Giving The Finger- Five Red Dice and an Update
pictograph oil painting using Mexician cave art by Heather Brown Truman copyright 2008
New Work
oils & acrylics
18″ x 24″ x 2″
The quote for this work:
“Archaeologists have not yet discovered any stage of human existence without art. Even in the half-light before the dawn of humanity we received this gift from Hands we did not manage to discern. Nor have we managed to ask: Why was this gift given to us and what are we to do with it?
And all those prophets who are predicting that art is disintegrating, that it has used up all its forms, that it is dying, are mistaken. We are the ones who shall die. And art will remain. The question is whether before we perish we shall understand all its aspects and all its ends.
Not all can be given names. Some of them go beyond words. Art opens even the chilled, darkened heart to high spiritual experience. Through the instrumentality of art we are sometimes sent—vaguely, briefly—insights which logical processes of thought cannot attain.
Like the tiny mirror of the fairy tale: you look into it and see—not yourself—but for one fleeting moment the Unattainable to which you cannot leap or fly. And the heart aches…
Dostoyevsky once let drop the enigmatic phrase: “Beauty will save the world.” What does this mean? For a long time it used to seem to me that this was a mere phrase. Just how could such a thing be possible? When had it ever happened in the bloodthirsty course of history that beauty had saved anyone from anything? Beauty had provided embellishment certainly, given uplift—but whom had it ever saved? “
~Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
(It saved me, I'm one that was saved by this beauty)
Good day all,
It’s been a tough couple of weeks here at BAD! Kitty Art, we have been working really hard and sleeping too little. Not that much has changed, just it was harder this last two weeks inside the brain pans of the adults here. Stress, it’s a killer. It’s a “shoot the muse and leave her for dead”, as well. The kind of stress that comes from the pressure of a deadline, a pre-determined deadline, I can take really well, become even more inspired even. The un-determined long haul stress is what I am talking about. The one week rolling into another, and the laundry still isn’t done, kind of stress, that’s killing me. That and the boys are on summer break, so they are either trying to quietly kill one another * quietly, because they both in get into trouble for actual fighting, no matter who “started” it* or they are asking for something. OY! OK, enough with the kvetching, on with some fun stuff.
Oh, one last thing, I am thinking of naming the newest painting “This is me, giving whimsy the finger”, what do you think, kind of catchy isn’t it? *grins*
I hate, no double hate, no not really, I loath my work being called whimsical. It really drives me crazy. In the beginning of my career, I’ll agree I did do a lot of work that was funny or based on something I thought funny. I still do from time to time, but not as much because when I started getting solo shows and events, the reporters started to write their reviews and commentary on my “Whimsical work”. Drove me bat-shit, so I stepped away from satire for a while, to get some “real” work done. These days I just don’t care enough about what anyone else says about my work, but I still inwardly groan when ever some one says , “your work is so whimsical!”. Now I just smile, and ask if they like it enough to buy it. *BAD! Kitty Grins and bears it* OK, now really…no more kvetching…well a girl can hope anyway. “)
This new work falls into what has been called “whimsy” for my style of work… eh, whatever. It is really a very cool collection of pictographs from the Mexico regional native peoples spanning over a few centuries. The main figure is from the 17th century for example, the moon in all it’s phases, from a later date. Every line in the entire work is actually a snippetof ancient language. I mixed all the ones I liked [ read: remembered] together, and came up with this painting. Like shake ‘n’ bake for art. I have all theses reference books, and I love pictographs and ancient text of all types, yes, I totally wanted to be Indiana Jones as a kid, real bad too. It’s carried on into my adult life and has become a large part of my work, telling big stories by focusing on the small details of a universal, easy to understand, human symbol’s. (I call it Heather-speak, shhh, that’s a secret) Seriously, I want you to get my work, not have to study it. I also want to teach, and remind the soul in each person my work may encounter. Either to wake them to something within themselves (reaction), or to re-mind them of something they have forgotten from the symbolic images (resonance) I use. I have not done a painting recently that wasn’t in my own language, and after painting ‘Seasons of Love’ recently I have been back in love with ancient hieroglyphs and pictographs. The only thing about my cave painting is I’m a very modern cave-person, it gave me a fun excuse to paint bubble wrap and stick it stuff. I love that repeated circle over and over, it’s my favorite. For fear of being “trendy” or Whimsical” I have not been playing as much, you know, just playing around. I’ve been all serious and productive and insightful but it has not been a party place, round here. ( I’ve been the serious BAD! Kitty or as serious a this kitty gets anyway)This work was plain old fun. I turned up the dance groove and spaced out for a while, it was great. I just hope I didn’t put the picture together in some way that says something in a real language, good lord I can see it now…people standing there getting mad because I insulted their mother or something. I was just playing around, I don’t know what all the images mean and I didn’t take the time to find out while I was playing, (or since, I guess I don’t want to know either) then it would have been work. Not fun, putting down the time to play around in my own head space…priceless. I hope you enjoy seeing it.
Ok, on to the other thing I wanted to tel you all about, because the way things are going I’m sure not posting as much and I think it’s really fun.
I cam across a blog called Five Red Dice. It’s this guy named Alan Mizell, he lives in Austin TX and he had these red dice and started trading them to see what he could turn them into. It’s a fun read, a fun project and I don’t want to give too much away, but you should check it out, maybe you have something to trade for what he has now, which is pretty cool and a total upgrade from the dice. Just go look, like I said I don’t want to give away the suprise, it’s fun.
I hope this post finds everyone well, good and happy.
Heather
http://www.badkittyartstudio.com
New Work
oils & acrylics
18″ x 24″ x 2″
The quote for this work:
“Archaeologists have not yet discovered any stage of human existence without art. Even in the half-light before the dawn of humanity we received this gift from Hands we did not manage to discern. Nor have we managed to ask: Why was this gift given to us and what are we to do with it?
And all those prophets who are predicting that art is disintegrating, that it has used up all its forms, that it is dying, are mistaken. We are the ones who shall die. And art will remain. The question is whether before we perish we shall understand all its aspects and all its ends.
Not all can be given names. Some of them go beyond words. Art opens even the chilled, darkened heart to high spiritual experience. Through the instrumentality of art we are sometimes sent—vaguely, briefly—insights which logical processes of thought cannot attain.
Like the tiny mirror of the fairy tale: you look into it and see—not yourself—but for one fleeting moment the Unattainable to which you cannot leap or fly. And the heart aches…
Dostoyevsky once let drop the enigmatic phrase: “Beauty will save the world.” What does this mean? For a long time it used to seem to me that this was a mere phrase. Just how could such a thing be possible? When had it ever happened in the bloodthirsty course of history that beauty had saved anyone from anything? Beauty had provided embellishment certainly, given uplift—but whom had it ever saved? “
~Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
(It saved me, I'm one that was saved by this beauty)
Good day all,
It’s been a tough couple of weeks here at BAD! Kitty Art, we have been working really hard and sleeping too little. Not that much has changed, just it was harder this last two weeks inside the brain pans of the adults here. Stress, it’s a killer. It’s a “shoot the muse and leave her for dead”, as well. The kind of stress that comes from the pressure of a deadline, a pre-determined deadline, I can take really well, become even more inspired even. The un-determined long haul stress is what I am talking about. The one week rolling into another, and the laundry still isn’t done, kind of stress, that’s killing me. That and the boys are on summer break, so they are either trying to quietly kill one another * quietly, because they both in get into trouble for actual fighting, no matter who “started” it* or they are asking for something. OY! OK, enough with the kvetching, on with some fun stuff.
Oh, one last thing, I am thinking of naming the newest painting “This is me, giving whimsy the finger”, what do you think, kind of catchy isn’t it? *grins*
I hate, no double hate, no not really, I loath my work being called whimsical. It really drives me crazy. In the beginning of my career, I’ll agree I did do a lot of work that was funny or based on something I thought funny. I still do from time to time, but not as much because when I started getting solo shows and events, the reporters started to write their reviews and commentary on my “Whimsical work”. Drove me bat-shit, so I stepped away from satire for a while, to get some “real” work done. These days I just don’t care enough about what anyone else says about my work, but I still inwardly groan when ever some one says , “your work is so whimsical!”. Now I just smile, and ask if they like it enough to buy it. *BAD! Kitty Grins and bears it* OK, now really…no more kvetching…well a girl can hope anyway. “)
This new work falls into what has been called “whimsy” for my style of work… eh, whatever. It is really a very cool collection of pictographs from the Mexico regional native peoples spanning over a few centuries. The main figure is from the 17th century for example, the moon in all it’s phases, from a later date. Every line in the entire work is actually a snippetof ancient language. I mixed all the ones I liked [ read: remembered] together, and came up with this painting. Like shake ‘n’ bake for art. I have all theses reference books, and I love pictographs and ancient text of all types, yes, I totally wanted to be Indiana Jones as a kid, real bad too. It’s carried on into my adult life and has become a large part of my work, telling big stories by focusing on the small details of a universal, easy to understand, human symbol’s. (I call it Heather-speak, shhh, that’s a secret) Seriously, I want you to get my work, not have to study it. I also want to teach, and remind the soul in each person my work may encounter. Either to wake them to something within themselves (reaction), or to re-mind them of something they have forgotten from the symbolic images (resonance) I use. I have not done a painting recently that wasn’t in my own language, and after painting ‘Seasons of Love’ recently I have been back in love with ancient hieroglyphs and pictographs. The only thing about my cave painting is I’m a very modern cave-person, it gave me a fun excuse to paint bubble wrap and stick it stuff. I love that repeated circle over and over, it’s my favorite. For fear of being “trendy” or Whimsical” I have not been playing as much, you know, just playing around. I’ve been all serious and productive and insightful but it has not been a party place, round here. ( I’ve been the serious BAD! Kitty or as serious a this kitty gets anyway)This work was plain old fun. I turned up the dance groove and spaced out for a while, it was great. I just hope I didn’t put the picture together in some way that says something in a real language, good lord I can see it now…people standing there getting mad because I insulted their mother or something. I was just playing around, I don’t know what all the images mean and I didn’t take the time to find out while I was playing, (or since, I guess I don’t want to know either) then it would have been work. Not fun, putting down the time to play around in my own head space…priceless. I hope you enjoy seeing it.
Ok, on to the other thing I wanted to tel you all about, because the way things are going I’m sure not posting as much and I think it’s really fun.
I cam across a blog called Five Red Dice. It’s this guy named Alan Mizell, he lives in Austin TX and he had these red dice and started trading them to see what he could turn them into. It’s a fun read, a fun project and I don’t want to give too much away, but you should check it out, maybe you have something to trade for what he has now, which is pretty cool and a total upgrade from the dice. Just go look, like I said I don’t want to give away the suprise, it’s fun.
I hope this post finds everyone well, good and happy.
Heather
http://www.badkittyartstudio.com
1 comment:
Heather darling,
Your present attitude is perfect balance on the signpost of life! "Show me the money or let me show you the door", the place of contentment, comes at a high price.
Although I've never seen you as a complacent, pacifier or one to cater to the likes of the sofa-painting crowd, I'm glad you've really outed this part of your wonderful self!!
I think the title is spankin'!!
Love,
Dina
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