I must learn what is true in order to do what is right.

above: a doodle from my sketchbook this week...now I am drawing fancy goldfish. She looks like she is in first position in a ballet class or something.

Above: Vintage post card from 1920's

BAD! Kitty Art Studio

Quotes for the day:

***

We are great fools.

"He has passed his life in idleness," we say.

"I have done nothing today."

What! Haven't you lived?

That is not only the fundamental but the most illustrious of your occupations. "Had I been put in a position to manage great affairs, I would have shown what I could do."

Have you been able to think out and manage your life?

You have performed the greatest work of all.

In order to show and release her powers, Nature has no need of fortune; she shows herself equally on all levels, and behind a curtain as well as without one. To compose our character is our duty, not to compose books, and to win, not battles and provinces, but order and tranquility in our conduct.

Our great and glorious masterpiece is to live appropriately.

All other things, to rule, to lay up treasure, to build, are at most little appendices and props.

~Michel Montaigne (1533 - 1592)

***

To Achieve Your Dreams Remember Your ABC's:

Avoid negative sources, people, places, things and habits.

Believe in yourself.

Consider things from every angle.

Don't give up and don't give in.

Enjoy life today, yesterday is gone, tomorrow may never come.

Family and friends are hidden treasures, seek them and enjoy their riches.

Give more than you planned to.

Hang on to your dreams.

Ignore those who try to discourage you.

Just do it.

Keep trying no matter how hard it seems, it will get easier.

Love yourself first and most.

Make it happen.

Never lie, cheat or steal, always strike a fair deal.

Open your eyes and see things as they really are.

Practice makes perfect.

Quitters never win and winners never quit.

Read, study and learn about everything important in your life.

Stop procrastinating.

Take control of your own destiny.

Understand yourself in order to better understand others.

Visualize it.

Want it more than anything.

'Excellerate' your efforts.

You are unique of all God's creations, nothing can replace YOU.

Zero in on your target and go for it!

Wanda Hope Carter

***

Well, allow me to introduce myself to you as an advocate of Ornamental Knowledge. You like the mind to be a neat machine, equipped to work efficiently, if narrowly, and with no extra bits or useless parts. I like the mind to be a dustbin of scraps of brilliant fabric, odd gems, worthless but fascinating curiosities, tinsel, quaint bits of carving, and a reasonable amount of healthy dirt. Shake the machine and it goes out of order; shake the dustbin and it adjusts itself beautifully to its new position.
Robertson Davies (1913 - 1995)
Source: Tempest-Tost (1951)

***

In order for me to be my very best me...

I must continue to travel in...to find my way out.

Have a great day all,

Heather

http://www.badkittyartstudio.com/

My mind is going. There is no question about it.

BAD! Kitty Art Studio

(above) 'Play it again!'

Oil Pastels/Mixed Media

sold

***

For me, the principal fact of life is the free mind. For good and evil, man is a free creative spirit. This produces the very queer world we live in, a world in continuous creation and therefore continuous change and insecurity. A perpetually new and lively world, but a dangerous one, full of tragedy and injustice. A world in everlasting conflict between the new idea and the old allegiances, new arts and new inventions against the old establishment.

~Joyce Cary

***

I have too much on my mind this morning and not enough time to sort through it all before hitting the day at full force.

In the studio I have been trying to make myself work on all the

"unfinished" art that just needs a little of this and that to call it done.

I am forcing myself to not buy more canvas until I have finished the ones that are in progress.

Aaaaiiiieee!

I don't know about you all...but when I walk away from a work...I usually don't go back to it...I have a short attention span I think.

So, I have been working on the 6 works currently in studio that need finishing.

Argh!

I have completed one...almost.

Shut it...I am working on it.

I have a crap load of work at my day job...today I'll be talking for free to our men and women in the war...I'll be talking to them in Iraq...when I do this...I can hear gunfire and explosions in the background. It really does a number on me.

I have to not flinch and really actively listen to what is being said to me.

It's hard...because I just want to grab the person through the phone and bring them home.

They just want to feel better about the issues that they are still living with. Money, homes, families, love...you know universal Human stuff.

It's an honor to be able to talk with these brave humans once a month...if I can offer them any help at all with their inner worlds...then I am one lucky human... indeed.

I volunteered to do this.

I don't want to send the troops socks and cookies...I want to send them a bit of humanity...because that's the one thing they don't have in abundance in a war zone.

I want to help. This is my way.

I also want to create and start a project for the troops involving artwork.

I was thinking...ATC size artworks...that's something I would love to send to the troops and people of the war zones...small artworks, personal acts of creation, acts of love...in a place where there is nothing but destruction and pain.

That's my idea...anyone want to join me in my effort?

Well, I really must get the day started...8 minutes and counting to my first call of the day...I will work 9 to 10 hours today...and I will be a very tired woman at the end of the day...but I will feel as though I am doing more than expounding on my personal views...I will feel as though I have reached and touched my personal goal. That being...

I am a machine...

programmed for living and love.

Hope you all have a wonderful day.

Heather

www.badkittyartstudio.com

When the Turkey hits the Fan

BAD! Kitty Art Studio
***
Thanksgiving was great! Mate Man made a spread fit for kings...and a Queen, of course. We had a great time all around cooking and eating for the entire day, I hope you all had a great Holiday too.
I am finally coming out of my sickness, thank the Gods...I was really hurting this time around and a few of those days, I wanted to run away to no-where land and never come back...everything hurt, and I was so miserable. Today my hands are working again, and I think I am on the mend...Whew!
Just before the sickness took me down the long road, I did manage to finish the smaller commission I have been working on, and I finished the sale/trade on 'Self Control'. A wonderful jewelry artist saw my work on Etsy, and asked if we could work out a deal for my painting...I am not much of a jewelry person, but I took one look at her work and fell totally in love with her style. We talked for a while about the purchase/trade and I chose a wonderful necklace named 'pinball' from her stock...I got it a few days ago...it's even better in person, and it's perfect for me. Wanna see it? Angela Walker Jewelry...trust me her work is amazing and really super well done, tough enough for the likes of me...and pretty too! Thanks Angela, I love my new bright and shiny!
This weekend we will be taking the boys over to the skate park so they can burn off some energy...before they drive me crazy. I'll be working on my new work, I can't wait to get back to the easel again, now that I can stand up.
Well I guess that's all for today, I have tons to get done...the boys have both told me they want a painting for Christmas...and not easy ones either, so I have to get busy trying to figure those two works out. I love my kids so much, they understand we are very broke right now and took the pressure off of Christmas by coming up with art they want me to make for them...ain't they great?!
Have a wonderful day all,
Heather
www.badkittyartstudio.com

Tuesdays thoughts and convictions

BAD! Kitty Art Studio

Quote for the day

***

"The universe is change;

our life is what our thoughts make it."

~Marcus Aurelius

***

So, today is the day before my birthday. I will be 37 years old tomorrow.

I have come to some conclusions about my current

set of circumstances.

I will not "heal" anymore from the crimes of careless

people and their actions any longer.

I will not waste another day on those who have caused

me pain, been cruel, abandoned my love and friendship,

or taken me for granted. I don't deserve to be carved up into little bits,

any longer, because I choose not to be.

This is my life, no one Else's and I am in charge

of where it goes, and where it will end up.

I will take what I have learned from them (the carvers of the world),

and use that knowledge as fuel,

instead of weight and continue to grow.

I have been a rut of unhappy feelings for about three months.

I fight it everyday, I stand up to myself and ask for more, every single day.

I am no coward.

To regain momentum in my life, I have to

forget about what others think, feel and do.

I have to be more concerned about my own actions in this life,

my rights, my wrongs, my life is my own.

I know all this stuff, logically...but like all humans

I get sidetracked every once in awhile.

I want to have a large group of friends,

I want to have a happy family (I do have that)

I would really love to have extended family,

but they are all dead and gone.

I have not enjoyed my birthday in a few

years, it seems to me that it such a lonely time,

with just the five of us to celebrate, no parties, no friends,

no external life really.

Just this small band of people, under one roof

working hard to become the very best we can be.

Today I can see just how Lucky I really am.

The fog has lifted, and I am ready to embrace this next

step in my personal evolution.

I will take the pain, I will take the abandonment

and use it as fuel.

Nitro charged.

I am not a coward.

I am no shrinking violet.

I will waste not another day

wishing for something I can not at this time have.

I will take what I know, my talents, my fearlessness

and create the life I have dreamed of.

I will get my farm in the soft hills,

I will find and develop friendships with

other humans that are worthy and brave enough

to stand in the fire with me...and laugh at the

flames that will lick every soul

clean from time to time, and I will love them fully.

I will continue to raise wonderful children, and be the ever growing

life mate of a man that has proven himself, over and over again to

be exactly what I need and want,

loyal, honest, supportive and true.

I will get back to my work, my passion,

creating art that is

unlike any one Else's, and full of promise and soul.

I will continue on, with my head up high

and be proud of the risks I have taken thus far in life.

Yes, I failed...so what?

My circumstances are temporary

and not a definition of who I really am.

Today...I am free.

Today I am living in truth, and not just sitting beside it.

Today, I launch myself back into the world,

and create the life that I want to have.

Today I am fully

me.

Can you see me?

I am bright, raw and radiant,

yours in fearlessness,

Heather

www.badkittyartstudio.com