Facing Forward
Jim “The Black Potter” McDowell partners with OpenDoors Asheville to benefit local youth “Several summers ago,” recalls ceramic artist Jim McDowell of Weaverville, “I…
Where Oil and Water Really Do Mix
Abstractionists and realists relate like oil and water. Many realist painters scoff at abstract art as lacking technical mastery — and many abstractionists dismiss…
Her Fluid Ideas are Set in Stone
“I get an idea and start chiseling, as the stone suggests to me what it wants to be,” says Weaverville sculptor Jane Jaskevich. Her…
Hendersonville Glass Artist Leaves a Legacy “Purer Than the Sun”
The world lost a guiding light this past summer, when charismatic glass artist Chris Juedemann passed away two weeks before his 50th birthday. Jon…
Weaving the Fabric of a Homesteader’s Lifestyle
In farming years, five years can be a flash in the pan. But Courtney LaCaria, who started working her homestead with her husband five…
Grounded in Experience, Expecting to Fly
“When I was a kid in Illinois, on my way home on my bicycle after school, the tornado sirens went off,” recalls multimedia artist…
The Steadier the Hand, the Tastier the Wine
After a long career as a project manager for GE, artist Jerry Spencer wanted to live closer to the natural world, so he moved…
Wired into the Waking Daydream
Josh Brooke Coté of rural Bakersville is a self-taught sculptor who cites Beatrix Potter stories and Alice in Wonderland as major influences, adding, “I’m…
Fly in the Ointment and Other Game Changers
Asheville artist Michelle Hamilton admits that “facing a blank canvas used to scare the life out of me.” But those days faded into oblivion…
Contemplative Art That Literally Touches the Moon
From an early age, mixed-media artist Connie Karleta Sales has drawn, painted, and written poetry. But for years it was her closely guarded secret….