I like to explore and tell descriptive stories about places. I also make jewelry, music and mixed-media art.
Spruce 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 CHANGESBy the spring, clogged with soggy leaves and fallen branches, surrounded on this slope of storm down trees and scattered car piecesOne flower shines in pinkish bloom, one resilient Rhododendron, queen of the holler. I descend to this hidden spot, grown over since my youth, beyond remnants of a homestead, some forgot. Clearing debris from the […]
Read More A Solitary Blossom at Fancy GapThis upcoming week, I’ll be in Franklin, NC for the summer gem and mineral shows. The show dates are July 24-28, and you can find me and my jewelry at El Paso Rock Shop’s tent in the G&LW Watauga festival ground on US Hwy 23/441 (6295 Sylva Rd, Franklin, NC 28734, north of town). Franklin’s […]
Read More Franklin, NC gem show is comingLate July, 2022 I’m back at the mountain family property at Fancy Gap, Virginia, clearing paths and finishing construction of the stone labyrinth. There have been storms; trees have fallen, and mushrooms are growing all around (including in the labyrinth). I’m learning to identify these mushrooms, so if you know these species, let me know […]
Read More Mushrooms and a rainy season in southern AppalachiaJune 2022 Rhododendron catawbiense are the purplish flowering of these soul-comforting mountain shrubs and are euphoria to witness in bloom. There are several sub species of Rhododendron, this one widespread throughout the region but only in bloom for a short time…sometimes as short as two weeks in certain areas. Generally, this happens in Southern Appalachia […]
Read More The Quest for Blooming Rhododendron near Roanoke, Virginia – part 1: taking the scenic route“Down in the Virginia mountains, On U.S. fifty-two, There is a long old mountain That truckers blood does stain. Four miles from top to bottom, That trailer brakes will burn, Many curves ahead, They call it Fancy Gap.” From “Ballad of Fancy Gap” by Jim Marshall of Hillsville,VA Some of my first memories are riding […]
Read More Ballads of Fancy GapJUNE 2015 The southern cloud forest starts to the west of the Santa Cruz lowlands. Following the slow curvy rise of the Pirai river into the low mountains, the crowded combi climbs through the canyon and its soft dirt carretera. There are small waterfalls and towering red rock faces covered in green. The air smells […]
Read More Samaipata, Bolivia
arianna's creative travels 