Holgie Loves the Cowboy

Art finds a place in life sometimes where you least expect it. We were in California last month, visiting the community of 29 Palms and met a local artist, a photo-realism painter, Chuck Caplinger. He lives in a dome in the desert and his wife, Holgie Forrester, is an actor. When you meet her you know you’ve seen her in commercials, television and film over the years. She started her career when she was 10 years old with Disney on Stage.

Holgie Forrester’s filmography.

Chuck is a well-know muralist and became famous 30 years ago on the Hollywood scene with his wall size paintings for Hollywood celebs particularly Marilyn Monroe. Visit Desert Art Studio here.

In his very early career as a musician he traveled the jazz world and worked with Sammy Davis Jr. Chuck was born in Texas, still sports the boots and accent and Holgie calls him Cowboy.

Fifteen years ago Chuck and Holgie moved from the LA scene to the desert and they both have worked hard to create an economy that will sustain artists with formation of a cultural center, funding for a series of murals around town and a school arts program. This is a small community outside of Joshua Tree which is now becoming a destination community with new restaurants and art galleries.

But what was most surprising was how Holgie uses her acting skills to help prepare marines on the local base to live and survive in Afghanistan and Iraqi villages. She works with the soldiers and American-Afghanistan Iraqi citizens to create real life scenarios for the soldiers so they can quickly acclimate to life in these villages. She saves lives with her acting and direction.

Art finds a way to change the way we live each day.

Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, once said “Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.  Art is knowing which ones to keep.”

May we not be afraid to be creative and make some mistakes and may our best mistakes create art in the way we live!

For those who want to a little video recounting of the trip–here is an animoto version.

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