he
has been passing her craft on to students for as long as
I can remember. I should know.. five of us call her
Mom. The name our parents gave me is Robert and somewhere
along the line, everyone started calling me Bob. As far
back as I can recall, Mom has been creating works of art out
from a host of different materials into forms that have been
most pleasing to the eyes. She
has painted, sculpted, sewn and cut her way through the fabrics
of our lives, which has given us a deep apreciation for the
arts.. She
inherated the talent from her father, as we have been fortunate
enough, to have picked up a little bit from her.
There
have been a number of best times in my life with her, especialy
when art was the focal point of our shared attention. Like
the times she guided me through my school projects or
the Christmas windows I first helped her paint when I was
about 13. I remember those early, cold mornings when
I left a nice warm bed to sip on some hot chocolate and
munch on a fat donut, while rinsing brushes in what seemed
like ice water. The
first time I got to paint the snow on a restaurant window,
the manager thought a snow drift hit the pl ace... We had to
stop and buy more white paint for the next job.
Christmas
wasn't work around mom. It
was a time to create, a time to share what she created with
others, a chance to get involved and learn how to turn a bunch
of simple materials into something beautiful. As for
the rest of the year, she never stopped. Her creative
talents and the desire to help others explore their own, has
always been a constant in her life to this day.

When
Mom decided to share her craft with others, she found a way
to pursue conducting workshops for the Los Angeles school distric,
as a guest cultural artist. Since her first class, she
has shared this art with thousands of students, teachers and
people who just wanted to learn the art of paper cutting.
which
brings me to my greatest inspiration.. this web site and the
development of The
Cultural Folk Art Company. It started as an idea
that would help sell the books that I have been working
on with her. I
was exploring the use of the computer and all those
great artistic sites posted by artists,
artists who were using the computer, not only as
a tool to create, but a tool to share their creations
and exchange ideas.
As
I explored the web to see what others were doing, I found
a common thread with most of the sites I came across. There
were a number of artists who were using the internet as an inexpensive
way to advertise their work. I
thought it was a great idea. I could put a site up for my
mom that would help her sell the books she's developed and it would
be a nice little income to supplement her life's needs. Then
(as I have experienced before) nothing that seems simple remains
simple when the lightning bolt of creativity strikes.
What
started out as a small, simple site, is now in the process
of becoming an inspiration, where other cultural artists will
be able to pass their work on for generations to come. We plan
on helping other cultural artists as well, whose talents must be
preserved and shared, well beyond any of our lifetime. We
are developing a way for artists to share what hey have learned
or conceived, in a media that will inspire others to be creative
as well.
I
hope you enjoy what we are trying to accomplish with this site. My
mother, Olga, is the
first of more artists we look forward to hosting. We
will feature all of them in a way that will showcase their
talents through all the possible forms of media the internet
has to offer.. It's
our work in progress.
Please
enjoy what we have so far. If you would like to drop
me an e-mail, click on my picture with Kasey and your e-mail
program should pop up ready to compose your thoughts. If you
use a web based e-mail program, cut and paste this address: admin@olgaponce.com
Robert
B Furginson