Wisdom from my Momma

This is not original to her, but she quoted it to me on the phone yesterday and it rings true:

You can either be right all the time or you can be in relationships with people.

Blooming Earth

Stacey Adam, of Blooming Earth Flowers, is bringing all sorts of good things to Knoxville. In addition to fair trade flora, Ms. Adam will be teaching interested folks the fine art and craft of making soap. Here's the skinny.

This image comes from http://mouseinyourhouse.wordpress.com/

Luffa Soap Making Class-

Sunday, March 20th, starting at 5:30 pm, $18

This is a melt and pour class focusing on using our farm grown luffa. We will be using essential oils to create our own scents, and the soap base is SLS free. The end product will be 6 round bars with luffa in the center (They make great gifts).

Bring a bottle of wine or other beverage and snacks to share (if you would like, this is not a requirement). I will have an appropriate spring time drink available to warm up with if necessary. Glasses and napkins are provided.

We will need at least 12 people to sign up in order to have the class.So if you have friends or would like to make more than six bars of soap let me know (i.e. 12 bars would be $36).

Read what Christina blogged after our December class. It is a delightful read! Thanks Christina! http://mouseinyourhouse.wordpress.com/

Great, right? And...check out these other workshops coming up at Blooming Earth Flowers. Stay tuned for more information or email Stacey at bloomingearthflowers (at) gmail (dot) com to stay in the loop.

Saturday, April 9th
Home Brew Demo
Lots of yummy samples and food by Mockingbird Events

Sunday, May 1
Lye Soap Making Class
Get a demo on how to make lye the old school way and then actually make some soap with it.

Sunday, June 12
The Blueberry Lavender
Our First Annual Blueberry and Lavender Festival! Food will be provided by Bruce Bogartz of Rouxbarb and cocktails crafted by Laura Sohn of Mockingbird Events. Along with music and dancing and blueberries of course. It will be an evening to remember!

On a slightly unrelated note, I would like to propose renaming the May 1st workshop "Lye to Me." Oh! Punny? No. Ok. Enough.

Green Tunnel of Great Dizziness

I recognized several locations in this. And then I got dizzy and had to turn it off. It is mesmerizing and beautiful. Maker, Kevin Gallagher, describes himself as an "amateur naturalist" and teaches art at Virginia Commonwealth University.

A six month journey along the 2,200 mile long Appalachian Trail, condensed and reinterpreted into five minutes of stop-motion.

A full quality version is available for purchase on DVD. Go to www.smtgltd.bigcartel.com/​ and look for it on Stephen Vitiello: Soundtracks.



www.anothergallagher.com

Rival Collective

Here's to collaboration and ambition. Ben and Greg (together Rival Collective) are two young designers about to launch from the University of Tennessee. Their thesis project, Rival Collective, involves "exploring the the nature of change in collaboration and limitation as they relate to the transition from being a student to working in the professional world."

They wrote to me (among others) to solicit prompts, assignments, briefs, etc. In response I asked that they help me promote an upcoming series of Urban Land Scout workshops at CAC Beardsley Community Farm. Their work arrived this evening and I am buzzing. The ten posters they designed are, in my humble and unbiased opinion, near perfect. I could not be more pleased.

I was also pleased to find various iterations of the posters posted on their tumblr.

New Shoes

I made my first pair of shoes under the kind tutelage of Daniel Scott. He'll be teaching at least two more workshops (if not more) at the Knoxville Birdhouse in April. Stay tuned to their calendar to sign up.

Emerging Artists

Image by the talented Jonathan Bagby.

I am honored to join a fine crew of young, local emerging artists whose work will be featured in an upcoming show at the Emporium Center. The Arts and Culture Alliance, whose work fills the Emporium Center's gallery month after month, is a great resource for anyone wanting to plug into the local art scene.

Below are my fellow emerging artists. Check out our websites and consider buying our work while we're young and relatively undiscovered. You can also read the full press release from the Arts and Culture Alliance here.

Ashley Addair - www.noroomforhipsters.com
Jonathan Bagby - www.jonathanbagby.com
Julie Bernal - www.juliebernal.com
Robmat Butler - www.robmatbutler.com
Antuco Chicaiza - www.antucochicaiza.com
Hannah C. Holder - www.hannahholder.com
Heather Ann Jackson - www.heatherajackson.com
Jessie Morris – Photography - www.jessiemophoto.mosaicglobe.com
Erin Mullenex - www.erinmullenex.com
Katie Ries - www.whoshareswins.com
Jessie Van der Laan - www.jessievanderlaan.com

just ripe

just ripe is a worker-owned food cooperative that's been selling delicious and seasonal prepared food at the Knoxville Farmers' Market on Market Square for over a year now. They're about to take the big step of moving from charming-but-transient-gypsy-caravan to a brick and mortar store in the Daylight Building in downtown Knoxville. As you might imagine, this is an expensive project. In the same spirit that inspires their products and business model, just ripe has launched a Kick Starter campaign.

For the uninitiated, Kick Starter is a website that allows people with a vision (like the women at just ripe) to crowd source the funding for said vision. They've set a goal of $12,000 and have until Sunday, February 13th to raise the money. If they don't reach their goal by then, all pledged monies will be returned to the donors. If they do reach their goal Knoxville's food and culture scene will be so much the richer.

It is cliche but true to say that every bit helps.  Five or five hundred, the women at just ripe will be grateful for your help.