Daily Art- New Work- Atomic Age

‘Atomic Age’

24″ x 30″

oils, acrylics, vintage inks, collage and mixed media

Back stapled canvas, finished sides, ready to hang

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The quote on the work reads:

“In this era of world wars, in this atomic age, values have changed.

We have learned that we are guests of existence,

travelers between two stations. We must discover security within ourselves.”

~unknown

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‘Atomic Age’ is a work that started as a collage with acrylics. The more elements I found that I liked within the collage, the more paint got added in. Near the end of the work, I wanted a deeper, more textured feeling, so I switched to thin layers of oil glazes, reds, purples, yellows, and golds. When that was dry I applied a fine crackle finish to some of the elements and let that dry. I intended to come back over the crackle with some shoe polish, but thought I liked it as is. The color in this work turned out to be hard to capture on digital because it’s deep and ever changing, I used interference powders in some of the layers. I have at least 20 layers of transparent colors within this work, and the textures are subtle, so it really glows in real life. I mean it GLOWS and Shimmers, it’s a must see in person.

Of course, this work is about my need for security for myself and my family…in this insecure world. We can’t find job security, costs of living are sky rocketing, with no increase to family salaries. For some of us we don’t even have the security of people in our lives, we have become fractured to the point that families don’t stay together through marriages…let alone generations living together to raise whole units of healthy people. We have human warehouses for our elderly, we have single parents trying to be everything to their children while under employeed, we have no health care, we have debt that is a never ending monster, we have children raising themselves in a world that tells them, “you will be fine, if you just sell your soul, and don’t try to think too much.” and we have the global environment’s crashing down upon our ears. Many of us are thinking that Y2K was a warm up for what is coming down the pike. Many of us are questioning things like, Will I be able to continue to afford to go to work when gas costs 5 times what it does now, in the next five years? Will I be able to afford food when it costs 5 times more and my income has stayed the same? What if I can’t find/keep a job? Will I be ready for those real possibilities? We as a family have planted a garden, we are loosing one of our vehicles because we can’t afford it, we are reducing and re-using everything we can, we are buying and eating less food, we are planning for an unknown future. It’s hard and we are all dealing with it in some form or fashion. Each of us, collectively. It’s reality.

It’s a crazy mixed up world…and this work is about putting those feelings into a work that uplifts, gives hope and reminds you of your own personal happiness…that it is your responsibility in this life . Not your partners, your friends, your families, not the worlds, not your past experiences…not your therapists. No one is responsible for your personal well being and happiness but you. You won’t find it out there [in the world, it's things, it's addictions, it's shiny, shiny things, we can not save ourselves through consumerism, we can not buy our way out of this recession] you find it inside yourself. Personal accountability is hard to do…it requires a constant vigilance and commitment to living in the moment. It ain’t easy folks, but it can be done. Yes, it can be done. This work is about letting the addiction of living in either the good old days [or the bad ones] and also not living in the future fantasy days that we are positive thinking about all the time. It’s time for real change. We can not find world peace unless we start with creating peace within ourselves. Then it’s like a virus, peace and self love, healthy inclusive love, it can spread.

Change happens. It’s up to us to make the most of it. One person can change the world. Let it start with me. Let it start with you, in this atomic age, let the change start with us.

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I hope you all have a happy Friday, thanks for reading.

Heather

http://www.badkittyartstudio.com

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