Category Archives: families in the Arts

Creating Legendary Filmmaking

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“At the center of every fairy tale lay a truth that gave the story its power.” ~ Susan Wiggs

There is a new Disney movie that is soon to be released called Brave. It is about family, protecting a kingdom and Celtic legends. The Highlands of Scotland is the setting for this production. A great Christmas present for the entire family. Click for info & ordering Brave

Besides an opportunity to tell a fulfilling fairy tale story, along the lines of Grimms Brothers or Hans Christian Andersen, the production of this film has some the most complex visuals in movie making possible. Pixar Animated Studios rewrote their animation system after twenty five years to bring these computer-animated effects to the viewer.

Don’t miss out on this fantasy adventure film written by Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell, Irene Mecchi and Brenda Chapman.  To read more about the film, to learn about the characters and to watch a video trailer, please visit this website. http://bit.ly/yzz6Ky.

Have a nice weekend, everyone! Return next week to All Things Fulfilling to learn more about creative industry.

This blog brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, author of Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected  and www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Truly Committed to the Indies

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“The follow-your-gut mentality of the entrepreneur has the potential to take you anywhere you want to go.” ~ Bill Rancic 

Today, I’ll tell you about my ride to Telluride over the weekend. What gorgeous scenery and a charming town, also. 

 Did you know that Telluride is home to the American Academy of Bookbinding? http://bit.ly/s29fjg. Although the Academy was not one of the primary reasons I visited Telluride, I found out a lot about this village that made me understand why it was recently awarded a grant from the Creative Colorado Industries. http://bit.ly/fXkoNC. 

One of the reasons I visited was to take a look at  Between the Covers. It is a quaint, well-stocked bookstore, well arranged from floor to ceiling. As soon as I walked into the space,  I noticed the Indie Best selling books, front and center. Proudly displayed and identified as such. They were not hidden away, as in many bookstores, like the black sheep of the family. Instead of the NY Times list of best sellers that you usually see in bookstores across America, prominently displayed was the Indie List of top independently published, hard covers and paperbacks. IBPA (Independent Book Publishers Association) Award winning books were displayed with full cover out rather than with spine only. I was so glad to see it. This bookstore takes selling indie books seriously – it was so refreshing! 

I got a head start on my Christmas shopping for my favorite filmmaker in the family. Between the Covers Bookstore has a nice variety of books on cinema and movie production. I didn’t bypass the nice selection of books in the language arts section without noticing it was at the heart of the store, in the middle. 

Just as we were ready to leave the bookstore, I spied a sign that caught my eye. It read “We prefer being a community partner much more than a showroom.” 

“How apropos!” I thought. This bookstore obviously embraces and is proud of being a partner in the community of independent booksellers and publishers.” Take a peak into Between the Cover’s website. Follow this link http://bit.ly/QK8K5F.   

Next week, I plan to return to this fulfilling small town of  Telluride in my blogging writing. I want to tell you more about the grant it received from the Creative Industries of Colorado. Follow this continuing blog series on Telluride, next week!  

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com .

Gem Stone Village Discovered

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“I’m also looking for gems that the average reader might have missed.” ~ Terry Windling

“My, oh, my, isn’t it gorgeous?” I said to my husband and son, as we drove into Ouray, Colorado on Saturday. “Didn’t I tell you, Mom?” my son said “that’s why I said you have to come see it.”

Ouray, nestled between high, high peaks in the San Juan Mountains is called “Switzerland of America©.” The “alpine-like” village is a gem. Outstanding ice climbing and summer rock climbing and the healing hot springs are just a few reasons that this little town is so busy with tourist activity.

On Saturday morning the center of town was the starting place for the Imogene Pass half marathon. Fifteen hundred runners faced a challenging course that climbed from altitudes of 7,700 elevation to 13,000, over an unpaved mountain pass from Ouray to Telluride.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the relief and pride I felt as my saw my son cross the finish line after running seventeen grueling miles. It takes guts and grit to tackle it. He did well for himself, finishing 14th in his age group. But, he said many of his competitors were “seniors who looked older than the mountains and really put him and the younger people to shame.” I noticed that as I watched.

Ouray has so much going for it! Well cared for Victorian buildings, art galleries and quaint little shops, the Ouray Hot Springs, and charming bed and breakfasts, historic hotels.

It was second Saturday Art Walk, and we made the rounds. We stopped into Buckskin Booksellers. They have a large and outstanding collection of books of regional interest on Colorado, Western history and of geological subjects such as mineralogy, mining, fossils, rock hounding and the like.

I also noticed some outstanding art books scattered in different retail establishments throughout town. You could not help but notice them because some were like tomes – oversized, beautifully crafted, filled with magnificent images. I spied John Fielder’s Ranches of Colorado http://www.johnfielder.com and books on the Art of Howard Terpning. 

Many notable movies were filmed in Ouray County. My son Marc’s interest in visiting Ouray was more than just to run in a footrace. As a filmmaker, he was interested in seeing the settings of these movies:

Our visit to Ouray was a perfect stop along the way of a fun and fulfilling weekend. I’d like to return some day to further explore this area. It is located near where four states – Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah come together. There is a lot more to see such as Twin Peak Falls, and more to do than I ever realized.  For more information, visit this website http://www.ouraycolorado.com/.

This blog brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, author of Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Storymakers have Deadlines

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“A dream is a goal with a deadline” ~ Napoleon Hill  

Time is running out! Rocky Mountain Public Broadcast System’s (RMPBS) writing contest for sixth, seventh and eighth graders will be accepting submissions until October 12th. There is only one month left to wrap up those stories. Parents and teachers, encourage your students to  write and participate!

The winners will enjoy having lunch with local radio personality and Colorado authorDom Testa and finalists will also win prizes. Dom Testa is a pretty neat guy! I’ve had the pleasure of hearing him speak several times at the Colorado Independent Publishers Association (CIPA). His Big Brain Club supports creativity in students, making excelling as a student “cool.” For more information on this 50l(3) C foundation, please visit this link. http://bit.ly/OjxLoQ.

To obtain a copy of the rules of the Storymakers Contest and a submission application, please visit this link. http://bit.ly/OUGUXH.

Good luck to all students and remember your child can not win if they do not participate!

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Screening Half the Sky

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“No woman is required to build the world by destroying herself.”        ~Rabbi Sofer

Economic empowerment, education and good healthcare for women are solutions that make a difference between opportunity and oppression. The film , Half the Sky: Turning Opression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, is an adaptation of the book by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. It  focuses on six celebrity activists and their work to rebuild lives after a women’s integrity and self-esteem has been taken away by violence and brutality. Click for info & ordering Half the Sky

On Wednesday, September 12th at 6:30 pm Half the Sky will be screened at the Bud Werner Memorial Library in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The film is  part of the Women & Girls Lead program for Independent Lens through PBS. It will be followed by a discussion of the issues that are highlighted in this movie. Anyone is invited to join in the screening and the dialogue afterward.

 

This film is being sponsored by the Bud Werner Memorial Library, the Yampa Valley University Women and Tasaru Girls School Fund, a non-profit that works to help educate Masai girls and women.

If you do not live in the vicinity of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, you will still have a chance to see it. It will be broadcast on October 1st and 2nd, 2012 on PBS channels. Look for the air times in your local TV program schedule.

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Headed Between the Covers

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“The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” ~ St. Augustine

 I am ready for a little traveling. Where am I headed? To Between the Covers Bookstore. http://bit.ly/NaKzRg. Where is that? In a “box canyon” in a place called Telluride, Colorado; where the mountains soar to altitudes of almost 13,000. According to Wikipedia, “a box canyon is a small ravine or canyon with steep walls on three sides, allowing access and egress only through the mouth of the canyon.” The bookstore co-owner is like me, a Baltimore transplant, who has ended up in the West. 

I suspect at certain times of the year, when large shipments of publications are delivered, Between the Covers Bookstore, feels as if it is a box canyon, until all the books are shelved. There is a certain book that I will be searching for at this bookstore that would come in handy on days when I struggle to put down my digital devices and stop working. This two minute video, shot last February, gives a quick glimpse into the book I am looking for.  http://vimeo.com/37703165.  

The video is courtesy of film editor, visual effects artist, independent filmmaker Marc R. Leonard. http://marcrleonard.com/editing.  Thank you, Marc, for a little insight into Telluride in the other season, winter.

Telluride is, from what I understand, a neat little “artistic town” and very scenic! It is home of the Telluride Film Festival.  http://www.telluridefilmfestival.org/. 

Our trip to Telluride will be timely. My husband and I will watch our son run in his first half-marathon, which goes over Imogene Pass – seventeen miles of climbing and running, traveling from 8,000 ft in altitude to 13,000. The boy has energy, I tell you! It’s time to play catch up and see what else he has been doing.

Come on back next week. On Film Friday, we will be featuring a new Disney movie that both adults and children, who enjoy Celtic legend, may enjoy seeing. Have a good weekend, everybody.

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Growth of an Emerging Technology Industry

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 “Many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book.” Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862), Walden 

On October 4, 2011, almost a year ago, I posted a blog called Libraries Kindle the Flame. If you missed out or don’t remember it, here is the link. http://bit.ly/TaxQPo  I invite you to go back and read it. The gist of the blog was the number of libraries that have included e-books in their catalogs. 

A year later, the numbers have changed and show about a 9% increase. It is too bad we don’t see those kind percentages in the growth of our economy. That would be extremely encouraging; evidence that other emerging technologies are coming to the forefront.

These graphs show how the numbers stack up, side by side,  for 2011  and 2012.

Being the eternal optimist, I believe the entrepreneurs of our country can develop other technologies that will show the same kind of promise. But, some may take longer than others to come to fruition. And let’s face it, e-books didn’t arrive on the scene overnight. The momentum has been growing since 2007.

Energy, enthusiasm, vision, initiative, motivation to lead others, self-motivation and resilience is what is needed in new businesses. In other words, pioneering qualities!

The United States of America is only sixty-some days away from our next political election. Here is an article that outlines traits of good business leaders. http://bit.ly/PvOIRg. As  Americans, it is our God-given right to vote but with that comes responsibility to know the issues, and to listen, with open minds, to both sides of the story. Then vote in good conscience. What is best for our country as we go forward? Who has the experience to lead our nation in the right direction so that the American spirit will not continue to suffer?

This time next year, I will make it a point to look in on the e-book statistics once again, to see how far the electronic book industry has traveled to bring a more sustainable way of publishing to our citizens. We need to commend and support our local libraries and  bookstores for making adjustments to the way they do business and for spreading their roots in community in different directions – it hasn’t been easy. 

 Business owners who have figured out how to adapt to the “digital age” are proving that, indeed, the traits that are outlined in the article can be found in every American who runs a successful business.

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

In Terms of Personal Fulfillment

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Life is like art. You have to work hard to keep it simple and still have meaning.~ Charles de Lin

I’ve always been a person who has lived relatively simply. Four years ago when I moved to this community of Steamboat Springs Colorado, I came to the area nearly devoid of all of my possessions. My accummulations  of  a thirty year marriage have been locked up and stored, and I came with little more than clothes in a suitcase and some business items.

My grandmother’s antique dining room set, my mother and father-in-law’s beautiful desk, my mother’s china, even our wedding album of photographs were left behind. Not wanting to accummulate more, I have been very careful not to amass “stuff” while I have been here. Learning to live without attachments to material things helps a person to stop and consider what is really fundamental to their existance. I’ve learned what really matters,and less is really more. http://bit.ly/reHMkv.

Today, I want to take a survey. If given four choices, what would rank first in terms of your personal fulfillment. What would you most appreciate having if you had little? Pick  just one thing. Let’s see, in the end, where people place their values. Join in by responding.

See you tomorrow on All Things Fulfilling. This blog brought to you Sue Batton Leonard, author of Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected

Local Authors in the Limelight

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“If you could say it in words, there would be no reason to paint.” ~ Edward Hopper

Saturday was a day of great fun for me as a person who works in the independent publishing industry. The literary community of Steamboat Springs, Colorado came  out from behind their computers and into the limelight at the Written Arts Festival. I am aware of the fact that we do, indeed, have a growing population of independent publishers in this community. Nearly thirty were gathered; some having just published their debut novels, while others have more than one book published.

Panel discussions added interest to the event. “How should history be portrayed in writing?” was a subject that drew differing opinions from the authors. In the opinions of some, there is an obligation to write stories true to history; while others contend that history can be written from different perspectives.

Other authors specialize in fiction writing. The panelists in this genre seemed to agree that authors draw, to a certain extent, from personal experience and background which often gives them the basis of the story. Then the storyline “is pushed in different directions,” sometimes ending in a total surprise, even for the author. One panelist mentioned how her deeply felt spiritual beliefs influences her writing and a prolific romance writer admitted that individuals she encounters inspires her characters.

Sites, smells and visual landscapes also influence writing. A third group of panelists discussed how stories are crafted from experience in travel as well as from their rootedness in community. Place plays great significance in our identity as people and as writers. Local issues are often brought into books of regional interest.

The event culminated with an interview of a very talented poet and the Home Ranch owner, Ann Anderson Stranahan. Words, when used with the right cadence and meter makes music, she said. When Stranahan was asked  if “her poetic images come to her in black and white or in color?”

“Vividly and suddenly, perhaps as in a photographic image, rather than an oil or watercolor,” was her answer.

The Bud Werner Memorial Library http://www.steamboatlibrary.org/ and the efforts of their staff made this inspiring event possible. Also, the support of the Steamboat Arts Council http://steamboatspringsarts.com/and Off the Beaten Path Bookstore’s  http://www.steamboatbooks.com/ handling of the bookselling allowed the authors to visit with potential book buyers and answer questions.

I would have liked to have mentioned each of the authors individually, in this blog writing, but there were too many. I did get around the room to talk to each of them briefly. Thanks to all who participated and coordinated the Written Arts Festival. It was encouraging for anyone who is contemplating writing and publishing a story.

This blog brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, author of Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected.

Community of Writers in Steamboat

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“Writers will happen in the best of families.”  ~ Rita Mae Brown

This week is the All Arts Festival in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Art, in all kinds of mediums, will be represented. Performance artists, visual artists and culinary artists will be involved in this five day event that runs from August 14 to August 19th. For more information, please visit this link http://bit.ly/QsiJPR.

In 2012, the literary arts have been added to the annual event with A Festival of Local Authors. Stop by the Bud Werner Memorial Library on Saturday, August 18th from 10am to 2pm in Library Hall. Book signings along with panel discussions on writing history, writing the outdoors, telling stories in novel form, poetry reading and conversation is on the agenda. Book selections from the local writers will be on sale ranging from poetry, to publications of regional interest, to non-fiction to fictional stories – something for everyone.

The Steamboat Springs Art Council, Steamboat Writers Group, Off the Beaten Path Bookstore & the Bud Werner Memorial Library have teamed up to bring together 27 Yampa Valley authors and  publishers.

Indeed, there is a growing population of writers in Steamboat and the surrounding county. Some have been traditionally published while others have jumped on the Fast Track with Independent Publishing.

To learn more about how you can turn your dreams of becoming a published author into reality, there is a 18 minute webinar available through the Colorado Independent Publishers Association that will give you insight and perhaps pique your interest in going forward with your aspirations. http://bit.ly/oIkV2g.

Keep your eye on this website, All Things Fulfilling. We will continue to feature a growing number of authors who come to the Steamboat area seeking inspiration for their writing. Click here if you want to know more about Steamboat and the surrounding area.

This blog brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, author of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.