A Case for Cute

I knew I was going to like artists Joel and Ashley Selby before I met them -- they're aesthetic was evident from their website and artwork, and they were prompt with a sunny e-mail response. But I was never prepared for them to be such a (oh I hate to even say it...) cute couple!

How, you ask, could you use such a cliche? Well, I provide the following list as support for the use of such a well-worn phrase:

1. They live in a farmhouse, an 1851 farmhouse. I am a sucker for 19th century farmhouses.

2. They have chickens outside the farmhouse.

3. They are young, just out of college young.

4. They smile a lot.

5. They seem at ease wearing hats.

6. They love to bake bread and cookies and save scraps of good paper.

7. They use chalkboards as decor.

8. They love Flight of the Concords.

9. They understand the importance of good fonts and can discuss them at length while keeping you interested.

10. You just know they have only begun to stretch their artistic wings.

Read the Go Triad cover article, and find out more about their budding business and great eye for design. Also, there will be a few pics online supporting, if not condoning, my choice of words.

Welcome to Welcome, NC

It was raining. It always seems to be raining. I'd followed my little map to Welcome, N.C. to meet Richard Childress at his mega-motorsports facility, and I needed gas and to make sure I hadn't passed the turn (I am a woman -- it's easy to stop for directions).

I pulled into a one-pump station in downtown Welcome and inadvertently rang the full-service bell before getting out of the car. A man walked out, gray sweatshirt as armor against the blowing mist, and I apologized, saying I would pump it myself.

"You will not," he said with a smile as he opened the tank. "Oh, and (looking at the card in my hand) you're paying my credit. We usually only accept cash or check. But ... I can see you are not from around here." Check? Really? Who pays for gas by check? "We'll take care of it for you and run the card, although we usually don't like to."

Mind you, this was said without a hint of sarcasm or rushing. I stood beside the car, awkwardly, not used to having someone pump the gas. Cars drove by slowly, their tires hissing on the rain-soaked street. We walked inside where tires and Lance crackers were stacked, and I signed for the bill. I was bid a good day with a smile, and told to be careful out there, walking back out into the rain. Full-service hospitality, sincere and not sticky-sweet. The good stuff. The real thing.

Is is Professional if I ask for an Autograph??

You know those Saturday afternoons where you are supposed to be cleaning but where you end up perched on the couch watching a movie? Yes, you know, don't you? Well, that's how I saw Center Stage the first time (yes, I said first) in all of its girl-movie glory. It was like Cutting Edge or Ice Castles, or a little like Coyote Ugly, but with ballet, and I was hooked by the dancing, the melodrama, and the fact that the mean instructor was hot and rode a motorcycle.

My Saturday afternoon has come to life. I met the instructor, and yes, he does actually ride a motorcycle, although he's not mean and he didn't teach me any ballet moves (anyone who has ever witnessed me fall off a platform shoe or run into a wall in my own house knows that I am the vision of grace). For a Go Triad cover story, I got the chance to interview Ethan Stiefel, the actor and one of the best ballet dancers in the world who is now the dean of dance at the UNCSA.

Read my profile of him here and learn how he's changing the face of dance and pushing himself in the process. And for the record, no, I didn't get an autograph.

Thank you to all the artists out there

Artists inspire me. Yeah, you say, that's why they're artists, and isn't that what art is supposed to do? But think about it -- there is so much in life that saps our energy, makes us drudge through the day, uninspires us, as it were. And there are so many people out there that call themselves artists that to me aren't; they're just off-putting people into self-promotion and all that comes with being an (phonetic spelling) arteest.

I'm not discussing any of those people. I'm talking about the true worker bees out there, buzzing away in their respective mediums, producing stuff that makes us stop, look, and suddenly see something in a different way. Like the day, gray and wearing thin after a long 6 hours touring the sights of Nashville. When I walked into the Frist Center for Visual Arts, thinking more about sitting down than walking around. But then, there is was (and this was besides the exhibit featuring Man Ray), one of my favorite Georgia O'Keefe paintings. It wasn't the flowers or skulls or bold landscapes -- it was the side of an adobe wall with one little window and the clear blue sky beyond.

I'd never seen it in person, had forgotten that it had already stopped me before, somewhere in some book, but here is was, reminding me of bright afternoon sunlight on a back porch somewhere in New Mexico that I had never visited but returned to me like a memory strong enough to make my eyes water. And although that piece itself inspired me, yes, it was the idea that in that scene the artist had seen the worthiness, the place, the button to flip our perspective into a new angle.

I am a lucky woman. Part of my paying job is to visit artists, usually in their environment, and talk to them about what they do, what inspires them, where they see themselves headed next. Though not as famous as O'Keefe, here are a few to inspire you, should you need it. And I think we all do:

-- Marcus Amaker
-- Hilarie Lambert
-- Duy Huynh
-- Chad Luberger
-- Karen Hewitt Hagan
-- Ethan Stiefel

Shoe Shrines

In my journey to cover more visual arts, I have found yet another thing I must add to my budding art collection -- a shoe shrine!

A few people are doing shoe shrines: Melanie Hill Guion and blogging artistic types like Kay Cox, but by far the shrine I HAVE TO HAVE is a selection from Carol Cutshall, aka Shezilla (it's a rockabilly-punk-surf band thing from what I understand). Her Elvis shrine is featured at the top of this blog.

Shoe shrines call to the Mexican Santo shrine tradition, and honoring someone via mixed media is part of the form. In fact, shrines are inherently homemade, and Cutshall uses hers to celebrate famous musicians. Still, the idea of a shoe as frame is at once whimsical and genius.

I am on a mini-quest to track down Ms. Cutshall as I've found a gallery that carried some of her stuff but has lost touch with her.

Shoe shrines will invade Winston-Salem this weekend, as more than 100 have been created to honor Arts District mover and shaker Kelly Petersen. Article to follow on Thurs.!

Documenting Mills

I've always had a special place in my heart for textile mills. Long before I had a love affair with fabric, I was drawn to the buildings themselves, their massive brick facades often full of comparatively-small windows. In North Carolina during my lifetime, mills have always been laying off, shutting down, becoming vacant ghosts of themselves surrounded by neighborhoods no longer anchored to a workplace identity.

Mills also have just generally been part of Southern culture and its expression since they first came on the scene after the Civil War. Some of my favorite mentions:

-- Lee Smith's Fair and Tender Ladies, where it's a coal mine but still a spot-on description of a mill village
-- The Hallmark Hall of Fame The Dollmaker with Jane Fonda in one of the most heart-wrenching movies, even for chick flick fans
-- Any of countless mill houses in any N.C. small town, whose hardwood floors, sturdy construction and streets that go somewhere are better than any house in a cul-de-sac dead end
-- Textile Mills songs, especially Pete Seeger's Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues. Check out this list for more inspiration: Textile Mill Songs

Mary Dalton, documentary filmmaker at Wake Forest University, adds to the conversation with her new documentary Oakdale Cotton Mills: Close-Knit Neighbors. My article on it today in Go Triad delves into the process that helped save the stories of this now-shuttered mill.

Chef Keith Snow article makes WNC cover

A rainy drive to Tryon, N.C. was worth it this spring. My profile of Harvest Eating's Chef Keith Snow is the cover story for the September issue of WNC Magazine! I was thrilled to bring the idea of the Chef's profile to editor Eric Seeger and even more thrilled when I saw the story. The photos are outstanding and really capture Snow's life -- one part farm, one part TV host, and one part celebrity chef.

I'm looking forward to his show, Harvest Eating, this fall on PBS. Until then, I'll enjoy my late summer tomato harvest and look forward to collard greens, my version of Harvest Eating.

Rocky Top and More

Just in time for football season, check out this month's Worth the Drive -- Knoxville in AAA Go Magazine. I cover what there is to do in Knoxville besides football, and (despite the spattering of orange everywhere) that actually is a lot! I look forward to getting a chance to return to check out the great downtown area, especially Market Square, where I had only an hour to race about and shop. I needed more, but still came away with a great paper star lamp from India, which proves focus is more important than time when it comes to shopping. :)

Artists & Tacos, Oh My!

Charlotte is, and has always been a city of neighborhoods. There are completely different experiences of life depending if you are in Shuffletown, Dilworth, or Myers Park. One of my favorite neighborhoods there is NODA because it figures in my personal history as well.

Up until a few years ago, I refused to call the North Charlotte neighborhood by the moniker NODA. I'd been going there for years, attending gallery crawls in renovated hardware stores, making jewelry in a tiny bead shop, and chowing down on some great sandwiches at Fat City. Before that, years before that, I'd even taken swimming lessons at the Johnson YMCA. And before that, years before that, my father had lived out his childhood playing baseball in this same neighborhood. It was part of Charlotte, it was part of me, and really to call it NODA was just too much ...

Well, repeat it enough and the name sticks, and well, it's now legitimate -- NODA it is. Although I no longer live in Charlotte, I get back often and try to visit 36th and N. Davidson Streets whenever I get a chance. Gone is Fat City, so I grab a taco at Cabo Fish Taco then stroll through the galleries. Honestly, it is a great destination for a day trip for those of you within driving distance.

Check out my article on NODA in the current issue of AAA Go Magazine, then find a day to visit if you like art and good food. And linger a while. You'll be back, just like me.

Fawning Over Folly Beach Pier

Found a link today to one of the last stories I did for Lowcountry Living, and one of the sappiest. But it does not matter -- I still miss the pier today, the way I could tuck myself into a little shelter bench on it. From in the shade there, I could watch the sun glistening off the water, looking north to a Charleston Harbor I couldn't quite see but definitely feel. For a little late summer nostalgia, click here ...

Outsider Art Inside My Heart

Look at that title!! They don't call me a writer for nothin'! OK, bad rhyming aside ...

I love country roads, not in the John Denver sense so much, as for the people and their houses that dot them. B. and I are always taking the backroads, and when I ride with him, I get to look out the window and imagine who is it that lives in the house with the "Fresh Eggs for Sale" sign or what it would be like to live in the North Carolina town of Tyro. And sometimes, there are houses decorated with paint and signs and all types of homemade sculptures. I never stop. My new friend in Greensboro, Mike Smith, ALWAYS stops.

I met Mike while working on an article about his At Home Gallery in Greensboro. I have been interested in outsider art since coming across a book about it in the UNC Charlotte Library while avoiding my real research for a long forgotten undergraduate paper. That book, Signs and Wonders, is out of print now, but it really got me interested in the whole phenomenon, and so I've always been interested in learning/writing more about it.

Mike got interested in outsider art by driving the back roads of the South, and wondering just like I do. He went a step further and instead of just driving by, began to visit these folk artists with sincere interest in their work and motivation. That interest has led to a 20-plus-year career in the folk art/outsider art world, which made him a worthwhile subject for my cover article of Go Triad! last week. We were both thrilled.

Meanwhile, here's a little show and tell for you -- my piece of outsider art I purchased years ago with my first paycheck from The Highlander. I love the iredescent nature of this piece, and of course, its self frame. The first picture is a personalized piece on the back the artist doodled for me when he found out I purchased the piece, a generous added bonus.

Land of the Queries

I am approaching my one-year anniversary of this freelance writing endeavor, and one thing has become evident -- the work comes in waves. Editors are planning (or already have completed planning) for their larger holiday issues, so I am scrambling to get my last assignments for the year. And in order to sustain the tide of invoices and subsequent checks, I have to contact numerous editors with what I have that could fit their editorial needs. This means that I am in the ***over-the-top 1960s announcer voice*** LAND OF THE QUERIES.

What, you say? Don't editors just naturally send you assignments once they see your writing clips and resume?? Well, more than not these days, the answer is no. No, editors want to see not only that you can write well, but that you understand the magazine and understand your subject matter and the best way to do this is to let you send good ideas their way. If you are familiar enough with the magazine and familiar enough with the subject on which you're proposing to write and lucky enough to get the idea to the right person -- well, lightning might strike and you just might get an assignment off of your idea, usually after some back-and-forth e-mail tweaking of the subject.

I am not going to clutter the web anymore with discussion about what makes the best queries or how to get editors to notice you. I think these discussions are futile, and well, much like a job interview, it's really a lot more about preparation, contacts, and genuine fit than about any other mojo, tricks or secrets. Oh, yeah, and a healthy dose of optimism, which keeps me sending out those e-mails despite the fact that most never garner a response.

Still, when it all comes together, it can be very satisfying. So far it's worth it. :)

Thanks to Janna and Larry Sprinkle

Last Friday, Janna alerted us that she'd seen Wicked Charlotte on the morning show. Miraculously, she a) recognized the book in a quick flash b) knew the name of it although its total sold copies are 15 or so, and c) was awake enough while getting ready for work to not only pay attention to the segment, but be quick! Thanks Janna!

It seems that Al Roker was in Charlotte last week promoting a charity, and appeared with long-time local weatherman Larry Sprinkle. Larry gave Al a basket of Charlotte goodies, including my book Wicked Charlotte, which they held up and discussed. Random. Funny. As always, thankful.

Oh, and thanks to Holly for providing the following lovely screenshot:

Hello from Lake Michigan

When you think of Green Bay, is it Packers, snow, and cheeseheads? Well -- this is my new version of Green Bay, as seen from Eagle Panorama high above it in Peninsula State Park, Door County, WI. Never know when the paparazzi might be around, so this big hat is keeping me incognito -- or at least not sunburned. And no one can tell it's me when I go for those extra helpings of cheesecurds ...

Pretty Stones

Like many women, I could look at beautiful jewelry all day. I love the variety of stones, especially colored ones, from aquamarine to tourmaline and even the beautiful pink quartz. But looking at beautiful stones for work? Count me in.

Recently, someone turned me on to Luba Warrack's jewelry, interesting organic forms whose focus is unusual, often large semi-precious stones. A little digging located the artist in Lindley Park, just a neighborhood hop away here in Greensboro. A little more digging revealed that she had been a research scientist before turning to jewelry full-time. I smelled a story!

So did the editor of Go Triad, and yesterday, my article about Luba's great artistic journey was published in the Thursday edition. The photographer did a great job on the piece, especially the photograph of one of her pieces, and I was happy to have another art article in the local market.

Harvicks part of Hometown Stories

The interview with Kevin and DeLana Harvick has hit newsstands in Triad Living's Summer issue. The photo shows DeLana in her trademark racing firesuit beside Kevin, a way she shows her inclusion in the team while at the racetrack. Check it out here, and then check out Kevin's racing skills this week as he races to the chase at Pocono.

Out and About

I know, I know. It's been too long since my last post, but I have been out and about, traveling, writing, and planning to do more traveling and writing. I discovered a great little city, Knoxville, on one of my trips, and although the article won't come out for months, it's worth mentioning because I had so much fun.

Knoxville Tourism and Sports Corporation invited a group of journalists to experience the Dogwood Arts Festival, and on one day, I got to experience behind-the-scenes at the Knoxville Zoo, which included feeding this hungry giraffe here (as you can see, I am holding out the food as far away from my body as possible). We also got to hang out with red pandas and tour the facility in a golf cart, which now, frankly, is my preferred method of travel.

But feeding giraffes is not only for the travel journalist. The zoo offers Animal Encounters where you, too, can be amazed at how much bamboo a skinny giraffe can eat. As for me, I will stick with the Red Panda named Chewbacca. His napping is just my style.

Reese's and Racing

I admit I haven't always been a NASCAR fan. As a Charlotte native, there were two camps: love it or hate it, and my family was in the latter. However, when I moved to my little apartment years ago with no cable, Fox was one of the only channels I got, and I started watching NASCAR. Their coverage and the fact that (from the apt. balcony) I could hear the cars racing at Lowe's Speedway, well, I learned it's a lot more than just driving in a circle.

These days I am a full-fledged fan, so I was thrilled to get an opportunity last month to interview top-tier driver Kevin Harvick and his wife DeLana! A short jaunt to Kernersville landed me in the middle of high-performance vehicle dreamland.

The Harvicks have located their headquarters here in the Triad, and I was fortunate to be part of a tour of their amazing facility. I got to walk past Trucks just back from a Saturday race -- the paint on the front hoods burned off mostly through road rash -- and I even got to pet the shop dog! The couple was gracious to spend a little time with me, and I enjoyed talking with DeLana about her role with the business.

Look for the couple's profile in the summer edition of Triad Living magazine. Meanwhile, I'll be cheering for Harvick in the Race to the Chase, especially since his staff gave me a goodie bag filled with Reese's cups and Mr. Goodbars. I am always a sucker for candy.

The Fire Swamp Middle of the Fiction Project

It has happened. I have officially hit the middle of my journey to finishing this big work of fiction (big for me since I've not written a full-length manuscript before), and I have as much to go as I have done. This is the official quagmire section of the project, where I must be careful and not lose my way. I also must not give up, although R.U.S.S. fill the forest, including those called "Never Going To Finish," "Too Tired" and especially "Is This Any Good?"

See, up to this point, I could have abandoned the project, telling myself that I just couldn't write that many words, or the story was too thin or perhaps that I was so busy with the non-fiction writing that it got put on the back burner to be stirred another time. But now, no, those options are no longer viable. Honestly, I have to finish this, have to see it through, and most days, I enjoy settling into the world that is taking shape. But the road ahead is excruciating, not for the writing, but for how long is left to go.

It feels like that part of the drive to Key Largo when we get on the Florida Turnpike below Daytona, clicking off toll booth after toll booth and still never getting all the way through Miami to US1 and the first glimpse of blue water. But we do, we do get through it, and usually in enough time to see the sunset over that blue water from the deck at Snook's.

So I trudge on every day, clocking in the word count and advancing the story. And mixing examples from The Princess Bride and my drives through Florida. Hey, it all makes sense to me.

Sad to see them go

As one who writes for magazines, I love reading them, looking at the layouts and, often, checking who is on the masthead. One of my recent favorites, Domino, published their last issue this month. I am sad.

I was definitely Domino's target, a woman (youngish) who is interested in good design in all aspects of life (Those of you that remember my bedazzled shirt, pipe down back there! Being interested is different than actually following through). The travel sections were always cool, I loved the room makeovers, and generally, I loved the writing style. But no more to my mailbox ...

We've been hearing a lot of the phrase "in these times" lately, but publications in general have always come and gone. Still, with the death of so many newspapers as well as the slicks, well, tis trying times indeed. Just wanted to mark the passing of another worthwhile publication.

Publishing update

The article on the Dutcher's work with wolves has published. Check out the wonderful layout and photos in SEWE's special section, published by The Post and Courier in Charleston, S.C. Seems like the annual wildlife celebration was a great success again this year, and the Food + Wine Festival is right on its heels, starting in a couple of days.

Unfortunately, my little desk was devoid of tickets to either, but assignments are another matter, so I am happy sitting at my desk, with a spring snow melting in the front yard and another adventure around the bend. For a dose of culture in the home turf of the Triad, I covered a contemporary art exhibit at Wake Forest for the Greensboro News and Record's Go Triad. I feel strongly about the need for art no matter the economy, and it was great to find a gallerist who could speak on the subject so personally. I hope to write more about art for the publication in the near future, so stay tuned . . .

Iron Chef Interview

Anyone who knows me knows that cooking shows have always been a part of my life, from Yan Can Cook to Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. However, the 24-hour a day lure of the Food Network has made certain chefs big contributors to my entertainment, including Iron Chef and Food Network favorite Bobby Flay.

Flay and I got a chance to talk a couple of weeks ago when I interviewed him for a celebrity chef profile for the 2009 Charleston Food + Wine Festival official guide, and his persona was open and accommodating during our phone interview. After much coordination by multiple publicists, I simply got a call from him one day at an appointed time, and he just said "Hi, this is Bobby Flay."

We talked about a few subjects but mainly focused on hamburgers, the subject of one of his upcoming demonstrations in Charleston, and a passion of his that he has honed in his new Bobby's Burger Palace restaurants. His restaurants feature an option to "crunchify" any order (add homemade potato chips), but it is the word itself that I find almost as delicious as the concept. Since it's Friday, I urge you to find a way to "crunchify" your day! And you can bet that this great word made it into the final article.

Living with wolves

Late December and January have been a very busy time for me, but I have had the chance to interview some amazing people, the first of who were Jim and Jamie Dutcher.

This couple lives in Idaho (the first people I've ever spoken with who live in Idaho!) and for six years, they lived in a yurt observing a pack of wolves as documentary filmmakers. Six years. Six years with no running water or electricity in bitter cold. I was intrigued. When assigned this profile article, I must admit that I was prepared to speak with people who were a little reserved, a little like the wolves they had observed for so long, and perhaps, a little condescending to a person like me who loves city sidewalks and hates sleeping in a tent, even for one night.

But instead, Jim and Jamie were a wonderful interview. They were warm, conversational, and kindly educational about their experience, which they viewed with a healthy dose of humor. But through it all, their love of these animals and their sincere belief in their essential existence in our ecosystem shone through. I thoroughly enjoyed speaking with them and the time flew.

If you are around Charleston, SC Valentine's weekend, make a point to see the Dutcher's presentation of film and lecture about the Sawtooth Pack as part of the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition. If theirs is not a love story, I don't know what is.