Tolley Marney's Metal Sculptures of the American Western Horse

This past year I reconnected with an old friend, Tolley Marney and learned that during the years we'd lost touch, he'd become an artist. He's a cowboy and farrier who's turned his lifetime love of the cowboy life and horses into a passion for creating gorgeous sculptures of the American western horse. True to his roots, he sometimes incorporates used horseshoes from his shoeing work into his western horse sculptures.

Take a moment to check out Tolley Marney's metal sculptures on his website www.TolleyMarney.com
Here's an excerpt from Marney's Artist Statement:

"Art is a constant – it never leaves my mind. I don’t think about creativity as much as I always feel its presence blooming and developing into something new.

I create horse sculptures because I’ve interacted with horses all of my life, so I understand the horse and feel a comfort working with its image. The horse is a kindred spirit. Horses are creatures that will do anything in the world for us as long as we ask in the right way.

Heart and soul, they always amaze me. The horse is a reflection of our actions. They are pure and don’t lie. They tell us when we are doing something right and when we aren’t. The process of creating each sculpture has the same truth. . . READ MORE"

Creativity in the local Brew Pubs Catches the Wall Street Journal's attention

This past Christmas Eve the Wall Street Journal gave some Bend, Oregon restaurants the holiday gift of an endorsement.  Reporter Adam Thompson wrote a piece for Off the Beaten Path on what to do, where to stay and where to try Deschutes County's local brews.

Among the list are some of my personal favorites including two businesses for whom I've created art: Deschutes Brewery and Jen's Garden. Though it's not a brew pub, Jen's Garden made the list, an accomplishment it fully has earned.

Many years ago I created the holiday Jubilale label for Deschutes Brewery (the second year of their annual artist label).

The painting "Jen's Garden" is in the restaurant above the fireplace.

It's been an honor to be involved with these two very creative companies. I recommend you visit both restaurants when visiting Bend.

Helvetica - How a Letterform Became Part of All of our Lives

The movie Helvetica is a documentary about a type-face. Before you yawn-off (or click-out), wait a minute. Helvetica is a good movie. Really. At least for anybody interested in any of the arts, design, architecture and fashion fields.

Back in the mists of time when signs were actually hand-painted, I used to paint Helvetica as a letterform (type-form) on advertising billboards. (I was a billboard painter.) Helvetica was always a bit awkward to paint as it's roots were not from the brush and chisel roots of all of western languages letterforms, but from the machine age.

For more of an explanation about the roots of letterforms you must see the movie. Besides setting up the history of typography well, Helvetica the film has interviews with a variety of graphic designers who have completely opposite or divergent opinions about design from each other along with examples of their work so the viewer can make their own judgments.

Listening to contradictory opinions and design theories warms my heart. Strange -- but it does. I love that artists and critics do have strong opinions. And that they change those opinions. Been there, done that, over it is a credo that sits side-by-side with the purity of obsession over one thing for the rest of one's life.

About a week after seeing the movie Helvetica I was working with a designer on a logo I recently did for our family business, www.StandUpPaddleFlatwater.com. She was going through her list of fonts when I saw a name that intrigued me. "Let me see the font Switzerland," I asked her, wondering if what I thought I might see would be something funny.

I did see something funny. Switzerland looked almost exactly liked Helvetica. I don't know the history behind the Switzerland font, but I get the joke. Helvetica is a German made (and owned) type font that was originally supposed to be named after Switzerland. They changed the spelling slightly for the times. It was a marketing ploy of some type (see the movie). In response, somebody made a competing type form they titled Switzerland. A subtle joke tucked into a list of fonts. That's the kind of meaning in an everyday object that keeps the art world inspiring.

www.CristinaAcosta.com

Don't Sell Your Inspiration Short

During the early years of my life as an artist, people would look at my work and often ask me, "How can you possibly part with (or sell) that painting?"

My desire to make a living from my art meant that I had to make peace with the reality that to make a living I have to sell my work. Seems like such a simple concept, but ironically many people think that creating art for money somehow sullies the purity of the art.

It is strange that art is afforded this expectation even though God/religion and money/power have been hand-in-hand for centuries. It's as though some people think that art work has no relation to real work. I know of many talented professionals in other fields who would never think of working for free or heavily discounted unless the work was pro-bono for a worthy cause. Yet, I know many artists, (including myself, before I got a clue) who will give discounts to wealthy people or corporations (who can certainly pay) for a variety of reasons that mostly boil down to low self esteem combined with a feeling of scarcity.

The fact is that in the world we live in, money is necessary to support anything. Here are a couple suggestions:

• For Collectors - Before you ask an artist for a deep discount, be aware that a synonym for discount is disregard. When you ask a creator to discount deeply (they are not some big box retailer or corporate chain) consider the possibility that you are asking them to disregard the value of their work (sometimes to the degree that the artist will have to stop working or will have to stop innovating so as to create "saleable" pieces). Be sensitive.

• For Artists - Remember that your work has value. Be aware of how your prices fit with comparable work and don't undersell or oversell yourself. It's easy to think that price alone matters. If you want to give away work, gift a non-profit agency, they are always looking for help.

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My Friend Invented FootGaming

Today's paper had a piece about obesity now being a reality for 25% of the U.S. population. Children are especially prone (they "inherit" their parent's habits) and about one-third of all youth 18 and under are either overweight or obese. My daughter, Isabella Acosta Barna is on the Youth Advisory Board for a Healthier Generation as a member of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. The Alliance is fighting childhood obesity.

My friend, Judy Shasek, has put her uber creative self to the task of getting America up and on their feet. She's invented a mouse pad that you can stand on to play video games such as Bejeweled and other common games. She called her invention, FootGaming. FootGaming has huge potential in education and recreation markets.

Isabella and I helped her out with a video she produced to introduce FootGaming. It was a lot of fun to be actors. Here's a clip of the FootGaming video.

www.CristinaAcosta.com

Party in Bend, Oregon for Barb Buchan this Wednesday!

Have you seen a Bejing Gold Medal up close? I hadn't until my friend, the ever - inspiring Barbara Buchan won 2 Gold Medals in Cycling in Bejing this past summer. Not only is she talented and hardworking, Barb is 52 years old!

Barbara Buchan began her athletic career as an able-bodied athlete and had Olympic dreams until she went down in a cycling accident over 25 years ago. She suffered a terrible head-injury that left her "dead" more than once. After a decade of rehab and the will and perserverance to put one foot in front of the other no matter how long her journey was predicted to be, Barb defied the odds. She re-created her body, her life and her goals. She went to the Paralympics a few times, but never gave up on her goal to podium regardless of the suggestions she received to "retire".

As a result of her accident, Barb became a very right-brained thinker. She constantly pays attention to art and design and actively creates craft and art pieces for her friends and family along with her devotion to tweaking the interior design of her home.

Barb Buchan is an amazing inspiration and example of the creative life. I've written about Barb Buchan before. Here's a link to that post.

I encourage you to drop by Rebound this Wednesday and say hi to Barb.

Rebound Physical Therapy is hosting a

Meet & Greet for Barbara Buchan

Welcome her home and congratulate her. She won 2 Gold Medals in Bejing!!!

• Who: Everyone – This event is open to the public.
• When: Wednesday, Dec. 3rd, 5 - 7 p.m.
• Where: Rebound Physical Therapy, 155 SW Century Dr, Bend, Oregon
• What to bring: Pot Luck finger food & BYOB
  

Barb is a Paralympic Cyclist, Gold Medalist, and a World Record holder. She is an inspiration to us all.

www.CristinaAcosta.com

Creative Challenge: Alliance for a Healthier Generation Aims to Halt Obesity in Kids

Getting kids to eat right and cut down on screen time is a daily job that challenges most of us parents. Now there's some help.

One out of every three children in the U.S.A. is overweight or obese, and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation is working to stop this trend. My 14 year old daughter, Isabella Acosta Barna, is one of 20 young people nationwide ages 8 to 17, invited to join the Youth Advisory Board for the Alliance for a Healthier Generation this past July. The Alliance is a non-partisan alliance of the William J. Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association.

I'm proud that Isabella is part of this kid's movement for positive social change. Along with her success is a new job for me -- I'm officially Isabella's "Assistant"! It's a lot of fun. Isabella's first project has been to get a blog going. She's making movies about health and fitness and I get to be the cinematographer. It's fun to create with my daughter. We discuss design and aesthetics and I enjoy watching Isabella lead the creative direction of her writing and film making efforts.

So, take a moment to check out Isabella's blog. September is Go Healthy Month and Isabella has written an article for a Oregon branch of the American Heart Association press release and is scheduled to testify before the Oregon State Legislature Ways and Means Committee this month. She is releasing one video a week for the 4 weeks of Go Healthy Month, so be sure to check back often. You'll also find links to helpful sites for family health on her blog.

The Frugal Creative: Dyeing Custom Colors for Your Home

My long tradition of personal frugality has inspired all sorts of creative ways to get high-end interior design style into my life. During the early years of my art career, I worked hard making ceramic tiles or painting for this or that art exhibit or whatever was going on. About 10 years into the process I noticed that I lived in a boring house that didn't reflect me at all. At the time, I was painting tiles then shipping them to ta-ta addresses in Beverly Hills and Vero Beach. I was a go-to girl for high end interior designers and shipping my art work to addresses all over the country, meanwhile none of the creativity I so easily gave to others was part of my life. I needed to revamp my thinking.

I remembered the axiom, "the cobblers children have no shoes," and decided to change my ways. I made a vow to lavish my creativity on my own life, not just on others. It took a while to get into the practice of being generous with myself, but it worked. I started by painting a set of ceramic dishes for myself; tiled the stair risers with my daughter's help; painted the house; and framed and hung paintings and photos. I got my husband and daughter in on the home decor work and we re-did everything. Together we made mosaic lamps, mirrors and flower pots; painted floor mats; built garden art, and whatever I could think of. All of these years later, our house looks great!

Here's an easy way for you to start bringing your creativity into your home. There are three things you can do to immediately change the mood of your house -- Color, color and color! The obvious way to bring in color is with wall paint. Another way is with fabrics. Think about all of the textiles you have in your home. Bed sheets, fabric lampshades, rugs, curtains and most any textile can slip into a dye bath.

Dyeing fabrics is fun and surprisingly easy. If you can follow the recipe on the back of a brownie mix box, you can dye fabrics. My favorite fabric dye and supply catalog company is Dharma Trading Co. Not only does Dharma Trading Co have hundreds of supplies including fabric dyes and fabric paints, they also have a big selection of "blanks" or plain items of clothing or fabric yardage you can dye or paint. On top of that, The Dharma Trading Co. catalog has great directions! The front of the catalog has all sorts of useful info about the fabric dyes and how to use them.

The stack of sheets in this photo shows you the great collection of colors I created for my bedding. I shop at Ross or TJ Max (discount retailers) for bargain cotton sheets with a high thread count and create great looking bed sheets for a fraction of the interior design prices. So . . . take the plunge into color and start dyeing fabrics. Not only will you save money on home decor, you're going to love the results!

Creative Solutions - FootPOWR Gets Us Moving

My uber creative friend, Judy Shasek has developed a new product that will get everyone moving, and I'm excited to share it with you. It's a computer mouse pad that you can stand on. You don't have to use it all day long, just when you want to burn a few calories. If you slip in a game of solitaire (or other computer game) during the work day, use the FootPOWR mouse pad and you'll be up and moving. And if you have kids, the FootPOWR mouse will get them active while they game or even do their homework.

Don't worry -- you don't have to get sweaty and ruin your work clothes. How fast you move is up to you. Even a little extra movement in a day can add up to pounds over the year. Here's what Judy has to say about the FootPOWR pad and office work:

". . . office workers burned on average 180 more calories per hour while using FootPOWR pads for casual games like Bejeweled, AstroPop and Bookworm Adventure than they did while sitting and playing. The gamers wore heart rate monitors and the calorie burn was estimated based on the size of the person and the difference in heart rate measured FootGaming or sitting and playing the same game. There are likely other benefits, too. Research suggests that employees who are more active are often more engaged, healthier -- and happier. Activity helps increase energy and can improve concentration and focus -- important attributes for the office. In theory, FootGaming could also help reduce office stress, since numerous studies show the stress-reduction benefits of walking. If FootGaming can result in employees who need fewer trips to the doctor, the addition of FootGaming breaks throughout the work day could potentially pay for themselves. The idea of moving while doing mental work is not new. It's a skill that early humans had to master to survive. Recent books by Dr. John Ratey, SPARK, and Dr. John Medina, BRAIN RULES, explore that fact that for best brain function, humans are meant to move. If you’d like to learn more about FootGaming at work or at home, please e-mail us for a personal consultation at no charge.

I believe that good health is the foundation for a productive life. Nutrition and movement are the keys, and I'm excited to share with you creative solutions that enable you to make good health the easy choice in your day.

You can learn more about Judy Shasek. Judy is also my surf buddy. Here's a photo of her catching a wave on her Stand Up Paddle board on the Oregon Coast.

www.CristinaAcosta.com