The Battle of Make Believe

painting by Hannah Dansie

Now on display at Satellite Gallery, The Battle of Make Believe includes work by some of Asheville's finest.

Read a full review of the show: In The Battle of Make Believe, adult responsibility overrides juvenile impulse Mountain Xpress

This handsome exhibit will hang until September 29

Satellite Gallery is located at 55 Broadway
Open Tues-Sun. Call 505-2225 for more info.

Newsworthy: A year in Pictures

On Friday, January 2nd at Bobo Gallery, the S.S. Drawing Club will debut their handbound and illustrated book, Newsworthy. These limited edition books are collected illustrations loosely based upon factual news reports gathered from various sources throughout the year of 2008. The show is a retrospective of the most macabre and strange events from around the world during the year as we come to its close.
The S.S. Drawing Club (formerly known as Segment 16) is currently comprised of Julie Armbruster and R. Brooke Priddy - both accomplished artists in their own right.

Sewing the Muse on the Internet

Visit the link here
Thank you everyone who helped me and supported me with this project.

Asheville HATCHfest

HATCHfest is a multi-day experience that includes performances and exhibitions, interactive mentoring labs, panels and demonstrations, lectures, parties, and awards. It is described as a "mentoring festival" which means that established professionals from various disciplines will be brought to Asheville to teach workshops and provide assistance to people about their discipline. The workshops will be free and open to the public and among the disciplines provided will be fashion, architecture, journalism, photography and illustration.
The first annual Asheville HATCHfest will occur April 15-19, 2009.
R. Brooke Priddy has been instrumental in the development of Asheville HATCHfest through her creative presence at fund raising events and assistance provided with establishing the fashion portion of the festival. This past October, Priddy was invited to create a performance for the HATCH festival in Bozeman, Montana. These are pictures of her installation entitled "By Land." To read more about the creative unfolding of this project visit her blog here. The photos were taken by Taylor Richards Glenn. taylorglennphoto.com

Alison Watson is the co-chair of the Asheville HATCHfest and she appears in "Sewing the Muse" to discuss HATCHfest in greater detail. Watson began her career directing and producing documentary films, which have won recognition and awards across the US. She spent several years shooting and producing outdoor films and television commercials, and has worked with the Media Arts Project in building the media arts industry in WNC. Currently she is involved with the Asheville Film Commission and Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance.

www.ashevillehatchfest.com

Paul Olszewski

Paul outfits Aubrey Adams. Photo by Stephen Miller

As Paul Olszewski tells it, ten years ago all the elements of the universe came together in such a way that suddenly one day he found himself designing and sewing leather pants for legendary fashion designer Anna Sui. From a warehouse in NYC's Meatpacking District Olszewski and a friend created leather bags, guitar cases, hats, pants and jewelry for top name designers and celebrities including Julia Roberts, David Bowie and Metallica.

Today Paul Olszewski lives in Asheville with his wife and two kids and continues to construct leather belts and straps. Frequently he collaborates with dressmaker R. Brooke Priddy for fashion happenings including the The Post Apocalyptic Fashion Show, and The Red Carpet Vortex.
A graduate of the School of Visual Art, Olszewski also paints and creates video installations. See more of his work at www.industreehouse.com

Sewing the Muse: Josephine Foster

Brooke Priddy and Josephine Foster

I am currently working on an episode of Art Seen Asheville in the studios of URTV called "Sewing the Muse" which features the work and collaborative projects of local dressmaker, Brooke Priddy. In addition to Brooke I have interviewed a bevy of local talent who have collaborated with Brooke in some form. I will be posting blogs over the upcoming days about the people featured in the show and the wonderful talents associated with this project.

Cover Art for Hazel Eyes I Will Lead You

Josephine Foster has graciously allowed me the use of her music as soundtrack for "Sewing the Muse." A friend to Brooke Priddy, Foster has performed locally in Priddy's West Asheville shop, Ship to Shore. My introduction to Brooke and Josephine was a collaborative performance where Brooke cut and hemmed a gown upon the lovely Josephine while she majestically performed her indescribably haunting music. A self-proclaimed "opera school dropout" Foster uses traditional instruments like guitar, bells, harp, ukulele, dulcimer, kazoo and sitar to blur the definitions of folk and experimental music. Her sinewy voice weaves through her compositions as its own instrument akin to a musical saw. That Josephine Foster performed wedding and funeral songs at age 15 is no surprise giving that her music harkens celebration and melancholia simultaneously.
This Coming Gladness is her most recent cd release.

Stop animation and photography by Rene Treece

It's better in the water
Made by Asheville photographer Rene Treece using hundreds of still images.





www.renetreecephotography.com
Dresses by Brooke Priddy