May 2018 Rapid River Magazine

M AY T H E A R T S B E W I T H YO U R A P I D RI VER MAGAZINE’S

ARTS & CULTURE WWW.RAPIDRIVERMAGAZINE.COM

May 2018 Vol. 21 No.9

THE OLDEST AND MOST READ ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE IN WNC

ART EVENT

(Detail) Sarah Kaufman - Knoxville, “Rainy Day Woodlands,” pastel by Appalachian Pastel Society artist, Cathyann Burgess of Hendersonville.

Appalachian Pastel Society Group Show: New Members, New Art New Members. New Art,” an exhibition of original pastel paintings created by new members of the Appalachian Pastel Society

2 Vol. 21, No. 9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018

By Staff Reports (APS) will be presented Saturday, May 12, 9:30 am-1:30 pm in Grace Gallery, Grace Community Church, Mills River NC.

ART EVENT APS will also the juror of entries and host “The Business judge of awards. The of Art and Enterinteractive discussion ing Art Shows,” a will entertain questions panel presentation from the audience. The

by APS President show and panel discusGary Rupp, Black sion are free and open Mountain, NC and to APS members and award-winning the public. board member Appalachian Pastel Appalachian Pastel Society pastelist, Zoe Schumaker of Zoe Schumaker of Society is centered in Asheville Asheville, NC. The western North Carolina education program, and serves members 10 am to noon, will coincide with from North Carolina, Tennessee, the one-day member show on South Carolina, Georgia, VirginMay 12. Presenters include artists ia and other states. The society from the APS with experience in was formed in 2006 to promote submitting paintings to art shows understanding of pastel paintand having paintings accepted. ing throughout the Appalachian Topics include entering art shows, region. For additional information, photographing artwork, framing, visit appalachianpastelsociety. plus understanding the roles of com.

2nd Annual HotWorks.org

Asheville Fine Art Show

™

HotWorks.org

Michael Brennan, Mixed Media

Facebook.com/HotWorksArtShows Instagram @HotWorksArtShows

May 19 & 20 Saturday & Sunday • 10am-5pm Daily Indoors – WNC Agricultural Center Davis Event Center • Fletcher, NC • Up to 125 Juried Fine Art & Fine Craft Artists • All Art is Original & Personally Handmade • Open to the Public • $8 Admission/$10 2-Day Pass; 13 & Under Free • Free Parking • Youth Art Competition for K-8 or Ages 5-13 $250 cash awards!

3rd Asheville Fine Art Show – October 27 & 28 outdoors at Pack Square Park, downtown Asheville

Vol. 21, No.9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018 3

ART EVENT

Alex Smith from Brooklyn, NY - Webb School of Knoxville’s ArtXtravaganza 2018 Featured Artist

ArtXtravaganza 2019 call for artist entries

By Staff Reports The ArtXtravaganza Art Show & Sale is an annual, juried fine art sale, featuring 65-plus professional artists from across the Southeast and beyond.

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Held at Webb School of Knoxville’s Lee Athletic Center in Knoxville, Tenn., ArtXtravaganza has become one of East Tennessee’s most anticipated fine art events.

During the three-day sale, guests have the opportunity to view and purchase more than 2,000 original artworks, ranging from oil paintings to sculptures, photography to woodwork, glass and metal works to jewelry, and more.

ArtXtravaganza 2019 will take place March 1-3. The event is open to the public, and admission and parking are free. Nationally known ceramics artist John Sellberg and acrylic/watercolor painter Elaine Jackson are ArtXtravaganza’s featured artists for 2019.

Throughout its 18-year history, ArtXtravaganza has been instrumental in helping to establish

4 Vol. 21, No. 9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018

Knoxville as a community aligned with the arts. Reflecting Webb School’s tradition of fostering community by enhancing lives through art education and appreciation, proceeds from ArtXtravaganza fund Webb’s hallmark Artist-In-Residence Program and support the school’s visual and performing arts.

The Artist-In-Residence Program is a four-to-six-week on-campus teaching and learning experience that features nationally and internationally acclaimed artists. It provides Webb students with a view into the real world of art by exposing them to professional artists, their work and their perspectives, and inspires students to explore their creative abilities.

Also, a portion of the proceeds from ArtXtravaganza helps support a local arts-integrated school.

Interested artists are invited to apply at artxtravaganza.org or call Sherry Franks, Webb School Special Events Coordinator, at (865) 291-3846.

IF YOU GO

CONTENTS May 2018

Volume 21, NO. 9

ON OUR COVER

20

20

Cover Photo: Jeffrey Stoner is known for making photographs that capture the essence of place. His

6 7 12 15 8 10 11 14 19 21 22

Grovewood Gallery presents an exhibition of new work by contemporary ceramic artist Taylor Robenalt

16 20 23 28

Chilling, provocative “The Mercy Seat Opens” in 35below Art Event: Area artists step into the limelight for a good cause QuickDraw 2018 arrives New art from Gretchen Chadwick captures scenes of tranquility

Performing Arts: An Evening of genre-bending with conductor Jacomo Bairos and the Asheville Symphony May 12 310 Art: An Artist’s Journey, Spotlight on Olga Yukhno

Art Classes

23 24 25

Asheville Gallery of Art: “Chasing the Light,” exhibiting the paintings of Joyce Schlapkohl this May Food/Drink: AmiciMusic presents three special “Jewish Jazz” programs with special guest Simone Vigilante plus two Memorial Day picnics featuring the DeMasi brothers Bill Walz: Approaching Truth Health: Keeping pace with life

Publisher/Layout and Design/Editor: Dennis Ray Poetry Editor: Carol Pearce Bjorlie CONTACT US: Rapid River’s Arts and Culture Magazine is a monthly publication in WNC. Mail: 85 N. Main St. Canton NC 28716 Email: Info@rapidrivermagazine.com Phone: (828) 646-0071

26 30 30

Local master-potter Karen Newgard available at Susan Marie Designs Cover Story: Interview with award-winning photographer Jeffrey Stoner Travel: Summer in Wilmington’s Island Beaches can make for the best family vacation

passion is to capture images of the beauty and wonder that surrounds us.

www.rapidrivermagazine.com Online NOW

Art and artisans help create a relaxing mood

12

Music: Nikki Forbes CD release party May 31, 7pm at Isis Music Hall in West Asheville Poetry Books: “The Push” A CLIMBER’S SEARCH FOR THE PATH and TESSA FONTAINE presents ‘THE ELECTRIC WOMAN’ May 26 Black Mountain: Black Mountian voted “Best small town in WNC” Rapid River Magazine’s Comics Festivals: STAY WILD Chattooga Celebration & Fundraiser, Friday, May 11

Quick Draw

NEXT MONTH

COLUMNS / DEPARTMENTS

ART AND MORE FEATURES

Detail of a photo by Jeffrey Stoner

15 Gretchen Chadwick

JUNE: GET READY FOR SUMMER WITH THIS HIGH-FLYING MAGAZINE SHOW!

*Red May the Arts Be with You

Distribution: Dennis Ray/Rick Hills Marketing: Dennis Ray/Rick Hills

ADVERTISING SALES: Downtown Asheville and other areas — Dennis Ray (828) 712-4752 • (828) 646-0071 Dining Guide, Hendersonville, Waynesville — Rick Hills (828) 452-0228 rick@rapidrivermagazine.com

All Materials contained herein are owned and copyrighted © by Rapid River’s Arts & Culture Magazine and the individual contributors unless otherwise stated. Opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Rapid River’s Arts and Culture Magazine or the advertisers herein. © ‘Rapid River’s Arts & Culture Magazine’ May 2018, Vol. 21, No. 9

Vol. 21, No.9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018 5

ART SHOW Grovewood Gallery presents an exhibition of new work by contemporary ceramic artist Taylor Robenalt

By Staff Reports

calmness. The final touches of gold luster offer an overall sense of purity to the body of work and allude to the strong sense figurative sculptures and teapots of achievement and pride that by contemporary ceramic artist comes with positively facing life Taylor Robenalt. on a day-to-day basis.”

Since receiving her MFA in Robenalt has completed artist Ceramics from the University of residency programs at Odyssey Georgia in 2011, Robenalt has Clayworks in NC and Watershed drawn attention for her innovative Center for the Ceramic Arts in narrative style, using flora and Maine. Aside from her work, she fauna to illustrate an emotion. Her “Bear King,” porcelain sculpture by Taylor Robenalt has taught ceramics at Auburn latest body of work is inspired by in Japan at the International WorkUniversity, Columbus State Universiher daily interactions between hushop of Ceramic Art in Tokoname, ty, and State College of Florida. mans, animals, and nature - artwork that she realized clay was going to She is also a co-founder of Cethat reflects her internal dialogue. be her medium of choice. ramic Sculpture Culture, an artists’ Taylor Robenalt has loved art since In her new body of work, Intercollective which works to promote she was a little girl. Originally from actions, Robenalt’s sculptures, the art of emerging sculptors creatOhio, she moved to Sarasota, FL and teapots are constructed out of ing narrative and figurative works in when she was porcelain. Human and clay. five years old. animal heads burst In 2018, Robenalt will teach Growing up, forth from massive classes at Ringling College of Art she always adclusters of ornate and Design in Sarasota, Fl. She will mired her mothflowers, as though also attend a summer residency at er’s art collection, escaping a thicket and Red Lodge Clay Center in Montana especially the the work itself seems and co-teach a two-week workshop Salvador Dali and alive and fertile. titled Pristine Porcelain at Penland Georgia O’Keeffe Recurring colors School of Crafts, a nationally-reprints that decoand animals appear nowned center for craft education rated her childthroughout her work, located in Spruce Pine, NC. hood home. which has symbolDuring college, ic meanings. “The Grovewood Gallery IF Robenalt began use of the dog often YOU An opening reception will be GO to explore sculpcorrelates with loyalty held Saturday, May 5, 2-5pm, ture, studying and friendship, birds “The Ring,” porcelain sculpture by with the artist in attendance. Adbronze casting Taylor Robenalt strand for freedom mission is free. This exhibition runs and stone carvor busy noise, rabbits through Sunday, June 3. ing. But it wasn’t until the summer stand for fertility,” says Robenalt. www.grovewood.com • (828) 253after receiving her undergraduate “As for color, black and white stand 7651. degree, while attending a residency for rigidity, red for love, blue for This May, Grovewood Gallery in Asheville will present Interactions, a solo exhibition of

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6 Vol. 21, No. 9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018

Artists Breakfasts Draw Crowds Artists, collectors and patrons are gathering in Asheville’s River Arts District for monthly socials.

Artists’ Breakfasts are held on the last Thursday of each month.

Up next: March 29, 10-1pm at 362 Depot.

Organizer Richard Baker of Richard Baker Studios says he is pleased with the turnouts for the first two events.

“It’s good to see the artists networking.

And it’s also nice to meet Asheville’s art patrons.”

Many of the 10 artists of 362 Depot are on hand to talk to those who attend for the

By Staff Reports camaraderie and food and to see new works.

“People are coming in,” Baker says, “meeting the artists and purchasing artwork.”

Coffee is provided and guests are welcome to bring food to share.

Recent events have drawn attendees from Asheville and points beyond including Saluda, Hendersonville, Waynesville and Weaverville.

For more information, follow 362 Depot and Richard Baker on Facebook or call (828) 234-1616.

IF YOU GO

Chilling, provocative “The Mercy Seat Opens” in 35below September 12, 2001. A man expected to be at the World Trade Center the day before finds himself missing, presumed dead. Now holed up in a condo in the phantom shadow of the twin towers with his mistress (who is also his boss), he considers his unexpected freedom to start a new life. The New York Times writes, “Yes, he survived 9/11, but what’s in it for him?”

The Mercy Seat, a play by Neil LaBute May 4-20, 2018; Performances Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30 pm and Sunday afternoons at 2:30 pm • 35below, Asheville Community Theatre, 35 East Walnut St., Asheville • $18.00 • Asheville Community Theatre Box Office, 35 East Walnut Street • Downtown Asheville • (828) 254-1320 • www.ashevilletheatre.org IF YOU GO

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Vol. 21, No.9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018 7

PERFORMING ARTS An Evening of genre-bending with conductor Jacomo Bairos and the Asheville Symphony May 12 “I am thrilled to bring an eclectic program of my favorite genre-bending composers and works to Asheville,” says conductor Jacomo Bairos of his upcoming May 12 concert with the Asheville Symphony.

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honor the ultimate genre-bending composer who fused jazz, Broadway, and classical traditions into a truly authentic American voice.” The piece was originally written for a theatrical adaptation of Voltaire’s satirical novel Candide, which was a collaboration between Bernstein and playwright Lillian Hellman in reaction to Senator Joseph McCarthy’s campaign against alleged communists in the 1950s. Though the original play was unsuccessful, the Overture lived on and had become a staple of the orchestral repertoire. Its (L-R) conductor Jacomo Bairos and soloist Jennifer Frautschi pace and tone reference Miami-based Nu Deco Ensemble the quick pacing of Voltaire’s satire, which is a virtuosic and eclectic ranging from utterly ridiculous to chamber orchestra. The audience mockingly tender. will be asked to give feedback via a Next is contemporary composer survey after the concert.

Sam Hyken’s 2017 work Four–The The concert opens with Leonard Vivaldi Project, a reimagining of Bernstein’s Overture to Candide.

Vivaldi’s endlessly favorite The Four Bairos notes, “As we celebrate Seasons. The piece was originally Bernstein’s centennial year, we ‘ASO’ continued on pg. 19

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Of the works on the evening’s program, Sam Hyken’s 2017 work Four–The Vivaldi Project, perhaps best epitomizes the evening’s theme as it reinterprets Vivaldi’s masterpiece The Four Seasons complete with a drum set, Moog synthesizer, and symphony.

The other two works on Bairos’ program include Leonard Berstein’s Overture to Candide, and Johannes Brahms’ beloved Symphony No. 2. The concert takes place at 8 p.m. in downtown Asheville’s Thomas Wolfe Auditorium.

Bairos is the sixth and last of the finalists for the Asheville Symphony’s music director position to con-

duct an audition concert. He is the artistic director of the Amarillo Symphony and is also the co-founder and co-artistic director of the

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8 Vol. 21, No. 9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018

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Vol. 21, No.9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018 9

310 ART

“Mandala” by Olga Yukhno

An Artist’s Journey, Spotlight on Olga Yukhno

By Staff Reports Olga Yukhno’s journey in life and art reflects her personality. She is inquisitive, dedicated, imaginative and fearless.

Now known for her ceramic sculpture, her roots are in much smaller art pieces, in a completely different medium. It has been a long, entertaining, and extremely rewarding journey that has taken her from where she was a decade ago in her life and art to where she is now.

Originally from Pyatigorsk, Russia, Olga grew up there for most of the early part of her life. While her school studies were focused on linguistics and psychology, she found that her most significant passion was art. Yukhno began with enameling, working with metal and glass. She attended to details so tiny, only the granules of crushed glass could fit into the spaces being filled. When 10 Vol. 21, No. 9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018

she moved to the US, she no longer had access to the tools needed to continue enameling, but her love of art had not diminished. She quickly found a new way to express herself through clay.

At the beginning of her journey with clay and because of her background in enameled and metal jewelry, it felt natural to create tiny, fine details in the clay. She began to develop her unique process of sculpting clay jewelry. Her first pieces mimicked the look of metal that was milled for enameling. The work was so different than anything else the ceramic artists around her were doing, and it immediately set her work apart. Her collectors always commented on how unique and different her pieces were. Very often people would express how it made them think of masks or tribal art.

‘310 Art’ continued next pg.

S h o p , L e a r n , E x p l o r e . . . E v e r y d a y , A l l Ye a r R o u n d Classes at 310 ART

(L-R) “Denial,” “Royalty” “Calaveras” by Olga Yukhno

‘Art’ continued “This inspired me to adapt the sculpting technique I had developed to a larger scale.

I used one of the necklaces as inspiration and created a tribally inspired mask as a wall hanging,” she relates.

That one mask quickly turned into an entire series of masks. She drew inspiration from her world travels to Africa, Asia, and all over North and South America. These travels inspired her to incorporate aesthetics from ancient to modern cultures, and she exhibited an entire solo show

of just her masks. While she was creating the new sculpture works for this show, she began to find new meanings in the work. To create artwork that had was a visual communication to the viewers and collectors was a new motivation and inspiration. Soon she found her body of work evolving again and a new journey began.

The figurative sculpture was an art form she had long admired, and now that her work needed a more powerful voice, it was a form she tackled head-on. She started learning from ‘310 Art’ continued on pg. 29

310 ART AT RIVERVIEW STATION

Marvelous Mondays with Lorelle and Nadine Beginner and Up! Open art studios Mondays with instructor to guide you - start and continue year round in our Monday classes, 9:30-12:30pm and 1-4pm. Come the dates that work for you!

See 310art.com for schedule and sign up.

Beginners welcomed!

Workshops: Coming Soon Mapping the Journey, Acrylic Layers, mixed media, collage - May 19, 20 Encaustic Pendants - June 7 Mystical Mixed Media Mashup - June 9, 10 Bind Your Beeswax (handbound encaustic journals) - June 16, 17 Intro Eco Printing on silk and paper - June 21 Encaustic Comprehensive - June 30, July 1 Classes for adults at 310 ART, 191 Lyman Street, #310, Asheville, NC 28801 www.310art.com gallery@310art.com (828)776-2716 Adult classes, beginner and up, most materials provided. Register online or at the studio.

Vol. 21, No.9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018 11

QUICK DRAW

(L-R) Sue Dolamore working live at QuickDraw 2017. Student handmade paper project, funded by QuickDraw.

Area artists step into the limelight for a good cause QuickDraw 2018 arrives

Some of the region’s finest and gutsiest artists will pit their right and left brains against the clock at

QuickDraw.

Inspired by a southwestern quickdraw paintout, artists have just 60-minutes to begin and finish a work of art that will be sold to benefit art teachers’ classroom projects and provide college scholarships. The event takes place Saturday, May 19 at Laurel Ridge Country Club in Waynesville. Artists set up and create throughout the clubhouse and pavilion while guests stroll, sip, watch and marvel. The annual event attracts new residents, art enthusiasts, and community supporters to observe art in creation.

While most race-the-clock participants will be painters, artists creating live will includes those building in clay, metal, stained glass, fabricated jewelry, textiles, flyfishing materials, fused glass, wax, and wood.

Artists braving return visits include Ann Vasilik (who plans a retirement move to Cary), Jenny Buckner, Jo Ridge Kelley, Nina Howard, Teresa Pennington, Jon Houglum, Mark Menendez and Joyce Schlapkohl. New artists include WCU 12 Vol. 21, No. 9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018

By Staff Reports

professor and painter Ron Laborey and Trout Unlimited past president Tommy Thomas, who crafts a flyrod in real time.

The event includes the QuickDraw live hour, student art gallery, live music social, and a lively art auction for scholarships and classroom art supplies, and a dinner buffet. Artists speak on the auction block to share their inspiration. Afterward, artists join buyers and guests for dinner in the clubhouse, transformed from studios back into banquet space.

QuickDraw is an all-volunteer nonprofit that hosts this annual art-awareness benefit for teaching. Since 2001, QuickDraw has funded $52,000 in scholarships and $87,000 in art teacher supplies, providing over 90,000 art projects in classes.

Tickets are $75 (advance sales only) and include auction registration and meetthe-artists dinner. For event schedule and artists, visit www.wncquickdraw.com or call (828) 734-5747.

IF YOU GO

QUICK DRAW

QuickDraw Schedule 4:30

Cocktail Social, Artists Ready

5:00 60-minute QuickDraw Challenge, 36 artists 6 pm

Auction Preview and Cocktail Social

6:30

Live Auction, Artists on the block!

7:30

Meet-the-Artists Dinner

“Morning Rays” 20 x 24 by Joyce Schlapkohl Joyce Schlapkohl has been a live auction participant since its inception in 2002 except for one year. She is looking forward to the excitement and enthusiasm that the event brings.

“Although it is stressful doing a painting in one hour, it is fun and such a relief when the live auction starts.”

Whether the medium is watercolor, pastel, or oil, all the artists are juried in and have the highest reputation.

Vol. 21, No.9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018 13

Asheville’s Longest Established Fine Art Gallery with 31 Regional Artists

Asheville Gallery of Art 's May Artist

“Water Beauties” 24 x 30 by Joyce Schlapkohl

“Nature’s Glow” 30 x 40 by Joyce Schlapkohl

“Chasing the Light,” exhibiting the paintings of Joyce Schlapkohl this May

By Staff Reports

Atlantic University and has continued taking workshops with nationally known teachers.

“A wonderful part of painting is that you never stop learning er who was then known for her and developing your eye for boats, seascapes, and florals. seeing regardless of the medium However, she switched to oils you use,” she says. “I’m very almost immediately to capture the fortunate to be able to paint full local landscape, flowers, animals, time. I’m very thankful to love and any subject that inspired her what I do and can share life’s with intense light and shadow beauty as I see it. Hopefully, the patterns. local scenes will stir emotion for “Tuscany Stroll” 18 x 24 by “While watercolor training still inJoyce Schlapkohl the viewer as they have inspired fluences the way I see values, oils me.” add freedom for creating texture Schlapkohl’s studio is in Waynesville, NC. Her and layering paint.” work is at Asheville Gallery of Art, Seven Sisters Schlapkohl’s formal art training began after Gallery in Black Mountain, and Twigs and Leaves earning a Master’s Degree in Business. When a back injury sidelined her, she studied art at Florida Gallery in Waynesville. She is a Signature Member of the Watercolor Society of NC. Her website is When Joyce Schlapkohl moved from Florida to her native North Carolina 19 years ago, she was a watercolor painter and teach-

14 Vol. 21, No. 9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018

www.joycepaints.com, and her e-mail is joyce@ joycepaints.com.

Schlapkohl’s work, as well as the paintings of the other 30 gallery members, will be on display and for sale through May. For further information about this show, you can contact Asheville Gallery of Art at (828) 251-5796, visit the gallery website at www.ashevillegallery-of-art.com, or go to the gallery Facebook page.

Asheville Gallery of Art’s May show, “Chasing the Light,” features Joyce Schlapkohl who describes her style as, “Painterly realism with a strong focal point.”

The show runs May 1-31 during gallery hours, 11-6pm. Monday through Saturday and 1-4 pm on Sunday. The gallery, located at 82 Patton Avenue in Asheville, across from Pritchard Park, hosts a reception for the artist, Friday, May 4, 5-8pm. Everyone is cordially invited to stop by the Gallery.

IF YOU GO

FINE ART

(L-R) “Hold Infinity,” 18” x 18,” “Rustling Grasses,” 18” x 18,” “Green and Gold,” 24” x 48,” by Gretchen Chadwick

New art from Gretchen Chadwick captures scenes of tranquility Gretchen Chadwick is settling into her spacious new studio on the second floor of Riverview Station in the River Arts District, where she has a view of trains, graffiti, Wedge Brewery, Summit Coffee, and 12 Bones Barbecue.

Riverview Station is a hive of artists — painters, fashion designers, sculptors, jewelers, photographers, and potters. Gretchen is buoyed and inspired by the creative energy all around her.

In the midst of it, she has created a place of serenity and peace in which to work and show her paintings. The high ceilings, white walls, and bright light of the studio suit her perfectly. “I’d been waiting a long time for a large studio to open up in Riverview Station,” she says. “I always

knew this was where I wanted to be. I have a longstanding relationship with the wonderful folks at 310 ART, downstairs, where some of my work is displayed. Being here is like coming home.”

Using oils and cold wax medium, Gretchen creates paintings that evoke a sense of mystery and tranquility and invite the viewer to linger and contemplate. Using a palette of neutrals layered over more vibrant hues, the paintings become abstract marshes, fallow fields, trees clinging to last leaves, or patches of sky glimpsed through bare branches. Gretchen is primarily drawn to the patterns and rhythms found in nature. “I want my paintings to feel like haiku. I often read haiku before I begin to paint. It puts me in the right frame

By Staff Reports

of mind,” she says.

Clay artist, Anita Walling, has a display of “Prayer Pots” in Gretchen’s studio. “Anita and I have always thought our work would exhibit well together, and it does. Her pots are so lovely and organic. I own several of them and often give them as gifts.” Anita can be seen making her pots in the studio most Sundays.

There will be an opening event, featuring several artists who have new studios at Riverview station, including Gretchen Chadwick, Rand Kramer, and Zinnia Nishikawa, Friday, May 18, 5-8pm. Beverages and hors-d’oeuvres will be served.

IF YOU GO

Vol. 21, No.9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018 15

More of what Makes Asheville Special: Dining • Shopping • Galleries • Music • Fun

Downtown Asheville

Local master-potter Karen Newgard available at Susan Marie Designs

By Staff Reports Decorative and fully functional, the carved porcelain wares of local master potter

Karen Newgard give

visual form to some of her most cherished memories.

Though most of her work today displays images inspired by nature (birds on boughs or in nests, bees flying over grass — on neat honeypots — redwings perched atop cattails, a flight of dragonflies, exu-

Karen Newgard

berant flowers, ascending vines) her earlier creations more often reflected childhood memories of interior scenes, whimsically depicting rooms of rustic furnishings or bucolic still lifes.

“My narratives began with depictions of my grandparent’s house and slowly went outside the home, putting the rooms aside for nature,” states Newgard. “Birds were added as I ‘zoomed in’ and began to study the botanical scenes I was exploring. The birds have become

Mother’s Day MAY 13

add family birthstones to create Mom’s Family Tree

Sterling Silver and 14k gold pendant designed by Paula Dawkins.

“This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.” ― William Shakespeare, Hamlet

FINE JEWELRY & DESIGN STUDIO

828-254-5088 63 Haywood St. Downtown Asheville www.jewelsthatdance.com

16 Vol. 21, No. 9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018

the personalities in my stories. The scenes I started drawing documented places from my memories and the botanical landscapes I now depict carry on those stories of family and tradition through the characteristics, traits, and gestures of my bird diaries.”

Many of Newgard’s pots are decorated using the technique of sgraffito, giving a silhouette effect. Newgard brushes a layer of black clay onto a newly formed pot, then carves through to the underlying white porcelain, creating dark-on-light images which deepen in contrast when fired. She carefully controls the textures. “With my carving marks, I can create a sense of rhythm; making a leaf look like it’s blowing in the wind or a bird fluttering in the trees,” Newgard explains.

Colorful interior glazes are added, and the pots are fired in a salt kiln, rendering them highly durable for lasting use and enjoyment.

Karen Newgard will be conducting a workshop, “Carving on Pots: It’s Not All Black & White,” at Penland School of Crafts, Penland,

Downtown Asheville • Dining • Shopping • Galleries • Music

Momentum Gallery to continue its growth and impact Momentum Gallery announces an expansion that will be truly game-changing for Asheville’s arts community.

The gallery has acquired and plans to upfit approximately 15,000 SF of space at 52 Broadway in the heart of downtown. Once the plans to create a breathtaking space are complete, Momentum will be the most extensive and most accessible gallery in NC. But to gallery owner Jordan Ahlers, the real news goes well beyond the space. “Our vision is to create the best contemporary art and craft gallery in the country,” said Ahlers. “In doing so, we look to strengthen this region and the City of Asheville as an art destination for people to discover and acquire museum-quality art.”

Ahlers is uniquely qualified to make this happen, with deep roots in Asheville as well as in the art world.

Prior to the launch of Momentum Gallery last year,

Jordan Ahlers was Director of Blue Spiral 1 for 18 years, during which time he propelled the gallery to become a regional phenomenon.

Looking to take his work to the next level, Momentum is continuing to compile a stable of artists that represent the best of the region while offering their work in a more significant context, alongside artists who have earned international acclaim.

“At the end of the day, our job here is to help people find art that makes them deliriously happy. With an incredible space and our amazing artist partners, we are going to be able to do that even more effectively. We will exceed expectations, building a national reputation and encouraging more art tourism to our beloved Asheville. The additional space will allow us to increase programming opportunities for engaging exhibitions, community events, and educational and immersive art experiences.”

‘Momentum’ continued on pg. 29

NC, June 24-July 6. Contact her at info@KarenNewgardPottery.com An excellent selection of Newgard’s work is on display at Susan Marie Designs gallery in downtown Asheville.

IF YOU GO

Susan Marie Designs 19 Biltmore Avenue, Suite 102, Asheville • (828) 277-1272 Monday-Saturday 10 - 5:30pm • Sunday 11 - 4pm

Go Local Support Local Businesses Advertise

Local

Vol. 21, No.9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018 17

Simple, delicious food with vegetarian options, Craft beer on draft, great wines, kids menu, to go menu, daily specials.

112374 7376 Firefly 18 01 17

D r i n k s & D i n i n g G u i d e

We’re bringing brunch downtown! Sundays 10:30 til 2:00.

Open daily except Wednesdays 11:30-9:00 454-5400 128 N Main Street, Downtown Waynesville

“One cannot think well, love

well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”

― Virginia Woolf, ‘A Room of

One’s Own’

18 Vol. 21, No. 9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018

Drinks & Dining Guide

AmiciMusic presents three special “Jewish Jazz” programs with special guest Simone Vigilante plus two Memorial Day picnics featuring the DeMasi brothers

By Staff Reports This Memorial Day weekend listen to “Jewish Jazz” with clarinetist Steve Loew and pianist Daniel Weiser along with special guests, soprano Simone Vigilante, the Brevard Woodwind Quintet, and the folk duo of John and Joe DeMasi.

Clarinetist Steve Loew and Weiser will perform their “JEWISH JAZZ” show that highlights the close connections between Klezmer-style Jewish folk music and early American Jazz, particularly in the works of

Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, and George Gershwin. Soprano Simone Vigilante will also join with a set of Yiddish Swing music and great songs by Harold Arlen. Friday, May 25 at 7:30 at the home of Honey and Howard Solomon at 44 Dover St. in North Asheville; Saturday, May 26 at 7:30pm at Agudas Israel Congregation at 505 Glasgow Lane in Hendersonville; and on Sunday, May 27 at 2pm at White Horse Black Mountain. This show includes the

DeMasi brothers.

There will also be two special picnic benefit concerts for AmiciMusic on this weekend. Mr. Loew will continue his “Picnic for Peace” Memorial Day tradition with his lavish and elegant picnic at his home at 71 Crabapple Lane in North Asheville on Monday, May 28 at 4pm. Steve and Robin always make a sumptuous feast of amazing food and also provide great music with the DeMasi brothers and the Brevard Woodwind

Quintet. The DeMasi brothers will also be the featured musical act for “Music at Creekside,” a more family-style picnic to be held outdoors at the home of Kathy Bellizio at 236 Beaverdam Rd.on Saturday, May 26 at 4pm.

the Hyken piece. Frautschi is acclaimed as an adventurous musician with a wide-ranging repertoire. Her discography includes GRAMMY-nominated recordings of works

by Schoenberg. She has also received an Avery Fisher Career Grant.

To round out the evening is Brahms’ delightful Symphony No. 2. Composed while Brahms was on summer holiday in a lakeside town in Austria, its final two movements exude an unusually sunny spirit, and the symphony concludes with great fanfare and optimism. Its premiere

in Vienna in 1877 was met with astounding success, with the audience insisting they repeat the lively third movement.

music for the benefit, enjoyment, and education of the people of Western North Carolina. The ASO presents concerts in the 2,300-seat Thomas Wolfe Auditorium in Asheville’s U.S. Cellular Center. Related organizations include the Asheville Symphony Guild, Asheville Symphony Chorus, Asheville Symphonettes, and education initiatives such as the Asheville Symphony Youth Orchestra, Music in the Schools, Spotlight on Young Musicians, Symphony Talks, and pre-concert lectures.

IF YOU GO

For more information and to purchase seats for any of these programs, please visit www.amicimusic.org.

‘ASO’ continued from pg. 8 commissioned by the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami as a work for solo violin, hiphop dance, and chamber orchestra.

Like Vivaldi’s original, each season is presented in three movements.

Some movements are pure re-orchestrations of the original material, with the composer adding new elements like percussion, brass, and Moog synthesizer. Others are complete re-imaginations that contain aspects of hip-hop, jazz, and ‘70s film noir.

Guest soloist Jennifer Frautschi joins the ASO as the solo violin in

Single tickets for all concerts are $24-69, depending on seating section (reduced youth pricing is available). Individual tickets and season ticket packages can be purchased online at ashevillesymphony.org, by phone at 828-254-7046, or in person at the U.S. Cellular Center box office at 87 Haywood Street.

The Asheville Symphony Orchestra performs and promotes symphonic

IF YOU GO

Vol. 21, No.9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018 19

MAY COVER ARTYIST

(L-r)”Clint,” “Moe - Hawk,” and “Curiosity,” photography by Jeffrey Stoner

Interview with award-winning photographer Jeffrey Stoner Jeffrey Stoner is known for making photographs that capture the essence of place. His passion is to capture images of the beauty and wonder that surrounds us.

From the mystery of a

trail leading through the fog, to the beauty of rhododendron flowers highlighted by the first

rays of dawn, his images tell a story that touch the spirit.

Rapid River Magazine: Tell us a little about your photography and what drew you to photographing goats?

Jeffrey Stoner : I am a nature and animal photographer. I love photographing our stunning mountains and beautiful valleys and sharing my images with fellow nature lovers.

My Goats of Roan series began in 2008 with the 10-year Baa-tany Goat Project. The project was designed to study the restoration of the Roan Highland Balds using goats as an experimental management tool. They spent summers alongside the Appalachian Trail on the border of Tennessee and North Carolina, grazing on the open balds of the Highlands at elevations of 5,700’-5,800’.

I read about the project in our newspaper and

20 Vol. 21, No. 9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018

By Staff Reports

decided to drive to Roan Mountain and hike the Appalachian Trail to Jane Bald where they were grazing.

I made several images, printed them and showed them to my wife. She said they made her smile. I thought, “they make me smile too” and so the project began.

Little did I know that I would be making goat portraits every year after that. The series includes images from the Highlands, their farm where they spend the rest of the year, and particular goats I’ve photographed on my travels.

‘Goats’ continued on pg. 27

APPROACHING TRUTH “Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.” - Buddha “And the truth shall set you free.” – Jesus The only practice worth doing is the search for truth, and it is always about uncovering the lies of the ego — all ego — mine, yours, the politicians’, the preachers’, the advertisers’, governments’, the president’s, corporations’, religions’, society’s, and culture’s, and doing the heroic work of walking increasingly in the truth.

It is not easy, but it is what frees the soul and defeats suffering - and so - eventually makes life easier. Why? Because the truth is what is natural — all of Nature lives in truth — except humans.

There’s an old bumper sticker that said: “If you aren’t outraged, you aren’t paying attention,” and since outrage is exhausting, it’s pretty easy to come to the point where you just want to stop paying attention to how out of alignment with truth human society is, and that is where most of us end up, vacillating between outrage and turning away our heads in exhaustion. Yet there are those like Buddha, Jesus, and Socrates and more modern figures like Einstein, Krishnamurti, Martin Luther King, the Dalai Lama, and Nelson Mandela who were fearless seekers and spokespersons for the truth, and while they undoubtedly had times of discouragement, they overcame them and returned to seeking and speaking eternal truths in the face of derision and persecution. How did they do it?

Of course, they answered that question many times, and the answer was always the same: with love, and with faith in the search for truth as the only path to freedom from the violence of ignorance. They had a love of truth and realized that love is a great truth.

Not romantic love, or the love of identification with someone or with something, but the love that holds the Universe together, the infinite energy of connection and interdependence; love of the truth of what is. The great Vietnamese Zen Master, Thich Nhat Hanh, often uses the term “Interbeing.” All in the Universe “inter-is” with everything else. Once again, all of Nature has no difficulty living within this truth – except human beings, and it is this violation of natural law that is the reason there is so much to be outraged about. The problem seems to arise from this evolutionary development in human beings called ego-identification and its compulsion to create lines of separation that do not exist, and it is these lines of artificial segregation that are the lies of ego that entrap us.

When the Buddha attained enlightenment, he declared: “With the Earth as my witness, all sentient beings have the right to be free of suffering.” Of course, he was not talking about physical pain or discomfort, or even the emotional suffering that is legitimate grieving at loss of loved ones or over their pain; these are all quite natural states – you can see them in a dog. This is the pain of connection broken or injured or resonating sympathetically. He was addressing the unnecessary emotional distress caused by losses to ego-security and status and by amplifying our emotional challenges and traumas by placing them within a self-centered story that we emotionally resist, and it is this resistance that brings about the experience of emotional and spiritual

ZEN PHILOSOPHY WITH BILL WALZ separateness which brings on our suffering. The Buddha also offered us a path to freedom from this suffering that was not some supernatural ability or a pathological emotional callousness. He offered to us the natural state of acceptance, of alignment with the what-is in life – that which every creature except humans can live within. This then constitutes a truth we can depend upon.

Another absolute truth of Nature is that, except for humans, no creature takes more than it needs for its survival, and no creature destroys for any reason other than its natural survival, but humans do it regularly because of egoic insecurity – the desire to make more of “me” – and the easiest way to make more of “me” is to make less of all that I think is “not me.” Yes, there are lines of separation in Nature, predator, and prey, but this all happens within a deeper ecological network of connection that creates the perfect balance.

While it can be granted that human survival-needs are more subjective than that of an animal in the woods, somehow it feels like there is something untruthful about the extremely unnatural impulse to acquisition and destruction of the human ego that creates imbalances and breaks ecological connections, yet is often covered over by calling it “human nature.”

Perhaps the truths of ecology could be brought to the human realm through the insight that balance is lost when a person causes others difficulty or loss or takes disproportionately for their ego-gratification, again, because no creature other than humans would do such a thing. Humans crisscross the terrain of Life, carving it up into little kingdoms marked by greed for power, wealth, and dominion, all in violation of Nature where there is just Life in balance. So here we have a problem, a paradox, for it seems to be the nature of humans to carve out paths and to build walls in the pathless and wall-less land of Nature and to require more than just the means for natural survival. How can we resolve this problem?

Twenty-six centuries ago, the Chinese sage, Lao Tzu, shared, “The Way that can be named is not the Way.” This teaching and the other teachings recorded in the single record of his teachings, The Tao Te Ching, are all aimed at giving a guide to humanity for how to keep their restless path-making as true to the pathless land of Nature as possible. And herein we find a truth – a relative truth – for as long as we must create paths out of the pathless land of Nature, we must accept our truths as flawed, as merely approximations seeking illusive greater truths. We must remain humble, finding guidance from Lao Tzu’s 5th Century BC Greek contemporary, Socrates, who stated, “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”

So the truth that sets us free is in knowing that we, by the nature of our restless path and wall-making, are in violation of higher truths and therefore must be profoundly careful, and must, as Lao Tzu advised, keep as close to the truths of Nature as we can. We love to create lines of separation that are of “me” and “not me,” of “us” and “other,” and we give all these separations many names to provide a seeming reality to these artificial creations. We create a false line between humanity and Nature, when, of course, there is no separation, for Nature is all existence, but this is a

truth we have difficulty accepting. Ego does not like it, and it would do us well to learn to be far more humble and mindful regarding this tendency, this compulsion to separate humanity and Nature and its resultant destructiveness.

Another truth is that the problem isn’t in lines per se.

What we forget is that in Nature, lines not only create separation, they also create a connection. The ancient Vedic tradition that gave rise to Hinduism and Buddhism sought to represent the way things are through an image called the “Net of Indra,” which describes existence as an infinite net of connecting threads or lines which, at each point of connection, has a multifaceted jewel, the facets reflecting the whole of the net and all the infinite jewels in the net. We are many, AND we are one.

Buddhism reminds us that forgetting this fundamental ecological truth is the source of much of the unnatural suffering humanity creates.

The great hope and faith that we can hold to is, as Buddha said, that truth cannot be hidden long, and that this is the arc of human history and evolution.

While we try to hide behind the walls of our artificial lines of separation, the truth of Nature asserts itself irrepressibly and the reality of connectedness tears down the walls. We have a long way to go to fully embrace and implement the wisdom of Indra’s Net as the path for human society or to proceed with the humility that Lao Tzu and Socrates advised, but our only hope for freedom from the unnecessary suffering caused by our compulsion to create lines of separation while ignoring lines of connection is to return again and again to these wisdom guides. Our lines of separation must be balanced through the consciousness of our lines of connection.

Our growing maturity as individuals, and as societies and as a species has always been marked by awakening to our natural instinct to erase artificial lines of separation and to realize our true lines of connection, to make our “we” ever more inclusive. So, pay increasing attention - and yes, while there is plenty to be outraged about, I suggest that you not get outraged – this only creates more of those separating lines and walls. Instead, love ferociously and compassionately confronting the untruths of those who would develop lines and build walls of separation for egoic satisfaction, wealth and power, while you strive to be ever more courageous at creating and encouraging lines of loving connection wherever possible.

Bill Walz has taught meditation and mindfulness in university and public forums and is a private-practice meditation teacher and guide for individuals in mindfulness, personal growth and consciousness. Information on classes, talks, personal growth and healing instruction, or phone consultations at (828)258-3241, e-mail at healing@billwalz. com Learn more, see past columns, video and audio programs at www.billwalz.com

Vol. 21, No.9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018 21

HEALTH

— photo by Leo Wieling

Keeping pace with life “Tim, what are you doing?” Bruce sat like he did every evening on his small front porch in front of his mobile home.

“I’m walking,” his friend, Tim, called back. He was used to Bruce’s good-natured ribbing about his walks.

“But what’s with the poles? You look like you’re trying to ski.” Bruce laughed at the joke.

“I’m not skiing. I’m Nordic walking,” Tim replied. “These poles help me stand up straight and give me a little more stability. Not as young as I once was, ya’ know.”

Tim was making his usual round of the mobile home park on a cool May evening in Florida where they were both snowbirds, living in Florida in the winter months only.

On his next round, Bruce called out again. “Where are ya’ goin’, to

a fire?”

“What do ya’ think,” Tim shot back, “that I’m out here for my health?”

“Come on.” Bruce sounded more serious. “Why are you walking like that? I see you out here every mornin’ and every evenin’ making two rounds of the park. Why?” Tim stopped and paused his exercise app on his mobile phone.

“Seriously, it’s for my health.

Honestly, Tim Grant, don’t you know anything about anything?”

“Well, I know a 77-year-old man looks pretty silly walking with ski poles around and around.”

“Well, silly or not, the doc says do it – and I’m doin’ it.” Tim leaned on his poles. “For my health.”

“What do ya’ mean – for your health?”

“Look, I’ve got arthritis in both

By Max Hammonds, MD

knees and my blood pressure is beginning to move up a little. Also, diabetes runs in my family and my weight is creepin’ up as well.

Doc says if I start now with some changes in my eating and in my life, I can get everything back to an even keel. But if I don’t, I can expect to be on medicines for both diabetes and high blood pressure in 2-3 years.” Time shook his head. “An’ I hate takin’ medicines.” Tim held up his cell phone, looking for his exercise app.

“And walkin’ is goin’ change all that – including arthritis?” Bruce sounded genuinely interested.

“Walkin’ is good for everything, baby.” Tim looked up him. “It’s improved my arthritis. I had to take it slow at first and gradually build up. It’s helping lower my blood pressure and strengthen my bones.

22 Vol. 21, No. 9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018

And it helps keep off the pounds I’ve lost by watchin’ what I eat. And that’s gonna keep diabetes away.”

Tim grinned. “Walkin’ even helps me sleep at night – and not be so grouchy with the wife.”

Bruce laughed and slapped his thigh. “That’s always a good thing.”

“It is a good thing, buddyroe,” Tim said. “And you need to think about gittin’ yourself outta that chair and come walk with me.” When Bruce made no move, Tim said, “Okay. Gotta keep moving’. See ya’, buddy.” He turned on his app and continued on his walk.

Bruce watched his friend – a little bit trimmer and a little bit agiler – moving away in a natural stride, his arms and poles working. “Hmmm.

You may be right, buddy. You may be right,” he said to himself.

MUSIC

TRAVEL

Wilmington and Beaches CVB

Nikki Forbes

Nikki Forbes CD release party May 31, 7pm at Isis Music Hall in West Asheville

Summer in Wilmington’s Island Beaches can make for the best family vacation

By Staff Reports

Nikki Forbes is an 18-year-old singer-songwriter based in Asheville.

She sings, accompanies herself on acoustic guitar and ukulele. She performs her original music along with great covers but will be focusing on sharing the original tracks from her new album for this show.

Nikki’s CD Release show will be a fun and intimate evening in the lounge debuting the songs from her brand new original record “Out of the Crowd.” There will also be special featured performances from Chris Rosser and talented singer-songwriters from the Franklin School of Innovation.

Ever since she could speak, she sang. Nikki began writing songs when she was just six years old which sparked her interest when

she thought, “If they can write their own songs, then why can’t I?” She learned how to play the acoustic guitar when she was 12 which she credits to her mom who “assigned” her to learn four chords from YouTube as a homeschooling assignment. After she could accompany herself, she took her songwriting and ran with it. She has been writing songs and playing shows ever since and loves taking every opportunity she can to connect with and inspire people through music.

Isis Music Hall Nikki Forbes CD Release Party at Isis Music Hall on May 31. $8 Advance / $12 Day of Show 743 Haywood Rd, Asheville (828) 575-2737 www.isisasheville.com

IF YOU GO

By Staff Reports

With the long days of summer upon us, our thoughts often turn to the beach.

The hardest part about planning a beach vacation can be narrowing down the options – after all, there are so many delightfully salty, breezy options.

Wilmington, NC is known for being North Carolina’s most accessible coastal destination. And with three island beaches located within a 20 to 30-minute drive, choosing one of these beaches can mean minimizing your travel woes and maximizing your time in the sun.

Don’t stress about which beach to choose – Wilmington’s Island Beaches are as unique as the beach-goers they attract: Outdoor Adventure

Wrightsville Beach is all about the outdoorsy, active island lifestyle.

It was named one of the best surf towns in the world by National Geographic and hosts watersport events that attract international athletes. This beach town caters to anyone looking to try a new outdoor pursuit for the first time – it’s known for being super welcoming to newbies – but also has a unique combo of natural conditions perfect for more experienced adventure seekers – think kiteboarding, windsurfing, scuba diving, surfing, and standup paddleboarding. And with lots of dining and nightlife options, there are plenty of ways to relax at the end of the day.

Throwback Fun Thanks in part to an old board‘Fun’ continued on pg. 29

Vol. 21, No.9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018 23

THE POET'S VOICE

Tra la again. It’s May! My poet daffodils are in bloom, Dogwoods, too. Iris on their way.

These friends make my day!

They are our children. We fertilize, mulch, and baby them.

Here are flower poems. I may write one today. The poet daffodils call me, “Get to the page!”

O

EC TV

SU IN PE TE RF RN AS ET T

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d In ee Sp

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Hig

BUUR NASK A ND ATIO BOU LI NWIDT NG E !

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b es ark ym et.

“The Force That Through The Green Fuse Drives The Flower” Poem by Dylan Thomas

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Drives my green age; that blasts the roots of trees Is my destroyer.

And I am dumb to tell the crooked rose My youth is bent by the same wintry fever.

The force that drives the water through the rocks Drives my red blood; that dries the mouthing streams Turns mine to wax.

And I am dumb to mouth unto my veins How at the mountain spring the same mouth sucks.

The hand that whirls the water in the pool Stirs the quicksand; that ropes the blowing wind Hauls my shroud sail.

And I am dumb to tell the hanging man

By Carol Bjorlie — “The Poet behind the cello”

How of my clay is made the hangman’s lime?

The lips of time leech to the fountain head; Love drips and gathers, but the fallen blood Shall calm her sores.

And I am dumb to tell a weather’s wind How time has ticked a heaven round the stars.

And I am dumb to tell the lover’s tomb How at my sheet goes the same crooked worm.

“Flower-Gathering” - Poem by Robert Frost I left you in the morning, And in the morning glow, You walked a way beside me To make me sad to go.

Do you know me in the gloaming, Gaunt and dusty gray with roaming?

Are you dumb because you know me not, Or dumb because you know?

All for me And not a question For the faded flowers gay That could take me from beside you For the ages of a day?

They are yours, and be the measure Of their worth for you to treasure, The measure of the little while That I’ve been long aw

24 Vol. 21, No. 9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018

November Cotton Flower - Poem by Jean Toomer Boll-weevil’s coming, and the winter’s cold, Made cotton-stalks look rusty, seasons old, And cotton, scarce as any southern snow, Was vanishing; the branch, so pinched and slow, Failed in its function as the autumn rake; Drouth fighting soil had caused the soil to take All water from the streams; dead birds were found In wells a hundred feet below the ground-Such was the season when the flower bloomed.

Old folks were startled, and it soon assumed Significance. Superstition saw Something it had never seen before: Brown eyes that loved without a trace of fear, Beauty so sudden for that time of year.

Consider June. Consider poetry.

Send YOURs in or a favorite of yours. I write to be read. I hope you also do. Let’s get at it! I want to read YOUR poems. We all do. Send your stuff to info@ rapidrivermagazine.com. Looking forward to ALL Y’ALLs poems.

— Carol Bjorlie

BOOKS

“The Push”

A CLIMBER’S SEARCH FOR THE PATH On January 14, 2015, Tommy Caldwell, along with his partner, Kevin Jorgeson, summited what is widely regarded as the hardest

climb in history—Yosemite’s

3,000-foot Dawn Wall, after nineteen days on the route. nearly vertical

Caldwell’s odds-defying feat was the culmination of an entire lifetime of pushing himself to his limits as an athlete.

This engrossing memoir chronicles the journey of a boy with a fanatical mountain-guide father who was determined to instill toughness in his son to a teen whose obsessive nature drove him to the top of the sport-climbing circuit. Caldwell’s affinity for adventure then led him to the vertigo-inducing and little-understood world of big wall free climbing.

But his evolution as a climber was not without challenges; in his early twenties, he was held hostage by militants in a harrowing ordeal in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan. Soon after, he lost his left index finger in an accident. Later his wife and primary climbing partner left him. Caldwell emerged from these hardships with a renewed sense of purpose and determination.

He set his sights on free climbing El Capitan’s most prominent, steepest, blankest face — the Dawn Wall. This major assault took more than seven years, during which time Caldwell redefined the sport, found love again, and became a father.

A dramatic, inspiring memoir by legendary rock climber Tommy Cald-

well, the first person to free climb the Dawn Wall of Yosemite’s El Capitan.

The Push is an arresting story of focus, drive, motivation, endurance, and transformation, a book that will appeal to anyone seeking to overcome fear and doubt, cultivate perseverance, turn failure into growth, and find a connection with family and with the natural world.

IF YOU GO

Malaprop’s Wednesday, May 23, 6pm 55 Haywood St, Asheville

This event is co-sponsored by The Carolina Climbers Coalition.

Malaprop’s asks that you purchase the books you want to signed at their events from Malaprop’s. When you do this you are not only supporting the work it takes to run an events program, and you are also telling the publishers that they should keep sending authors here.

TESSA FONTAINE presents ‘THE ELECTRIC WOMAN’ May 26 Tessa Fontaine’s astonishing memoir of pushing past fear, The Electric Woman, follows the author on a life-affirming journey of loss and self-discovery — through her time on the road with the last traveling American sideshow and her relationship with an adventurous, spirited mother.

It turns out; one lesson applies to living through illness, keeping the show on the road, letting go of the person you love most, and eating fire:

The trick is there is no trick.

You eat fire by eating fire.

Two journeys — a daughter’s and a mother’s — bear witness to this lesson in The Electric Woman.

For three years Tessa Fontaine lived in a constant state of emergency as her mother battled stroke after stroke. But hospitals, wheelchairs, and loss of language couldn’t

MAY 2018 PARTIAL LISTING

We host numerous Readings & Book clubs, as well as Salons!

Visit www.malaprops.com

READINGS & BOOK SIGNINGS MIKE HOPPING presents A FIELD GUIDE TO MUSHROOMS OF THE CAROLINAS 5/03 - 6pm TARA JENSEN presents A BAKER’S YEAR: 12 Months of Baking and Living the Simple Life at the Smoke Signals Bakery, 5/046pm JOSHUA DARTY presents ASHEVILLE’S RIVERSIDE CEMETERY and ANNA M. FAREILLO presents CHEROKEE 5/10 - 6pm ASHLEY ENGLISH presents SOUTHERN FROM SCRATCH: Pantry Essentials and Down Home Recipes 05/13 - 3pm JENNY MILCHMAN presents WICKED RIVER, 5/24 - 6pm

By Staff Reports

hold back such a woman; she and her husband would see Italy together, come what may. Thus Fontaine became free to follow her piper, a literal giant inviting her to “come play” in the World of Wonders, America’s last traveling sideshow. How could she resist?

TESSA FONTAINE presents THE ELECTRIC WOMAN, 5/26 - 6pm JON PINEDA presents LET’S NO ONE GET HURT 5/27 - 3pm

55 Haywood St.

(828) 254-6734 • 800-441-9829 Monday-Saturday 9AM to 9PM Sunday 9AM to 7PM

Malaprop’s Saturday, May 26, 6pm 55 Haywood Street Downtown Asheville • (828) 2546734 • malaprops.com

IF YOU GO

Vol. 21, No.9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018 25

Photo by Alex Shutin

Black Mountian voted “Best small town in WNC” Come see why.

Nestled deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains, 15 miles East of Asheville, NC, you will find a unique town called Black Mountain.

With a population of 7,500, it has been ranked “One of the 50 Safest Towns in NC” as well as the “Best Small Town in WNC.” Boasting spectacular mountain views, it was recently voted by Trip Advisor as one of the “Prettiest Small Towns in America to Vacation.”Formerly home to renowned Black Mountain College, Black Mountain is nationally recognized for arts, crafts, furniture, and music. It is currently home to over 200 businesses, including restaurants, bed and breakfasts, specialty shops, four breweries, and a recently announced large manufacturing operation. Because of its hospitality to visitors and businesses alike, it has been designated as an “Entrepreneurial Friendly Community.”

The surrounding mountains offer walking, hiking, biking trails, greenways, camping, trout fishing, lakes, and nearby waterfalls. The valley 26 Vol. 21, No. 9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018

By Staff Reports is home to six major conference centers, two colleges, and several popular summer camps.

Visitors and residents love to stroll through Black Mountain’s attractive Town Square, with beautiful landscaping and oversized rocking chairs, as well as numerous gift shops, galleries, antique stores, ice cream parlors, and craft stores. There is also an authentic old-fashioned general store – Town Hardware, Art Center, Valley Museum, and restored train depot selling arts & crafts.

After a delicious dinner at one of 35 fine restaurants, enjoy a leisurely walk around Lake Tomahawk. It offers a well-lighted level path for safe strolling for day or evening. Black Mountain is a “Pet-Friendly” community.

The best thing to do in Black Mountain is to lean back in one of the many rockers that line the streets of “the Little Town that Rocks,” take in the scenery, and breathe in magical, rejuvenating mountain air.

MORE ART

‘Goats’ continued from pg. 20

RRM: The photos are all of the brilliant technical quality, in black and white. Why did you choose this medium, and how did you come to make the choices you did regarding the medium?

Twigs and Leaves Gallery Jeffery Stoner’s work will be presented here this May in the titled show: “Beauty and the Beasts” at Twigs and Leaves Gallery during Art JS: I first printed them in color but felt the green After Dark Friday evening, May 4, 6-9pm. Nature foliage was a distraction. I then made prints in photographer Jeffery Stoner, known for his beastly black-and-white. I immediately knew this images, and jewelry artist was the best medium since your eye goes to Becky Smith, known for her the goats and their facial expressions. beautiful creations, will be featured. Both a delight to RRM: Have you ever taken a shot which meet, join us as Art After exceeded your expectations of what you Dark kicks off the 2018 thought it would look while shooting or season. Friday evening, planning? as you stroll through the JS: That exact thing happened with the gallery’s 140+ primarily goats. Their paddock was about two regional artists, enjoy piano acres in size, and for the first four years, I music by Judy Phillips and was unable to make an image of the baby delight in the savory hors Exquisite jewelry creations goats since they stayed in the middle of the

by Becky Smith d’eurves. paddock. During the fifth year, I had been Twigs and Leaves Gallery, standing still for about an hour when a baby goat wandered toward the Great Pyrenees 98 North Main Street, that guarded them. He walked right up to the Waynesville, NC 28786 Open Monday through dog and climbed on his back. The dog allowed it Saturday 10-5:30, Sunday 1-4. (828) 456-1940 to happen and then gently rolled the goat off. All www.twigsandleaves.com Find them on Facebook I could think was “oh please let this image be in and Instagram focus.” And luckily it was.

Go

IF YOU GO

Businesses

Another beautiful piece by jewelry artist Becky Smith

Find Art and you will Find Yourself

— Dennis Ray

Local Support Local

“Seeing Eye to Eye” by Jeffery Stoner

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Vol. 21, No.9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018 27

LOCAL STORE

Art and artisans help create a relaxing mood Art and artisans are an essential part of the items

Asheville’s Raven & Crone. available at

Locally made products are considered works of art by the owner and manager, Lisa Anderson and Lisa Wagoner. Everything from handmade wands to brooms to leather journals is available at the shop.

“We prefer to use locally made products whenever Raven & Crone sells teas, candles, oils, altar kits, incense, bath salts, and kits to enrich your world. possible,” says Lisa An— photo by Mikayla Herrick derson. “We have carried carries their handcrafted items: teas, candles, many lines of jewelry, handmade altar cloths, and oils, altar kits, incense, bath salts, and kits. A candles.” In addition to local artisans, the shop

28 Vol. 21, No. 9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018

By Staff Reports local poet provides handcrafted smudge sticks from her herb garden, a local herbalist provides handmade soaps and sprays for grounding and protection, and a local rootworker supplies the shop with Chinese Wash, Peace Water, and Van Van Oil. “Our items are used for many things, from cleaning, cleansing, and clearing, to enhancing ritual, so we try to provide as many local and artisan products as we can,” added Lisa Wagoner.

Visiting the shop is a feast for the senses, and complimentary tea is always provided.

Plan a visit, and discover your favorite art at the Raven & Crone.

Raven & Crone 555 Merrimon Ave, Asheville (828) 424-7868 www.ashevilleravenandcrone.com IF YOU GO

‘310 Art’ continued from pg. 11

‘Momentum’ continued from pg. 17 Momentum’s impact is already being felt well beyond Asheville.

As a leading exhibition partner at both SOFA Chicago and Miami Art Week this past year, it took the art world by storm. Momentum Gallery has recently been selected to play a leadership role in other international events, bringing its artists to new audiences from around the world. “Please pardon the pun, but we have some very serious momentum now, and we are so proud of what we are creating.”

“Asheville’s future is largely dependent on the health of our creative sector,” says Stephanie Moore, Executive Director of the Center for Craft. “The Center for Craft, Asheville Design Center, and members of the Broadway Cultural Gateway team look forward to collaborating with Momentum and others in the neighborhood to build upon the existing Pack Place Cultural District and create a welcoming, creative entryway into our beautiful downtown.”

‘Fun’ continued from pg. 23 walk that dates back to 1887, CarOff the Beaten Path olina Beach has a vibe reminiscent If rest is the name of your vacaof days gone by. tion game, The boardwalk Kure Beach is frequently finds the beach for its way onto you. This small lists of the best town’s vibe is boardwalks in the perhaps best country, thanks to encapsulated famous donuts, by its motto, music, and “One stoplight, fireworks shows, one pier, no Wrightsville Beach Surfer and old-school worries.” The amusement park peacefulness of rides in the summer. When you’re the main drag is punctuated only by done exploring the boardwalk, acthe iconic colorful beach homes that tivities like a state park, world-class line the street. But don’t be fooled: fishing, and one-of-a-kind events there are plenty of things to see and await. Take a surf lesson from an do nearby. Fort Fisher, a ConfederOlympic gold medalist, or grab a ate fort during the Civil War located drink from a spot voted as one of the at the southern tip of Kure Beach, “diviest dive bars” in America. is home to two of the most visited And don’t forget about the muattractions in the state: the North sic: the area is often billed as the Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher and birthplace of beach music and shag Fort Fisher State Historic Site. dancing.

Olga Yukhno working on a ceramic sculpture

some of the most talented and renowned figurative sculptors in the South East region, taking what she learned from them and incorporating her unique vision into new pieces. Again, these new directions resulted in work in a category all its own.

“I felt this new figurative work could show emotion. The faces told stories about the situations the figures were placed in. I was now really able to express deep psychological meaning through these new sculptures.”

She says, “Through all of these transitions, I continued to create jewelry, wall mandala pieces, and masks as well as the new figurative work. I recently completed a colorful abstract seven-foot sculpture in clay and metals that is the centerpiece of a 50 piece wall installation, my largest work to date. Now, all of these styles of art can sit alongside

CONTINUED

each other, like old friends who have watched me grow and learn. I feel it has helped me become the person I was meant to be.”

The full range of her work can be seen at the 310 Art Gallery in the River Arts District of Asheville. Fleta Monaghan, the owner of 310 ART, spotted her originality and special dedication immediately several years ago.

“Olga was visiting our River Arts District to see the art. We struck up a conversation, and she showed me some photos of her work. I was so struck by her originality and vision; I immediately invited her to exhibit at 310 ART. Since then Olga’s work has evolved, and she has made significant accomplishments in her art career. She has had three solo shows, at The Bascom in Highlands, at the Southern Pottery Gallery and at Anastasia and Friends Gallery as well as numerous group exhibitions. This spring she was accepted into Artfields in SC and to show at the Florida CraftArt Gallery in St.Petersburg, Fl. She has recently won a first and third place for her work. We are delighted to be part of her journey in art.

310 ART To see the work of Olga Yukhno and 20+ local artists, visit 310 ART in the River Arts District, 191 Lyman St, #310, Asheville,. www.310art.com, MonSat 11-5pm, and Sun 12-4pm.

IF YOU GO

Vol. 21, No.9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018 29

RAPID RIVER MAGAZINE'S COMICS www.brotherrock.net

FESTIVAL STAY WILD Chattooga Celebration & Fundraiser, Friday, May 11 On Friday, May 11, please join the Chattooga Conservancy at The Block off Biltmore in Asheville for STAY WILD Chattooga, a celebration, and fundraiser.

Ratchet and Spin

Corgi Tales

Best in Show

By Jess and Russ Woods Ratchet and Spin © 2018

There will be a guest speaker, live music, food and a silent auction.

Non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks will be available at the bar. The event is from 6:30-9pm. Tickets are $25 and should be purchased in advance at www.chattoogariver.org STAY WILD Chattooga is to cele-

By Phil Hawkins

By Phil Juliano

30 Vol. 21, No. 9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018

brate the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act’s 50th anniversary, and Wild & Scenic Chattooga River, whose headwaters start in Jackson and Macon County in western North Carolina.

Proceeds will benefit the Chattooga Conservancy’s work to protect this magnificent river.

The speaker will be Janisse Ray, author, and poet from south Georgia. Her most notable work, Ecology of a Cracker Childhood, has won many awards. Ray has been

FESTIVAL

(L-R) “Blue Heaven” by Zoe Schumaker, “John’s Rock” a mosaic by Linda Pannulo

inducted into the Georgia Writer’s Hall of Fame and was voted one of the top 25 female environmental writers by Outside Magazine.

Music will be by Marshall Ballew, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from the mountains of western North Carolina. Marshall performs a variety of American musical genres including gospel, jazz, bluegrass, folk and the blues.

Silent auction items feature pastel painting, mosaic, metal art and jewelry, Patagonia clothing and more!

The event venue is The Block off Biltmore, Asheville’s first and only vegan, social justice bar

and community event space, that is housed in the YMI building, one of the oldest African-American cultural centers in the country.

Wadadli Dessert Oasis is the food caterer for the event, featuring vegan interpretations of savory Caribbean dishes and specially crafted modern recipes.

For an excellent time for a great cause, please come and join the Chattooga Conservancy on Friday, May 11 at The Block off Biltmore. Tickets are $25 and should be purchased in advance at www.chattoogariver.org.

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Vol. 21, No.9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018 31

2017-2018 SEASON

bend it

Masterpieces in Genre-bending

Saturday, May 12 8 p.m.

Thomas Wolfe Auditorium Jacomo Bairos Conductor Jennifer Frautschi Violin Bernstein Overture to Candide Hyken Four - A reimagining of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Brahms Symphony No. 2

CONCERT SPONSOR

CALL FOR TICKETS: 828.254.7046 • ashevillesymphony.org 32 Vol. 21, No. 9 — RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE — May 2018

SPRING CONCERT Tuesday, May 15 6:30 p.m.

Asheville High School Auditorium The four orchestras of the Asheville Symphony Youth Orchestra display their skills in a not-to-miss spring concert. The program features beloved favorites including Rossini’s William Tell Overture, Fauré’s Élégie for cello and orchestra, and Copland’s An Outdoor Adventure. The Élégie will feature the winner of the ASYO’s annual Spotlight on Young Musicians competition, Aaron Chen, cellist.

Tickets are $10, general admission, and are available at the door and online at ashevillesymphony.org.