The Spoon is In

Ophelia

2012-02-04T19:27:00.000-08:00

Watercolor

I've Been a Busy Little Bee

2012-01-28T12:44:00.000-08:00

Hence my lack of updates recently. Preparing for the RAW Boston show has taken a lot of my free time away from the Blogosphere. I've been working on creating a new series of small ink works, as well as elaborating on my series of "Oracle" paintings, featuring women with weird smoke coming out of their facial holes. Here's a preview!

Like most of my other works, prints of these pieces can be purchased from my Etsy Store:
heatherreidstudios.etsy.com , or just click on the box to the left!

BUY A TICKET

2012-01-21T19:23:00.000-08:00

Purchase a ticket to my RAW Boston showcase and you are automatically entered to win a 24x36" canvas print of my photo "The Flock"! A $250 value for only $10! The more you buy, the better chance you have! Hurry, tickets must be purchased by Feb 3rd, click here to enter! http://www.rawartists.org/boston/activate

I was featured!

2012-01-19T05:59:00.000-08:00

Happy to be featured in this weeks JPG.com blog as part of the BEST of The Color Red Photo Challenge:

http://jpgmag.com/blog/2012/01/best-of-photo-challenge-the-color-red.html

RAW Boston: Activate! Showcase...Starring ME!

2012-01-18T17:26:00.000-08:00

I am really excited to announce that I will be part of a large art showcase in downtown Boston this month, presented by RAW Artists. I will be featuring an assortment of illustration work, including some never before seen pieces.

Tickets are available here: http://www.rawartists.org/boston/activate
Make sure to choose "Heather Reid" as your supported artist!

Here's a sneak peak of what I've been working on:

Complaints and Grievances

2012-01-14T05:57:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the short break, things down in Spoonville, the tall and the small, have been moderately chaotic. I might need to use this entry to vent, so just hold your horses, the art will be back shortly.

These pissing contest primary campaigns are starting to set me off. Part of me blames my husband for turning on NPR every time we're in the car, so of course they are the constant topic. Don't get me wrong, I adore NPR on a general basis, I'm just tired of turning on any local media and being swamped with what-Gingrich-said-about-Romney-that-one-time and what-Romney-did-that-time-in-MA-OMG-what-a-flopper.

And "family values"?? Who's values? The Christians? The Mormons? I don't judge people based on religion. To each his own, I say. As someone who has been looked down on by both family and friends for having alternative spiritual ideals, I know better than to judge someone solely based on who/what they worship, but running an entire country, one of the most diverse countries on the planet, based on only ONE faith? Who really thinks that is going to work? Oh, it doesn't? Well let's just keep going with it then. These candidates talk
a big deal about "morality", a "return to family values", and "crushing the gay agenda". Gay marriage hasn't been legalized in Congress because it "violates the sanctity of marriage" and more bluntly, "God hates gays". Well, unlike most people who like to spit out what God likes and dislikes, I have read the Bible cover to cover, and it seems like God hates a lot more about hetero marriage than he does about gays. A woman should be stoned if she commits adultery, and divorce is a sin. Should we put those into law? No? Why not? A whore should be punished right, if she sins against her husband? Oh, you say that's what those
"godless A-rabs" do? I see...you just want to pick and choose based on what YOU want. So gay marriage isn't against God, it's against John. I've lives in Massachusetts my whole life, and for half of that time gay couples have been happily getting married, and guess what, we haven't been swallowed into the bowels of Hell yet...
Maybe it's because I'm not a republican, but I really just don't care anymore! I know I should care, because one of these men, neither of whom I really have much respect for, is most likely going to be president of my country; it's sad to know Obama won't get another chance, despite the positive changes he has made during his first term, because all people can focus on is that he didn't clean up all the economy problems the his predecessors put in place. Give the guy a break! He tried, but hello Congress, where good ideas and much needed changes are tossed aside because heavens forbid a Rep. votes "yes" for a Dem., and vice versa. Gentlemen and Ladies, please put your overpaid balls back in your pants, no one needs to see them, and let's try to focus on what's good for the COUNTRY, not your pockets.

Fucking politics...

Here's some art:

Voting is NOW!

2012-01-05T11:11:00.000-08:00

If you feel the love for me, please go vote for my submission in the Saatchi Gallery Collage Show!

Just click here: http://www.saatchionline.com/art/Assemblage-Collage-Digital-Salsa/302517/167429/view

"Salsa" by Heather Reid
Digital Collage
2011

Poppies Would Make Me Sleep, Too...

2012-01-03T15:21:00.000-08:00

This just might be my final Oz post! I have been busting a hump-de-bump getting these last pieces done for the Theme Show, and I am so close I can taste it.

Ozma is COMPLETE, and Dorothy is near completion:

Trees: Do They Travel?

2012-01-02T06:30:00.000-08:00

About a week ago I was surprisingly contacted by one of my Etsy customers thanking me for creating such an amazing print. I was completely blown away. I've received compliments before, but never like this. It really made me feel proud to be an artist.
The story: Tiffany, a fellow artist/mother from North Carolina, bought my print of "The Old Tree" from my Etsy shop. I received an email for her a few days later, with a photo of a tree in her backyard that was nearly IDENTICAL to the tree in my picture. I was shocked! The tree I has taken as reference for the drawing was from a relative's house, yet here it was 1000 miles away! You can read Tiffany's full story on her blog:
http://thethreadisred.com/2011/12/28/match-prints/

Copies of "The Old Tree" are available on my Etsy site: heatherreidstudios.etsy.com

Poppies will make her sleep...

2011-12-31T10:01:00.000-08:00

My blog is becoming very Oz-centric.But, I haven't been motivated to do much else of my own design lately. Spoontown has been very baby centric, and between prepping for our new arrival, being exhausted from carrying an adorable 5 pound parasite everywhere, and trying to cope with all the great little twinges, aches and pains that this mommy business brings, I can definitively say I haven't really wanted to work anyway.

But back to Oz..

This is my third installment of pieces for the Montserrat Theme Show this February. I wanted to create more of a "scene", rather than resorting to my traditional portraits or non objective/conceptual creations.

My scanner isn't the best at recreating pencil sketches, but you can get the general idea. No, you can't? It's Dorothy asleep in poppies! C'mon....
I plan on attacking this with ink/watercolor (what else would I ever do..) and maybe add a few digital afterthoughts, but I haven't decided yet. I'm very proud of myself for not hacking the Ozma piece to bits digitally, and have only digitally added text. I can't wait to put it all together; finally a piece I'm really proud of.

Life's A Witch. Part Deux.

2011-12-23T14:42:00.000-08:00

Like I promised myself, I've been trying to take my time on this Wizard of Oz piece so I don't fudge it. That's what I hate about traditional mediums, especially watercolor. Even if you make a mistake, you still need to pay for it. Yet I still torture myself with them. My phone distorted the color a texture a little, but here's how she's looking so far:

I am generally happy with the way things are going. Some of the background got a little mish-mashed, but it's an easy digital cleanup. If time permits me, I have 2 other pieces I plan to submit as well. The first is something I actually did about a year ago for a different show, that has since been reworked:

I love OZ...

Life's A Witch

2011-12-19T18:53:00.000-08:00

Every winter the Illustration Dept at my alma mater, Montserrat College of Art, holds a theme show, showcasing work from students, alumni, and faculty. The show is always a push/pull for me. I love the challenge of doing "themed" work, and I push and push myself to create the best and most conceptualized piece I can, but it all comes falling apart a week before opening night and self doubt riddles my insides, and I toss away my original idea to come up with something brand new in a rush, which I normally end up unhappy with. NOT THIS YEAR.

This year's theme is The Wizard of Oz, something that has been deep rooted into love of fantasy since an early age. I VOW not to screw this one up. It would be such a disappointment to myself, especially since I have work so LONG on my idea this year.

Here's my (current) piece in progress:

If you aren't familiar with the deeper stories of L. Frank Baum's Ozian series, you might be saying, "wait Heather, this looks NOTHING like Judy Garland, what are you playing at???"

Fear not, friends! This is Ozma, princess of the Emerald City. She was the basis for the third book in the series. The piece itself is based on Alphonse Mucha's poster for the Sokol Festival. For me this piece is a tribute to Mucha, to Baum, and to the creative minds of that time.

First Posts Are Always Straining

2011-12-19T15:05:00.000-08:00

This is the post to define the REST OF MY BLOG. My gods, the responsibility...

I wanted to start this blog as a way to collect my random thoughts, my quirky views on the world, and of course shamelessly promote my work to YOU, The Internet.

So hello, I'm Heather, and this, is me.