Interactions are a key component of creativity and productivity. The exchange of ideas and inventiveness has proven time and again to excel on a super scale. Why are there more patents generated in San Jose (Silicon Valley) than any other place in the country? Why do urban environments create more new ideas and offer a…
An Amazing Thing Happened!
Women are in league with each other, a secret conspiracy of hearts and pheromones.~ Camille Paglia (American author, teacher and social critic) Two things never cease to amaze me: first that there’s so much joy in unexpected generosity and second that Central Oregon is an empowering and inspiring community. A few weeks ago when Orit…
CitySlips Take You on the Road
Perfect for the fashionista on the go this fall, CitySlips are convertible ballet flats offering style and comfort while on the road. CitySlips are foldable ballet flats that fit conveniently in most purses, so women can slip out of their sky-high stilettos and into comfy flats without sacrificing their fabulous style. The double-soled flats fold…
What Makes a Great Town?
Cities are gentrified by the following types of people in sequence: first the risk-oblivious (artists), then the risk-aware (developers), finally the risk adverse (dentists from New Jersey). —Bill Kraus (Gay rights activist, liaison between the San Francisco gay community and Congress in the 1980s) Central Oregon is an eclectic mix of culture and diversities complete…
Beautiful, Super, Wonderful, I Prefer Exquisite
An artist is an artist only because of his exquisite sense of beauty, a sense which shows him intoxicating pleasures, but which at the same time implies and contains an equally exquisite sense of all deformities and all disproportion. ~ Charles Pierre Baudelaire (1821 –1867) French poet who produced notable work as an essayist, art…
The Artistic Reverence of the High Heel
A cause may be inconvenient, but it’s magnificent. It’s like champagne or high heels, and one must be prepared to suffer for it. ~ Arnold Bennett (British novelist, playwright, critic and essayist, 1867-1931) Visual art comes in many forms from paintings and sculptures to jewelry, mixed media, collages and murals. But there’s one particular form of…
Poetry: Saying Much in Few Words
A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness. ~ Robert Frost I once thought that a poem had to rhyme: Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet and so are you. I then moved on to a more poignant idea that a poem should…
The Power of the Word
In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr. A friend sent me a text recently said he was cleaning out his gr mother’s basement found a vintage purse that he would save for me. I wrote back: great I’ll have…
Joy d’ Amour A Valentine for all Seasons
Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity. ~ Henry Van Dyke (author, educator clergyman in the ‘30s) I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am about…
Celebrating the New Year with Generosity
Art is the window to man’s soul. Without it, he would never be able to see beyond his immediate world; nor could the world see the man within. ~ Claudia Lady Bird Johnson (First Lady – wife of Lyndon B. Johnson) Be Part of Art campaign has successfully reached its $1 million goal to meet Bend…