Category Archives: visual effects

More than a Picture

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To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funnybone. -Reba McEntire

I walked into the Steamboat Art Museum http://www.steamboatartmuseum.com/  during the First Friday Art Walk not knowing what to expect of the Cowgirl Art exhibit, I was about to see. I was immediately drawn into the large scale images of Donna Howell-Sickles. Besides the wonderful use of bold color, the spirit of the images attracted me.

Donna-Howell-SicklesStrong women living larger than life  and a love of all things Western is depicted in each of the artist’s images. The work of this Texas artist from St. Jo, are highly recognizable branded images which she has worked to perfect since she was in college. Her art all came about after seeing a 1930’s vintage postcard that made its mark on her psyche. Her dreams of becoming a notable artist have been fulfilled. Her original paintings are in the NationalCowgirlMuseum and Hall of Fame and in prestigious galleries and major museums. Her art has been featured in Southwest Art Magazine.  http://bit.ly/16i0va6.

Cowgirl Rising bookThe exhibition at the SteamboatArt Museum runs until October 13, 2013. Do stop by to see it, and visit the gallery store, next door. Donna Howell-Sickles’ prints, note cards, an independently published book “Cowgirl Rising,” and a stylish neckerchief with her images are available for purchase. Other gift items, such as jewelry, dishware, teeshirts and purses which incorporate her brand images are available on her website. http://www.donnahowellsickles.com/. Click for info & ordering

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Good News for an Indie Bookstore

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“Once a year, go someplace you have never been before.” ~ Dali Lama

In a time when brick and mortar bookstores are struggling to stay in business, there is good news in the northeastern part of the country. Northshire Bookstore, in Manchester Center, Vermont, an independent bookstore that has won top honors from Publishers Weekly Magazine, just spread it’s wings and has opened in a second location, in a second state.

Saratoga, New York, the site of the new Northshire Bookstore, is a thriving community, the home of SkidmoreCollege. http://www.skidmore.edu/ The town has a vibrant performing arts center (SPAC), http://www.spac.org/ as well as many shops and galleries throughout town. The SaratogaArtCenter http://www.saratoga-arts.org/ teaches workshops and hosts artists in residence. It is also the summer home to many horse racing enthusiasts.

There are many reasons to visit this region. Saratoga is in the Adirondack Mountains region with sparkling lakes nearby for summer recreation. The town boasts of seventeen healing mineral springs, which were first found by the Mohawk and Iroquois Indians.

Next time you are in the area, stop by 424 Broadway and see the newly opened Northshire Bookstore. http://www.northshire.com/ If it is anything like the retail store in Manchester, Vermont, it will be stocked with all kinds of fulfilling reading and it will be well worth your visit.

northshire_bookstore_saratoga_exterior_pre-opening

Photo Above: Pre-Opening of the Northshire Bookstore in Saratoga, NY

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com. Tomorrow we will be sharing stories about art in a different part of the country. Do return to All Things Fulfilling.

Stone Preservation

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“We can throw stones, complain about them, stumble on them or build with them.” ~ William Arthur Ward

Beautiful stone creations with historical value – things to preserve rather than destroy. Building with stone goes back centuries. Along with our culture’s growing passion for geneology, there has been an increasing interest in the art of preserving stone monuments and markers in America. Even the finest historical markers and structures made of rock, like cathedrals, churches, castles, bridges and roads need attention because their integrity becomes compromised due to land development, weather, neglect, acid rain and vandalism.

Jonathan Appel, is a stone conservator who has been working in graveyards to preserve monuments and markers in Civil War areas, such as in Frederick, Maryland. http://bit.ly/18ApKGI. Finding fulfillment in preserving our country’s history on holy grounds, he trains others to become monument conservators through workshops.

Last weeks blog about the building of rock sculptures for a unique, personal reason left me feeling uplifted, because one man’s efforts became an community building event. stone_sculptor_at_workOut of all the statues, obelisks, monoliths, pillars and plaques that have been created to memorialize the spirit of beings, all over the world,  I hope an overwhelming number of them have been placed to remember positive spirits who have existed on earth.

If you did not read the blog or watch the video about community efforts to support a grieving man and his art, visit this link. It’s an interesting story. Let me know what you think. http://bit.ly/145b3xc

Please return to All Things Fulfilling tomorrow for more independent thoughts, words and views from www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com . Our blog tomorrow is about a special angel and how that angel has inspired a blog that I believe deserves special mention for it’s beauty.

Film Friday: The Way, Way Back

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“To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.” –Henri Bergson

Coming of Age Stories:
• Protagonist undergoes growth and transformation
• Transitions into adulthood – emotionally, physically, morally
• Presents key ideas and themes that follow throughout the book or film
• Story told through a voice or point of view that affects the story or makes the viewer or reader sympathetic toward characters.
• Opening scene usually sets the stage for the story. Turning points have significance to the conclusions.
• Are honest and moving.

way_way_back_xlg-691x1024There is a recently released film that has been said to contain all of the needed characteristics of good coming of age movies. The Way, Way Back is a top pick for summer movies. This is a story about human relationships in a day and age when  there are few standard definitions of “family.” A brother and sister uprooted by divorce, and displaced to a New England seaside town of the mother’s boyfriend is the basic story. How the siblings handle loss and change, are all part of this coming of age story.Click for info and ordering The Way, Way Back

To read Leonard Maltin’s review of this movie on Indie Wire, please follow this link. http://bit.ly/12HnPeQ . According to Maltin, this is a not to be missed movie. LA Times film critic, Betsy Sharkey, has also given rave reviews to The Way, Way Back.

To see where this movie is making its debut in theatres near you, please follow this link. http://bit.ly/11GxiYU. Brought to you by the same studio that produced Little Miss Sunshine and Juno!

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com. Happy Film Friday, everyone. Do return to All Things Fulfilling on Monday.

Rock Art a Healing Medium

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Making art is like giving a gift: evidence of your spirit and that you are here.” ~Patty Mitchell

Ok, so it’s not a National news story, but, it is significant to me. The short and long of the narrative goes like this….one man, stricken with grief over the death of his dog decided to make rock art to relieve his pain and sorrow. His creations brought community together, and they joined in the action so many were touched by his story. The artist’s work was then destroyed by someone who didn’t like it.

Bondville VermontDoesn’t quite seem fair, does it? The rock art sculptures, all one hundred or so of them, took delicate balance, patience and vision to build in the middle of a tributary of the WestRiver, in the small town of Bondville at the base of StrattonMountain, where I resided for almost thirty years.  The “stone forest” was not bothering nary a soul, just healing someone who needed it, yet the art was raked over like coals.

Once again, the community is gathering to support the rock artist and to do something about helping him rebuild his life through his art.

Want to learn more about this story of personal fulfillment, spirituality, community and what some see as a grave injustice? Watch this video and tell me whether you think the rock sculptures were offensive. I welcome your comments.

To view the video: http://bit.ly/1axocOu.

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Spotlight: Inspiring Fiber Artist

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“Art is literacy of the heart” ~Elliot Eisner

The first thought that comes to mind when the word publishing is mentioned is books. Art, however, in all kinds of forms, can be associated with the word publishing, also.

The other day, I met a fiber artist, Windy Karpavage, who became a “test knitter” for patterns of felted handbags and knitted flowers. The forty original test pattern designs were subsequently published in the book, “Noni Flowers” by designer Nora J Bellows. http://noniflowers.com/.

Out of Windy Karpavage’s experience as a “test knitter,” grew the business Kaire´ je Studio (meaning left handed)http://on.fb.me/13Btjv6. Karpavage makes felted handbags, totes and purses. Her home studio on Taylors Island, Maryland is filled with treasures for the knitter. Along with purse patterns of Noni’s designs, Karpavage creates some of her own original compositions. All the accessories that go with the craft are available in Kaire´ je Studio such as yarns, knitting needles, handbag clasps (including a growing collection of vintage purse clasps),  along with patterns for knit dresses, artistically-styled cowls, shawls, scarves and more.

Windy karpavage TI fiber artist

Photo Credits: Grace Batton

Photo Design above: Sue Batton Leonard

Karpavage also gives knitting lessons from her home studio and at a knitting group gathering every Friday morning at the DorchesterCenter for the Arts http://www.dorchesterarts.org/ in Cambridge, Maryland. She teaches right and left handed knitting.

I’d like to thank Windy Karpavage for sharing her art with me. She has inspired me to find a way to spend more time knitting this winter, after business hours. Who knows what yarn creations I can make if I put my mind to it in snowy Steamboat Springs, Colorado. My first project might be one of the great new artistically-styled cowl patterns, to keep my neck toasty warm on those frigid winter days. Perhaps a felted bag, such as the pattern Hearts on My Sleeve, to match the knitted cowl, for when I step out on the First Friday Art Walks during ski season would be a fulfilling knitting project also.

KaireDress

Above: Custom Knitwear by Windy Karparvage.  Work in progress – Original felted handbag design.

TI Fiber Artist sign

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Salisbury Book Artist

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Success in any endeavor requires single minded attention to detail and total concentration. ~ Willy Sutton

My husband and I recently took in the 2nd Saturday Art Walk in Cambridge, Maryland. I became aware of a collective of book artists from Salisbury, Maryland through the Main Street Gallery.

IMAG0774Artists Lisa Fritts, Martha Graham, Barbara Israel, Bonnie Lavish, Victoria Noonan, Barbara Schultz  charmed me with their handmade books using recycled materials, assorted ribbons, and other found items including memorabilia. These creations provide a visionary art experience allowing the viewer to enter a book, without words, and imagine what the book is all about.

This collective of book artists have displayed their work at SalisburyUniversity and according to the college “the art form is derived from ancient Mesopotamian clay tablets and papyrus.” http://bit.ly/10UF2E4 . Book art has seen a revival in the past decade, and colleges, are offering courses in book art as part of their curriculum.

The artist’s imagination, eye for detail and color and their visions brought together fulfilling IMAG0771pieces of art that I really appreciated seeing. It was one of the best exhibits of book art I have seen all under one roof.

I’ll let you in on a little secret tomorrow on All Things Fulfilling! This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com .

Book on Upper Left: by Barbara Schultz

Book on Lower Right: by Bonnie Lavish

Filmmaking in a Different Era

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If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.”
― Rudyard Kipling, The Collected Works

What do movie mogul George Lucas and Norman Rockwell have in common? They are both visual storytellers, Lucas through film and Rockwell through iconic illustrations of of American people.

Lucas, producer and creator of the “Star Wars” empire, has sold his company, Lucasfilms, to Disney for a reported four billion dollars. As a top art collector, his retirement interests include opening a museum in San Francisco, to share with the public his vast private collection of Rockwell art, N.C. Wyeth and Maxfield Parrish paintings, comic art, along with comic art and children’s book illustrations. http://yhoo.it/1baeepf.  Lucas is also interested in highlighting fashion, the cinematic arts, and digital art in the museum exhibitions to inspire young people and to appeal to a broad spectrum of people in multiple generations.

Steven Spielberg, another huge collector of Rockwell art, also has interests in Lucas’ museum plans. A book, Telling Stories, was published in connection with a 2010 SmithsonianAmericanArt Museum exhibit comprising Spielberg and Lucas’ private collections of Norman Rockwell art. The connection of Norman Rockwell’s depictions of American life and the movies is evident in this book.

Telling Stories: Norman Rockwell from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg is available through Amazon.com. Order this book, and enjoy seeing visual images of the American filmmaking way before the digital age.

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Skipping Around with Images

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“Each one sees what one carries in the heart” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The assimilation process of language is interesting. It reminds me how important it is that parents watch their words to their children. One never knows what will come back to us from our offspring.  Words of beauty, compassion and understanding, are better echoed by our children than words of hatred and intolerance. To learn more about language assimilation of children, please read this article http://bit.ly/133mukU.

I come by my interest in flowers and gardening, naturally, through my parents. I never realized how much knowledge  I had assimilated about flowers in my formative years until I married a man whose father was a landscaper. Garden talk automatically became common lingo in our household when our lives converged. I am both surprised and delighted when our son whips out names of familiar flowers that have grown in our gardens. He has naturally ingested the names of many species.

I know what you are thinking. “Sue sure has gone out on a tangent this morning – Odd! Where is this subject matter coming from?”I am using stream of consciousness writing, today. http://bit.ly/117U99S.  A beautiful flower that I photographed at my parents house  started me down this path of thought.

This flower, digitalis (better known as foxglove) has always been present in my garden. But the blossom pictured, is the most beautiful of its kind I have ever seen. It could serve as a specimen plant because it is particularly noteworthy and deserves “center stage.” The stem is as wide as three stems fused together, and unusually flat shaped – a real treasure. Without the abnormally shaped stem, the heavy and enormous flower would topple over! When I saw it, it made my heart skip a beat.

Those are my fulfilling independent thoughts, words and views from www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com today. Come back tomorrow, perhaps my writing will be more cohesive.

digitalis 3 digitalis 1

digitalis 2

Photo 1: Check out the triple width stem of the unusually formed digitalis.

Photo in Middle:  Three ordinary foxglove (digitalis) and one hefty, atypical plant

Photo 3: Close up of atypical specimen of digitalis.

To read more about this species of flower, digitalis, please go to .http://bit.ly/11aZikG.

Film Friday: Comeback of an Era

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“Any good comeback needs true believers.”  ~ Unknown

drive-in-movie-theaterDo you remember going to the drive-in movies? I love looking back at those nostalgic times of going to the movies with my parents in my pajamas, car packed with snacks, and watching the big screen outdoors, with excitement, till I finally fell asleep in the back seat of the station wagon.

Most drive-in theatres have been demolished. There are only 355 left nationwide according to Las Vegas-based Drive-ins.com, which tracks the industry. In the State of Michigan there has been a resurgence of drive-in theatres. Think about it – with jumbotron screens, like those you see in sports arenas, at concerts, and in Times Square, reviving outdoor movie viewing may make sense in more ways in one!

Reliving a bygone era makes for a fun bonding experience with family and friends. Using land that has been sitting vacant, for drive-in theatres, must be cheaper than building behemoth buildings to house cinemas. Downside is the short season for outdoor movie viewing in some climates.

Zhivago2Imagine watching Dr. Zhivago with snow falling all around you (the real thing) as you watch the ZhivagoDVDmovie!

Interested in rewatching an old classic, Dr. Zhivago? Click for info & ordering

That would be a unique experience. Perhaps there is an untapped niche of people, like the “polar bear club” who would find going to drive-in movies year round fulfilling. Social networking groups, enthusiasts who appreciate the art of the drive-in movie experience, in all conditions, might be the next big thing to spring up. You never know in this creative and interesting economy, perhaps we shouldn’t put drive-in movies in the museum of dying giants yet! http://bit.ly/12GKFTK .

When was the last time you went to a drive-in movie? In Michigan there are people who might answer that question, “very recently.” To read about the comeback of drive-in theatres in Michigan, visit this link. http://on.lsj.com/13QDldB.

Come back on Monday to All Things Fulfilling, the space for independent thoughts, words and views from CFS (www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com). For information on author Sue Batton Leonard, Click for info on her memoir