Betty James, Who Named the Slinky Toy dies at 90

Betty James, who came up with the name Slinky for the stair-walking spring that has delighted children for more than 60 years and who ran the toy company after her husband, the inventor, left it and his family in 1960, died Thursday in Philadelphia. 

[Read NY Times article]

IN MEMORIAM:

On December 20, 2008 at 12:00PM,

Slinkys of the world,

Of all shapes, sizes, colors and creeds,

Will join – in pairs – for stairway processionals.

A moment of stationary will be observed,

Followed by No. 14 in Our Hymnal of Advertising Jingles:

—*—

"What walks down stairs, alone or in pairs,

And makes a slinkity sound?

A spring, a spring, a marvelous thing, Everyone knows it’s Slinky…

It's Slinky, it's Slinky, for fun it's a wonderful toy

It's Slinky, it's Slinky, it's fun for a girl and a boy”

—*—

Wire-cutters will be on-hand in case of emergency.

Volunteer untangling is appreciated.

Introducing pastel illustrations by Laura Olsen

The discovery of a new medium. Just the mention of it sends artists into seething excitement!

I discovered a new medium this summer. It's not new to the world, but rather, I had rediscovered it for myself in a really big way. Pastels. I'm talking about the chalk, not the color palette.

I experimented a little with pastels back in college, but didn't develop a preference for them as a medium. I leaned toward oil painting. When out "in the field" I would usually bring along my sketch pad and graphite pencil, rather than charcoal. I found that charcoal and pastels shared a similar "scritchiness" that bugged me - a little like fingernails on a chalkboard. I preferred the smoother feel of mediums such as graphite and oil paint.

I found that painting en plein air (French for "outside") in the natural light gave my oil paintings a lot more life and freshness than work done in the studio, but what a hassle it was to drag all of that equipment around – not to mention that a wet canvas is not the easiest thing to haul back home.

On vacation this summer, I decided to give pastels another try. I discovered advantages to using them in the field. They're portable, more colorful than graphite, drier than paint, and no extensive clean-up is involved. I was able to easily achieve the natural light look without the mess. Plus, time is a premium for me now, so I'm all for any activity that I can squeeze in quickly and easily. The scritchiness of the pastels didn't bother me, either (perhaps age has desensitized my nerve endings).

The result of settling on a medium that allows me to crank out art in short order, is that I am able to accumulate new material at a sustainable pace. What does that mean? It means that I can make enough art to be marketable. What more can an artist ask for?

Where can you find them?

CafePress.com - "Sailboat at Sunset" and "Pacific Northwest Mountains". Also "Pastels of the Pacific Northwest" 2009 wall calendar featuring 12 drawings from 2008.

NorthwestCellars.com - If you're into good Northwest wine, eight varieties are available featuring art by Laura Olsen on the label. For a REAL treat, ask us about personalizing a label for you. Minimum order is one case. Makes a great gift or to have on hand as your own "house" wine.

Joshua Green Building Website

Along with start of the coming school year, I am excited to announce the launch of yet another website by Olsen Creative!

We have just completed design on a website for the Joshua Green Building Restoration which is just getting underway in downtown Seattle at 4th and Pike. The website focuses on the vision, direction and leasing opportunities (office and retail in a prime location) for this historic building, set to reopen its doors in 2009. Built in 1909, it has been owned and maintained by the family of Joshua Green - the Joshua Green Corporation - ever since. Isn't that some kind of record?

http://www.joshuagreenbuilding.com/

The website project was commissioned by Urban Renaissance Group, a full-service commercial real estate company based in the Pacific Northwest. The driving force behind Urban Renaissance Group is a core belief that America is poised for a re-urbanization of its major cities, and for the creation of urban villages in its suburbs. This change is a distinct departure from land use trends marked by sprawl and de-centralization over the last 50 years.

The mission of Urban Renaissance Group is to be a catalyst that understands and ignites this change.

I wish to thank Renee Evans at UrbanRenGroup for igniting this project. The opposite of longevity is the speed by which this got pushed through. Start to launch in two weeks. Renee, thank you for providing complete, concise information - you're on fire! No really, I see smoke... (kidding)

http://www.urbanrengroup.com/

For more information on the Joshua Green Corporation, please visit their website. Be sure to click the About Us tab for their very interesting family history:

http://www.joshuagreencorp.com/


Revitalization of our urban centers - fresh, new websites - a NEW SCHOOL YEAR! We are giddy with excitement!