Juliet Da Luiso’s Mute Twin


 

Juliet Da Luiso, also known as Judy Longley when writing poems, studies abstract oil painting with Jean Sampson at Macguffey Art Center.   Juliet talks about her painting: “Poetry has consumed my life.  Rising like a tide from my unconscious, I’ve felt near drowning in words. Now I’ve discovered a mute twin who revels in silence, allows the kinetic relationship between brush and canvas to release joy, curiosity, an inner sea of intense color splashing like waves upon the shores of reality.”   Her paintings can be seen the month of July at Milli Joe’s, 400 Preston Avenue. … Continue reading Juliet Da Luiso’s Mute Twin

Out of the Country by Sam Zafris


 

Ben had wanted to leave earlier but his brother couldn’t take any more time off. Ben glanced at Willy, who was leaning against the passenger-side door, smoking like a chimney. “Can we stop for food?” Willy asked. “What time is it?” “Quarter to ten. I didn’t get to eat dinner.” He exhaled out of the window. “If we see a place, maybe.” A mile up the road there was an exit marked with a knife and fork. They’d make it quick. Plus, Ben needed the coffee. Willy had said he could drive, but Ben knew … Continue reading Out of the Country by Sam Zafris

Rick Weaver: The Art of Imagination


 

  Rick Weaver seems an artist equally interested in what can and cannot be seen. Whether working with paint brushes, carving tools or modeling clay, his creations blend the subject at hand with what he imagines is missing. Initially trained in classical drawing and painting, Weaver now concentrates on sculptures, life size as well as those larger and smaller. He’s currently completing a commission of a Native American boy for an art association in St. Augustine, Florida. He’s  shaping the 54″ statue in wax eventually to be cast in bronze.     The young Native … Continue reading Rick Weaver: The Art of Imagination

On This Day


 

On this day (June 22) in 1558, the French took possession of the French town (or province), Thioville, from occupying English forces. This was a pretty important battle — for both the French and the English — because it marked, not the beginning, but the penultimate, of the end of English occupation in Calais, its last outpost in France. Curiously enough, if you Google Thioville, which I of course have done, Google responds “Did you mean Thionville?” Well, no. If you keep insisting, which I, of course, did, Google will eventually throw out a long series … Continue reading On This Day

Coming Down from Sky Pond by Glenn Freeman


 

Sky Pond is one of the more popular destinations in Rocky Mountain National Park. Perhaps you’ve been there. The trail ascends through heavily traveled Glacier Gorge, past the Loch, then curves through a large, steep bowl of alpine meadows. Once you emerge from the trees into the meadow, you can see a plateau with a moderate cliff face with Timberline Falls plummeting through the middle. Steep peaks surround the falls and it’s easy to see that Sky Pond will be in the middle of these peaks, but you can’t see it yet. From this point, … Continue reading Coming Down from Sky Pond by Glenn Freeman

The Decider


 

When I was in college there was this bar that had bouncers who took turns playing St. Peter. They stood outside the door going: You. You. You. Not you. The whole idea was so ghastly to me (for a variety of reasons, not least of which was that I knew I’d be the one person in whatever group I was with who’d be left on the wrong side of the velvet rope) that I swore I’d never, ever subject myself to anything like that. And yet… I became a writer. For those who aren’t afflicted … Continue reading The Decider

The Arithmetic of Love by Deborah Prum


 

The day Septima left, she said, “I believe I am a promise you are tired of keeping.” Minutes before, Turk had pitched a bottle of beer at her. He had missed, but only barely. Green glass and yellow ale splattered against the kitchen wall. For once, she did not bother cleaning the mess. Septima packed her red valise: toothbrush, comb, talcum powder, three faded cotton housedresses and seventy-two dollars. As she left their home and ventured into the driving rain, she muttered, “The lies we tell ourselves.” She’d met Turk, a sailor, at a bar … Continue reading The Arithmetic of Love by Deborah Prum

Through the Looking Glass….


 

                                              LOOK3…   June 10-13th all eyes will be on LOOK3, Charlottesville’s stellar photography festival now in its seventh year. The town will host numerous famous photographers as well as revealing talks, exhibits and shows in a variety of venues. This year’s Festival is curated by Kathy Ryan, Director of Photography at The New York Times Magazine and Scott Thode, the current Visuals Editor for E.O. Wilson’s Life On Earth. The LOOK3 Festival of the … Continue reading Through the Looking Glass….

Gossip


 

There is a saying that if you don’t know what you’re doing, ask your neighbors. Once upon a time when I first moved to Nelson County, Virginia, and knew no one, I experienced an untethered queasy feeling of not being entirely in my world. This unconnected-ness with my new surroundings produced an awful feeling of dis-location with self and was something I had not expected from my move to Virginia.  This unease persisted for weeks, months.    The first hint of relief occurred when I had to call on one of the farmer families in … Continue reading Gossip