Expanding the Art Narrative – Part 2

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Welcome back! Today we are going to step in the door of Danforth Gallery in Livingston, Montana, where my son and I encountered an exhibit on Ledger Art. The art form has evolved from sketches of symbolism on cave walls to modern day ledger artists who draw on antique journal pages which long ago recorded information about land use and sale, acreage, harvest productions, weather and the like.

As my son and I made our way around the walls of the Danforth Gallery in Livingston, the town said to be “The Heart of Art in Montana,” looking at the images, he turned to me and said, “Mom, I feel like you and I have come full circle together.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Don’t you remember the book you bought me when I was a little guy that we used to pour over? It was an example of ledger art. “

“Ah yes, it was. How could I forget? One of our legendary favorites! But Marc, I can’t remember the full name of it.” We both batted around different titles getting close but not quite right. Then of course, he pulled out his cellphone and looked it up.

“Here it is,” he said, as he showed me the cover of the book on his cellphone. “Hey, whatever happened to that book, we spent so much time looking at it?”

“Don’t you remember?” I did!

“Oh, yeah, I loaned it to someone and never got it back.”

“It’s too bad. It would have been a great book to pass down to your daughter!” He loved it so.

I’m a very blessed Mom! When I am with him, my son shares my passions with me, and is almost always game for going to art galleries and art exhibitions, visiting libraries, and even discussing my faith beliefs. From the time he was a little guy he has had a very curious, active mind who tunes in well to other people’s stories.

Author’s Showcase – Perry Hall

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April 13, 2022

Book Buyers at the Perry Hall Branch of the Baltimore County Public Library

It is always fun to gather with other authors, and the Author’s Showcase at the Perry Hall Branch Library brought book lovers of all types to browse tables and purchase books from a wide diversity of subjects.

Thanks to the Perry Hall Library and to Douglas J Beatty – Adult and Community Involvement Librarian for organizing this evening. Our book buyers/potential buyers are our reason for being and it is fulfilling to have venues to share and talk about what we love to do – write!

Indie Bookstore Day

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A few Saturday’s ago was celebrate Independent Bookstore Day. In many states  COVID-19 has restricted the opening of brick and mortar stores over the past 6 months but regulations have relaxed just a little allowing a celebration with social distancing. Many bookstores held sidewalk  celebrations.

As I participated in a book signing in Bel Air, MD I couldn’t help but think how selling books by e-commerce and also the development of electronic books (e-books) and audio books were made for a time such as this. Had it not been for the vast changes in the publishing industry over the past 12 or 15 years, bookselling would have come to a complete and utter screaming hault during these challenging times.

It felt so good to be able to participate in a bookselling event and to meet and greet other authors who share a passion for writing.

Here’s a few images of Independent Bookstore Day in 2020! Books are already being written about this unique time in history.

Book with a Big Takeaway Message

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I just read a book by Rubi Ho called The Thrival Guide to Work and Life. Briefly, Rubi Ho is an expert at organizational change and an Executive Business Coach. His talents are especially valuable in this day and age when corporations everywhere are looking at change or overhauls  due to the pandemic.

Along with sharing many achievable tips, his book paints an abstract of his early childhood as an orphan and how he became a successful business person working with Fortune 500 companies and living a fulfilling life. The tools he used to become successful endorses the idea that education is not always the key ingredient for a thriving life.

The biggest takeaway for me was Rubi Ho’s assurance that limitation, lack of resources and challenge early in life often lays the foundation for learning critical thinking skills and problem solving which can be greatly used to one’s advantage. Knowing oneself and using ones own innate gifts and lessons learned through real life experience leads to thrival. Quang Ho, his brother, a world renown artist is sited as an excellent example of someone who followed his heart for art even though he knew the big challenges he’d face trying to rise to an elite level of accomplishment.

The book is so filled with strategies for both personal and professional achievement that it is best read in it’s entirety.

Rubi Ho, best wishes to you for thrival in your publishing endeavors. You have much of value to share.

2020 Eric Hoffer Award Finalist

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We are pleased to announce a biography about Richard Galusha called “An Artist’s Journey,” written by Sue Batton Leonard is a 2020 Eric Hoffer Book Award Finalist. The narrative tells the story of the unique influences that drove  Galusha’s passion for the arts from childhood to amateur artist to arts educator to professional artist to gallery owner.

Featuring a Newly Published Artist

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Today’s blog post is written in honor of artist Richard Galusha, a Colorado Artist who I am so very excited for. Galusha Studios has a new publication hot off the press. Although giclee prints of Galusha’s vast collection of original artwork have been published, there has never been a book about the artist’s life and his work. Here is more about “An Artist’s Journey: Richard Galusha.”

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When you are a prolific painter like Richard Galusha, at some time in one’s long career, an artist’s collectors are interested in seeing a Retrospective Show. This means gathering a lifetime of the artist’s work for the public to view.

In the year 2020, two separate exhibitions will hang in art galleries in the United States giving collectors the opportunity to see nearly every canvas of Colorado artist Richard Galusha. The Steamboat Art Museum, in Steamboat Springs, Colorado is currently playing host to Galusha’s Retrospective Show until April 11, 2020.

On May 11, 2020 a second exhibition, will open in Abiline, Texas at the Center for Contemporary Arts. Paintings from the Wachter and Bradley collections comprise most of Galusha’s art being showcased for the month of May. Paintings include western art as well a varied mix of landscapes from mountains to oceans and faces of people from all over the world. The oils are representative of the wide range of the artist’s talent.

Many art aficionados and collectors are eager to know about the background of an artist whose work they are viewing and purchasing. Thus, Galusha Studios offers a newly released book which compliments the two Retrospective shows and allows the art enthusiast to have a more meaningful experience. “Through the very personal biography included in “An Artist’s Journey” and the art in the book, one feels he or she knows the artist more intimately,” says the author of the publication, Sue Batton Leonard.

The hardcover 12” X 12” coffee table sized book has two-hundred-twenty-eight pages of paintings in full color. Art educator, painter and Colorado art gallery owner Galusha’s retrospective exhibition catalog also incorporates photographic images of unique lifetime experiences he’s had that many people only dream about.  For instance, says Sue Batton Leonard, “a fortuitous meet-up with a football legend presented the artist with the opportunity to paint the athlete. What a thrill for Galusha who as a young man on the high school football field held the quarterback in great regard and wanted to be like him some day. The artist has had a storied career well worth writing about.”

Richard Galusha: An Artists Journey, allows the reader to walk through the door into the life of the painter from the time he was a child and spend time with his family. The biography covers his life until present day. The author states “If you have ever wondered why an artist becomes an artist, this biography is for you.” Galusha’s narrative is as entertaining as it is informative. The West Texas boy was raised in a large colorful family and as the story unfolds one begins to connect his heritage and his familial environment with how it has influenced him to live life “the artists way.”

For twenty years as a teacher this artist passed on his knowledge to his high school students and gave them an understanding of what it really takes to be an artist. His impressive design of a well-outfitted art department and classroom is a great example of how Galusha puts his professional best into everything he has ever done. What better example could his young students have had in seeing how one develops an admirable art career?

From reading the biography one will understand why Galusha connects with the subjects he paints, whether it is a landscape, a portrait, or wildlife. He has traveled the world, often far off the beaten path. His biographer says, “Once he is smitten with what he is seeing and experiencing, he prefers to capture it immediately on canvas “en plein air” rather than in his studio.”

Those with an appreciation for art and the creative life who are unable to travel to the Retrospective shows will enjoy looking at the treasure of images between the covers of the publication and reading about “Richard Galusha: An Artists Journey.” Ahhh…the beauty of a colorful art exhibition catalog that can be ordered by calling 970-819-2850 or (970) 870-1755.

That’s all for today from AllThingsFulfilling.com! See you back here soon as we go roaring into 20’s!

Overdue Recognition

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’Twant me, ’twas the Lord. I always told him, “I trust to you. I don’t know where to go or what to do, but I expect you to lead me,” and he always did. ~ Harriet Tubman

Happy New Year from AllThingsFulfilling.com. Let’s start 2020 with a topic that warms my heart because it magnifies the humanitarian efforts and the importance of a freedom fighter of the past, Harriet Tubman. I am so happy the recent release of the movie “Harriet” has been so well received because her bravery and contribution for the betterment of her people through the Underground Railroad is important to our country’s history.

Over my Christmas hiatus from blogging, I came across a book that further puts the spot light on Harriet Tubman. The Good Ol’ Ship of Zion (Christmas Escape, Part 1) is just one chapter among others in the book Tubman Travels: 32 Underground Railroad Journeys on Delmarva  that helps educate, inform and inspire the public about a woman whose recognition is long overdue.

Make 2020 the year when you take your family on a good ole road trip to Dorchester County, Maryland and expose them to a very important part of our nation’s history at the new  National Park dedicated solely to Harriet Tubman! And while you’re there, stop by Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge! By the by – there is a bench along the Tubman Trail on the Blackwater Refuge lands where you can take a respite from your travels. Seek out the bench that says “We can’t direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.”

Holiday Books

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Happy December 1st everyone. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I recently began spending time at the Charles W. Lightner Library, a Christian Community Library. What a wonderful assortment of titles – currently 6,300 but who is counting? The number is constantly increasing as new books are acquired.

As I browse the shelves, I see so many titles perfect for family reading. The chances of the whole family being on the same page together when it comes to faith and spirituality is increased when Christian book titles are on the bookshelves of the family library.

Here are two publications which will reinforce your family’s determination to put the focus back into Christmas where it belongs. Pre-holiday reading is recommended!

  • 7 Days of Christmas: The Season of Generosity by Jen Hatmaker
  • Advent Conspiracy by Rick McKinley, Chris Seay and Greg Holder

You, too, can join in on the Advent Conspiracy. I have! I’m participating in a group discussion with the local United Methodist Church in Bel Air.

Keep your eye on AllThingsFulfilling.com.  In the New Year there will be more recommended titles because there are genres of books that can make a world of difference to individuals and family alike who want to live more fulfilling lives. Click here for one more title to add to this short list! There is a meaningful chapter about Christmas in it you will not want to miss.

Post Script:  Ever since I entered the media world as a blogger and writer ten years ago, I have taken about a two-week hiatus, through the holidays, from posting writings. This year it will be a little different. I am dedicating myself to a whole month of quietly observing the holy season and to the renewal of spirit. When the New Year rolls around, 2020!! I will be refreshed and rejuvenated.

Merry Christmas to You and to Yours.

 

Artful Titles

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“It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines who you will be when you can’t help it.”

~ Oscar Wilde

Last night, many artists whom I’ve directly or indirectly made connection with in the art community were in my thoughts when I attended Bruce E Mowday’s book signing for his publication Stealing Wyeth. The book signing was held at the Harford County Public Library in Bel Air.

The veteran reporter, investigative journalist and public speaker knows how to tantalize an audience! Bruce E. Mowday gave us just enough information about the theft of fifteen Wyeth paintings for us to want to learn more and read on! All you art enthusiasts and crime book fans will want to know more about the characters, the art thieves and the author behind the story. Go to the author’s website. He has published about twenty books in various genres and he says his range of subjects can be contributed to his avid interest in people, both from the past and in today’s world.

Soon, more revelations will be made about more books artists world-wide will be interested in.  Keep your eye on this website.