eh, we can take it or leave it. We would never cut one down, anyway...we used to do that many years back...because that's what everyone does...set it up, look at it...take it down again...throw the once work of art tree in the dump. Ummm, after my awakening, I could no longer do this. ever. again.

That new choice happened at an end of the year round table...several moons back.

This year we have been talking about living. I mean the way we live, eat and need every day....money.

We have decided to build a recycled home that joins with the land instead of rests upon it. We have decided to find land and acquire it. Then we will work weekends or whatever and build a home into/with the land, one that takes care of us and takes nothing from the grid (power, water, ect.).

Then we will go live there.

As free Humans. Not slaves to the Grid of suck you dry til you die.

***

There are reveries so deep, reveries which help us descend so deeply within ourselves that they rid us of our history. They liberate us from our name. These solitudes of today return us to the original solitudes.
Gaston Bachelard (1884 - 1962)

***

We plan to start this project asap. If you've been reading my blog for any amount of time, then you know what happens when we make choices in this home. Things begin to happen...quick. That's just how we roll.

Plans as I said before, are being made, and well laid.

Last years round table brought us to the conclusion that we would never be able to buy a home of our own on the west coast. So, we loaded up, (after a years research and work) and moved to Kentucky. Land of rolling hills and cheap land, and so many other great things I can't even tell you.

OK, so now we have been here, we have found employment, we have looked around.

***

The future enters into us, in order to transform itself in us, long before it happens.
Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926)

***

Now we know that we do not want to wait for the housing/mortgage crisis, as a matter of fact we don't want a mortgage at all. We want a home. We do not want to be slaves. This years round table has been about that fact and what options are open to people like us, who have bad credit, not a lot of money, and weird ideas about green living not just being about slapping some solar panels on a suburban home. (not that that's not wonderful, every one should do it) We want sustainable housing. I am a farmer, I want to grow my own food.

After growing my own daily food for more than a decade in a city environment, I can't stand to drive to the store for lettuce...and fruit. Are you kidding me?

***

There's more to being an environmentalist than occasionally signing an online petition and mailing your check to the Sierra Club. Really the most effective environmental actions you can take have to do with crafting your home and surroundings, your workplace decisions and your investment habits.
Alex Steffen

***

So, we are going to build a home, off grid, out of rammed earth used tires.

Plans and research on the property, home systems (electricity, water, heat, ect.) are being learned and researched, and building plans drawn up for feasibility studies. It's our right as humans to use our power of money and choice to shape our destiny. The Trumans are all about questioning authority, and making our own rules.

This years mission to is learn as much as possible, and find land.

That's all.

Anything we get done more than that will be gravy.

Our mission of course means that we need to be in good shape physically for this undertaking. So, part of my personal sub-mission to to re-acquire my old strength as much as possible, for the hard labor ahead.

Groovy baby.

So that's it in a nutshell from here in the blue grass.

I'll see you all again after the Holiday madness...with new art, no doubt.

A special word of thanks to all my art patrons out there, you know who you are, thank you for your support of this living artists...your purchases allowed me to create for yet another year. Thank you for supporting a living artist, may we all enjoy a great return on our investments in the coming years together.

***

Hope is a state of mind, not of the world . . . Either we have hope or we don't; it is a dimension of the soul, and it's not essentially dependent on some particular observation of the world or estimate of the situation. Hope is not prognostication. It is an orientation of the spirit, and orientation of the heart; it transcends the world that is immediately experienced, and is anchored somewhere beyond its horizons ... Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather and ability to work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed. The more propitious the situation in which we demonstrate hope, the deeper the hope is. Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.
Vaclav Havel

***

I end this post with the best wishes for everyone around the globe reading my words...and those who don't too. We as a family, hope that your lives are all richer in the ways that matter most in the coming year.

Happy Holidays to all,

Heather

www.badkittyartstudio.com

When I was younger, my ambition was to be one of the people who made a difference in this world. My hope still is to leave the world a little bit better for my having been here.It's a wonderful life and I love it.
Jim Henson