The Daily Art- Cracker Jack Mary

(click on picture to enlarge)

***

Cracker Jack Mary

8"x 10"

mixed media on canvas

***

MINT or near perfect cracker jack charms

from the past 50 years, and a vintage image from the late 1800's.

Wrapped edges, needs no frame and it's ready to hang!

***

A Vintage Photo (from my personal collection of late 1800's photos), real vintage MINT cracker Jack toys, wired on...so yes they could be removed later...the cracker jack toys span 50 years of toys produced by the company. Hand cut tiles of black and white Plexiglas, flat marbles, oils, handmade clay tile hearts, and metal powders.

***

The story of Cracker Jack Mary:

'Cracker Jack Mary' came about from meeting a really neat guy named Manny at a tag sale, and another nice woman online, who gifted me with her family photos one of which is in this assemblage. The Cracker Jack Toys are authentic vintage toys that are all in mint condition, and wired on, so if they were ever "harvested" for their individual value they could be removed. There is at least one toy from the last 50 decades of Cracker Jacks toys on this work. The portrait of the "Mary" came from a local woman who gifted me her old family photo's for art, she wanted to contribute to my ability to continue working as a starving artist, but could not afford to buy a work...so she gave me the supplies instead. I was very inspired by her generous gift!

Manny sold me this little box full of Cracker Jack toys for a few dollars, at his tag sale, telling me the whole time he could sell them for more on Ebay each than what I was paying for all of them. To my surprise...he was correct! I looked them up and one of the toys is a real rare one, made of vellum and worth about 60.00 by itself! I had no idea they were even collectible, but when I told him (while I haggled him down on his price of 8.00 each toy) that I wanted to use them for an art project, he handed them all over for $8.00. So, thanks to Manny, and to the lovely lady that gifted me with these wonderful items to help tell my story, in visual form.

The moral of this story?

Change is Good.

This is the quote that inspired me during the creation...

***

"It is the individual only who is timeless. Societies, cultures, and civilizations; past and present are often incomprehensible to outsiders, but the individual's hungers, anxieties, dreams, and preoccupations have remained unchanged through the millennia."

~ Eric Hoferer (1902-1983)

***

Enjoy your day!

Heather

***

the fine print:

Cracker Jack Mary

8' x 10"

mixed media

$75.00 + shipping

Email me Here for purchase or a free shipping quote.

(or both).

***

http://www.badkittyartstudio.com/

Support Living Artists

Buy Some Art Today

Looking within for the answers I seek

BAD! Kitty Art Studio

***

It's easy to see other people's faults and tell them what to do to improve, but the true work, the reason we're here, is to see ourselves objectively and understand what we need to do to develop.

When we bump into something difficult we're interacting with a frequency that's part of the universe. So basically everything is good, even when it's bad.
We always have the choice about how we respond/react toward someone. And we have the choice to change the way we interpret our interactions. When we do this, presto! Everyone offers us medicine. Here are some ways to change our perceptions and do just that:

Trace it Back

If you interact with someone and the situation blows up and/or leaves you perplexed with a bad taste in your mouth, look at your part; take responsibility for your actions. Trace the incident back to the first thought you had, which is the same as saying the first vibration you had.

People who are mean or crummy put us to the test.

And even though it's difficult, we shouldn't take everything so personally. The way people respond tells us more about the other person than it does about us.
We can also argue that whatever we recognize in another is a quality we have within. When you react to a person, ask yourself, "where/how do I exhibit that same characteristic?" Each person and every situation in your life teaches us about yourself, adds Susan Gayle author of the CDs "Removing Limiting Beliefs" and "Learn To Be Stress-Free" (www.NewBehaviorInstitute.com).

Whatever is happening "out there" in our experience is a reflection of what we need to do "in here."

Realizing this is an amazing tool and gift.

Allow for Differences

It's a good idea to allow for differences. That's biodiversity. It's okay, you don't have to change the other person. Besides changing someone or trying to get them to be less annoying is a futile endeavor.
"What you can do is agree that you're not going to see eye-to-eye. It's healthy to accept people for who and what they are. And if they really bother you, change locations. In other words, you can set boundaries.
Also, focus on people's strengths. If you can, acknowledge them. Make an effort to focus on these positives, rather than the negatives. It's all about learning to love "what is" rather than what we think "should be. It makes us more loving, accepting and understanding of ourselves and the people in our lives.

Stay your Course

What kind of person do you want to be? We get to practice our spirituality with each moment. Continue to do the best job you know how under the circumstances presented. Also, be wiling to transcend your ego and apologize. It demonstrates that you're a big enough person to admit when you've done something wrong. You set an example and perhaps others will also realize that you offer them medicine as well.

Our personal growth rarely occurs in isolation from others. As we interact with others, they provide us with opportunities to strengthen whatever quality we are working on. Ironically, this means you may attract a slew of nasty people because there are certain lessons you need to learn. Like magnets, we attract opportunities for us to work on ourselves. Once we learn the lesson and confront ourselves and our reactions and learn to react differently with that emotion/situation/person, it will disappear from our lives.

Or, at least, be in our lives in a new, constructive way.

***

This is something I am working on/with in my present life. Looking at people, places and situations...as just the right "medicine" I need at the time. I don't find it easy to self-examine in this way...I don't think any thinking human would, but I do see the need for it in my current evolutionary process. This type of work takes courage and the ability to really "look" at/into yourself, and the people in your sphere (or out of your sphere too); also it is a humbling experience in most cases. I look into my dark corners and interior broom closets every year, in an effort to grow, change and heal those non-working places. It's an practice I do every year for myself...a gift to my present me, and the future me I wish to become.

I am working through this issue with my oldest son at the present moment, and I pray daily that light will come into our relationship once again. It's painful, but I understand that if there is ever going to be a healing between us, and for that matter all the "missing" people in my life, it starts with me.

So, here's to the hard work, here's to trusting that the Universe does indeed have a plan for us all, and for being courageous enough to sweep out the old and welcome in the new.

I have a real busy day ahead, I am working on my studio and trying to get it in some kind of working order, ( I am a messy artist...a stacker of the highest order)so that I may finish the works that are pressing on my mind for the upcoming show in April...with a greater sense of clarity and order. I need more calm-ness and peace in myself and my surroundings. One way to get that is to move things around, put things away, and re-invent the energy that I live within.

I hope you all have a great Monday.

Heather

www.badkittyartstudio.com

Support Living Artists

Buy Art Today

Thursday is the name of the game

BAD! Kitty Art Studio

'Seed of Change'

Oil painting

by HMBT 2006

On Sale Now on Etsy!

***

The quote for the day:

***

"Any change, even a change for the better,

is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts."

~ Arnold Bennett

***

We all love to be comfortable. Don't we?

Comfort conjures in our minds an idyllic life replete with all the trappings of the good life.

When we are in our comfort zones, we feel completely secure and are not afraid of challenges - for they don't exist.

Here at the apex of familiar surroundings, we are the rulers.

Everyone and anything bow before us in humble servitude and awe.

We want and get what we want without much effort.

We can predict what tomorrow portends by just cutting and pasting today.

In our comfort zones, nothing moves, nothing shakes.

All is quite and seemingly peaceful.

No competition, no challenge, no need to exert ourselves!

In a word, everything is 'cool', 'calm' and 'collected' - just the way we like it!

But we all know that life, especially in the business world, is far from being 'cool', 'calm' and 'collected'.

With the fast-changing technologies and the rat race that characterize businesses today, it would be suicidal for a businessperson to sit on their laurels as though without a care in the world.

To think, even for a moment, that we can sustain successful businesses by just 'sitting there' is, to say the least, a fallacy.

As business techniques continue to evolve with speed, businesspersons must likewise evolve by adapting new technologies, techniques, styles, etc.

What worked yesterday may not necessarily work today.

The fact that your company has in the past employed certain strategies with tremendous success does not guarantee that the same strategies will yield similar results in the future.

You should never be 'satisfied' with your achievements to the extent that you stop seeking ways to achieve an even better performance.

And this applies to our personal life too.

The moment we become 'comfortable' and 'satisfied' with who we are and what we have, we kill the desire for improvement.

However good you may be, you will always find that there are certain things you can do better.

Let us learn to embrace uncharted terrain, even when we feel like we don't measure up.

When you venture into areas that others have given a wide berth, you become unique, a pioneer!

Bill Gates could have opted to get a prime job with a blue chip firm anywhere in the world.

This was the comfortable and rational thing to do. Instead, he opted to pursue a dream.

Today he is living that dream!

He decided to venture away from the mainstream thinking and way of doing things and instead started a company that has today made him the richest man on earth.

Is he now 'cool', 'calm', and 'collected'?

Not by a billion dollars!

He is still reinventing himself and the multi-billion-dollar-company he put together from scratch.

In that we can all agree that he is really cool - and damn rich too!

Do you want to live a full life?

Extend your boundaries a little further from the 'comfortable'.

And when you reach there, stretch them a little further still.

In so doing, you will not only reinvent yourself and your business (whatever it is), but you will also contribute to making the world a better place for all!

You will also realize that you've got much more stuff in you than you thought you had.

With this realization, you can now venture beyond the outer limits of 'convenience' and 'easy-go-lucky', and the God in you will arise and help you to move yet another mountain!

--- Written by Innocent Mwangi Gathungu

***

This BAD! Kitty is now leaving her Comfort Zone...

May the world be yours today,

take a chance and leave your comfort

zone, see what happens, tell me about it.

Heather

http://www.badkittyartstudio.com