Freelance Writing
The Arts
For Kathleen Weir-West, tapestry happens even off the loom. On a sun-bleached day in late fall, she gazes into her backyard and mentally weaves the foliage into a fluid pattern she sees as clearly as if it is right in front of her.
The designer has spent a lifetime absorbed in yarns and fabric, honing her handwoven craft into a respected business. Weir-West’s eclectic jackets and skirts have been shown at juried art and craft shows for 30 years, and now the Chicago native has settled seamlessly into the Western North Carolina craft scene.
Jan Van Matre likes to fill in the blanks. When the 82-year-old artist sees a vintage photo, she also sees a story she must tell. Borrowing the idea from Swiss artist M. Vänçi Stirnemann’s famous “Artist Trading Cards” series of miniatures, Van Matre makes quirky postcard-sized photomontages she calls “Collage Ephemera Smalls” — an inventive and unexpected addition to the Hendersonville art scene.
“Jan is a lovely person. She has inspired a lot of my artists here,” says Michele Sparks, owner of Art MoB Studios and Marketplace. “She’s such an outside-of-the-box thinker. That’s what everyone loves about her.”
Higher Education
“All of it.” That was the curator’s answer when Sharif Bey MFA ’00 asked which of his works the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum wanted to show.
The UNC Greensboro alumnus is one of four emerging artists chosen to be featured in the Renwick’s “Disrupting Craft: Renwick Invitational 2018” exhibition, on display through May 5, 2019, at the Washington, DC, gallery.
It’s hard to miss: The towering 54-foot wall with colorful grips sprouting from the basement floor of UNC Greensboro’s Leonard J. Kaplan Center for Wellness. The indoor climbing wall, Adventure Trips and Rental & Trip Center (outdoor equipment rental) are the three components that make up UNCG’s Outdoor Adventures program.
It was an uncommon scene in a small classroom in Randolph County: Four headmasters from rural China seated with a group of enrapt middle-school students, discussing education policy and Southern barbecue.
These Chinese educators, and 14 of their counterparts, spent eight days reflecting with school leaders in some of North Carolina’s most rural counties.
Lifestyle
Randy Rodriguez’s favorite color was deep, royal blue — a color that now occupies a 3-by-6-foot panel of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, part of which will be on display at the Renaissance Hotel in Asheville through World AIDS Day, Monday, Dec. 1.
Rodriguez died Nov. 30, 1994, at age 34 from complications related to AIDS. He’s one of 94,000 individuals represented by the 54-ton tapestry.
Jamie Ager walks up to cow No. 714 and scratches behind its big, black ears. Gray and purple clouds roll over the pasture as the animals feast on clover and grass. There’s a nip in the air, and it feels like fall on this October morning at Hickory Nut Gap Farm in Fairview.
“They become like family,” says Ager, running a hand down the cow’s thick neck. The fourth-generation farmer and his wife, Amy Ager, co-own both the farm operation and Hickory Nut Gap Meats.
News/Politics
Outdoor Seating Still Available For Obama Rally In Montana
University of Montana students and the Missoula community did not leave an indoor ticket to spare for Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama's Saturday morning rally at the Adams Center.
The free indoor tickets were gone by 11 a.m. Thursday, according to Obama's local campaign spokesperson Matt Chandler. Chandler and other campaign officials would not confirm how many tickets were given out.
Dahlberg Arena, which the campaign announced will be filled to capacity, seats 7,500 inside for basketball games.
Sustainability
Bitterroot companies recycle waste wood for energy
Victor-Valerie Bruce wanted to stop the burning. The Oregon native has asthma, and when she started to notice all of the smoke from burned wood waste around her Bitterroot Valley home, she decided to do something about it.
After attending a few meetings about biomass and the future of burning, a logger introduced Bruce, the manager of Montana Firewood in Victor, to ABCO Wood Recycling and the two businesses formed a partnership.
Tapping Clean Power
It all started with rising fuel prices, curiosity and a few mason jars. For two years, Carl Neff researched ways to increase the gas mileage in his 1997 Chevrolet Blazer. When the makeshift hydrogen fuel cell made from old glass jars failed, Neff turned to H2 Pure Power’s hydrogen canisters. Now, along with his father Gary and brother Clayton, Neff plans to start a family-owned and operated business installing the generators in cars and trucks in the Flathead Valley.
Organic salons reject toxic beauty products
Tucked away off the main road linking Brevard with Rosman, its diminutive neighbor, Julie and Terry Craig have carved out a niche in organic hair care.
Inside the intricate wrought-iron doors of Rapture Organic Salon & Gallery, clients seeking to avoid the chemicals that pervade many mainstream salons treat themselves to an “eco-chic” spa experience that’s hushed and floral.