Heather Watts - Pg9 - Oasis Velvet Mini-Preview (more to come)

I got typing a reply in the marketplace thread and realized this post would be better suited for here. I've been meaning for a while to start up a new thread to show my work, something I can keep updating and adding to as my work develops over the next year.

There is something so magical and mysterious about automatons that for me they are a good fit with tiki. They have such an old-timey vintage quality which, as an artist, I find really fun to play with. I hope that the automaton imagery is a compliment to the overall exotic atmosphere of the painting. What I've tried to do is convey a "feeling" of tiki, a sort of nostalgia mixed with exoticism and a little bit of mischief.

Really I couldn't think of a better painting to start this thread with, because this was my first real leap back into tiki art after my non-tiki solo show in May 2007. The initial idea for on this painting was conceived of in May, but I painted this in the last weeks of August, just after tiki Oasis. It was painted (in acrylic on panel) specifically for the cover of Tiki Magazine and has been shrunk for the cover from it's original size of 11" x 14."

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Heather I absolutely LOVE it!!! Just awesome, and I am quite partial to monkeys wearing a fez. PM coming your way. :)

I Love All Of Your Art Work! Thank You!

Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!

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Very cool stuff...Love the artwork you do....looks very cool on the cover of tiki magazine!!!

Another magical piece. I really like the new velvet work you're doing as well- lush and mysterious.

Hey everyone! It's been a while since I've posted here. I've actually been up to a lot of new tiki stuff, but some of it is under wraps for the moment... and some will be on my website soon! That's all I can say for now. I'll have a few velvet pieces in the Harold Golen Gallery's upcoming show "Fine Art Tiki" on during Hukilau. But here's one of my new favorites that went to a friend at the M Modern Gallery's 5th Anniversary Tiki show. It's called "The Mask" Acrylic on Panel.

Wow Heather, nice work, love the golden-glow-from-below...

Really dig the new velvet stuff, looking forward to seeing more of your work

Right on, one of my new faves is "Up Lava River". Glad you're doing velvets.

GROG hope you are coming to Tiki Oasis in San Diego and that you are bringing some black velvet paintings. GROG saw the one at M Modern and it looked great. Keep up the good work.

Lucky bifachu!
At least he lives closeby so i can visit him and admire it for hours!
Seeing Heather's paintings online are nothing compared to
seeing them in person!
The velvets at the bali hai tikiMag show and the mModern
just oozed with mood and mystery!
Way to go!

Heather love your velvets! Your style of art really seems to be enhanced when used on velvet. I tried to contact you on myspace also, but that was awhile ago. Keep em coming is all I can say.

Here's another new one, I also posted it on the Portland Velvet Museum thread (Velveteria) since that's where it will hang! It's called "The Drummer" and was very much inspired by my piece "Up Lava River."

I'm bringing a bunch of velvets to Oasis this year, but more on that later!

Oh, and Kahu--I was off myspace for about two and a half-ish months this spring. I'm back on and going through my backlog of messages, so I should come across it at some point. Sorry about that! http://www.myspace.com/heatherwattsarts

I love that one! Great colors and lighting!

Awesome Heather.
The lighting emotes a wonderful story! I concoct that the trio are gliding through a cavern in the depths of a volcanic mountain. Moonlight filters through a 'skylight' opening, catching the drummer as they quietly glide through the water. The trio raise their faces to the cool light of the evening, hoping for a reviving breeze. Far below them in the depths of the water, molten lava precariously bubbles into the waters. The water is warmed by the flow, producing an eery light and stifling heat. The slow cadence of the drum echoes through the cavern, even the normally squawky parrot is calmed and hypnotized by the moment. What adventure lies for them as they travel deeper into the mountain?

wow. I love the drummer. Very very fine art.
So this one is not for sale, right ?
Do you have any for sale ?
Thanks.

Can't take my eyes off the screen! They're stunning here and I'll bet the pics don't do them justice. Amazing.

these r looking soooo sweet.

i saw the 'Mask' one at the M Modern joint and seeing it on the ol' CRT just doesn't do the dimensionality of the black velvet justice.

can't wait to see more down at T-O-8!!!!

alohas, t

Hey Heather, just spotted your work, Amazing, I have always had an inkling to have a go at a velvet painting, your work inspires me to even more. Love the technique, lighting and the interpretation of your subjects, blaze away!.

Wow!

Hi Guys! I've been immersed in painting for a while and missed all these great comments. Will reply soon... also I'm going to start posting a few of my Oasis velvets on this thread... just a few teasers. :wink: Maybe some sketches too!

Some other exciting news. Earlier this year I indicated I was working on a few projects that were hush hush at the time. One is ready to be unveiled and will be available at Tiki Oasis 8! I swiped this write-up off the Dionysus website... hope you don't mind, DJLee!

It's a Bob Drasnin “Voodoo!” pic disc, limited hand numbered edition of 525, with the tracks “Voodoo!” from his first album, and “Moorean Moonbeams” from “Voodoo II.” Features art by SHAG and Heather Watts! You can find this new release in our shopping cart. Don’t miss Bob Drasnin performing live at TIKI OASIS, August 15- 17 . Artist Heather Watts will be selling art, prints and jewelry and Lee from Dionysus will be at the Tiki News vending booth with lots of exotica and surf records and CDs for sale!

For any of you that won't be at Oasis, Bob Drasnin & I will also be doing a signing August 22 6 – 8 pm at La Luz de Jesus, Los Angeles. The disc is also available at the Dionysus Records Website and retails for $9.99: http://www.dionysusrecords.com/

Heather Watts Side B

SHAG Side A

Wow, Heather! You just go from strength to strength!

SPECTACULAR new stuff! I've always been a big admirer of your work, but these new velvets are so striking and magical!

You've truly mastered the medium & used it in your own unique way. And I don't say that lightly.

Edgar Leeteg would be proud!

Now if I only had enough bucks to afford an ORIGINAL! (Well, I can always DREAM!)

At least I'll get one of your t-shirts at Oasis!

Cheers & Mahalo! :drink: :tiki:

Side A & Side B, I think they got those backwards.

Shag got spanked. I almost feel that the Shag side kinda ruins the great mystic beauty of the Art called "Side B" But it is the logo for the album so I guess it can stay.

Will be checking back to see that preview Heather. Even though the velvet is your newer works, I think its your true calling

~teaKEY

Very Very Nice!

Looks like Lee posted the pic disc here too:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=29408&forum=12

And info for the signing:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=29428&forum=17&2

Okay! I still haven't gotten a chance to reply to all these great comments... but it may have to wait till post-Oasis. I'm skipping out of here tomorrow morning and still have TONS to do! But right now it's time to post some velvets... just sizing my scans! Won't be a minute!

Here's just a sneak peek for you of four of the pieces I'll be bringing. Lots more to see at the event! And I'll try and post some after too for folks that can't make Oasis.

Coco Joe's Lava Canoe (Rhinestone Eyes)

Headhunter

Siamese Twins (Rhinestone Eyes)

The Sun God's Journey

There's also two posted here:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=26337&forum=17&start=270

Okay! That's all I have time for now.

I'm bringing just over 20 pieces with prices ranging from around $120 to $600+. Get to the booth on time Saturday morning to take your pick, but I'm hoping I at least brought enough for everyone who wants to get one! Wish me happy trails & I'll see you all down there in a couple days!!!

Heather

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Hurry Hurry Heather!
Let's see these black velvet gems!
Great pieces as always....
drama with a hint of the playful...
:)

Those are sooooo nice. I love the Lava Canoe. I love the lighting there, it reminds me of Disney luau's as a kid. I wish I could see 'em in person!

Here's a new one I did (post-oasis) for the Planet Rooth Show Tiki Magazine sponsored. Wish I could have been there!

It's called "The Birdman's Canoe"

By the way: Thank you SO much to everyone who came out at Oasis and supported me! You've all helped to inspire this piece and many future ones. Mahalo!

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Beautiful work, Heather! I got to your booth at Oasis late and was bummed for me(happy for you) that a couple of the velvets I would have bought had sold signs on them. I'm looking forward to seeing more work.

There was a Pirate Arrt Show here in Vancouver called "Lowbrow on the Highseas" on Sept. 19th. It was a pretty cool show with some great local talent. Here's the Ad for it:

Keep an eye out down South as I think this Show might be coming to Washington and Oregon in Nov or December. The theme really kept to the Pirate idea and Lowbrow Art so it made for a cool show with a lot of nice pieces.

We knew Heather had a piece in the show and had talked with her before and decided to meet up. Well, Heather wasn't there when we first got inside but as soon as we went in, we quickly scanned all the different pieces and we both knew we couldn't turn this one down:

This one above is of my fiance, Heather and myself after the show.

The pictures don't do this justice (Especially mine!)! The colors are so bright and the image is so sharp. Heather does a great job on velvet and really stirs up a mysterious and vintage looking image.

For now it's hanging in the living room above the non-tiki bar awaiting it's arrival in our soon to be done lounge. I thought I would share this here to show another example of her truly great work!!

Mahalo, TabooDan

On 2008-09-22 12:21, Travellin' Tiki wrote:
Here's a new one I did (post-oasis) for the Planet Rooth Show Tiki Magazine sponsored. Wish I could have been there!

It's called "The Birdman's Canoe"

By the way: Thank you SO much to everyone who came out at Oasis and supported me! You've all helped to inspire this piece and many future ones. Mahalo!

---

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I saw this one at the Planet Rooth show in person. It's a-freaking-mazing. Heather - you rock my world!

Thanks again for all the great comments guys! I'm sorry I don't have more time to be on here but I've seriously painted about 50 hours this week--and it's only Friday! A precious few of the fruits of my labour will be at the Tonga Hut next week, though I can't make it personally... (Everyone who can make it has to drink a Mai Tai for me, and that's an order!) I'll post some more stuff on that thread later: http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=30432&forum=17&33
Looks like it's going to be a great event! All hail GROG!

Okay! And now for something completely different... :wink:

Thanks to the inspiration of Ocea Otica & Maid Marion and all their insightful thoughts on the third dimension of art, I've finally undertaken my first little sculpting project--and I do mean little.

I'm hand pressing a limited run of 50 pendants in a mold I made, and because of the imprecise nature of the medium (Sculpey!) each one is coming out completely different. I guess it's only fitting that each deserves its own custom paint-job & rhinestone eye under a glossy shellac, don't you think? In all honesty I think I'm just obsessed with the idea of "one of a kind" and I hope I've done it justice with these!

I've actually finished making up to #21/50 now, four of which are on their way to none other than the GROG for the Tonga Hut Tiki Wonderland. I'm saving one for myself and some as gifts--there will be NO artist proofs... 50 ONLY which really means more like 40 available. Each one is signed "H. Watts" and numbered on the back along with "#1" to indicate that this is my first sculpted pendant--hopefully of many to come!

Since this is my first commercial foray into three dimensions I'm pricing these little guys at $10 a piece. If you can't make it to the Tonga Hut (or if you get there late!) I'll be putting some of these up for sale online in December and I'll notify you here. Or if you're in Vancouver you can pick one up at the JEM gallery (225 E. Broadway) where my art is on display as part of the "Naughty not Nice" show until December 14.

If you own a store or are hosting an event and want to grab a few at wholesale, PM me with your email address & info.

Okay, I have tons of new velvet work I need to post, but painting calls. Yes, this is the glamorous life of the artist on a Friday night... I have deadlines people! Deadlines! :wink: But if you managed to read this novel of a post to the end, one day you'll be able to say: I remember the debut of Heather Watts' first three dimensional tiki! :wink: As long as you don't follow those words with "It sucked!" I'll be happy.

Heather

Hey Everyone,

This is Mike here, Heather's other half. I'm just posting some more of Heather's velvet pieces. She has been super busy with deadlines and hasn't had a chance to get on the forums much in a while so I thought I'd pick up the slack for her :)

Most of these velvets found homes at Tiki Oasis this past August. The others found them at various group shows over the past few months.

I also noticed that TabooDan posted a few pictures of his recent acquisition "Sea of Gold", thanks for that Dan! Hanging above the "non-tiki bar," it almost looks like the pirate is eying up your rum! I wouldn't leave him alone with that...lol!

While we're on the topic of pictures, Heather and I would like to see more photos of her various creatures out there. So if you happen to be fortunate enough to own one of these colorful creations we'd love to see them! If you don't want to post them here send us a PM or email us at [email protected] .

If you are not on her velvet e-mail list and would like to be, please private message us and we'll be more than happy to add you. If you're on the list already you can expect an email with new paintings finally available in a few weeks!

Enjoy!

Mike (and Heather)

"The Flower Canoe"
12" x 16"
SOLD

"Sea of Gold"
10" x 13"
SOLD

"Two-Headed Headhunter"
8" x 10"
SOLD

"Skeletiki"
10" x 13"
SOLD

"God of the Grotto"
6" x 8"
SOLD

"Tiki Idol"
6" x 8"
SOLD

"Sun and Moon"
8" x 10"
NOT FOR SALE

"Maori Inspired Tiki"
5" x 7"
SOLD

"Papuan Explorers"
11" x 19"
SOLD

"Trader's Mask"
5" x 7"
SOLD

"Nocturnal Tiki"
5" x 7"
SOLD

"The Emerald Canoe"
9" x 20"
SOLD

"Afternoon Paddle"
8" x 10"
SOLD

More to come......

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[ Edited by: Travellin' Tiki 2008-12-11 13:54 ]

Wow! That art is beyond words, The least I can say is Very Awesome! Thank You!

Thanks for posting these pics, I've seen some on other posts, some in real life but it's great to see them altogether.

Beautiful velvet work, Heather. By the time I got to your stand at Oasis, you had pretty much sold out. Congrats!

wow these are really cool, my favorite is "God of the Grotto" awesome color!!

Dang Heather! So many Grand paintings!
There really is a sense of mood and prescence in your work..
Whenever i stand in front of a Watts piece
i get that feeling that I'm standing in front of something
Magnificent and Awesome...
Art in the truest sense of the word...
Glad you're able to paint so much!
Flower Canoe leaves me speechless!
YAY!for DAWN!

Very nice stuff, I like the diversity you're adding. Excellent lighting/color.

As always, thanks for the nice comments guys!!!
LLT--could there be a trade in our future? :wink:

I posted the $10 necklaces to the marketplace thread yesterday.
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=30699&forum=12&1
There are a handful left so PM me if you're interested.
Here's a pic of #s 25-30 which are the last batch I made.

Here's two other new velvets! These were at my show at the JEM Gallery in Vancouver last month and are some of the smallest I've ever done at 4" x 6". I have some larger ones that are going to be available for sale this week. If you'd like to be notified, you can sign up for my Velvet Email Updates List here:
http://www.heatherwatts.com/index.php?page_id=412

"Lil' Demon"
Acrylic on Velvet with Rhinestones
4" x 6"
SOLD

"Lil' Tiki"
Acrylic on Velvet with Rhinestones
4" x 6"
SOLD

Heather! Your work is simply amazing!....as always! I am glad you are so busy as the ultimate Tiki Art Goddess! Wow

your tiki fan

dave

Guess I can post this here now! From the super-price-slasher online tiki art show
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?forum=12&topic=30642

tiki vandalism on a vintage copy of Thor Heyerdahl's Kon Tiki:

BEFORE

AFTER

YOU CAN VANDALIZE MY WHOLE LIBRARY,DAWN!
Stellar piece!
half the joy of being an artist
is the power of transformation...
finding little objects
that may or may not mean anything at the time
until the artist's eye sees it anew
and changes it into an object with
both the mystery of it's original function
and it's newly acquired power and meaning!
Bravo Heather!
You is good.

Heather, I haven't been to your pages in forever and holy cow what I've been missing is incredible stuff! I Absolutely love your Velvet series and Especially the Canoe bunch. Just, WOW!

Morning Heather,

Your work just blows me away! The altered book was my favorite concept in that last show.

I got to see one of your paintings in person at Planet Rooth, and I must say it just exploded with presence!

Keep up the fantastic work, and PLEASE keep posting.

Thanks all once again for your kind comments! I plan to post here regularly from now on--

With that in mind, here are a few more new pieces. :)

You may have seen this one on my X-mas cards this year, but here's the original:

South Pacific Santa
10" x 14" Acrylic on Black Velvet
SOLD

Heart of the Jungle
11" x 14" Acrylic on Black Velvet
SOLD

Hypnotiki
6" x 8" Acrylic on Black Velvet
SOLD

Tiki Devil
5" x 7" Acrylic on Black Velvet
SOLD

I'll post more soon so stay tuned!

If you are on my email notification list for original velvet work you've seen these already (if you think you're on the list, but did not receive an email, please let me know! I recently changed e-news services.) There will likely be one final update before the end of the year.

If you're not on the list, and are interested in purchasing an original velvet piece you can sign up for notifications at this link. Just scroll down.

http://www.heatherwatts.com/index.php?page_id=412

Mele Kalikimaka!

PS--I'll be posting earrings in the marketplace thread soon too!

[ Edited by: Travellin' Tiki 2008-12-23 12:58 ]

unbelievable stuff!