The Web of Life

In the heart of Historic Waynesville

98 N. Main Street, Waynesville NC 28786

(828) 456-1940

Hours: Monday-Saturday 10:00-5:30

Sunday 1:00-4:00

Dancing with Nature

June 2022 Issue 4 Vol 12

News, Life, and the Art Culture in the Smoky Mountains

Hello!

Routinely, in the early hours, I trek through the downtown neighborhoods. Recently I was on a narrow road canopied by trees and in my path was a spider web stretched across the road. As I ducked under, I was reminded of, back in the day, horseback riding through the woods of our Florida property. The first rider, which I was frequent, was notably smacked in the face with newly formed spider webs, hoping that its creator did not hitchhike on my shoulder. When the spiders had been particularly productive, we learned to ride carrying a branch in front of our face to divert a facial of strains of silk, sticky and creepy. As lead with no diversion, and in a moment of conniving, there was sometimes the quick DUCK beneath the ensuing web leaving the unaware rider behind me with a spider web SMACK in the face.

Besides this memory, the web encounter also reminded me of the marvel of the determination of spiders, their resilience, and their engineering amazement yet feared and despised by so many. But did you know that spiders ……

Just like our amazing artists, have a design sense, actively decorating their webs with extra silk designs.

That, like the gallery attempting to lure guests to enter, they don’t intercept prey; they attract them.

Spiders think big. Like you, carefully thinking of your web and looking for that rare, but desirable, purchase. That occasional big score.

Spiders often replace their web every day. Again, the gallery is constantly receiving new inventory keeping our web luring and enticing.

So what can appear to be so different, we have some common ground.

Downtown Waynesville is in high gear with the return of Street Dances complete with Joe Sam Queen and his secret sauce (cornmeal) dance asphalt floor. Art After Dark with Margaret Roberts and the Fourth of July celebration is upon us. If you can join us you will see that the Bagel Restaurant has opened and that Pleasant Places (the bird store) has moved next to Boojum Brewery leaving their old space for Kilwins, home to ice cream and in-house-made fudge and other sweet delights. There are more events that need to go on your calendar so check out our event section below.

Sometimes you are the spider deftly creating an engineering miracle just making life and sometimes you are the unawares victim ….. caught. You, as the being, are only caught in a moment of decision-making.

Today I was in the bank and watched a spider skittering across the floor and I imagined it headed out for its web creation totally unaware of its environment in a bank lobby. Unaware and unintentionally, a bank customer stepped on it as I hopelessly watched. We are in such a moment where life seems particularly fragile, and this small moment brought me even more to that fact. Sometimes you are the creative spider, sometimes you are looking to improve your web, and sometimes you get caught in the web, but, hopefully, only for a moment as we are reminded to persevere in life, live for the moment, and be kind to our ecosystem builders.

May You Walk in Beauty ~ Carrie

SPOTLIGHT ARTIST:

Mark Minus

A native of South Carolina, Mark Minus now lives and works in Prosperity. A good portion of his life has been spent in the mountains hunting, fishing, and just exploring.

Mark’s love of the outdoors has inspired his work. He creates refined rustic furniture by blending the elements of nature he has come to love deeply. He finds particular pleasure in making tables and benches that combine the elements of stone and wood. In his earlier work, Mark attached great slabs of Colorado sandstone to aged cedar or driftwood bases. There was a middle period when he worked extensively with recycled heart pine and barn wood.

More recently he has developed a technique for incorporating resins into the routed surfaces of tables, integrating leaf, fern, and other woodland floral impressions into the tabletops. With the newest work, the color palette gently brings to life nature’s earth tones and gem colors. Surfaces are always sealed to protect against condensation from drinking glasses.

Art After Dark

Stroll the galleries from 6-9 pm

every first Friday, May - December 2022

Presenting collage artist Margaret Roberts for Art After Dark Friday evening, July 1st, 6-9 pm, and Saturday, July 2nd, 11-3 pm.

A native of southern Virginia, Margaret graduated from Radford University with a B.S. degree in Art and a graduate degree in Adult Education from the University of Missouri. In addition to teaching art in K-12, she managed an Adult Literacy facility and worked in events planning and public relations for IBM in St Louis. Margaret also exhibited her work in Barnes and Noble's St. Louis stores and gave presentations on how to learn to paint from books. She also exhibited in several St. Louis galleries and at the Missouri Botanical Gardens.

Twenty years ago, Margaret began to explore watercolor and has lately been developing watercolor collage techniques. She possesses a heightened visual awareness of the beauty of simplicity that is apparent in her collages, and she delights in the fresh, childlike feel this approach gives to traditional subjects.

Always curious, she is constantly trying new media and is currently working in pastel, oil, and acrylics as well as watercolor and collage. This has led to her involvement in a broad range of continuing art education with professional artists from across the U.S.

Friday evening, as you stroll through the gallery’s 120+ primarily regional artists enjoy live piano music by Phyllis Bryan and delight in small bites and beverages.

Save the Date

**PLEASE NOTE THAT DATES AND EVENTS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE DUE TO CHANGES IN COVID GUIDANCE. PLEASE CHECK WITH US BEFORE TRAVELING. WE WILL KEEP YOU INFORMED**

Upcoming Local Events

4th of July in Haywood County

Downtown Waynesville

Backyard Fourth in Maggie Valley

Backyard Fourth! Our fireworks will be held on Monday evening! Come celebrate Independence Day at Maggie Valley Festival Grounds! Gates open at 6 pm. Bring your Blanket, Chairs, Picnic Basket, Bubbles, Hula Hoops, Balls, and Yard Games! This is an alcohol-free event. Enjoy our great fireworks in the dark! Call 828-926-0866 M-F 8 am–5 pm for more information.

Lake Junaluska 4th of July Celebration Weekend

Lake Junaluska’s Independence Day Celebration weekend will be full of family-friendly fun with fireworks, floating wish lanterns, a parade, family square dance, and concerts including a performance by internationally acclaimed bluegrass group Balsam Range.

More info here.

Canton's Fourth Plus One

The Town of Canton, in partnership with Champion Credit Union, presents the July 4th plus 1 on July 5th. Festivities start at 6:00 pm with music, food, FREE inflatables, and a spectacular fireworks display provided by Champion Credit Union. Bring a chair or blanket and come enjoy this family-friendly community event. All are welcome.

More info here.