Confession time: I was not one of those boys who secretly loved dolls. There was that pre-pubescent naughtiness imposed on a de-accessorized GI Joe and my neighbor’s sister’s Barbie, sure; but beyond that, nothing. So why, then, am I so enamored of Lisa Shenouda’s kewpie-doll photo series Subtle Bodies, which is beginning an extended run … Read more
Exhibit spaces of long standing develop reputations for showing certain kinds of work. An informed visitor to the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway will expect to see well-turned pieces of pottery, furniture, glass or weaving. But not, perhaps, a three-armed, snake-handling doll. The usual skill, craftsmanship and good design aren’t sacrificed in … Read more
“It’s very difficult for me to accept that a dancer spends the day working in a supermarket or wherever — and then later goes to dance two or three hours in the afternoon,” declares Cuban performer Nelson Reyes. While dancers in Havana make an average of 600 Cuban pesos ($28.50) a month, their wage is … Read more
Waynesville sings the praises of the wild ramp. Tabor City touts the glories of the illustrious sweet potato. And Henderson County puts on a four-day extravaganza in honor of the most versatile of fruits, the apple. Harvest festivals are a tradition as ancient as the apple itself. Communities across the country — and around the … Read more
The recent flowering of high-end boutiques on Lexington Avenue adds a different kind of vitality to the strip of asphalt and concrete long associated with mohawked, dreadlocked and buzz-cut-topped kids with metal bits and Birkenstocks and heaps of attitude on parade. Kitty Brown, owner of Sky People Gallery and Design Studio on Lexington, seeks to … Read more
Off Centre strikes the right balance Since forming last August, Off Centre has gone from being an unknown, acoustic-rock pickup band for front men Joey Wilton and Brandon Lowery to, this spring, being named “Best Local Band of 2003” by readers of the Asheville Citizen-Times. For an underdog band — one without so much as … Read more
Paradox thrives at the landfill. Black-eyed Susans and daisies spatter its grassy banks with bursts of white and yellow. Vultures soar far above its mountainous heaps of household garbage, rubble and dirt. And when you ascend the gravel road toward those ignoble promontories, you’re rewarded, at the top of the first hill, with a majestic … Read more
Because humans need it to breathe, I assumed for much of my life that the principal gas in the “air” was oxygen. School science classes didn’t clear up this misconception; only after I’d studied plant science on my own did I learn that oxygen accounts for about 20 percent of the earth’s air, and close … Read more
The miracle flower of Peru, the four o’clock (or, as the French call it, “Belle de Nuit”), has been in gardens since the 16th century, when seeds were brought to Europe from the Peruvian Andes. Mirabilis jalapa caused such a stir in flower-and-garden circles that the original name for the genus was Admirabilis (from the … Read more
