Interview Series 23: Heather Smyth Hanan

The NO PART OF IT Interview series was a strain of questions sent to a number of different people between February and March 2019. Each entry was scheduled chronologically to be thrust upon the world on a monthly basis since then. Each individual is introduced informally as if they were being discussed at a bar.   

 Heather Smyth Hanan is an artist and a psychic.  In fact, she taught at a school for psychics in Berkeley for several years.  I like her paintings a lot, because they share the sense of an abstract landscape, while to me, they also have a depth to them that still suggests to me that it is a portrait or a character study just the same.   Heather wrote her (unfinished) responses in time for a deadline while recovering from cancer.    EDIT:  Heather passed on in August of 2020.  




12.  Do you have any heroes or heroines?  Who are they?

Reality Winner and Chelsea Manning are my heroes, women who gave up everything to help steer the country they love towards greater transparency in its governance.

11.  Are you able to appreciate other peoples' creative work regardless of their personal shortcomings or inherent flaws?  To what extent? 

artists and flaws and appreciating their work.  Oh, after reading that fat book about picasso by arianna huffington back in the early nineties, it depends on what stupid thing(s) they did.

10.  What is the earliest childhood memory you can recall?  

My first memory is at eight months up at the sheep ranch in Montana, they were butchering chickens and showed me one running around after its head got cut off, but somehow the mists of time have erased any and all bloodiness.  They put me up on a horse.  The black iron cauldron had a fire under it, this is where they threw the chickens to boil off their feathers, I quess, in hindsight.

9.  Would you care to name any theoretical "desert island" records, or at least releases that you think are approaching your concept of "perfect"? 

there are many perfect albums.  so many.  heart, little queen.  always skip the first song, baracuda, too thunderous to start with so fuck it.

8.  Do you have any side projects that I am not aware of? If not, what is something you'd like people to know about you, that you don't think anyone would ever ask?

that side project is making and taking rso (rick simpson oil) to cure some cancer.  The thc triggers the individual cancerous cells to turn their apotosis ability back on.  the cdb helps you sleep deeply, which you must do to heal.  I highly recommend everyone grow different varieties of their own cannabis.

7.  What would you say was your most definitive experience?

most definitive.  so far, during these last 68 years there has been a goodly number of those.  sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.  My favorites have always been when everybody wins, everyone feels good and magical and seen.  this question makes me want to answer a different question for myself:  what failures of mine have made me a better person.

6.  Do you believe in psychics, magic, ghosts, or gods?  If not, what is your favorite conspiracy theory?  

do you believe in?  jeez.  if i experience it, it is real to me.  I am a psychic.  I had to get training before it killed me, I was taking on other people's diseases. 

5.  How would you describe your philosophy?

philosophy, I like to pretend that I am the dancer lover of the poet li po.  yeah, that's my philosophy: why not? btw, mostly he only pretended he was drunk.   don't fix it if it ain't broke works too.  somehow  I might be missing the point of what philosophy is, ya think?

4.  How would you describe your creative progression over the years, in a brief synopsis?

Dance.  more dance.  local theater.  draw costumes .  draw draw inks colored pencils chalks and then finally money and time to paint!!!   yay!!! I was forty years old. more dance.  I'm interested in how casual can i be about painting, about composition,about colors, about brush strokes and yet have it all pull together with dynamic tension.

3.  How would you describe what you do?

describing what i do:  I pay attention to the needs of the moment.  there is a cycle to creativity that includes down time, stupid time, fallow time, nothin happening time.  if you cannot handle that with some grace, chances are good it will be difficult to explore anything new.  Sometimes I meet young artists and they think they are all depressed and need pharmaceuticals. nah.  go watch a funny movie, they are good for you, enjoy yer down time, it's there to keep you humble.