I like to explore and tell descriptive stories about places. I also make jewelry, music and mixed-media art.
Snow Moon, January/February 2026 Snow White turned over a brand new leaf/ Her Icy stares opened Caverns beneath/Blue Rose from its slumber and played with our hair/and held us up high in the cold winter air –“Snow White and Blue” by Arianna By the time I’m writing this, we are one month into 2026 and […]
Read More A Winter Collage, Slightly FrozenSpruce Pine Mining District, North Carolina, July 2025 At the access to the mica mine stands a sign, “area closed to storm damage/not safe to enter.” Fallen trees and rocks rolled by nature can be seen. This is my first trip to western NC after Hurricane Helene. IT’S A SHAME ABOUT RAY I came for the […]
Read More GEMS OF THE BLUE RIDGE, GOING THROUGH CHANGESMarch, April, and May 2025 While walking in a brick plant, on pressed red earth near Moncure, NC, I step over small rectangular pieces of brick, lying across the lot. The size, flat surface, color palette and softness of this material, I felt, would be perfect for rune casting stones, and this source in the […]
Read More Rune Brick and Red Drek – Vikings in CarolingiaSomewhere in the middle of the Piedmont, a rocky river becomes silty and muddy and changes direction. Called the Deep River, it gives its name to the southeast’s largest Triassic rift Basin. The name “Deep River” is a translation of an indigenous name, sapponah (sappony), which, beyond this, has vague (conflicting?) sources but most likely […]
Read More The Deep River and its Triassic Basin: Cumnock to CarbontonPANGAEA is splitting slowly but not neatly. Forces pull apart land masses, and the water flows into the open space of the rift. The largest spaces eventually become part of the Atlantic. Smaller spaces become long, shallow lakes, swamps, and other wetlands, giving a habitat to large and small reptiles, insects, palm trees, and other […]
Read More Deep River Triassic Basin: A Grandmother of IndustriesCold Moon, December 2024 As the final full moon rises before winter solstice on a cloudy night in the North american eastern woodlands, I look back through the past solar year and then to the path that lies ahead. Earlier this year, I decided to update the name of this blog to “Arianna’s Creative Travels” […]
Read More Creative Travels: observations of a cycleAs cold weather envelops the Eastern Woodlands, local artisan markets or bazaars take form. This coming weekend, my “Starri Ari Stones” will be set up at two of these: Saturday, November 23, in Danville, VA at the community market downtown , and “Chance’s Flea” Sunday, November 24 at Rebus Works, Boylan Heights, Raleigh, NC. Times, […]
Read More Holiday Markets begin this weekendThe shallow water of the lakeshore laps quietly in the darkness, as the sky begins to light. I’ve been flying, there ain’t no denying. My little wings flap quietly amid ferns that grow so high. I rest under a leaf and admire this beautiful scene. A new sliding sound comes from the shore, but I’m […]
Read More BugFest / Triassic EchoesAugust 2-4, 2024, Virginia and North Carolina It’s a sunny early morning at Fancy Gap, and I’m going to the Saturday market in nearby Galax, Virginia, to set up with my jewelry. While it’s my first time at this market, and I didn’t get prior confirmation, I’m able to get a metal stall in the […]
Read More Galax, Fries, Pittsboro: fair markets and stormy weatherThis year, one of my travel goals has been to see the rhododendron in bloom. Through exploration and research, ecstasy was achieved; the blooms were awesome, and they inspired a beaded art necklace. June, 2024. The spring bloom period in the eastern woodlands finally reaches the Appalachian mountains. Gardens in the cloud forest create a […]
Read More Rhododendron flowers, a necklace, and pride
arianna's creative travels 