Category Archives: Psychology

Gift of an Angel

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a life lived There is a blog that I encountered over the weekend that I feel deserves very special attention. I hope you will take the time to visit it because it is filled with beautiful images and a beautiful story. It is written by a mom, who was given a gift from God, and out of her realization of what that gift has meant to her, she has created an inspiring and peaceful space on the world-wide-web. It is a place where people can perhaps come to terms with the challenges that they face in their lives and maybe put things in perspective about finding personal fulfillment.

Laughing with Angels is about finding loveliness in the home and family. Artful living.  ‘Nuff said. I hope you will take the time to visit the site, and please read what inspired the name of the blog, Laughing with Angels. http://bit.ly/13Fc0JI.

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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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Sharing Our Content

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If you would not be forgotten …either write things worth reading or do things worth the writing.”  Benjamin Franklin (1706 – 1790)

There is interesting reading material on the world-wide-web these days. Besides the arrival of electronic publications (e-books) there are lots of folks around the globe with creative ideas who like to share them – in the form of a blog (web log). Blogs allow us the opportunity to zero-in and read news we are really interested in, free of charge.

How do you find blogs on the internet? Use your favorite search engine to discover articles about your topic of interest. For instance, say you are interested in what is going on in the art world. Search for art blogs. 

If you are interested in all things musical, popular blogs about music industry trends are listed. Read and enjoy! It’s as easy as that.

Wondering who is doing what in the film industry? There is bound to be interesting content on these sites from top influencers in the cinema world.

Join in with all the other subscribers who find All Things Fulfilling interesting for various different reasons. Along with articles about personal fulfillment, helpful information is available about an  industry that is making news daily – independent publishing of books, films and music.

need..have

Interested? See the fourth box, E-Mail Subscription, on the right hand side of this page. Click on Sign Me Up!

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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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Artist Spotlight: Driftwood Art

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If we look at the world with a love of life, the world will reveal its beauty to us.” ~Daisaku Ikeda

One evening at the Second Saturday Artwalk in Cambridge, Maryland I had the priviledge of meeting Lynn Cegelski, an artist who makes driftwood art. Living so close to the shore of the Chesapeake, the material she needs to create her green art is readily available. She recycles a natural resource, wood that has been cast into the ocean, tumbled by the waters then discarded onto beaches. The wood is her canvas, and the shape provides inspiration for what she is going to create.

At her exhibit last week at the DorchesterCenter for the Arts http://www.dorchesterarts.org/ , paintings on driftwood of a bald eagle, an angelfish, and owls in a tree could not have been better suited for their subjects. No carving of wood was needed. Sometimes, Lynn says “her vision for the piece of wood is immediately evident” and other times, she brings the wood home not knowing what she is going to do with it, but with time, a vision for the piece shines through after studying the nuances in the wood. “Half the fun of her art,” Lynn says “is walking the beaches and along shorelines in search of her treasures.” It is a way of winding down from the stresses of life.

IMAG0770I enjoyed meeting this artist, from Denton, Maryland. She was warm, friendly and her passion for her art was evident. I wish her well in her endeavors as an artist. Her exhibit at the DorchesterCenter for the Arts was her first.

For more information on Lynn’s business, Fiddlesticks Driftwood Art, please visit www.facebook.com/fiddlesticksdriftwoodart or contact Lynn by email at FiddlesticksArt@gmail.com. A company website is forthcoming.

Pleasure to meet you, Lynn!

Return tomorrow to All Things Fulfilling for another artist spotlight from the Chesapeake region. This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

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.

Good Foundations of Health Literacy

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It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. ~ Frederick Douglass 

nutrition-habitsEncouraging young students to learn more about healthy food choices is important to the Arthur W Perdue Foundation. A forty-thousand dollar grant towards health literacy has been awarded to the AtlanticGeneralHospital in Worcester County, Maryland. The AGH is creating after school programs to educate children about making better choices in their lives. http://bit.ly/18LrPSQ.

AGH will partner with the HerschelSHorowitzCenter for Health Literacy http://www.healthliteracy.umd.edu/   at the University of Maryland College Park to draft a set of health literacy standards for the K-8 public school curriculum. Health literacy is a relatively new term, and it is being integrated into core curriculum in schools in many states, such as Colorado.

Eat, Play, Learn Books, LLC of Steamboat Springs, Colorado http://eatplaylearnbooks.wordpress.com/  is pioneering the way in publishing e-books which incorporates the use of videos of “kids activities that use food as a learning tool.” Great resources for parents and educators.

Kudos to the Perdue Foundation and to Eat, Play, Learn Books, LLC for their commitment to educating children about the cornerstones of good health and the long term benefits of eating right!

Return tomorrow to www.AllThingsFulfilling, where independent thoughts, words and views are all part of the business.

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