Original Art by Heather Sims

Nibblefest May

2011-05-23T12:03:00.000-06:00

I have been creating art pendants on scrabble tiles, glass tiles and in bezels which I have been adding to my Etsy store here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/88heather

Theme for May Nibblefest is Villages or Townscapes, so I thought I'd create a glass tile art pendant from my painting, "Venice Abandoned". I thought it made a beautiful pendant. I adhered an archival print to a glass tile and signed the back which you can see in the pics. Listing is for the pendant and a necklace. Winner needs to just message me if they want to choose a different colored organza necklace or ball chain necklace or I'll send with the black organza necklace that is shown in the photo going through the bail.

Auction ends May 27th evening.

Click on pic to go to auction. :)

March Nibblefest "Absracts"!!! :)

2011-03-27T08:21:00.000-06:00

I absolutely LOVE abstracts but rarely paint them. I have to say I was very happy with this abstract that I am really itching to do more of them! Of course I still will do my still life's and other things, but I hope to incorporate more abstracts. Well I know not everyone "gets" abstracts. I have some people tell me.. "I just don't like them" while others just adore them. I love seeing the colors on the canvas.. the textures and you can look at them and find things within the painting.. It can mean different things to different people. That's why I love them. Now my 9 year old. I said to him, "Ryan.. what do you think of my painting?".. His reply, "I don't get it!" That made me laugh!

Anyway.. this is my entry ending TODAY!!! I should of blogged it earlier but this was only a 3 day auction. It's on a 16x16x1.5" canvas.. It's very textured and scraped up. I have to say it was so fun to do and I love the colors!

Sides are painted black and it's ready to hang!

Click on the pic to go to the auction! Thanks for looking! :D

upclose.. see all the texture! :)

February Nibblefest on EBay :)

2011-02-26T17:15:00.000-07:00

February Nibblefest theme is dreams. Wait, is this my dream or the roosters?? :D

Nibblefest contest ends tomorrow February 27th about 7pm pacific time.

You can also search my entries each time I enter by searching "NFAC Sims" (NibbleFest Art Contest)
Contests run from the 20th-27th each month with a different theme on EBay.

Rooster, Bowl and an Egg
12x12x1.5"
*painting continues on sides*
*Ready to hang*

January Nibblefest

2011-01-24T11:42:00.000-07:00

Nibblefest theme for January is Circus. I've had this cute little glass clown figurine I bought in Italy.. I have him sitting on a shelf here and he always makes me smile.. such a happy clown. :D I thought i'd do a simple still life of him. In the center of the glass on the actual clown is some glitter, so I painted along the center of him (along the buttons) some gold glitter paint. It doesn't photo very well and hard to see in the photo, but it's really a nice little bling to the painting. This would look cute in a kids room or for anyone who enjoys clowns. He's a nice clown.. not scary at all! ;D

I send out a reminder email once a month when I enter this contest. If anyone would like to be added to that list.. (only once a month email) you can email me at: heather@heathersims.com and I'll add you. Thanks! :)

Glitters the Clown
5x7x3/4" Acrylic on canvas
(click photo to go to auction)

December Nibblefest theme "Wings"

2010-12-21T13:05:00.000-07:00

Oh boy.. I'm not blogging as much as I should be. I have some other projects in the works to add to my Etsy store.

December Nibblefest is up now.. As always the contest runs from the 20-27th with all entries ending on the 27th. I absolutely love entering this contest. You paint according to a theme and you have to start your item at 99cents with no reserve and the winners are the ones with the most unique (different) bids. Well no secret I have chickens.. I love having chickens, love getting their beautiful eggs and I do love having a rooster too to hear his morning crow .. Ok. he crows all day long! ;D

So with a theme of "Wings" of course I had to paint my rooster named "Terry" .. As a chick his name was Terri since he was supposed to be a she.. well the day he started crowing he was Terry with a "Y".. So here he is.. I painted this from a photo I took one snowy morning. I went in the run with the chickens and snapped a bunch of great photos of them. They are fun to photo and watch. Really a joy having them.

Click on the photo to go to the auction ending December 27th (around 8pm pacific time)

"Terry the Rooster"
12x12x1.5"
Acrylic
*sides painted black*
*Ready to hang!*

Listed "Fox Den" on EBay

2010-11-21T21:11:00.000-07:00

Check out my EBay listing of "Fox Den". I put in the auction actual photos of the fox I called Betty that took residence here this spring and the fox kits in the pipe! I deactivated "Fox Den" from Etsy to run the auction with my Nibblefest painting of Betty on EBay and thought I'd tell the story.

Click on the pic to go to the auction. :D

Fox Den

12x12x1.5"

Ready to hang..

Auction ends November 28th

My Nibblefest entry

2010-11-20T20:37:00.000-07:00

I just entered, "Betty the Fox" in Nibblefest a monthly art contest on EBay. Rules for Nibblefest is you list your art according to a theme. This month's theme is "Furry Friends" (Not sure if Betty is friend or foe, but that depends on who you ask ;D ). Contest runs from the 20th-27th each month and auction lengths can vary but they all need to end on the 27th. All entries start at 99cents and no reserve and winners are the entries with the most unique or different bidders.. This is a nice size painting for starting at only 99cents and in no way does the opening price represent the value of this painting. :)

This painting measures 10x10x1.5" with sides painted black and ready to hang!
Thanks for looking! :D

(click on image to see auction)

painting and still life

2010-11-18T17:13:00.000-07:00

I added another older painting of mine to Etsy today. This painting I did in 2007 and have had on my wall for a while. I was going to hold on to it as it was my first painting I did in a series of African inspired still lives, but like I said before.. I can't hold on to them all and I plan to be painting as much as I can! :) We have some neat items from Africa that I put in my still life's for this short series. I won an "honorable mention" on this painting when I entered it to an art contest while living in Stuttgart, Germany in 2007. I have one other older painting to add to Etsy in the next few days then will be adding new paintings. :)

Available now at Etsy
Africa I
20 x24x1.5
(click on pic to go to etsy)

I think tonight I'll work on my next still life. I'd like to do something a bit different and I have no idea what I'm going to do but hopefully I figure something out soon because I'm chomping at the bit to start. I have ideas for this still life and what I want to convey but I want to experiment and try something different or at least that's what I'm telling myself. LOL. Hopefully I'll have a work in progress to post soon! :)

Adding paintings to Etsy

2010-11-13T12:53:00.000-07:00

My momma fox painting posted above will be entered into Nibblefest on the 20th and I'll post links when I get that going. After momma fox I decided to paint one of her kits that would hide in the pipe during the day. They marked that pipe.. they didn't want me coming anywhere near that pipe where Betty and her kids stayed. I even had one night of walking down the driveway and spotting Betty with a fresh kill that she was probably going to take to the pipe to feed her kids. Betty saw me and hid the kill and followed me up the driveway!! It was a little spooky to be honest but she kept at a nice distance. I'm sure after she was sure I was away from the pipe where her babies were she went back to get their dinner. I got many photos of her kits in the pipe and when I said she marked it.. I can say that fox pee smells horrid.. but I wanted those photos! LOL. if you didn't know any better you think a skunk was near. I had to get on the ground with a camera and a flash light to get these photos and I got several and one little video too. The first photo we took (ok my husband took b/c I feared for what was inside that it would come and eat our face or something.. heh ;D ) we got TWO fox kits in the pipe.. sooooo cute! Maybe I'll paint that one too someday.

Anyway.. I painted this fox kit from one of the many photos I took and just listed it on Etsy.
"Fox Den"
12x12x1.5
Acrylic on Gallery wrapped canvas
Sides painted black.. ready to hang!

Click on picture to go to listing. :)

sides painted black

I thought I'd also add to my Etsy store an older painting of mine. I really can't keep all my paintings and I have some favorites I've been unable to part with. I won first place on this painting in my category for an art contest I entered in Stuttgart, Germany. I love the bright colors in it and know why I've held on to it so long, but it's time to list it and find a new home as I go on a painting spree! Yipee..

From one of my European inspired still life series

Confetti: Europe Still IX
20x24x1.5
Acrylic on Gallery wrapped canvas
Ready to hang

click on either picture to go to listing. :)

Back to painting!

2010-11-08T23:18:00.000-07:00

Well after a real dry spell from painting. I painted only one painting in the past 5 months.. bleh!   I miss it and am back on board! Woot!   I'm getting ready for Nibblefest art contest on EBay starting November 20th early! I have always enjoyed doing Nibblefest but I let life get in the way this summer. It was a crazy summer. I was beyond busy working on outside work (stacking logs, hauling branches etc)..   Plus I got new chicks!   Yay!   I already have 6 chickens and LOVE getting the eggs, so I added more chicks and can't wait for them to lay their beautiful eggs. I may have to get into selling them if I get too many. LOL.

So anyway.. I'm back to painting again and when I paint.. I'm happy and when I go for periods of time without painting I start feeling angst about painting again. I have older blogs and probably will close them and ,move here to Blogspot as it seems the most active and also gives me a fresh start to blogging

This past spring we had a family of foxes take residence along our driveway. This fox was hanging around and running the fence with my dog. Crazy, I thought. Then I heard noises coming from a pipe than ran under our driveway.. Well after further investigation we found out that there were baby foxes living in that pipe and momma fox would sometimes hang out in the daytime near the pipe but on the other side of the fence and away from my dog. I spotted her so much I figured I'd name her and so I started calling her "Betty". I took probably 50+ photos of Betty and then when we found the kits in the pipe took photos of them too.   Betty and her kids lived along my driveway and at the neighbors house. Luckily I keep my chickens in a covered run, so they have been safe. (knocks on wood).

So Nibblefest theme for November is "Furry Friends" whether Betty the Fox is a friend or not.. can be argued.   I decided to paint from one of the photos I took.. in the background you can see what looks like a window and that's actually my neighbors windshield on the RV they have.

So this painting will get listed on November 20th starting at 99cents and when I post that.. I'll blog the listing.. I'll also be working on customizing this blog.

Betty the Fox
10x10x1.5 Acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas