Patsy Cline’s signature song, “Crazy,” was written by Willie Nelson (pre-Nashville). Cline had trouble recording it, until she stopped trying to imitate Nelson’s unique voice and nailed it in one take. Photo: Public Domain, commons.wikimedia.org
The life of a country music icon plays out in the nationally acclaimed musical, A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline. In her short, notable career, Cline created the term crossover hit, as she intertwined country, pop and gospel, and proved a female headliner is a force to be reckoned with. This production captures her spirit in a mix of music and drama, paying homage while artfully telling the story of her success and premature death.
Friday 3/4. $24.50, 7:30pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 979-1333. theparamount.net.
While the homeowners' style is maximalist rather than minimalist, austere elements like the fireplace provide a simple, smooth counterpoint to the home's other aesthetic details. Photo: Philip Beaurline
Tom Davidson and Marilyn Mars love to laugh, and their house shows it. When they moved to Nelson County from Florida, they sought a modern dwelling, commissioning Marilyn’s brother Randall Mars, a McLean-based architect, to design it. Though clean lines attracted them, Marilyn says, this house—full of colorful, detailed art and objects—is anything but minimal. Warmth and playfulness are the watchwords here.
The couple met and married in Tampa, and when retirement approached, they decided to return to Virginia, where they’d both previously lived. “We wanted to get away from city life,” says Tom. Seeking a rural property of about 50 acres, they eventually found a parcel in Faber. Though it wasn’t photogenic at the time (the seller had knocked down a blighted pine forest), the pair responded to its underlying topography, which slopes down toward a creek.
It was a place where they could enjoy total privacy and lovely views. “We wanted to see where we were,” says Tom. Accordingly, one of the major requests they made to the architect was to include many big windows. At the same time, their considerable art collection demanded plenty of wall space.
Photo: Philip Beaurline
Both Marilyn and Tom would need offices, and they wanted guest rooms to make visitors comfortable during lengthy stays—“more than one or two nights,” says Tom. “People can disappear from us and we from them.”
Given the setting, they also wanted to allow overnighters and dinner party guests alike to easily flow outside, to the terrace, deck and roof deck. “We didn’t want a particularly formal house,” says Tom. Mars’ solution elegantly separates public and private spaces: Common areas occupy a one-story wing with a shed roof, while bedrooms and bathrooms are in an adjacent three-story “silo.” The two volumes are quite distinct, linked by an interstitial office space, and they evince very different characters: The public space is essentially open-plan, with soaring ceilings, while the bedrooms offer enclosure and privacy.
While the couple currently uses the second floor as a master suite, they’ll be able to switch places with guests in the future if the stairs become too tough. “Randy was very accommodating,” says Marilyn, “working with us on what he knew we would want to have, down the road.”
Sliding glass doors in the upper kitchen cabinets feature glass panels by 3form that include real pressed ginkgo leaves. Photo: Philip Beaurline
The little things
The house, which the owners call Slowdog Run, contains a high level of detail, both in terms of architecture and the finishes, accents and objects that its occupants have furnished. One small example is a bumpout on the backside of the fireplace, which creates a very shallow shelf, the height of a chair rail, near the dining table. It’s a detail that could read as austere, but not in this case. “We didn’t want people to think we were too serious, so we put all this stuff out,” says Marilyn, showing off a collection of tiny, kitschy figures that live on the shelf.
Mars brought plenty of surprises of his own to this project. Inside the fairly simple arrangement of volumes that compose the house, there are many unexpected moments. One of these struck Tom soon after the house was done and furnished. He sat down on a couch, gazed toward a pair of floor-to-ceiling windows that comprise the opposite corner, and noticed for the first time the complexity of wall and ceiling angles—subtle variations on the standard 90 degrees—that faced him.
“The ‘silo’ and public areas are orthogonally organized,” explains Mars. “The office bar cuts through them, creating a diagonal element, which adds a certain dynamic character to the space.”
This occurs in what the owners call the “anteroom” to the first-floor guest suite, a space that, tucked against the staircase, could have been nothing more than a hallway. With a bit of extra square footage and abundant natural light, courtesy of the fully glazed corner bumpout, it becomes an appealing den.
The details answer practical needs, like the long wall of built-in bookcases, deep enough for two layers of books, in Tom’s office. But they also serve up pure aesthetic delight, as in the sliding glass doors on the upper kitchen cabinets, with glass panels by 3form that include real pressed ginkgo leaves.
Materials such as dark-red cherry cabinets, slate bathroom tile in variegated shades and maple flooring bring ample warmth to this home. The owners’ taste, though very contemporary, is maximalist rather than minimalist, as exemplified by the light fixture over the dining table, the Mikado by LZF—a sculptural, birdlike creation made of thin strips of wood.
A concrete mantle by Alexander Kitchin of Fine Concrete is a nod to the couple’s former home, which also featured a poured concrete hearth. Photo: Virginia Hamrick
Finding balance
Pivot doors, which are anchored by pins rather than hinges, are a striking modern touch, as are the use of split-face concrete block and vertical mahogany planks on the exterior. Mars allowed different materials to delineate the various volumes of the house, emphasizing their separateness.
Yet the Southern vernacular lives on in the sleeping porch off the upper-floor bedroom, cementitious siding (which mimics clapboard) and the standing-seam metal roofs.
Perhaps the fireplace is the element that best marries old and new. Made of poured concrete by Alexander Kitchin of Fine Concrete, it is a nod to the couple’s former home. That house, a century-old Cotswold cottage in Tampa, featured a poured concrete hearth too, though it was meant to look like stone. This one is unapologetically itself, smooth and minimal, and, as Marilyn says, “It’s such a nice counterpoint to the art.”
Outdoor spaces provide for both togetherness and solitude. “The concrete wall defining the front court is ultimately designed to support a simple flat roof structure, to shade and protect gatherings,” says Mars. “The front is very much a social space, where the back is more private and preserves the view without encouraging social interaction.”
It’s a formula that seems to be working for the residents. Contemplating their home, says Marilyn, “Tom and I pinch ourselves regularly.”
THE BREAKDOWN
Square footage: 2,400 square feet
Structural system: Conventional framing with precast concrete panel basement walls
To help develop buds for next year, azaleas are best fertilized with a slow-release product. File photo.
Spring comes to us variously—covered in mud, blasted through on dry winds, smuggled beneath the skirts of late freezes. It has been known to rise gloriously from a burgeoning earth like the first day of Eden, which seems likely this year. Abundant moisture from rain and snow portend a spectacular flowering of classic favorites: dogwood, azalea, spirea, deutzia and early bulbs are on schedule to explode in a riot of white and pastels.
That kind of display takes a bit of planning (start your calendar now), but a good spring fluff-up and judicious planting from newly stocked garden centers will work wonders. Whether you have a pocket handkerchief courtyard, extensive shrubberies and an allée of trees along the drive or something in between, each spring has a common wake-up call.
Give established beds a thorough grooming, removing dead branches and handing out leaves from the center of shrubs and perennials. After raking, if you’ve still got 2-3″ of mulch, don’t add more until fall. Shrubs, perennials and ground covers benefit from pine bark, leaf mold or compost-based mulch.
Avoid leaf blowers that blast the ground, requiring new mulch every year. Well-tended grounds restrict blowers to hard surfaces. When used regularly as a way to clean planting beds, blowing compacts the soil and wastes valuable amendments. Avoid also the shame of volcano mounds of mulch around trees; rake it away from the trunk in a wide circle, preferably out to the drip line, to a depth of 2-3″ of shredded hardwood, least likely to wash and the best mulch for woody plants.
File photo.
Fall is ideal for amending soil, so resist corporate advertising and go light on fertilizers other than compost and other slow-release organics. Spring is when high nitrogen chemical fertilizers wash into the bay to feed destructive algae blooms. Don’t contribute to this. Contact Piedmont Master Gardeners’ Healthy Virginia Lawns program at hvl.albemarle@vt.edu to find out how to grow a sustainable greensward.
Azaleas are best fertilized with an organic acidic slow-release product like Holly Tone after they bloom, to help develop buds for next year. Flowers for this spring have already formed and an application of fertilizer before blooming can lead to a spurt of excessive foliar growth that obscures the flowers. Pine needles are a good mulch for azaleas and rhododendrons.
Most of us know not to trim azaleas this time of year, but often mistakes are made with viburnums and blue hydrangeas, which also carry their flower buds through the winter. For all spring-flowering shrubs, the best rule is to prune immediately after flowering. Summer bloomers like butterfly bush and white hydrangeas are usually cut back one- to two-thirds in March. Cut ornamental grasses, including liriope (“monkey grass”), to the ground before they start making new growth (and before mulching).
Evergreen shrubs can be tricky. Hollies love a hard cut-back this time of year. Boxwood, on the other hand, like any Southern lady, prefers a softer hand, with individual “plucking” cuts opening up the interior to light and air. They resent the insulting assault of electric trimmers and will decline over time when treated this way. Although sometimes in the same bed, boxwood thrives in a neutral soil; hollies like it acidic. Don’t inadvertently lime the hollies when you’re amending the lawn and don’t put Holly Tone on the boxwoods.
File photo.
Local garden centers are best for variety and, naturally, locally grown plants. Check out Eltzroth-Thompson, Southern States, Snow’s Garden Center, Ivy Nursery, Ivy Corner and Fifth Season Gardening to look for early bloomers (see sidebar). If you’ve been thinking about adding an ornamental tree like dogwood, redbud or cherry, now’s the time.
For those who actually like to touch the earth instead of mulch it, March heralds the magical time when the ground can be turned—not too wet, not frozen. Start that little vegetable patch or raised bed you’ve dreamed about and direct sow spinach, mesclun (mixed baby greens), carrots, radishes and Jefferson’s beloved pea sometime this month when the soil temperature hits 50 degrees. Websites such as johnnyseeds.com and southernexposure.com will tell you all you need to know.
Ushered in by the equinox on March 21, however spring beguiles us, well-planned gardens and grounds will be ready.
Make sure cold-hardy plants like pansies and violas have been grown without heat and are hardened off for freezes. Wait for last date of frost (May 15) for tender annuals.
Evergreen shrubs can be tricky. Hollies love a hard cut-back this time of year. Boxwood, on the other hand, like any Southern lady, prefers a softer hand, with individual “plucking” cuts opening up the interior to light and air.
Wendi Smith has been in the design business for more than 20 years, beginning with commercial design work in New York City—from the Chase Bank trading floor to a standardizing two floors for Citibank in the MetLife Building on Park Avenue. “I have done everything from a brand new, 17,000-square-foot space to just helping first-time homeowners pick out paint colors,” she says. “I love what I do.”
In 2009, Smith founded Leftover Luxuries, a pop-up consignment shop for antique and contemporary home wares, and has since expanded it from Charlottesville to cities across the nation. We asked her to tell us about her favorite colors and textures and what she believes can really transform a room.—Caite White
Antique or modern? I love mixing both, but if I had to choose what to be surrounded by for the rest of my life, it would definitely be antiques. I love knowing the backstory on pieces.
Which colors do you gravitate toward?I love lavender and blues—something so soothing. Yet, my home has lots of rusts, blues and greens, which are very welcoming. Once my boys are grown and on their own, I would love to redo my home—all upholstered “soft” pieces, anything with fabric to be done in white, surrounded by rich woods and splashes of lavender and gold throughout.
What is your favorite interior design-related word? Scale and warmth.
Does your home look like the one you grew up in?Not even. I grew up in Southern California in the ’70s/’80s—a completely different vibe. But, I definitely do think I picked up a trait of my father’s: Every time we moved, as a little girl I would go to bed with the house being in total chaos, and, when I woke, it would be in order and complete. I do not like unfinished rooms in my own home. Even if I use a fill-in somewhere, I know that when I find the right piece, it will be replaced.
What’s one thing that can really transform a room? Definitely lighting, but I’m also going to throw in paint color. If you want to change a room, I love starting with the color of it.
Favorite designer? While attending interior design school in NYC over 20 years ago, I fell in love with Mario Buatta. I love the way he layers a room in patterns, color and texture.
Which design blog, website, TV show or magazine do you peruse religiously? Architectural Digest, Dwell and Veranda.
Décor-wise, what should a homeowner never scrimp on? Art. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but there should be a painting or artistic photograph in every room. It truly adds character on any budget.
What are you afraid to DIY? Probably wallpaper.
What do you wish you could do without?Social media—it just sucks me in. For business it has been a terrific tool, but I have had to set time limits!
What is your most treasured possession?Besides my children, my jewelry. The pieces handed down from the different generations.
If you could live in one historical figure’s house, whose would it be? I have always been obsessed with Coco Chanel—her place in Paris. She once said, “An interior is a natural projection of the soul.” Even though she slept next door at the Ritz, the apartment is an embodiment of her aesthetic and the spirit of a thoroughly modern woman who had the same irreverent approach to her home and fashion as she did with her life.
For more information, visit the Leftover Luxuries warehouse or go online to leftoverluxuries.com.
The Octagonal Living Unit kit can be constructed in three weeks, says creator Craig Pleasants. Visit sculptorhouse.com to find out more. Photo: Adam Barnes
There’s an enduring appeal to the idea of a compact dwelling that can go up fast—it’s been expressed in everything from the teepee to the mobile home. In the zeitgeist of the moment, it’s the phrase “tiny house” that holds currency. Down in Amherst County, sculptor Craig Pleasants has created his own version of the easy-to-build, inexpensive shelter. He calls it the Octagonal Living Unit.
Pleasants’ interest in small, eight-sided houses goes back to 1981, when he and his wife, Sheila, built an octagonal dwelling in North Carolina. It was just the two of them then. Constructed with a traditional “stick” frame, it wasn’t easy to build. “The angles made it difficult,” says Pleasants.
In other ways, though, the house was a big success—“remarkably airy-feeling,” he remembers. The octagonal shape made it feel bigger than it was, as did the generous number of windows and a high ceiling. The couple lived there for three years, comfortably. “It never felt crowded or claustrophobic,” he says—though it was less than 500 square feet in size.
Fast-forward to about a decade ago, when Pleasants learned about Virginia-made ThermaSteel panels—steel and polystyrene panels that arrive with door and window openings precut, ready to fasten together. They provide structure, insulation and vapor barrier all in one, and they come in a standard 4’x8′ size.
“I said, ‘This is the way to build this octagonal house and make it reproducible,’” says Pleasants. “I could engineer this house as a do-it-yourself kit.”
After a lot of experimenting, Pleasants arrived at a design that matched exactly the footprint of his original octagonal house: 20′ across, with each wall being 8′ in length. One big change was that the hip roof turned into a shed roof—meaning that “the upstairs is completely usable,” says Pleasants. The Octagonal Living Unit (OLU) has 300 square feet of downstairs space and a 150-square-foot loft upstairs: enough, Pleasants says, for a tiny bedroom and bathroom.
At $34,000, the kit includes all the wall and roof panels, doors and windows, Ply-Bead exterior siding and tin roofing, plus loft structure and hardware. Interior finishes are left to the buyer to provide. “It can be done very inexpensively or in a much more luxurious way,” Pleasants says.
Visit the prototype at the Pleasants’ home outside Amherst, and you’ll first be struck by the playful exterior, painted in various shades of yellow and enlivened by a jaunty arrangement of small windows on the second floor. Inside, it’s finished to reflect its purpose as an art studio: particleboard walls painted white and handsome maple flooring. Though it’s wired for a mini-split heater, Pleasants relies only on a small space heater, which in this energy-efficient structure is enough to keep things toasty.
Pleasants sees the OLU as embodying many possibilities—simple or swanky, vacation cottage or primary home. One could reach the loft with a ship’s ladder, spiral staircase or regular staircase.
The common denominator is that the OLU is easy to put up. “Three people can put this kit up in three weeks,” says Pleasants. Completing the prototype—including interior finishes—took 600 man-hours altogether.
Pleasants has spent years exploring the intersection of sculpture and architecture, building structures out of materials as diverse as cigarette cartons, secondhand shirts and morning glories. The OLU is an extension of his art practice. “I see it as a piece of sculpture that you live in,” he says.
You’re away from home on a business trip. Your cell phone buzzes in your pocket. It’s an alert from your home security app. There’s been a breach in one of your living room windows.
Your phone rings. It’s your home security monitoring company. They’ve detected the breach and will send a police officer unless you say it was a false alarm.
You flip over to your home security app and view the feed from your exterior camera. There’s someone trying to break in. But as the sound of Albemarle County Police Department sirens approach, the would-be burglar takes off running.
This type of home security suite would have been considered pie in the sky only about a decade ago. But according to local security professionals, as networking and cameras become more efficient, home security systems have entered the space age. Here’s a look at the latest advancements in technology designed to keep you and yours safe and sound.
Reliable detection
The logistics of motion sensors and door and window trip alarms haven’t changed much in the past decade, according to Travis Toms of Charlottesville’s Mechums River Security. They’re still mounted much the same as they’ve always been and monitored by an off-site team ready to call the homeowner at the hint of wrongdoing. But they have become more reliable.
“In terms of motion sensors, the equipment manufacturers have spent a lot of time making sure there are fewer accidental trips,” says Jim Ragsdale, president of local home electronics firm Arcane Technologies. “The false alarms have been a big negative for a long time.”
Ragsdale says if there is a false alarm, monitoring companies these days have multiple checks and balances in place beyond the analog password to make sure they get it right before calling the cops.
Cord cutting
Motion sensors have—like so many modern electronics—gone wireless. That means security system installation is now simpler and more efficient.
“I think that’s the biggest change,” Ragsdale says. “It gives you the opportunity to retrofit homesnow where before you had to fish for wires. And that capability has come a long way. It’s more stable. It makes it accessible for a lot more homeowners.”
That doesn’t mean you have to go wireless. Toms says Mechums has customers who still prefer the peace of mind of a wired system.
Better cameras
Modern digital video recorders are smaller and offer higher resolutions at lower price points, which means video monitoring isn’t just for commercial customers anymore.
“Networking cameras increases the number that can be installed so you have better coverage and it allows for easier remote monitoring,” Ragsdale says. “It’s completely software based, so it can be programmed to provide analytics.”
That means masses of video data can be analyzed more quickly to determine if anything is amiss on a homeowner’s property, and the higher resolution allows the cameras to pick up more of what’s going on.
“We are doing a lot more cameras,” Toms says. “Where it was mostly more commercial, we’re seeing a lot of residential clients putting in cameras so they can view video any time on their laptops and tablets.”
It’s a technology that requires more participation on the part of the user, Ragsdale says, but it’s worth it for a lot of customers. Not only can it show the type of breach that occurred during a break-in attempt, it can be used to monitor delivery people who come to the door or make sure the kids get in the house safely after dark.
Full networking
Where home security systems long relied on landlines to link with homeowners, cell phones are now king of the castle. “Landlines are going by the wayside,” Ragsdale says.
But that’s just the beginning. Modern security systems are part of a larger home data collection mechanism, according to Ragsdale. “There are more and more components and appliances that are able to give us data,” he says. “They can be automated and incorporated into an overall residential system. The security system becomes one more element that is giving back metadata.”
The systems have long been capable of linking up with smoke and fire detectors, Toms says, but now they can also network with interior and exterior lighting and other systems.
All of the systems, from security to your washer and dryer, can be controlled in the palm of your hand. “The technology is just a lot faster and better now,” Toms says.
Pond plantings near the UVA Foundation office. Photo: Bill Mauzy
Bill Mauzy. Photo: Amy Jackson
Bill Mauzy has been a Virginia resident all his life. As he says, it’s a wonderful place “to make art and gardens,” which, as a landscape architect with Waterstreet Studio and a photographer, is exactly what he does. “I’ve come to consider myself more as an artist who practices landscape architecture than a landscape architect who also makes art,” Mauzy says. But the two are far from mutually exclusive. In fact, his photography work often affords Mauzy the chance to see his work through a different—pardon the pun—lens.
“It’s a challenge, but the art work helps and continually points to new ways of working and thinking about the design process,” he says. Here, he tells us about getting into landscape architecture, how his music factors in and what he’s working on currently.—Caite White
A parking court in North Garden. Photo: Bill Mauzy
Why landscape architecture?
“It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?”—Henry David Thoreau
At some point in the past I decided that I wanted to spend my time and energy creating beauty and contributing something positive to the world. The idea of being a landscape architect lay dormant until around 2000. The birth of my son that year spurred me to take a longer view, and I was accepted to the Master of Landscape Architecture program at Virginia Tech in 2003.
In hindsight, landscape architecture seems inevitable in my life. From the time of my earliest memories, I’ve been drawn to the natural world, plants and animals. When I was a child my family would make frequent trips into the mountains of Virginia and West Virginia to visit grandparents. At a very early age I remember being fascinated by the landscapes we traveled through and curious about how they seemed to affect emotions. I also had a creative streak and spent much time drawing, making models, building forts. Then as a teen I learned to play banjo and spent many years making music in local bands.
One aspect of landscape architecture that I find particularly appealing is its embrace, when well practiced, of impermanence and change. In fact, in most instances, our work is reliant on change. The work of making a garden is only begun when the construction ends. The only constant in life is change. In this way, I feel like my work is a practice not only of making places and space, but also a practice of understanding life.
An herb garden at a Barracks Road residence. Photo: Bill Mauzy
Why did you choose to practice in Virginia?
I’ve never been one to follow a career from place to place. To the contrary, I think place has profoundly influenced my sense of what career and avocation might be feasible and desirable. In recent years I’ve traveled more, been tempted by and even fallen in love with the mountain west, the Southwest, coastal New England, the coastal South, but Virginia remains a wellspring of inspiration and comfort and is simply the place I want to be.
The somewhat abstract, hard-to-define concept referred to as sense of place is a key factor in my creative endeavors. It’s important both as a point of departure and as a grounding element that informs meaningful work. I identify deeply with the Shenandoah Valley, the Appalachian Mountains and, to a lesser degree, with the South. Being a creative person or an artist from the South has a particular gravity. There’s the emotional weight of the landscape, its central position in the imaginative lives of those from the South, memory, the weight of history.
The photographer Sally Mann writes about this well in her book, Deep South: “To identify a person as a Southerner suggests not only that her history is inescapable and formative but that it is also impossibly present. Southerners live uneasily at the nexus between myth and reality…against a backdrop of profligate physical beauty.”
What a wonderful setting for the making of art and gardens.
A lawn terrace in North Garden. Photo: Bill Mauzy
What was childhood like and how did it lead you to design?
One of the formative experiences of my childhood was being present for the construction of my parents’ house. They were do-it-yourselfers. While they were building, I watched and learned fundamental lessons about how things get built and the value of hard work. I also spent many happy hours making Tonka toy-sized roads, rivers and hills out of the “mountain” of topsoil stockpiled on site. I think this is where the idea of working with the land was planted.
Also, my mom was an avid gardener and plant collector. She often recruited me to help her in our garden. That must have made an impression on me. In high school I began working with landscape contractors during the summers.
I began playing bluegrass and old-time string band music at the age of 12, eventually learning to play, with reasonable efficacy, all of the typical instruments except fiddle. There’s something elemental about good mountain music—it seems to have seeped into my soul. Though I no longer play seriously, music is still important to me and the experiences I had—the lessons I learned—heavily influence both my design work and photography. The feeling of a groove. Simplicity. Soul. Rhythm. Timing. Syntax. Balance. Harmony. Counterpoint. How to convey emotion. Persistence. Practice then trust in intuition, i.e., perfect then forget. It’s so interesting to me how artforms that have the outward appearance of being completely different are in fact so similar in fundamental ways.
A fire pit in North Garden. Photo: Bill Mauzy
On process: How does it begin?
The most critical aspect of process for me is spending focused time with a place, without thought of outcome, developing an intuitive sense of it. Ideally this comes long before pencil is put to paper. Following that, there’s typically a period of study that involves analysis of the various environmental, legal and social factors that affect the site. Then, I try to forget it all. Not literally forget, but try to let the facts of place and program, once considered, fall away to the background, so that meaningful, unforced design solutions can begin to emerge.
The importance of this practice has been reinforced by my work in photography. My approach to photography relies heavily on intuition, looking beyond the readily obvious surface appearance of a thing or place, and when it’s all working, true seeing. The technique can be applied to garden design and site planning with equal effectiveness. Design iterations and ultimately solutions proceed from that basic understanding.
Beyond those initial steps, the design process at Waterstreet Studio is highly collaborative. Ideas are freely exchanged between junior and senior designers. There’s an open dialogue between our designers and clients. It’s always our goal to make spaces that meet our clients’ needs and inspire them. No one person can take credit for the outcome.
What inspires you?
The wild. Time spent in the wild. Trees. Mountains. Streams. Poetry. Simple, honest, soulful music. A handful of photographers. Gardens that stand the test of time. Good conversation. My family.
When I make photographs I concentrate on subtleties: light and shadow, surface variations, temporal changes, precise spatial relationships, perceived mood, emotion, and I try to preserve these qualities in the prints I make; to create the potential for visceral experience by the viewer. All these qualities are available to the garden-maker as well, but I think the intensity with which I engage these when making photographs is altogether a different experience. Whenever possible, I try to bring that intensity to the experience of a site and translate that into the built work.
Eastern philosophies have profoundly shaped my life and work. While I don’t identify with the religious tenets of Buddhism and Taoism, the worldviews and sensitivities conveyed in certain writings from those traditions, along with the paintings, poetry and other art they inspired, have provided a structure and touchstone for the growth of my own work. The natural world as source, solace and inspiration. The role of artifice and metaphor. Embrace of balanced asymmetry. Recognition of the importance of emptiness. Celebration of the seasons. Beauty in impermanence, change and even death. I don’t pretend to fully understand these ideas and their implications for garden making, but I intuit their rightness and can see that my work is increasingly less plastic, more authentic.
What are you currently working on?
I am heavily involved with several projects now under construction including an enchanting mountainside garden that complements a rustic log cabin off Taylors Gap Road, a garden renovation for a former caretaker’s house in Farmington and a meditation garden for a historic residence near Milton. We are also in the early stages of implementation for a sanctuary garden at the Blue Ridge School and developing planning documents that will guide improvements to the historic garden at The Valentine museum in Richmond.
In addition to landscape architecture, I’m quite busy with photography at present. In the near term (this spring) I’ll be working to put finishing touches on a long-term project that focuses on spring ephemeral wildflowers of the Appalachian and Blue Ridge mountains. I also have a number of commissions for architectural and landscape photography in the planning stages. Most notably, I spent the month of February in Zion National Park as an artist-in-residence with the National Park Service. Zion is a crown jewel of the national park system, and I am honored to have been selected to serve in this capacity.
Matthew Angeley, Emmet Haden and Cameron Fard are members of the Albemarle High School Jazz Combo, which will kick off an evening of music by Terri Allard, John D’earth, Charles Owens and many others at the Southern on Sunday. Photo: Amy Jackson
When Greg Thomas sent an audition tape of the Albemarle High School Jazz Ensemble to Swing Central last fall, he didn’t give it a second thought. He figured his group had no chance of being one of the 12 bands accepted to the elite three-day competition and workshop that are part of the Savannah Music Festival.
“The kids were super excited, so I pretended I was too,” he laughs. “But I didn’t think we’d get in.” Which is why Thomas, director of bands at AHS for 23 years, was shocked in December when he received an e-mail that began: “We are very excited that you will be a special part of the 2016 Savannah Music Festival, and we look forward to seeing you in March!”
Called the “Super Bowl of high school jazz competitions” by the Florida Sun-Sentinel, Swing Central will allow Thomas and his band [this writer’s daughter is a member] to hang with some of the best high school musicians in the country. They’ll also participate in sessions with jazz masters, including Jason Marsalis, Wycliffe Gordon and Marcus Roberts, perform in Savannah’s Jazz on the River and attend shows by other festival participants ranging from Langhorne Slim and Ry Cooder to Dwight Yoakam and Dave Rawlings. On the final day, the group will compete for the prestigious Faircloth Award and a $5,000 prize.
There is, however, a hitch: Thomas needs $23,000 to send 35 young musicians to Georgia for four days.
The band recently received a Bama Works Fund grant, which, combined with money raised from a GoFundMe page and a Valentine’s Day dance, brings it within striking distance of its goal. And on Sunday, March 6, the kids are getting some help from a few talented friends: Singer-songwriter Terri Allard, trumpeter John D’earth, saxophonist Charles Owens and several other local musicians will perform a benefit concert for the AHS Jazz Ensemble at The Southern Café and Music Hall.
“What the Southern show does is demonstrate the willingness of our great community of musicians to get down on a project for our kids,” Thomas says. “These aren’t movie stars making millions of dollars; they’re musicians who work for a living, and it’s a big deal, a big contribution, when you get people like John and Charles and Terri to do a benefit for your group. They do it because in addition to being national-caliber artists, they are also incredibly committed educators.”
In Allard’s case, it’s a two-way street: Her son, Will, plays trumpet in three of Thomas’ bands, and “he feels very fortunate to participate in a program that is such a big part of his high school experience; something that has such a positive impact on his overall well-being,” she says. “As a band mom and a musician, I am thrilled to support the important work the students are doing under Greg’s leadership.”
Allard, who also hosts the long-running public television series “Charlottesville Inside-Out,” says she’s “a huge fan of John and Charles. Our musical styles are different, but our dedication to the arts is the same.”
Owens, a veteran of the New York jazz scene, is a regular in the AHS band room, showing up weekly to work with members of the jazz ensemble. D’earth, who’s been called “the Pied Piper of central Virginia jazz,” has also spent a lot of time with and written music for AHS bands. Both men have given private lessons to “too many of my students to count,” says Thomas, adding that neither D’earth nor Owens “hesitated for a second” when asked to perform in the benefit show.
“John and I have been playing together for years,” Owens says. “We inspire each other and push each other to be more creative, and when we get together we play jazz in the style of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard and Joe Henderson. We also play John’s original compositions and plan to do some of those [on March 6].”
Owens says “a trip like [the one to Swing Central] can really change a person’s life for the better. This will be an unforgettable experience for the kids.”
Among those kids are musicians in the nine-member Albemarle High School Jazz Combo, which will kick off the evening at the Southern with a half-hour set. Saxophonist Cameron Fard says he’s a little nervous about opening for Allard, D’earth and Owens because “it’s kind of stressful taking the stage ahead of people who are so amazing and have been playing for decades.”
Allard’s trio, which includes harmonica player Gary Green and Sonny Layne on bass, will follow the student group, and the show will close with a set featuring D’earth, Owens, bass player Andrew Randazzo, Devonne Harris on drums and Garen Dorsey (an AHS jazz band alum) on piano.
“They are music idols to us,” says Emmet Haden, a trumpet player in several AHS bands. “It’s very humbling and incredible of them to do this for us. It’s a really great feeling to know we are a part of such a cool, generous music community.”
Coining himself the “master of space and time,” Leon Russell continues to roll away the stone with over 50 years in rock 'n' roll. Photo: Publicity photo
If Leon Russell had stopped making records after his eponymous release in 1970, the 73-year-old pianist-songwriter-producer would still be a legend today thanks to his extensive collaborations with the founders of rock ‘n’ roll. The album’s credits list Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Steve Winwood among other musical royalty of the era, and while “Song for You” was not a chart-buster, the soulful, drawling, straight-from-the-heart ballad has been covered by more than 40 recording artists over the past four decades.
Friday 3/4. $37-40, 7pm. The Jefferson Theater, 110 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. 245-4980. jeffersontheater.com.
Local resident David Stackpole is calling to remove or replace the Lewis and Clark statue because it represents Sacagawea unfairly. Rammelkamp foto
The Lewis and Clark statue at the intersection of West Main Street has been the center of controversy for some time—last month, police removed a mysterious, red-stained, human-shaped figure made of masking tape from the base of the statue that was aiming a makeshift bow and arrow up at the explorers. One local says it’s finally time to remove or replace the landmark that so many have complained about.
Controversy surrounding the statue often stems from the third figure present in the memorial: Sacagawea. Documented in history as the explorers’ guide in their 1803 to 1806 expedition up the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean, many believe the monument embodies an ethnic and gender bias that doesn’t depict the Native American woman fairly.
The statue was made by Charles Keck and dedicated in 1921, but not until 2009 was a plaque commemorating Sacagawea’s contributions to the expedition placed on the monument.
David Stackpole, a Charlottesville resident of 18 years, calls the “simple plaque” the “perfect remedy if you’re standing no more than two feet away from it in the middle of traffic and on the right side [of the sculpture] to see it.”
He takes note of Sacagawea’s crouched stance in comparison with the towering explorers above her. She has a “concave, self-protected frame,” with her hands pulled close to her body, which contrasts, Stackpole says, with the “flared chests” and open postures of Meriwether Lewis—an Albemarle native—and William Clark. As the Native American gazes downward, the men stare off into the horizon, and while Sacagawea’s bent knees suggest exhaustion and the need for rest, Stackpole says the explorers stand with a “readied, strongly erect stance.”
Many have spoken out against the statue, including performance artist Jennifer Hoyt Tidwell, who organized the 2007 Columbus Day protest in which she and several other women gathered near the statue in support of Sacagawea and dressed in evening gowns, donning sashes with names such as “Miss Representation” and “Miss Informed.” She collected 500 signatures to correct the portrayal of the Native American, and as a result, the 2009 plaque was mounted.
Recalling the unveiling of the plaque, Hoyt Tidwell says City Council invited Sacagawea’s Shoshone descendants. She was disappointed when Council didn’t mention the protest or introduce her to the Native Americans and, instead, accepted intricately beaded purses and garments from the descendants on their own behalf.
“It reminded me of how Sacagawea in that statute was not given credit for her role and neither was I,” she says.
Stackpole says the plaque isn’t enough. And he thinks Lewis and Clark might agree.
“If you were to read how these two great men adored and respected her, you would be convinced they, too, would take issue with this,” Stackpole says, adding that he wants the statue removed, replaced or counterbalanced by a sibling statue that depicts the woman’s contributions. He is currently gathering signatures on a petition that he will submit to Council.
Andre Cavalcante, an assistant professor at UVA, says he and his students support Stackpole’s efforts. Raising the question to his Gender Nonconformity in Media class, Cavalcante says students agreed almost universally that the statue is historically inaccurate and offensive.
“The class agreed that this kind of representation belongs in a museum,” he says, “a place where it can exist as a part of history and be critiqued for its misrepresentation.” Noting that the statue would not be erased from history, he says, “preserving the story of both monuments and highlighting that social change and progress are indeed possible.”
But those at the Lewis & Clark Exploratory Center in Darden Towe Park think the statue should stay as it is.
“I understand the gender and racial issues of these historical statues,” says Executive Director Alexandria Searls. “But I also think that history on some level has to be understood from a more evolved viewpoint.”
Searls wrote a letter to City Council February 9 saying if the statue had to be moved, she would accept it at the exploratory center where it could be contextualized. Many historical figures are imperfect, she says, speaking generally of the past, “to remove whatever has any guilt associated with it is to remove everything.”
Charlottesville police removed this figure, which appears to be shooting a bow and arrow up at the explorers, away from the Lewis and Clark statue in February. Photo courtesy of the Charlottesville Police Department
