Douglas Jewelry and the Sara Fisher Breast Cancer Fundraising Event

Art and special causes often go together. Artists often donate a piece of art or the portion of a sale of a piece to worthy community causes. Bend, Oregon is a community of generous people and recently the Tower Theater was the venue for the Sara's Project, a fundraiser for breast cancer. Participating in this event were several jewelry stores in town, including Douglas Jewelry.

Steve and Elyse Douglas are true jewelry artists steeped in both the artistry and science of contemporary jewelry making. They make custom made jewelry from start to finish. 95% of their merchandise is produced by them (and their staff). Nothing leaves their shop for other jewelry artisans to complete. Elyse is also a certified gemologist.

This year's fundraiser was themed on the movie Sex and the City. Elyse asked a few of her fans and friends to model some of her finer pieces for the event. So... as one of her fans and a friend I also became a model. I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to break out of my comfort zone and wear this gorgeous necklace while mingling with the crowd.

Thanks to everyone who was part of this wonderful event.

www.CristinaAcosta.com

Every Cowgirl Closet Needs Painted Cowboy Boots

Have you ever taken a load of old clothes to a thrift store and made yourself a little ill when you tallied up the money you paid for them?  Well, fashion trends come and go, but the best fashion investment I've made is my cowgirl clothes. Though the presence of horses in my life has ebbed and flowed. I still have some Stewart boots that are 30 years old, belts, and even some shirts that are certainly in the vintage category by now (An age category thing that's a bit tough to take when I'm the original owner!)

Recently I took a pair of old Tony Lama cowboy boots I bought at a garage sale and painted them. It's a fun way to play with your inner cowgirl and get something new for your cowgirl closet. Here's a few tips I came up with to paint leather  boots.

• Use oil paints.
• Very lightly sand the entire boot with a 100 grit sandpaper to open the surface of the leather. Don't sand over stitching as it will tear.
• With a rag, wipe the boot down with paint thinner to prepare the surface.
• Let the paints dry for months as recommended with oils, then protect the surface of the boot with a natural oil finish.
• Have fun! 

Note: I painted these boots with thin washes of Cadmium Red Dark and Quinacridone Red on the foot area. On the boot shaft, I painted the gold calligraphic floral pattern with a laquer-thinner based 14kt. gold pigmented paint.
www.CristinaAcosta.com

Painted Sarongs for Sailing

Color and light filled with air propelling me across the surface of a High Cascade's lake. WOW!

Flatwater stand up paddling on lakes usually involves wind of some sort if you're out past noon. My friend, Judy Shasek and I were playing around on Hosmer Lake, Oregon last week and came up with a lot of things to laugh about while we experimented with our SUP boards.

Memories of catching the wind on windsurfers inspired Judy and I to take advantage of a tail wind and try some sailing. Since I often travel with sarongs (as SPF, clothing, mosquito distractor, etc.) I was ready.

I whipped my sarong into the air with a gust and Judy and I made a jib sail between us. It worked so well that we returned the next day with two sarongs and caught downwind puffs singly wherever we could. We even convinced Judy's husband, Ed to give it a try.

I painted these sarongs on silk and cotton and was totally grooving on how they looked filled with air and lit through with sunlight. Silk was definitely the material that won the day as a sarong sail. Silk is strong, lightweight and catches the wind easily. It also looks good on.

Judy and I got so caught up in sarong sailing that we almost re-invented the windsurfer!

Judy's husband, Ed Shasek took the photos (unless he was in them).
www.StandUpPaddleFlatwater.com

www.CristinaAcosta.com

Art and Grieving - Making Group Art

The past several months I and my family have lost some close friends in accidents. In my own way I work through these sad times in my art work. Sometimes consciously working with the experience, but mostly by continuing to work and observing after I'm done that references to that sadness are in the work.

My friend, Cameron Clark, owner of C3 Events recently experienced the passing of Jimmy Pantenburg, the child of a close friend. Cameron called me and asked me if I'd be willing to work for him creating a place both physically and psychically for Jimmy's friends to make a mural in his honor.

I just finished the mural project and want to share with you Cameron's brilliant idea. Brilliantly rich was how I felt watching a dozen teenagers with spray cans talking and painting as they created a tribute to their late friend. (Though, as an adult, the irony of teaching teenagers the fine points of spray painting did give me a smile.) Not only did they all agree that the piece is "really sweet", they had a chance to talk about the fun things they did with their friend. They'd look through Jimmy's album of spray paint stencils and photos of his work, then they'd copy something as they talked.

I didn't know Jimmy, but after seeing his work and listening to his friends, I feel enriched by his life. His friends got a chance to live consciously with their feelings of grief and share them openly without any heavy expectations or the sense that they had to do or be any particular way. They were hanging with his spirit. It was a beautiful thing.

On a practical note -- facilitating the creation of a group art piece that's 5 feet tall and 15' long necessitated some basic design parameters. Here's what I did:

• Painted one basic background color. In this instance, red.
• Put together a selection of spray paint can colors that would work with Jimmy's themes.
• Determined the central theme and set that first so that the kids could work around it. In this instance the focal point was the grafitti moniker, "Always".
• Gave the kids tips on how to best use their spray paint cans.
• Kept the image "floating". That's a term I use to describe my method of keeping the entire surface of the image working together at the same time. Practically, that meant I'd work intermittently with the kids -- being sure to disappear enough that they felt very invested in the work.
  
• When the kids were done I spent some time "tightening" the image so that it would be even stronger.
  

I enjoyed helping out this way. I highly recommend a mural project of this sort as a way to bring a group together, regardless of the occasion.

www.CristinaAcosta.com

Learning Printmaking

I've spent as much time as I could the last two weeks at Pat Clark's printmaking studio, Atelier 6000 (A6), in Bend, Oregon. Pat, her helpers and fellow printmaking artists have been especially helpful guiding me through the world of printing. Here's what I've learned so far.

Printmaking is FUN! It's also exacting, engaging and messy. I've been learning mono-printing as everyone tells me that monoprinting is most like painting, therefore an easier segue into printing for a painter.

I especially love how I can't predict anything (yet) during the printing process and that results in surprises that always lead to something even better. It's a fun and relaxing way to fill my creative well. I'll post of few of my learning prints when I have some I really like.

www.CristinaAcosta.com

Susan Boyle's Got Talent

Susan Boyle stepped onto the stage for Britains Got Talent show today. Frumpy, 47 years old and volunteering that she'd never been kissed, Boyle unwittingly primed the audience to expect her to fill the "self-deluded wannabe" slot where the Got Talent staff interject awkward contestants for comic relief.

Wow - did Susan Boyle rock the house!! She surprised everyone with her rendition of I Dreamed a Dream, from Les Miserables. Watch her video and see for yourself. I got chills watching Susan realize her dream as she sang the audience to their feet.

When youth and beauty are sliding into the rearview mirror (or are firmly behind us) many of us put our dreams aside and resign ourselves to the "reality" of our lives. Thank you Susan for inspiring all of us to have the courage to reach out to our dreams. May you have a blessed creative career.

Read the BBC article about Susan Boyle for more information.

www.CristinaAcosta.com

How to Keep Working when Sales Drop

Staying inspired enough to work when there is little in the way of art sales can be a challenge. I've been an artist for a over 2 decades and have had to adjust to this challenge more than once over the years. With the dire economic reports now dominating the news, keeping up my enthusiasm and inspiration to work is more of a challenge than during good economic times when commissions, exhibits and sales opportunities kept the money coming.

Here are a few things I do to keep inspired when times are tough:

• Keep up my exercise/sports routine. In fact - I look for an exercise goal like a race or strength goal to focus on. It's often easier to see results within a couple of months from an exercise routine than from work.
• Pay attention to nutrition. Eat and drink moderately.
• Find consistent time to work on my creative work and stick with my self-imposed discipline.
• Look at the work of other artists -- both present and past. Support other artists with encouraging notes or comments. When I can -- buy gifts from artists and artisans who make their own work.
• Be on the lookout for new experiences and insights to "fill the well". Even if I can't travel, I'll explore a subject or place on the internet. Or I'll make an effort to experience a well traveled path in a different way.
• If I have to stop working on my art for a while to find other work that results in more immediate money, I make sure to fit some sort of creative activity into every day. This really helped when I had a baby and realized that my time was no longer my own. With this attitude I was able to slip back into the habit of my artwork without a lot of trouble.
  

Photo: I took this photo in Albuquerque. This cactus bush had such a gorgeous combination of color, shape and texture. Sometimes a closer look at a ordinary thing -- like a plant alongside a path I'm walking -- can inspire.

Read more on my website: www.CristinaAcosta.com

Gold Medal Inspiration of Barbara Buchan

Creating a great life is not always easy. It just isn't, no matter how "fun" it all sounds after you've listened to an inspiring speaker or read a inspiring book. Yes, creation can be easy, flowing, playful, inspiration and wonder. Creating is also failure, perseverance and effort.

My friend Barb Buchan embodies every part of the inspiration that makes for creative living. And now she's won a Gold Medal! A Paralympic cyclist, Barb just set a new world record in Beijing and achieved her dream of earning a Gold Medal. And to top it off -- Barb is 52 years old! She's amazing, amazing, amazing. I've watched her work hard for years for this goal and I want to share her story with you. This photo is of Barb and one of her cycling coaches, Eddy B at a fund raiser for her earlier this year. The coach that created Barb's multi-year training schedule is Justin Wadsworth.
NOTE: Barb won 2 Gold Medals! On Friday, Sept. 12th Barbara Buchan earned her second Gold Medal in the Time Trials.
______________________________________
Here is an excerpt from today's local paper, The Bend Bulletin:

Bend cyclist wins gold at Paralympics - A quarter-century after a horrific crash changed Barbara Buchan's life forever

By Mark Morical / The Bulletin Published: September 11. 2008 4:00AM PST Mark Morical can be reached at 541-383-0318 or at mmorical@bendbulletin.com. The New York Times contributed to this report.

Barbara Buchan was an up-and-coming cyclist in 1982, competing for a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team.

She never made it.

But now, more than a quarter of a century later, she has a gold medal.

Buchan, who lives in Bend, won the women’s individual 3,000-meter pursuit in track cycling Wednesday at the Paralympic Games in Beijing. The 52-year-old finished with a time of 4 minutes, 31.33 seconds, edging Jennifer Schuble of Homewood, Ala., by four seconds.

Buchan’s time set a world record in the cerebral palsy 3 (CP3) division.

“I can’t believe I did it,” Buchan said Wednesday, quoted in a United States Olympic Committee news release. “My accident was so long ago, but I am pleased I finally got my gold.”

That “accident” was a devastating road-race crash in Colorado 26 years ago. Buchan, who was wearing a soft leather helmet, was the most severely injured of the 21 riders who went down on a steep descent. According to a profile of Buchan by The New York Times, her accident led to the rule requiring racing cyclists to wear hard-shell helmets.

Buchan (pronounced BUH-kan) spent two months in a coma, and doctors doubted she would survive. Nearly a quarter of the left side of her brain was removed, and a titanium plate was installed to rebuild her skull.

After five brain surgeries and years of rehabilitation, she continues to struggle with speech problems and numbness in her arms and fingers.

But now, Buchan has gold.

“You can be very upset at the world and have everyone take care of you,” Buchan told The New York Times on Wednesday, “or get back on your feet again.”

Buchan did just that, and in 1988, she won a silver medal in the 800-meter run at the Paralympics in Seoul and finished fourth in the 400. She also competed as a runner at the 1992 Paralympics in Barcelona. (The Paralympic Games are a quadrennial international competition featuring each nation’s elite athletes with physical disabilities. The games follow the Summer and Winter Olympic Games at the same venues.)

Women’s cycling was not added to the Paralympics until 2004, but Buchan was an alternate for the U.S. cycling squad at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics, and she raced against men in 2000 at the Sydney Paralympics, finishing ninth and 10th in two races.

A women’s cycling program was added to the 2004 Athens Paralympics, in which Buchan placed fourth in the time trial.

She has earned several other medals in international cycling competitions since 2002.

In her fifth Paralympics in Beijing, as the oldest member of the U.S. Paralympic Team, Buchan finally got her gold, just two days after placing eighth in the women’s 500-meter time trial. . .

. . .She works in the garden department at Bend’s Home Depot as part of the company’s Olympic Job Opportunities program for Olympians and Paralympians. Under terms of the program, she works a 20-hour-per-week schedule and receives full-time pay and benefits.

But before she returns to Central Oregon, Buchan has work left in Beijing. She is scheduled to race in the 25-kilometer time trial Friday.

“I think I’m still flying and floating around,” Buchan said. “It still hasn’t hit me. I’ve wanted a gold medal since I was 15, and now I have one.”. . . . READ MORE

Read theProfile of Barbara Buchan that appeared in The Bulletin in August, click here.

Sketchbook: Epee Fencing

Our daughter is an Epee fencer and our family enjoys traveling together to her events. A typical event includes thousands of people in a convention center. Athletes of all ages mix throughout the room. There is always something interesting to see.

Eppe fencing bouts are fast, so it's not easy to draw the athletes. Mostly I draw them in defensive "waiting/thinking" postures. I look for movement that repeats and concentrate on holding that image in my mind. Here's an ink drawing of my daughter as she stands at the ready at her end of the fencing strip.

Drawing from life is always fun. Athletes and Dancers move so beautifully that I'm often inspired to draw while at an event. If you'd like to know more about fencing here are some links to the official U.S. Fencing website. The events are free and are in different large cities around the country.
Fencing Facts: http://www.usfencing.org/usfa/content/view/1568/107/
Fencing Glossary: http://www.usfencing.org/usfa/content/view/1569/108/

For more of my artwork, see www.CristinaAcosta.com

Museums within Walking Distance of the San Jose, California Convention Center

Years ago San Jose, CA had the reputation of being the San Francisco Bay Area's very poor cousin. Well, the cousin won the lottery. Silicon Valley happened and the rest is history. Civic-minded investors poured a bunch of money into the area and it shows.

I was recently traveling and spent time at the San Jose, California McEnery Convention Center (150 West San Carlos St. San Jose, CA 95113). A clean and sleek neighborhood of bistros, fountains, coffee houses and museums begins within 100 feet of the McEnery Convention Center. I had a couple of free hours, so I first visited the San Jose Museum of Art. The exhibit Robots: Evolution of a Cultural Icon was fun. It seemed fitting to have this type of exhibit in Silicon Valley and it was an interesting counterpoint to my visit to The Tech Museum of Innovation nearby.

One of my favorite pieces in the Robots: Evolution of a Cultural Icon was Michael Salter's piece, a twenty feet tall robot sculpture made out of styrofoam computer packing material titled, Giant Styro. Salter made the piece specifically for the space. It was whimsical to look at, yet at the same time, realizing just how many styrofoam packing materials are sent all over the world with every computer purchase and the subsequent environmental impact of the computer, it had a bit of a dark edge (maybe medium-gray is a better description). The exhibit covered mostly the playful and toy-like friendly images of robots that are brought to mind in short stories by Isaac Asimov. There wasn't much in this exhibit to do with the postmodern ironic/destructive robot images from movies like Terminator and Robo Cop.

All in all -- I like that the San Jose Art Museum and The Tech Museum of Innovation are so close to each other. In a symbolic way it's as though the civic minded citizens of San Jose are reminding all of us that art and science need each other to create the kind of cities we will want to live in.

And if you have more time, there's the cozy San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles to visit just a few blocks away.

Art and Fear

Most non-artists don't usually couple art and fear when they look at a piece of art. For most any artist who has been working for an extended period of time, art and fear are if not companions, at least at the same party.

Before I began teaching, I often thought that I was a minority when I noticed fear creeping into my art process. I noticed that the same litany of thoughts would drift occasionally across my mind when I was working: What will ____ think about this? Am I --- Open? Closed? Trite? Cute? Dumb? Boring? Good enough? (And more!) Will people think __ (something negative)___ when they see this image? Will anybody ever buy anything? Etcetera.

When I started teaching art in the early 1990's at Central Oregon Community College (a 5 year stint), I noticed that fear was often the biggest hurdle students faced. Talent, though a lovely and inspiring thing to behold was not what propelled artists to progress into mature work. It was their ability to confront and overcome their fears. I'm not talking about things like fear of heights or bugs or something like that, though that can be a starting point. I'm talking about the deep primeval fear of being excluded from the tribe - cast out to fend for oneself in a world full of long, sharp teeth, starvation and separation. That fear surfaces as negative self-talk, despair and artist block.

Most artists, except the lucky few (I don't know any, I fantasize they exist) at some point work in obscurity. There may or may not be local, regional or national success for the artist. Or, if that happens, the inevitable ebbs and flows of time and place, taste and fashion may again press the artist into isolation.

I've been working as an artist for over 2 decades, long enough to have experienced highs and lows. Neither conditions lasts, though that isn't comforting news from either perspective. Though I've taken more rides than I needed to, I've learned that rather than throwing my emotional self reactively on the roller coaster of "Yes, they LOVE it! / No, they hate it!" I had to train myself to put aside my fears and work anyway.

I hope I didn't make that sound easy. It wasn't. Here are 3 things that have worked for me:

• Read about other artists: Their essays, biographies and autobiographies
• Develop and maintain a meditation practice -- moving, sitting, drawing -- whatever works.
• Work regularly regardless about how you emotionally feel about the work.
  

With this in mind I have two things to recommend: A book and a meditation system.

Art & Fear, Observations on the Perils (and Rewards ) of Artmaking, by David Bayles & Ted Orland, ©1998, 2001
This is a rich, concise, wu-wu-free book about what messes with your head -- or helps you -- as you negotiate the paths of your artistic/creative life.

Silva Life System, a meditation program originally developed by the late Jose Silva. I stumbled onto this system via some postal junk mail in the late 1980's. I found a set of his audio recordings at the local library, then in the 1990's bought my own set as a refresher. I've tried a lot of different types of meditation (I'm open to new things), but I return to the Silva Method. The Silva Method of Meditation offers the most practical tools for stress relief and visualization to some metaphysical techniques that enable a person to plumb the depths of their spirit.

Read My New Article About Art & Inspiration

Ancient and contemporary wisdom intertwine in the magazine Pure Inspiration. Robert Becker, the Editor and Publisher of the magazine weaves reader's stories among a selection of articles that inform and inspire.

I wrote a piece for the current issue of Pure Inspiration. Here's how the website describes the piece:
"Cristina Acosta discusses her experience as a painter, pointing out that "art" is more than just a particular activity: "Time and maturity have revealed to me that all humans are artists, whatever our medium may be. Our canvas is time and our palettes of colors are the choices we make." She emphasizes that for her, art is more a process than an end to be attained: "I keep painting, each stroke of my brush a record of the present moment. When the painting is done, my involvement with that set of moments in time is over. The images are now for the viewers. They will discover their own meanings."

Read this article when you purchase a copy of Pure Inspiration.
Read more about my books and articles on my site. You'll find a list of home decor, personal essays and writing about art.

Honoring Mother's Day - My Grandmother's Life as an Artist

Multi-Cultural Musical History in Southern California

In the early 1920's my grandmother Catalina Maria Ortiz Acosta and her family, living in Los Angeles, befriended Charles O. Roos and his wife, Jaunita E. Roos. The family connection was certainly enriched by Catalina's friendship and professional relationship with Jaunita. Catalina (1904-1991) was then a twenty year old classical pianist and the featured pianist at concerts the Roos organized. My grandmother spoke with admiration regarding Juanita's musical abilities. Charles, an Easterner, moved to Los Angeles and worked as a newspaper feature writer when not involved with his work as a lyricist. His wife Juanita was a gifted pianist. They collaborated to create a variety of piano compositions. Charles also wrote poems and lyrics for other composers' music. The concert program for the event at the Ramona Convent in Alhambra, California illustrates the typical concert Roos organized. Nordskog Records recorded the concert. Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of that recording or know of it's existence.

Sifting through my Grandmother's photo albums I found several photos of Charles and Juanita. The photos of the people in the Native American outfits are my grandmother Catalina, and Chief Yowlache, dressed in traditional Native American Indianclothing for publicity photos that Roos used in his concert promotions. Chief Yowlache was the "Indian baritone" for the program. Catalina accompanied him and also played solos.

During a time of escalating social injustice, Juanita and Charles Roos were creating musical compositions that celebrated different cultures. Though women had only just received the vote, and womens rights were often negated, Charles Roos publicly acknowledged his wife Juanita's contributions, including her name on compositions they collaborated on. The concert program at the Alhambra Convent School illustrates that the Roos were actively promoting the beauties of the Native American Indian and Hispanic culture to the elite of the dominant Anglo society. Understanding the political climate within which my grandmother was making her musical contributions to culture increases my admiration for her artistry and strength. She steadfastly dedicated herself to excellence in her art form and understood the symbolic importance of her image as a intelligent and accomplished Hispanic woman when many minds were closed to the idea of such a person existing.

I searched the internet for more information about the Roos and found an interesting essay. I've included an excerpt with a link back to the original author. You'll recognize the name "Lieurance" in the Composer/Lyricist column of the concert program. I've also included some links to historical documents that record the political culture of the era. The following excerpt sheds light on Roos connection to like minded Anglo intellectuals during this time.

Excerpt of an essay by Linda Marsh Helfman,© 2007 (The Photos are mine) http://polleymusic.lincolnlibraries.org/History.htm

"His (Lieurance's) interest in tribal music began in 1902 with a visit to his brother who was an Indian Agent on the Crow Reservation in Montana. From that time he began a life-long fascination with the music and customs of the Native Americans. He visited over 30 reservations and amassed a collection of several thousand recordings and transcriptions as well as a large number of Indian flutes. He also invited Native Americans to his studio in Lincoln for some of the recording sessions. It was often difficult to coerce the Indians into performing for his recording machine, but his understanding and patience with tribal ways won them over. He had an enormous respect for the people and had learned a great deal from the Native American wives of two of his brothers. Much of his vast collection now resides in the Smithsonian Institution, the New Mexico Museum, and the Archive of Folk Culture at the Library of Congress.

Lieurance drew upon Native American melodies for many of his own compositions which he then clothed in what he called the "harmonizing which our ears demand'. His most famous piece is "By the Waters of Minnetonka". It was first published in 1913, and became the number one sheet music hit of its day, with many subsequent published arrangements. It was performed and recorded by some of the leading musicians of the era and enjoyed world-wide popularity.

In the early 1920s Charles O. Roos, a feature story writer for a Los Angeles newspaper, happened to read about Lieurance and his work with Native American music. In his younger days Roos had been a woodsman and raftsman on the St. Croix River and had written poems based on his experiences with the local tribes there. He realized that Lieurance was the right person to set the poems to music. The two of them met and decided to travel together in the Chippewa forest country of northern Minnesota in order to gather additional material and inspire themselves further. Using thematic material from Chippewa homeland, rain dance, ceremonial, and mourning songs, Lieurance composed music for Roos' poems, and the result was the "Eight Songs From Green Timber" song cycle which appears in this collection." © 2007Linda Marsh Helfman

Photos: copyright 2008, Cristina Acosta. Photo of single woman, Catalina Ortiz Acosta in the 1920's. Photo of Charles O. Roos and his wife Juanita Roos (inscribed to my grandmother, Catalina Maria Ortiz Acosta). Photo of Charles O. Roos with a paddle.

Read More on my Website

May 2008 Newsletter: Creativity is Connection

(From my website monthly mailings: sign-up here.)

Dear Friends,

Connections between people are more obvious than ever before in history. Virtual-world relationships on sites like Facebook and LinkedIn are blurring the external boundaries between our work, social and family selves. The boundaries between the different worlds we pass through during the course of our day and the different personas we may inhabit are now permeable. How do we keep centered, balanced and creative when the world around us is increasingly changeable?

Keeping the connections between eyes, hands and heart open requires practice. Meditation is one of the tools I use to keep the connections open within myself, therefore staying centered. A form of meditation, sketching is a fabulous way to stay in the present moment as it requires all of my attention. As my mind travels, my pen follows. My sketchbook is one way I connect with myself and the world around me. Drawing keeps me on track, both in my creative work and in my life. There is no separation.

Accessing deeper meaning doesn't have to be something that happens only in specials places or at special times. It's available to us 24/7 in all of our choices. I recently wrote a blog entry titled Authentic Color Vs. Color Trends that explores using the process of choosing colors for your home as a self-development practice.

Because we are creators, being connected is crucial. The fossil fueled motor and this boon (along with other factors) has led to global climate change, possibly humankind's biggest global challenge. At this time in history it is especially important that each of us are aware of our part in creating our small piece of the world and how those pieces interconnect with others.

Live Happy,
Cristina

Note: I drew these ink drawings during a belly dance event. These drawings of belly dancers are ball point pen on 3" x 5" paper. Completed in about 5 minutes or so (as long as the dance lasted), they are representations of my visceral response to the movements and beauties of the dance and dancers. Though this sketch was 5 minutes, I've been sketching for over 30 years. What you're seeing in each sketch is the refinement of my ability to create an image that relates my experience along with leaving open-to-view the paths my mind took during the drawing/meditation. See how my love of movement influences my paintings on my site at www.CristinaAcosta.com

Sketchbook: The Art of Belly Dancing

Keeping the connections between eyes, hands and heart open requires practice. My sketchbook is the tool I use to connect with myself and the world around me. A form of meditation, sketching is a fabulous way to stay in the present moment as it requires all of my attention. As my mind drifts, the pen drifts. Drawing keeps me on track. Both in my creative work and in my life -- there is no separation.

Don't get the idea that I'm some sort of tidy, perfect sketchbook/scrapbook type. While I admire those people who naturally organize their experiences into tidy books, I've never been one. I keep little 3" x 5" sketchbooks (or larger) in the car, my purse, by the phone and other places to record a moment when it hits me hard enough to move my pen. Pages may be weeks, months, even years apart in the same book.

I'm not a picky sketcher. Ink pens are my favorite because drawings made with them don't smear easily. And, I don't sketch to a "finish". My pieces are usually only a matter of minutes long. Fifteen minutes for a quick sketch is my usual limit, 1 to 5 minutes is more likely. That seems to be either the time I have or my attention span. Either way, the result is the same. Dance is a particularly favorite thing for me to draw. I love the fluid movements and focused energy. The challenge of drawing moving subjects entrances me.

Last week I attended the High Desert Belly Dance Guild's April Showcase in Bend, Oregon, an exhibition of a variety of dance styles from several of the Guild member teachers and students. Fascinated with dance, I started taking belly dance lessons last fall from my friend, Kathy Southwick, a life-long dancer. Her class is fun and her music mix always inspires an extra shimmy. Attending the dance class gives me insight into feeling my visual experiences kinesthetically. Sketching is a way to feed and educate my art from the inside, rather than always looking for external influences such as style, fashion or concepts about what defines good art.

Drawing Note: These drawings of belly dancers are ball point pen on 3" x 5" paper. Completed in about 5 minutes or so (as long as the dance lasted), they are representations of my visceral response to the movements and beauties of the dance and dancers. Though this sketch was 5 minutes, I've been sketching for over 30 years. What you're seeing in each sketch is the refinement of my ability to create an image that relates my experience along with leaving open to view the paths my mind took during the drawing/meditation. See how my love of movement influences my paintings on my site at www.CristinaAcosta.com

Remember, these images are copyright protected. Please do not copy them without my permission.

Authentic Color Vs. Color Trends

I love fashion, but slavishly following fashion is not good for our planet. Fast food and fast fashion are responsible for environmental degradation. Yes, I love to get a good bargain and will buy the occasional item or accessory from a Big Box Retailer. But I'm aware that disposable personal and home decor fashion leaves huge carbon footprints. Globally and personally, we need to reconsider choices that lead us away from a sustainable economy and environment. The closer my choices are to expressing my authentic self, the less likely it is that those choices will result in buying a bunch of stuff I quickly decide I don't want, leading to another set of purchases that don't fulfill me. That kind of decision making doesn't support a happy life or a sustainable global environment.

How does this relate to choosing paint colors, flooring, furnishings and other home decor?

The process of choosing colors can put you in touch with your authentic self.

Here's why. The more conscious you are when you make a choice, the more authentic that choice is, and the less likely it is that you'll soon discard your decision. When the process of choosing colors for your home engages your deep desires, not only your aspirations, you are connecting with your authentic self. Like any thing, this won't work for everyone. But it is a way to access deeper meaning that works for me.

Color is non-verbal. The colors we are drawn towards speak to us about our lives. The soft browns of a favorite coffee drink, the colors of the soil and plants around a favorite place, the warm tones of skin, hair and eye colors we are most familiar with are all things subconsciously feeding our desires for a particular color.

So, how do you know what colors you really want? Look at the colors you desire. When the voice pops in your head that tells you what you "should" want, tell it to go away, and reach for a sample of that paint color that you are sure you "shouldn't" use, but you are fascinated with anyway.

Consider this color sample thoughtfully. You may not end up using the exact color in your decor, but at least you will have acknowledged your desire before you make your final choices.

The more authentic your choices, the less you'll feel the need to rely on fashion color trends that have little to do with your life. And if a color trend does resonate with you, you'll be making a conscious choice rather than buying something because it seems like the thing to do.

The increased consciousness you bring to the purchasing process will have a ripple effect. Each purchase we do or don't make has a result that is felt in both our economic and natural environment. Increased consciousness leads us to consider the effect of our choices on the greater community. And I believe that a change of consciousness is the first step to sustainability.

Note: One company that I admire for their continual openness to environmental/economic sustainability and a more conscious life, something they title Leading the Examined Life is Patagonia.

www.CristinaAcosta.com

Jonas Cohen Interviewed Me for The Source Weekly

Thank you to The Source Weekly in Bend, Oregon and journalist Jonas Cohen, for the feature article about me that they are running this week. I really appreciate the visibility press coverage gives my creative work. Jonas Cohen was easy to talk with and a very nice guy, he made the interview process very pleasant.

Life as Art: Cristina Acosta is making her art at all costs
by Jonas Cohen
Bend artist Cristina Acosta is challenging the old truism that art imitates life. A painter, Acosta has learned to let her art into her everyday world. “At one point I realized that I needed to take my art off of the canvas, and put it into my life,” says Acosta Acosta’s vivid and joyful painting ranges from. . . READ MORE

Art & Science for the Good (Food) of Our Planet

Walking through the aisles of a natural foods store I'm lulled into thinking that buying the latest salty snack with the word "organic" plastered all over the plastic sack will save the planet. Yes, it's better than eating a GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) conventional product that's similar, but there's a lot more to saving the planet than falling prey to some marketer's labeling of an ultra-processed packaged edible as "organic food."

So what does this topic have to do with the creative life? More than you might think at first glance. Creativity and our willingness to embrace positive change are integral to changing the course of planetary environmental degradation. I got started thinking about this while drawing the chili pepper plant growing in my house. Though it's officially spring in Bend, Oregon, it is in the 20's and snowing today. Growing in the sunshine of our upstairs window, this perennial plant is an abundance of bright green leaves teamed with a few dozen slender, brilliantly red & green, small chili peppers.

I let the chilies ripen red and dry on the vine, then I crumble them over salted, roasted peanuts for an afternoon snack. Sometimes I put them in a salsa or red chili sauce. The unique thing about this chili plant is that it is native to New Mexico, the home of my paternal grandmother's ancestors. I like eating a food that enriched the lives of my ancestors for generations. You can buy seeds for this and other native plants at Native Seeds/SEARCH. Native Seeds/SEARCH is a non-profit that is striving to preserve the genetic diversity of our country's South West heirloom and indigenous food and utility crops. No matter how "organic" our food is, if we continue to lose biodiversity, our food supply can be easily jeopardized by diseases or other unforeseen problems.

Native Seeds/SEARCH describes themselves thus: "The Native Seeds/Search Seedbank houses, for future generations, the seeds of crops and wild plants traditionally used as food, fiber and dyes by prehistoric and more recent cultures inhabiting the arid southwestern U.S. and northwestern Mexico. . . approximately 2,000 different accessions of traditional crops grown by Apache, Chemehuevi, Cocopah, Gila River Pima, Guarijio, Havasupai, Hopi, Maricopa, Mayo, Mojave, Mountain Pima, Navajo, Paiute, Puebloan, Tarahumara, Tohono O'odham and Yaqui farmers. Over one-half of the collections are comprised of the three sisters -- corn, bean, and squash. An additional 48 species of crops and wild crop relatives wait in frozen storage, including amaranth, tepary bean, chile, cotton, devil's claw, gourds, melon, sunflowers, tobacco, teosinte, watermelon and wild beans."

The "Three Sisters" of corn, beans and squash are the crops that the American Indians considered necessary to support a settlement. Honoring these indigenous crops and that American Indian heritage along with the Spanish heritage of the American Southwest, I painted a Santos style retablo of my Madonna, Guadalupe with the Three Sisters: Corn, Squash & Beans.This retablo is part of my Hispanic Culture Sacred images series.

If you live anywhere in the American Southwest, or if like me, you have a sunny window, I encourage you to look through the www.nativeseeds.org website. They sell heirloom seeds, baking mixes, spices, art, goat milk soap, even Christmas ornaments by Hopi artist Gerald Dawavendewa and others. Another thing they do that is so generous both individually and to our planet is their Native American Outreach program where they give a certain amount of seeds to American Indians for their gardens, along with Adopt A Crop program to keep those seeds viable. They also have a Cultural Memory Bank Project that pairs the knowledge of the geneticist with the folklorist to conserve not only the plant, but how that plant was nurtured and utilized. Art and Science together for the good of our planet. Now that's creativity!

Planning the Creative Process

Creative projects of all types have two distinctly different parts to the creative process:

• The creation/planning phase
• The production phase.
  

Some creative projects have definite parameters, like building a bridge or constructing a home. Create a plan, follow it, finish it and move on.

In reality there is always a little cross-over between the two phases. Some challenge not considered in the plan has to be creatively solved during the production phase. The bigger the project, the more important that most of the creative work is finished in the planning phase, as resources and time may not be available to make many mistakes during the production phase. A smaller project, like painting a small image or composing a song can be more flexible (less resources of time and materials are at stake).

The trick for me (and other highly intuitive types) when we plan is to not feel hemmed in by the original plan. I know enough now about my creative working process to nurture my strengths.

I became very aware of the importance of planning a large painting when I painted billboards in the late 1980's. Until then, the most I would do before beginning a painting was a cursory sketch, and I'd often skip that step, preferring to work the sketch out in paint. When the painting became 24 feet long and 11' tall, there was much less room in the time and materials budget to make a mistake. For the most part, I eliminated as many errors as possible before I got to the production phase of the painting.

Planning was crucial when I illustrated a children's book, setting up the 17 paintings necessary for the text. I had to paint them all at the same time to ensure the same exact style from beginning to end. Because my style is very fluid, I knew that I would "loosen" as I painted the images. By planning a synchronized completion of the images, I ensured that the final pieces would fit perfectly together.

When I'm putting together a large project, I am most creative when I work with people who have a certain comfort level with what appears to be chaos (but is actually creativity). I recognize the downside to my strengths (sometimes referred to as a weakness) and set up a safety net. I'm not linear or tidy, and my organization style tends to look like a big wind swept through my studio. Hiring an organized, linear, tidy helper to handle the accounting and to keep my routine administrative tasks in order is one of the ways I plan for success. That leaves me free to do what I do best, and when that happens, my projects are much more successful.

All images and writing on this blog copyright protected Cristina Acosta 2008

How To Cook Your Life - Bread and the Creative Life

Reading has always been one of my loves. Surprising to me is that the list of good books I think have been the most important in my life, changes over time. Not only because a new book has usurped an old favorite, but because a book I read many years ago and may not have thought of as life-changing or "good" (in the Great American novel sort of way), gets on the list. With the perspective of time, my understanding of a book changes and I realize the important positive impact of that particular book.

The Tassajara Bread Book (pub. in 1970) is this kind of book. When we were young teenagers my sister, Alisa Acosta, and I taught ourselves how to bake from this book. Alisa focused on popovers and other such things. I delved into bread making. Edward Espe Brown's detailed, concise directions coupled with his intellectual and spiritual generosity resulted in a book that touched so many people that it became a international bestseller.

I long ago lost my copy of that cookbook and had mostly forgotten about it in a everyday way until I saw the Indie film, How To Cook Your Life, with zen chef Edward Espe Brown, author of The Tassajara Bread Book and other books. Ed Brown (that's how he was introduced) made a guest appearance last night (April 1, 2008) at the Tower Theater in Bend, Oregon. The film, How To Cook Your Life, was shown as part of the Bend Film Festival Indie Reels screenings.

Ed Brown introduced the film, then when it was over, he answered questions from the audience and told stories. His sense of humor coupled with his wisdom had us laughing and enlightened within minutes. He was a lot of fun. I had hoped to thank him for his work in person, but the receiving line was more than I was willing to wade through.

The Tassajara Bread Book inspired and opened me to my love of cooking, and by extension life. Creating food with my hands puts me in touch with the land and elements that combine to create that food. A loaf of live dough ready for the oven embodies the cycle of life. Edward Espe Brown's writings planted the seeds of spirituality, environmental sensitivity, and a life-long love of food. His cookbook is not only a artistic inspiration, it is a political inspiration. The Tassajara Bread Book gently put me on a path that made the connection between the spiritual and practical accessible.

I highly recommend watching How to Cook Your Life. It will be available on Netflicks in May 2008.

Edward Espe Brown's writing inspired my artisan bread baking hobby. I now focus on a natural yeast starter that absorbs the life in the air around us. Read my artisan bread recipe on my website.

Thanks Judy Shasek for inviting me to see this movie. Judy is a creative powerhouse. Among her projects is Generation Fit, an innovative learning/wellness outreach program for kids.

Note: Photo of Edward Espe Brown is from the PeacefulSeaSangha.com site. More info is also available on the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center page.

www.CristinaAcosta.com