Pv web sep oct 17

10TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

ART OF THE PIED MONT

SEPT/OCT 2017 • $5.95

THE CHARLOTTESVILLE ART SCENE

KEVIN ADAMS: HIS ULTIMATE PLEIN-AIR EXPERIENCE

HOME IS WHERE THE ART IS

CHERI WOODARDREALTY Rappaha a appaha nnock

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If home is where the heart is, you’ll love this winsome house near Woodville. It is a wonderfully updated older home overlooking one of the largest private landholdings in Virginia. With a Blue Ridge panorama dominating the western horizon it is private, convenient and spectacular. The property includes a guesthouse, an extra large garage and 16 acres. $835,000

Toll house Cabin, hunTly

Historic Toll House Cabin sits on 30 acres with mountain views, woods, and a portion of Foot of the Mountain Run. The park-like lawns are surrounded by stunning stone walls. The newly renovated cabin features a field stone foundation, exposed log walls, balcony, deck, rooftop terrace and a stone patio. The 2 BR and 2.5 BA cabin also has a working fireplace on each level. $579,000

ChaR haRlie Rlie’s FaRM aRM, CasTle T Ton Tle T

Located at the end of a private lane looking out towards Battle Mountain, Charlie’s Farm is a 4 BR/4BA retreat on 6.8 acres. The back porch, with an eastern view, is the perfect place to watch the morning sunrise. $440,000

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Stonewall Manor has everything one could desire in a country estate. The 5 BR, 5.5 BA manor presides over 60 acres of groomed pastures, landscaped lawns, stonewalls and a pond. Mountain views grace the horizon. The home is designed for luxury and simplicity. $2,650,000

The MiddleTon inn, WashingT ashingTon Ton

This stately historic home stands on a 5.7 acre rise above the western entrance to the Town of Washington. Built c. 1840, the property is a brick 6 BR and 6.5 BA estate. The current owner operates the award-winning boutique Middleton Inn, however, it is just as viable as a private residence.

Blue Ridge Mountain views. $1,750,000

dogW ogWood Wood ReTRea TReaT eaT, WashingT ashingTon Ton

Built by a top-quality Rappahannock craftsman, this 3 BR energy efficient farmhouse exudes a quiet sophistication. This peaceful retreat on 10 acres includes a small vineyard, dogwoods, native flowers and herbs. $679,000

JaC aCkson lane, bosTon

Designed as a cozy retreat in the woods, the Cabin on Jackson Lane is surrounded by lovely landscaping, mountain laurel and grand old oaks. With 3BR and 3 BA, it is also a great year round residence. 8.3 acres. $335,000

cheriwoodard.com (540) 987-8500

37 Main Street, Sperryville, VA 22740

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Charlottesville’s IX Art Park

Exclusive Recipes for French Hound Brasserie’s savory Provençal bouillabaisse Our #PiedmontWeekendPicks newsletter to help you plan an awesome weekend!

Additional content: behind-the-scenes, in-depth looks into feature pieces such as our Charlottesville Arts guide A look back on your favorite articles from our 10-year history!

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COURTESY OF BRIAN WIMER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, IX ART PARK

he Piedmont is vast, beautiful, extraordinary.

With so much to explore, taste, see, and experience, 64 pages are hardly enough to capture all of the wonderful people and places that comprise this region.

Luckily, connecting with you has never been easier. If you love the Piedmont, then you need to follow us online!

Coming soon:

FEATURES SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 • VOLUME XI • ISSUE 5

Art of the Piedmont 19 The Charlottesville Arts Scene Explore Hoo-ville’s bustling, diverse arts districts

BY JAMES WILKINSON

28 The Ultimate Plein-Air Experience Rappahannock artist’s experience as Artist in Residence in Shenandoah National Park

BY KEVIN ADAMS

32 Home Is Where the Art Is Les Yeux du Monde: home, art studio, and gallery

BY JAMES WILKINSON

BY GUS EDWARDS

ON THE COVER: Improbable Figures Series by Lisa Ryan, 2017.

Analog paper collage, 8” x 11”

56

Right: One of the main hallways in McGuffey Art Center where monthly exhibits are held.

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| SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 3

DEPARTMENTS

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46 The “Lula Phillips,” a nineteenth-century skipjack that was converted to a “buy boat” which delivered wild “spat” (seed oysters) from the James River to Rappahannock Oyster Company.

COURTESY RAPPAHANNOCK OYSTER COMPANY

Dave Rawlings and Gillian Welch

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The French Hound Brasserie

Rappahannock Oyster Company

Sharkawi Farm’s Herbs and Teas

Food & Wine

BY MORGAN HENSLEY

Opinion: Changing Times and the Role of Authenticity in Virginia Wine

BY SCOTT ELLIFF

Conservation

BY ERIC WALLACE

Farming

BY GLENDA BOOTH

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The Overlooked Beauty of Autumn

Haunted Old Town Culpeper

Garden

BY DAN AND LESLIE GREGG

Davis Street Ghosts

BY JOHN HAGARTY

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The MFHA’s David Twiggs

The Mighty White Oak

Peace and Quiet

Piedmont People

BY GUS EDWARDS

Environment

BY PAM OWEN

CONTRIBUTORS / 8 • HAPPENINGS / 10 4 PIEDMONTVIRGINIAN.COM |

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Life in the Piedmont

BY TONY VANDERWARKER

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A journal of appreciation of nature, place, people, and ways of life.

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Affinities, not simply geography, create the Piedmont’s unique regional identity. We strive to give voice to this special—even magical—place in the hopes that it remains so.

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Subscriptions Wine and Hunt Country are Home Rock Ford has Old Virginia in her Bones.

Sited on a knoll with nearly a mile of Rappahannock River Frontage, this 100 acre estate is perhaps one of the most beautiful in Virginia. Astoundingly lush grounds, ancient oaks, a private pool garden with stone buildings, the farm is the essence of Hunt Country with a 9 stall barn, fenced paddocks, guest house and a little over one hour to DC, 35 minutes to Middleburg, and minutes to the beloved Inn at Little Washington. Offered for Sale:$6,300,000 Crest Hill Road, Hume VA 22639, Fauquier County

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GLORIA ROSE OTT 1206 30th Street NW, Washington, DC 20007 ttrsir.com +1 202 333 1212 Sotheby’s International Realty and the Sotheby’s International Realty logo are registered (or unregistered) service marks used with permission. Each Offi ce Is Independently Owned And Operated. If your property is listed with a real estate broker, please disregard. It is not our intention to solicit the offerings of other real estate brokers. We are happy to work with them and cooperate fully.

SERVING THE COUNTRYSIDE OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA +1 540 454 4394 | wineandhuntcountry.com Gloria Rose can be reached at gloriarose.ott@sir.com 1206 30th Street NW, Washington, DC 20007 ttrsir.com +1 202 333 1212 Sotheby’s International Realty and the Sotheby’s International Realty logo are registered (or unregistered) service marks used with permission. Each Office Is Independently Owned And Operated. If your property is listed with a real estate broker, please disregard. It is not our intention to solicit the offerings of other real estate brokers. We are happy to work with them and cooperate fully.

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HUNT COUNTRY

ry

10th

versa Anni

FROM OUR FOUNDER A look back, and ahead

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COVER PHOTO BY JORDAN KOEPKE

en years is a pretty good run in the print magazine business. Given how tumultuous this decade has been for traditional publishing, for a startup to survive that long is more than “pretty good” and is actually a remarkable achievement­—if not quite in the same category as the Broadway run of the musical “Hamilton.”

Credit for this survival—indeed, success—must naturally go, first, to the writers, editors, photographers, artists, and designers whose creative energies brought The Piedmont Virginian to life with each new, successive edition. Equally important are all those who filled perhaps less glamorous roles in administration, marketing, sales, subscriptions fulfilment, and production. (Of special note, Pam Kamphuis should be singled out, wearing many different hats, for being with the magazine almost since its inception.)

Acknowledgement should also be given to the cofounders, Sandy Lerner and the late Arthur W. (Nick) Arundel, without whose vision the magazine would not have been possible. The mission has continued under the leadership of Dennis Brack, ably assisted by Gus Edwards.

Finally, and most importantly, are the readers and advertisers for whom that mission resonates. And that mission is simply this: to celebrate and serve that very special place known as the Piedmont of Virginia, its history and natural history, its people and pleasures.

luxury.

the inn at willow grove

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FOUNDING EDITOR: Walter Nicklin

CO-FOUNDERS: Arthur W. (Nick) Arundel, Sandy Lerner

Every great painting deserves 圀栀攀爀攀 攀瘀攀爀礀 昀爀愀洀攀 椀猀 a P. H. Miller Studio frame

愀 眀漀爀欀 漀昀 愀爀琀⸀

PUBLISHER Dennis Brack EDITOR Pam Kamphuis DIGITAL MEDIA AND EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Morgan Hensley SENIOR EDITOR Gus Edwards PHOTO DIRECTOR Jacki Dyrholm SALES DIRECTOR Jim Kelly

Old Redding Red Barn by Pete Bergeron, frame in the Bucks County style by Peter Miller

䘀愀爀洀椀渀最琀漀渀 刀椀瘀攀爀 戀礀 倀攀琀攀 䈀攀爀最攀爀漀渀

INTERN Anne Marie McPherson

㄀ 䔀愀猀琀 䴀愀椀渀 匀琀爀攀攀琀 䈀攀爀爀礀瘀椀氀氀攀Ⰰ 嘀椀爀最椀渀椀愀 ㈀㈀㘀㄀㄀ ⠀㔀㐀 ⤀ 㤀㔀㔀ⴀ㌀㤀㌀㤀 椀渀昀漀䀀瀀栀洀椀氀氀攀爀⸀挀漀洀 眀眀眀⸀瀀栀洀椀氀氀攀爀猀琀甀搀椀漀⸀挀漀洀

ACCOUNTING MANAGER Carina Richard Wheat CIRCULATION MANAGER Jan Clatterbuck 540-675-3338 CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Glenda Booth, Andrew Haley, Jordan Koepke, Doug Lees, Keith Miller, Eric Wallace, James Wilkinson BEAGLE MIX Angel The Piedmont Virginian is published bimonthly

by Rappahannock Media, L.L.C. P.O. Box 87, Amissville, VA 20106 540.349.2951, info@piedmontvirginian.com Subscription inquiries: 540.675.3338 All editorial, advertising, reprint, and/or circulation correspondence should use the above address, or visit the website: www.piedmontvirginian.com The editors welcome but accept no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts and art. Reprints or bulk copies available upon request. Single-copy price, $5.95. One-year subscription rate, $24.95, Two-year rate, $45.95 © 2017 by Rappahannock Media, LLC. ISSN # 1937-5409 POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to The Piedmont Virginian, P.O. Box 87, Amissville, VA 20106.

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| SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 7

OUR CONTRIBUTORS

Black Bear crossing, Washington

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| SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

Kevin Adams is an artist and coowner of the Gay Street Gallery with his husband, Jay Ward Brown in Washington, Virginia. He studied painting at the American Institute in Southern France and the Minneapolis College of Art & Design and was awarded the title of Combat Artist as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. Known for his work in national parks, he often uses his Piedmont home area as a muse; he recently served as artist in residence in Shenandoah National Park.

Glenda C. Booth is a freelance writer and editor who lives in Northern Virginia.

She writes about natural resources, historic sites, interesting people, public policy, travel, and other topics for magazines, newspapers, and online publications. She grew up in southwest Virginia and received degrees from Longwood University and the University of Virginia.

Dan Gregg, Founder & CEO of Grelen Nursery, Inc. Dan has a BA from Duke University and was in banking out of college. In 1991, wanting a change, Dan founded Grelen Nursery, Inc. on a portion of his grandparents’ farm located in Orange, VA. Dan’s dream of owning a “small tree farm” really took root and grew exponentially. The once small operation now resides on 600 acres in beautiful Somerset, VA Leslie Gregg, Founder & CEO of The Market at Grelen, Inc. Leslie has a BA from The University of Michigan and an MBA from The University of Virginia. Her background is in marketing and retail. In 2013, she helped open The Market at Grelen on Grelen’s 600-acre nursery. It has matured into a large retail garden shop, casual cafe, wedding & event venue and PYO farm with a 3.9 mile walking trail system.

John Hagarty is a retired Federal executive. His active schedule includes home winemaking, home brewing, golf, backpacking, writing and volunteer work. Visit him at Hagarty-On-Wine.com.

Pam Owen is a writer, editor, photographer, and passionate nature conservationist living in Rappahannock County, in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Two favorite quotes: By E.O. Wilson, who coined the term “biodiversity,” “Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive and even spiritual satisfaction”; by Douglas Adams, “I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they pass by.”

Tony Vanderwarker went to Andover and Yale, served in the Peace Corps, Marine Corps and Army. A recovering adman, he is the author of four books, including his latest I’m Not From the South But I Got Down Here As Fast As I Could. He lives in Keswick with his wife, four dogs, two horses and a Sicilian donkey named Jethro. tonyvanderwarker.com Eric J. Wallace’s writing has appeared in Canoe & Kayak, Adventure Kayak, Modern Farmer, All About Beer, Twisted South, Scalawag, and other national magazines. At present, he writes a travel/outdoors column for The Daily Progress. www.ericjwallace.com.

James Wilkinson is a writer and environmental consultant based in Charlottesville.

10th

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EDITOR’S NOTE Celebration

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his issue of The Piedmont Virginian marks our 10th anniversary. Many things have changed since our first issue in the autumn of 2007, but I believe we have remained true to our editorial mission as set forth by our founding publisher, Walter Nicklin: We strive to give voice to this special—even magical—place in the hopes that it remains so. Walter still puts his two cents in every now and again, and I am happy to report that our staff member Angel, Walter’s beagle mix, is still with us but mostly retired and working remotely!

No one person on our small staff could do this alone; everyone puts in their own talents to produce, if I may say so myself, a stunning magazine each issue. So this is a good time to say thank you to everyone: Dennis Brack as our publisher, Gus Edwards as senior editor, Morgan Hensley for his writing, editing, and web skills, Jacki Dyrholm for her photography, and Jim Kelly as our sales director. And, of course, all our freelance writers and photographers who contribute so much.

This issue of The Piedmont Virginian is our annual Arts Issue, and every year we try to take a fresh look at the different ways art is expressed in our Piedmont. Virginia is a veritable mecca for artists of all genres, whether they thrive on the solitude of our rural areas or the fast-paced vibrant art communities in our urban areas. We explore both types of artists in this issue, from Rappahannock artist Kevin Adams’ sojourn as Artist in Residence at Shenandoah National Park to Charlottesville’s thriving arts community.

As always, preservation of our rural environment is paramount to our magazine’s mission, so please enjoy Eric Wallace’s article about cousins Travis and Ryan Croxton of Rappahannock Oyster Company, who were almost singlehandedly responsible for bringing back the oyster population at the convergence of the Rappahannock River and the Chesapeake Bay, and who succeeded in reviving a century-old family business in the process.

What is October without a little spookiness? Read John Hagarty’s story of a haunted restaurant in old town Culpeper. Our restaurant profile this issue introduces French Hound Brasserie in Leesburg which, while we have no reason to believe is haunted, does serve up delicious food from a Provençal menu. Be sure to keep an eye out on our website for their featured recipes. And enjoy another beautiful feature of our Piedmont: the fall weather!

Speaking of the approaching autumn, here at The Piedmont Virginian we are already hard at work on the next issue, the Holiday Issue! Some features to look forward to: holiday culinary and cocktail traditions, a glimpse into the exclusive RdV Vineyards in Delaplane, Virginia Chestnuts in Nelson County (chestnuts are always welcome in holiday recipes!), Calhoun Hams in Culpeper, and a profile of Palladio restaurant in Barboursville (who will supply an exclusive, undoubtedly holiday-worthy, recipe).

See you then!

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Family Law • Custody/Divorce • Equine Law The Law Office of Catherine M. Bowers, PLC 49A East Lee Street, Warrenton, VA 20186 (540) 216-7160 f (540) 216-7981 www.CatherineMBowersLaw.com Monday - Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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HAPPENINGS

KATHERINE LIPPERT GIBSON

ART • RAPPAHANNOCK

10 PIEDMONTVIRGINIAN.COM |

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COURTESY OF ARTISTS OF RAAC

13th Annual Rappahannock Studio and Gallery Tour. November 4–5, Various Locations. Where else can art lovers satisfy their yearnings to view exceptional fine art while immersed in gorgeous landscapes and the plentiful palette of autumn colors? Rewind to 2004, the year members of the Rappahannock Association for Arts and Community (RAAC) discovered a way to support and build the region’s artistic community and draw visitors from Washington, D.C.’ s metropolitan area. Every subsequent year has seen the Tour expand to accommodate more artists with more varied media. The self-guided tour allows visitors to see more than 100 artists, visit 31 studios, and tour eight galleries throughout Rappahannock County, lingering or bypassing according to their interests. Ren Crawford, an octogenarian whose colorful abstractions burst with vitality, echoes the works of Kandinsky; Wayne Paige’s monochromatic ink illustrations interweave “conflict, dreams, and humor” into a “binary fog blanketing both perception and reality”; Joan Wiberg’s still lifes are oil plein airs that combine bold lines and vivid colors to capture the small shifts and plays of daylight. And there are 100 more equally awesome artists, so buy your tickets now!

HAPPENINGS

MUSIC • PRINCE WILLIAM Bria Skonberg. October 7, Hylton Performing Arts Center, Manassas. Named as a Millennial “Shaking Up the Jazz World” by Vanity Fair, Canadian singer, trumpeter, and songwriter Bria Skonberg joins George Mason University’s Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra in a swinging evening of fresh beats and brassy standards.

Musical director and sax virtuoso Jim Carroll leads this distinguished ensemble comprising some of the area’s finest jazz musicians in a concert featuring the versatile Skonberg. Her soulful, sultry voice and dextrous trumpeting combines modern pop with jazz into an alluring fusion all her own. Skonberg’s 2016 debut album BRIA showcased the Canadian wunderkind’s musical prowess and genreencompassing songwriting as she belted her way through jazz standards and original compositions.

ON THE

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Extensive calendar Submit your event online

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HAPPENINGS MUSIC • LOUDOUN

COURTESY OF THE METROPOLITAN OPERA

Angela Meade, Soprano.

September 24, Waterford Old School, Waterford. Hailed as “the most talked about soprano of her generation,” American soprano Angela Meade is the winner of both the Metropolitan Opera’s 2012 Beverly Sills Artist Award and the 2011 Richard Tucker Award. In 2008 she joined an elite group of history’s singers when, as Elvira in Verdi’s Ernani, she made her professional operatic debut on the Met stage. Since then she has fast become recognized as one of today’s outstanding vocalists, excelling in the most demanding heroines of the nineteenth-century bel canto repertoire as well as in the operas of Verdi and Mozart. The Waterford Concert Series is dedicated to its mission of sharing the timeless beauty of classical music with modern audiences.

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Family friendly.

We invite you to stop by our dealership today to see the SA and YT Series tractors from Yanmar. yanmartractor.com

RATE APPLICABLE TO NEW YANMAR COMPACT TRACTOR EQUIPMENT. RATE INFORMATION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER OR EXTENSION OF CREDIT. ALL TRANSACTIONS ARE SUBJECT TO CREDIT APPROVAL AND SUCH OTHER TERMS AND CONDITIONS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT FURTHER NOTICE. MONTHLY PAYMENT PLAN BASED ON RATE OF 0%. ACTUAL RETAIL PRICES ARE SET BY DEALER AND MAY VARY. TAXES, FREIGHT, SETUP, AND HOLDING CHANGES MAY BE ADDITIONAL AND MAY VARY. MODELS SUBJECT TO LIMITED AVAILABILITY. OFFER IS NOT AVAILABLE WITH ANY OFFER. ***See your local dealer for limited warranty details and information. Certain restrictions apply. Engine Manufacturer specifications and programs are subject to change without notice. Images may not reflect dealer inventory and/or unit specifications.

HAPPENINGS

8th Annual Festy Experience. October 5–8, Infinity Downs Farm, Arrington. Throughout the Festy Experience’s seven-year history, organizers have toiled to produce a festival experience that illustrates their core values: a curated, diverse lineup of exceptional musical artists; a love of craft food and great beer; an appreciation for connected outdoors experiences; and—as always—a family-friendly atmosphere. Wrap all of those together into one big weekend of raging good times and you’ve got The Festy Experience.

Grammy-nominated bluegrass-rock band and festival cofounders the Infamous Stringdusters return as headliners. This year they are joined by multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, poet, and icon Ani DiFranco, Southern-rock royalty Drive-By Truckers, and bluegrass mandolinist Sam Bush. And that’s to say nothing of cornucopia of phenomenal cuisine and local beers that are onsite. Come for the day or enjoy a weekend of camping at Infinity Downs Farm, the bucolic, 387-acre home of LOCKN’.

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HAPPENINGS MUSIC • PRINCE WILLIAM

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BYERIC MORGENSEN

Under the Streetlamp.

September 16, Hylton Performing Arts Center, Manassas. Under the Streetlamp’s electrifying performance is a lively celebration of classic hits from the 1950s to the 1970s. In an evening of unforgettable entertainment, the quartet transports audiences back to an era of sharkskin suits and flashy cars with their tight harmonies and slick dance moves.

Former stars of the Tony® Awardwinning Broadway musical Jersey Boys, Eric Gutman, Christopher Kale Jones, Brandon Wardell, and Shonn Wiley exude the irresistible rapport of a modern day Rat Pack as they perform doo-wop, Motown, and early rock ‘n’ roll favorites. Enjoy popular hits from the Drifters, Roy Orbison, Nat King Cole, the Beach Boys, and the Beatles, plus a show-stopping salute to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons that is guaranteed to bring down the house. Retro never sounded so good!

HAPPENINGS

COURTESY OF JULIEN BAKER

MUSIC • ALBEMARLE Julien Baker. October 15, Jefferson Theater, Charlottesville. Sometimes, things just seem to happen for a reason. The pieces fall into place in unexpected ways, and life takes a turn no one could have predicted.

This rings strikingly true for the solo career of Memphis’s Julien Baker. As a songwriter, her end was never fame or acclaim, but rather the catharsis that comes from making sense of life, or at least attempting to. Tales of her experiences are staggering, and when set to her haunting guitar playing, the results are gut wrenching and heartfelt, relatable yet very personal. There's something wonderfully hypnotizing about Baker gently confessing her soul with such tremendous honesty.

The songs that comprise her critically acclaimed debut Sprained Ankle were recorded in Virginia. Sorrow is levied by a hopefulness. Baker is accompanied

by Half Waif, a trio fronted by Nandi Rose Plunkett, whose deeply personal and engaging music reflects her lifelong endeavor to reconcile a sense of place with a drifting restlessness.

Historic

Middleburg

Virginia

New restaurants have opened in middleburg—please come visit and enjoy!

Ongoing activities: •

Yappy Hour and Cooking Classes at Salamander Resort and Spa

•

Gallery Talks (Wednesdays) and Sunday Sketch (last Sun. of the month) at NSLM

•

Farmers Market (every Saturday morning 8-12)

•

Twilight Polo at Great Meadow (every Saturday)

•

Sept. 9

Exhibit opening: The Horse in Ancient Greek Art at NSLM

•

Oct. 6-8

Mosby Heritage Assoc. presents the 20th Annual Conference on the Art of Command in the Civil War, Middleburg Community Center

•

Oct. 14

63rd running of the Virginia Fall Races Glenwood Park

•

Oct. 19-22: 5th Annual Middleburg Film Festival

The Hunt in Belvoir Vale by John Ferneley Sr. Photo courtesy of National Sporting Library & Museum

Discover our Traditions while creating your own...

Shopping, Dining, Arts, Horses, and History

540 . 687 . 8888

www.visitmiddleburgva.com PIEDMONTVIRGINIAN.COM |

MBPA

The Middleburg Business & Professional Association in support of the local business & retail community.

| SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 15

HAPPENINGS ART • CLARKE

1 3 T h a n n ua l

31 Open Studios 8 Galleries Over 100 artists

o f R a p pa h a n n o c k

Saturday, November 4th and Sunday, November 5th

Studio and Gallery Tour

10:00 AM – 5:00 PM rain or shine; $10 person

Tour Headquarters & Gallery

567 Mt. Salem Ave., Washington, VA 22747

Details & Directions

www.raac.org

Savor a Fall Weekend 16 PIEDMONTVIRGINIAN.COM |

HANDMADE GIFTS PAINT YOUR OWN POTTERY CLASSES FOR ALL AGES PARTIES & EVENTS

8287 East Main St, Marshall, Va. bigdogpots.com | 540.364.2834

| SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

BYGERLADINE KIEFER

Geraldine Kiefer: Icelandic and Archipelagic Encounters.

October 1–28; Opening Reception, October 1, Barns of Rose Hill, Berryville. Geraldine Kiefer, Ph. D., is a professor of art at Shenandoah University with a focus on American art, feminist theory, and the history of photography. Of this exhibit she says: “The work is at the same time tactile, colorful, historical, imaginative, and geographical as it comprises digital reproductions and hand-drawn artifacts that resemble, but do not in any way replicate, maps from ancient, Renaissance, Enlightenment, and modern (i.e. nineteenth-century) civilizations. The goal of the work, which continues as an evolving series, is to meld the physical, diagrammatical, and the spiritual in sparkling, colorful, and, yes, dark mixtures that take the viewer on journeys only he or she can imagine until something magical and mysterious occurs.”

HAPPENINGS

LEFT: A PAIR OF PARIS BY TRISH CROWE; RIGHT: BY EBRU YILDIZ

ART • ORANGE Firnew Farm Artists’ Circle’s 5th Annual Fall Show: A View with a Room. Through October 29; Opening Reception, September 8, Walker Fine Arts Center at Woodberry Forest School, Woodberry Forest. This exhibition draws from the work of more than 30 artists within the collective to illustrate their interpretation of the theme, a play on the title of E.M. Forster’s novel, A Room with a View. Like the classic novel, the act of viewing symbolizes the simultaneous vulnerability and the expansiveness of possibility—imprisonment and comfort—and the beauty in all facets of the act. In the words of Firnew founder and member Trish Crowe, “Art is the constant and reliable reference when everything else is in flux.”

MUSIC • ALBEMARLE Jessica Lea Mayfield. October 23, the Southern Café & Music Hall, Charlottesville.

Jessica Lea Mayfield has gained widespread acclaim for singing delicate confessions about love, heartbreak, and contradictory emotions in a way that captivates listeners and enchants critics. Whether she was heartbroken or breaking hearts, Mayfield's acoustic strumming and laidback demeanor have remained consistent since her earliest recordings all the way through to her most recent album, Sorry Is Gone, which is slated for a September release date. The album is a testament to permission—permission to create freely and unabashedly, to walk away from love, to explore new sonic territories. Dark, confrontational, as plaintive as it is provocative, her new album is animated by her stunning live performances.

Weddings & Events EVENTSATGRELEN.COM Amanda@themarketatgrelen.com Somerset, Virginia

PIEDMONTVIRGINIAN.COM |

| SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 17

FOOD

French Hound Brasserie Middleburg bistro reimagined in its new home of Leesburg

BY MORGAN HENSLEY, PHOTOGRAPHY BY JACLYN DYRHOLM

F

rench Hound Brasserie in Leesburg is both a departure from and offspring of its forebear, the intimate, creaky-floored bistro that overlooked Middleburg’s side street for a decade.

The change was not simply a relocation, but rather a reimagining, a refining. “The main difference between a bistro and a brasserie is that now we need to have some good beers to pour,” says owner Marny Birkitt. “I tend to think of a brasserie as a larger space with a more gregarious vibe.” Brasseries were the original gastropubs, places where rustic, gourmet food intersected with a sudsy lager and a convivial atmosphere. At this particular brasserie, a gorgeous zinc bar is arrayed with Bloody Mary fixings. A waiter saunters through the tiled room balancing escargot and espresso on a tray. The overheard chatter of diners could just as easily be French or English, and, closing your eyes, the aromas and sounds stitch together a scene of a bustling open-air eatery on Paris’s Left Bank.

Perhaps the original restaurant’s ambiance is preserved through the family-owned nature of both restaurants. While Marny oversees operations, her husband, Chef John-Gusitin, manages the kitchen and curates the exquisite menu. Chef Birkitt is a Leesburg native, graduate of the New England Culinary Institute, and alumnus of such esteemed restaurants as Thomas Keller’s Michelin-starred Bouchon in Napa Valley. As a young adult, Chef Birkitt found himself at a crossroads: “I had an opportunity to apprentice in the South of France,” he says. “I felt I’d regret it if I didn’t go.” He embarked on a crash course in Provençal cuisine. Whereas French food is commonly associated with starched tablecloths, haute cuisine, and comically small portions, this tutelage was delightfully homespun.

This ethos is a major influence on French Hound Brasserie’s menu, which Marny describes as “rustic, unpretentious, and delicious.”

The menu is diverse in both its flavor palette and the size of plates. “Not everything on the menu is for everyone,” says Chef Birkitt, “but there’s something for everyone.” Petite starter plates such as radishes with sea salt, house-marinated olives, and pâté with figs, pistachio, and celery root highlight Chef ’s provincial background. Traditionally French dishes are infused with global flavors, such as the Thai-inspired mussels steamed in a green curry and coTop left and facing page: Bouillabaisse, a Provençal seafood stew, is a cornucopia of intriguing flavors—fish, clams, shrimp, mussels, aioli, microgreens—all steeped in a rich broth.

Bottom left: The perfect lemon tart—and French Hound Brasserie’s is certainly a contender—is teeming with that scintillating citrus flavor that adds a sparkling finish to any meal. Decadent yet light, this tart is as easy to make as it is fun to eat.

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FOOD

“CLOSING YOUR EYES, THE AROMAS AND SOUNDS STITCH TOGETHER A SCENE OF A BUSTLING OPENAIR EATERY ON PARIS’S LEFT BANK.” conut-lime broth with basil and cilantro.

A menu as varied and delicious as French Hound Brasserie’s affords guests myriad dining experiences. “Cup of French onion soup? Got it! A relaxed beer and one of our small pizzas? Easy and affordable.

Dressed-up fine dining with a filet mignon and memorable bottle of wine? Absolutely!” Marny says.

With such an appetizing, expansive menu, a great starting place is the bouillabaisse. The traditional seafood stew is a cornucopia of intriguing flavors—fish, clams, shrimp, mussels, aioli, microgreens—all steeped in a rich broth. The delectable, heavy brininess of the dish is complemented perfectly and offset by the pucker of the lemon tart.

What else is there to say other than bon appétit?!

ON THE

W E B Visit our website to find the recipes for these delicious dishes!

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WINE O

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The Virginia Wine Experience Changing times and the role of authenticity

BY SCOTT ELLIFF

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DuCard’s rural location bordering Shenandoah National Park in Etlan enables them to enhance their guests’ experience at their boutique farm winery.

and digital content of all kinds. Farm wineries (like us), yes, of course, but also cideries, urban microbreweries, “farm breweries,” and distilleries.

A major challenge in these competitive arenas is to differentiate yourself and appeal to a particular niche market of some kind. At DuCard, we have emphasized our image as a boutique winery, operating in a “green” and sustainable fashion in a gorgeous mountainside setting. We offer artisanal, high-quality wines made from grapes grown and lovingly tended here at our vineyard. We make our wine the old-fashioned way—in small quantities that are sold only

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY JACLYN DYRHOLM

y first article for The Piedmont Virginian was written in 2010 when I opened DuCard Vineyards as a Virginia farm winery.

Lots of water has flowed under the bridge since then. And we’re both still here! We have grown and evolved: The magazine is now bi-monthly, adding features and staff while keeping the same fabulous content and photography that showcases our great region. At DuCard, we’ve doubled the acreage of grapes we grow, expanded facilities three times, and added new wines, a wine club, food and wine pairing programs, seated tastings, vertical tastings of old library vintages, and more.

There are more and more options for consumers today, of course, whether media or beverages. Magazines and newspapers, sure, but also social media, blogs, e-zines,

on-site at our tasting room where we concentrate on a providing a personal and memorable consumer experience. That’s a mouthful, but we have been able to stick very closely to it.

Historically, pretty much the entire Virginia wine industry pursued this niche. To go wine tasting meant a trip to the countryside to look out on vines. and rub elbows with the winemaker, who was often also the owner and vineyard manager as well as the one pouring the wine in the tasting room.

You would get to taste the local wines while enjoying music and other appropriate on-site events that the Virginia legislature has uniquely allowed “farm wineries” to do, with few local restrictions, in order to enable our growth and provide this rural experience. You’ll still find many of the pioneers who laid the foundation for the industry involved at the older wineries in the state—grape growers, winemakers, and visionaries on whose shoulders we all stand.

Even today, the trade’s motto is "Virginia Wine: True to Our Roots."

But the landscape is changing.

Every day, someone asks me in the tasting room: Do you grow your own grapes? Do you make the wine yourselves? here on the property? Wow. Uh, yes, and yes. Of course.

Until the past year or so I never heard anyone pointedly ask that. Maybe consumers are becoming savvier about the changes that are going on.

It’s becoming big business, with 6.6 million bottles of Virginia wine produced last year, over two million visitors coming to our tasting rooms, and overall economic impact measured at more than a billion dollars. And, maybe not surprisingly, new ways of operating are being launched by a new generation of business-savvy and wellcapitalized entrepreneurs.

There are now “Virginia farm wineries” that grow few of their own grapes. They are not a farm, and they let others worry about the pesky farming details: frost, humidity, mildew, harmful insects, hurricanes, tractor maintenance, labor availability, and all the rest. By using “leases” of other off-site properties on which grapes are grown, they

WINE Grapes grown on site and tended by hand (center), the cozy size of the winery (far right) and the personal connection formed with customers are DuCard’s hallmark.

Below, winemaker Julien Durantie personally pours a tasting for guests.

can still call the fruit their own. And, by the way, some of that fruit is coming from California to boost production, too.

There are now “Virginia farm wineries” that grow the grapes, but don’t make the wine that has their name on the label. By outsourcing the winemaking to others, they don’t have to invest in expensive equipment—tanks and barrels and all the rest— and don’t have to deal with the inevitable vagaries, risks, and challenges of processing, fermenting, and aging the wine.

These folks often are planting some grapes, and may be planning to build their own winery later, but the attractiveness of these approaches might mean they won’t end up doing so.

Maybe I should be jealous. It all sure seems “easier” than the dirty-fingernail, sweat-the-details work that we’re doing every day at DuCard in the vineyard and the winery. These new-style operations, often elaborate wine-themed bars located close to major population centers and using the same “farm winery” privileges, can start selling and getting a return on investment right away, without having to wait years for new grapevines to produce grapes and then wait further to make and age the wine before selling it.

Weddings and large events can provide great cash flow too, with wine sometimes being a secondary or supporting activity.

Scott Elliff is the proprietor of DuCard Vineyards in Madison County.

Contracting out to experienced, and in some cases nationally and internationally known winemakers located elsewhere in Virginia, certainly helps improve overall wine quality and enables us to better compete against France, California, and others (although we’re doing pretty well in that regard already). Growing the grapes in offsite locations allows new vineyards to be situated in the most suitable (and lower cost) places, spreads weather-related risks across multiple sites, and enables economies of scale that drive operating costs down.

Okay, so these guys are smarter than I am, I guess. Are these new business models popular and successful? Sure, look at the crowds. But I think something is getting lost along the way. They just don’t seem authentic.

In these new-style operations, the consumer is probably not going to meet the guys tending the grapes or the woman (yes, increasingly so) making the wine—or experience the passion they bring to their work.

The owner is unlikely to be found walking around on the patio, chatting with customers, sharing personal history and answering questions. The bar staff is less likely to know details about the wine or be personally involved with the grape growing or winemaking. There’s less of a connection with the unique aspects or sense of place (terroir is the famous French term for it) associated with where the grapes were actually grown.

And that annoying or inconvenient trip out to the boonies no longer becomes necessary—although, ironically, it’s what often fulfills the soul, helps reconnect with na-

ture, and provides a welcome glimpse into a more traditional lifestyle.

Our industry is not blind to the issues.

We need to evolve and want to continue to be a great success story for Virginia. But common sense dictates that to be a “Virginia farm winery” you’ve got be farming grapes. You, yourself, need to be producing the wine that reflects your unique location and style. What has made us popular to date has been the full authentic experience, not “just” the wine in the bottle. And most Virginia wineries, especially those who have been around for a while, are focused on this niche. We are moving to clarify terms and tighten things up regarding who qualifies as a Virginia farm winery and what we can uniquely offer—though the devil is in the details, as always. The world has lots of niches, so there’s room for everyone. I expect we’ll eventually sort it all out.

In the meantime, I sincerely hope you will continue to seek out and celebrate authenticity at places like DuCard Vineyards, where we really are and remain “true to our roots.”

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ON THE

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ARTS

IN THE PIEDMONT

Kevin Adams at sunrise at Shenandoah National Park

BY KEVIN ADAMS (TIME LAPSE PHOTO)

KEVIN ADAMS: HIS ULTIMATE PLEIN-AIR EXPERIENCE

HOME IS WHERE THE ART IS

THE CHARLOTTESVILLE ART SCENE

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THE CHARLOTTESVILLE ARTS SCENE

Explore Hoo-ville’s bustling, diverse arts districts

BY JAMES WILKINSON

W

hat do you experience when you take the time to engage with a work of art? Inspiration, perhaps? Beauty? An emotional or thoughtful connection? This is the beginning. The journey unfolds from there. The more time you take, the more you find—stories, truth, lies, commentary, comedy, outrage, obfuscation, memory. The more you consider, the less you know. Transformation. Magic.

Russell Richards working in his studio at McGuffey Arts Center

BY KYLE MARTIN

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MCGUFFEY ARTS CENTER In Charlottesville, this journey leads to a pair of large red doors on a hill. The doors belong to McGuffey Arts Center, the longtime heart of the city’s arts community. The towering brick building was an elementa26 PIEDMONTVIRGINIAN.COM |

ry school for almost six decades before it was transformed into its current incarnation in 1975.

Tug open its doors and cross the threshold into a space where past, present, and future intermingle. The entrance gives way to long, wide exhibit halls that stretch in either direction.

This is the place to find art at | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

its source. Breathe deeply and set off. Exploring the building’s ground floor and second floor leads to drawings, paintings, sculpture, textiles, mixed-media installations, performance art, poetry. Step into an artist’s studio, explore exhibitions and performances, take a class. Each doorway opens opportunities

for new conversations, new possibilities.

On a Thursday afternoon, artist Russell U. Richards is at work in one of the studios. The walls are lined with figural studies and science fiction panoramas. Worktables, shelves, and flat files by the building’s massive trademark sash windows are

A RT Facing page: Jane Goodman, artist and owner of The Yellow Cardinal.

BY JAMES WILKINSON

Left: Artist Talk with Bolanle Adeboye at McGuffey Arts Center

BY STACEY EVANS

Below Left: Visitors at Chroma Projects view works that will be featured in their September show, Landmarks by Michelle Gagliano

COURTESY OF CHROMA PROJECTS

covered with unfinished work and rolled sheets of paper and canvas. Mason jars are jammed with paints and brushes. Richards is applying the finishing touches to a large acrylic painting, a fantastical urban scene teeming with life. A huge dragon grips crumbling brickwork in its claws, threatening the congested streets below. Dozens of lives hang in the balance.

“McGuffey means the world to me, I live and breathe this place,” Richards reflects. “It’s a huge part of my support sys-

tem. It’s the place where I work all the time, where I can teach and interact with the community.” Richards is a longtime member, working and teaching at McGuffey since 2000.

Come back to the art center a day later and you’ll see what he means. Charlottesville’s Downtown Art Walk—held the first Friday of each month, and better known as “First Fridays”—is another local institution. Across the city, the doors of Charlottesville’s art world open to welcome visitors. On this Friday,

McGuffey’s halls are packed with art lovers, students, artists, teachers, and passersby checking out exhibits focused on mixed-media drawings and the world’s oceans. The wine and cheese don’t hurt, either.

the world in new ways for me, at the moment,” she says. “My gallery is about helping people find original art they love and can afford. They come one flight up and find something that speaks to them.”

THE YELLOW CARDINAL

NEW CITY ARTS INITIATIVE

To continue exploring Charlottesville’s downtown art scene, walk a couple blocks west from the art center along Market Street, past Lee Park and the downtown library, to visit the city’s smallest gallery, The Yellow Cardinal, which opened in 2014. Artist and owner Jane Goodman uses the one-room space as both her painting studio and an exhibition space for local artists. Late afternoon sunshine pours through the second-story windows, bathing her paintings and the work of other artists—reclaimed wood sculpture, abstract calligraphy—in a bright, warm glow. “Painting is about breaking old habits, about looking at the canvas and

When you’re ready, head back downstairs. Take a few steps across Market Street.

You’ll find yourself in front of a brick-and-glass storefront, the Welcome Gallery at the New City Arts Initiative. Now in its seventh year, the local arts nonprofit is a leading voice for Charlottesville artists. In addition to exhibits, the organization hosts education forums, an artist-in-residence program, and an artists’ exchange. In addition to its space here on the Downtown Mall, it also hosts exhibits at the WVTF and Radio IQ Studio Gallery several blocks to the south, on West Water Street.

Walking the Mall brings

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you closer to two major downtown art resources—the Second Street Gallery (or SSG) and the Chroma Gallery. On your way there, though, don’t miss the exhibits often just on the far side of a window pane: coffee shops and restaurants offer glimpses of other voices and perspectives as you walk past.

Stores such as the C’ville Arts Cooperative Gallery and 20th Century Vintage carry the work of local artists.

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SECOND STREET GALLERY SSG is part of Charlottesville’s City Center for Contemporary Arts building, a striking silver structure on Water Street that is also home to the Live Arts community theater and Light House Studio, a nonprofit film production organization.

Founded in 1973, SSG is the oldest nonprofit contemporary art space in central Virginia.

SSG’s mission “is to enliven Virginia through access to the | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

best in contemporary art and artists: to inspire new ways of thinking, seeing, and doing.”

The longtime gallery walks the walk, too: in addition to exhibitions, lectures, workshops, classes, tours, and publications, it brings its artists and programs out into the community, hosting sessions at area schools and Boys and Girls Clubs.

“Artists think out of the box, and ask us to try, as well.

Whether they use innovative materials or propose new ways of considering old ideas, artists stretch our thinking muscles,”

noted SSG co-president Claire Holman Thompson. “I have stayed involved with SSG over many years because we make such a huge contribution to the creative capital of the community. I'm proud to support SSG because we make a difference every day.”

CHROMA PROJECTS A similar ethos is at the heart of nearby Chroma Projects. The arts laboratory opened its newest gallery space earlier this year in York Place, an indoor shop-

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ping area on the southern side of the Mall. “I’m interested in bringing together out-of-area artists with local artists,” says gallery owner and curator Deborah McLeod.

“A lot of energy and new ideas come out of those interactions.” The gallery hosts wide-ranging shows and plans to collaborate with their next-door neighbors, the Piedmont Council for the Arts.

Above: McGuffey Arts Studio first friday opening

BY EILEEN FRENCH

Right: Bovine Fashion

by Marcy Springett, 16” x 20”, watermedia on masa paper

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BRIDGE PROGRESSIVE ARTS INITIATIVE ON THE

W E B A guide to First Fridays Downtown Art Walk A Field Trip to IX Art Park

piedmontvirginian.com

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It’s time to step back outside. You’ve done well. One important stop remains.

Head back up the Mall, toward the Sprint Pavilion, and over Belmont Bridge. Your reward for the slight trek is a visit to the Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative. This innovative nonprofit started in a vacant storefront as a space for small art exhibitions.

Thanks to broad community support, the organization now hosts music, literature, theatre, and film programs as well as art exhibits. As you step inside, you may see a | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

dance performance, or musicians grooving, or local writers sharing works in progress as part of the Charlottesville Reading Series. Or an artist may be discussing her video art installation, who knows?

“At the core of the Bridge is an understanding that the arts play an immense role in strengthening and enriching the community as a whole,” says Director Alan Goffinski. “Not only does the organization serve as a space to support artists in taking creative risks, but it also believes that art should be

A RT accessible to all, being a shared connection in central Virginia and beyond.”

That energy and belief has helped fuel your day’s journey. You may well be hungry and thirsty. And you are most definitely in luck. As the rest of the day stretches before you, you are standing in Charlottesville’s historic Belmont neighborhood, home to some of the city’s finest restaurants and nightlife. The end of your journey is, in fact, a new beginning.

As Deborah McLeod reflects, “There’s a lot to explore. The artists here bring so many interests and influences to their work. Love of the land is one theme that I see come through in many different ways. Come and see for yourself.”

Left: New City Arts Gallery

BY MAGGIE STEIN.

Below: Brielle DuFlon’s We Made You This Exhibit, November 2016 COURTESY OF THE BRIDGE PROGRESSIVE ARTS INITIATIVE

HEADING FURTHER AFIELD—ART BEYOND DOWNTOWN These august institutions, only a short drive away, also host First Friday events.

The Fralin Museum of Art Just east of downtown, UVA’s art museum shares its permanent collection and hosts visiting exhibitions. Recent shows have highlighted work by Ann Gale, Andy Warhol, and Richard Serra. uvafralinartmuseum.virginia.edu 155 Rugby Road, Charlottesville Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection This is the only museum in the United States dedicated to the exhibition and study of Australian aboriginal art. It is located just west of town at historic Pantops Farm, a rural landscape incongruously surrounded by shopping centers and Martha Jefferson Hospital. www.kluge-ruhe.org 400 Worrell Drive, Peter Jefferson Place, Charlottesville Les Yeux du Monde Take Route 20 north from Pantops to reach this contemporary art gallery, which represents established and emerging artists from across central Virginia and beyond as well as offering spectacular views and architecture. lesyeuxdumonde.com 841 Wolf Trap Road, Charlottesville

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KEVIN ADAMS’ ULTIMATE PLEIN AIR EXPERIENCE Rappahannock artist on his most beautiful model to date: Shenandoah National Park

BY KEVIN ADAMS

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M

y big worry was coffee.

When I received the call in May telling me that I had been selected as the Artist in Residence at Shenandoah National Park for June, I wasn’t worried about what I would paint or how I would get the supplies there or even where I would sleep. I was worried about how I would make coffee. As it turned out, I probably should have worried more about windstorms.

I live and keep my studio in Washington, in Rappahannock County, 11 miles from the Thornton Gap Entrance to Shenandoah National Park. Compared to folks who live in “Big” Washington, D.C., or Richmond, I already am an artist in residence at the park.

This is where I live, and the park is the backdrop to almost every view I have when painting outside. Which prompts the question why I applied for this residency (housing is provided, but there is no stipend).

I have had the opportunity over the years to have residencies in other parks: I spent weeks painting in the backcountry of both Grand Canyon and Glacier National parks on commission for the Department of the Interior, and I also documented the Bio Bio River in Chile before construction of a dam flooded that beautiful valley. I learned from those experiences that there is no substitute for extended stays literally in the place I

BY NEAL LEWIS, VISUAL INFORMATION SPECIALIST, SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK

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am painting: Being resident, in the literal sense, allows me to visit specific locations multiple times, including before dawn and after dusk, for consecutive painting sessions, and thus to see the particular landscapes in different light and weather conditions. This helped me to understand more clearly the colors, rhythms, and textures of the particular part of the park on which I was focused.

Of course, being resident also means that I can slow down and study the scene in front of me, watch the changing light as it stretches and casts shadows over the mountains, and also see how both animals and humans interact with the piece of the park that has captured my attention.

I was up before sunrise every day of my residency, wanting to be on location for first light—sometimes many miles from Skyland, where I was given a room.

Hence, my concern about coffee, which the park staff cheerfully solved for me, as they likewise kept watch over and took good care of me throughout my stay.

With a packed lunch to eat on location, and a microwave and fridge back at the room (again, courtesy of the park) with camp-type food waiting for me for dinner on nights when it was too late or I was just too tired to trek over to the restaurant at Skyland, I could approach each day as an “artistic marathon.”

Maybe sometimes a little too much like a marathon.

I arranged my paints, brushes, and canvasses so that I could carry everything with me up or down trails to my painting location and start at least a half-dozen canvases each time, including canvasses up to 4-by-4-feet.

I bolted wooden legs to the larger canvas frames so that they would stand even without an easel. (I was counting on hikers to carry the wet canvases back to the parked car for me as the painting day progressed.)

On the day I decided to paint at Dark Hollow and Rose River Falls, which is a pretty steep hike down, I had a 2-by-3-foot canvas and several smaller ones. A sudden storm came up and lifted the large canvass on which I was working right off the ground and started to carry it up and away when it suddenly dived instead, smacking me on the head. I grabbed it and it is now safely back in my studio, although I need to fix the area where the paint wiped off on my head as I was clinging to the canvas in the wind.

This residency program is made possible by the Shenandoah National Park Trust, to which I am very grateful for this opportunity. I hope my work both inspires as art, but also that it encourages and promotes a growing advocacy for protecting and preserving our national parks and natural environment.

In that regard, one of my favorite parts of my resi-

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Kevin Adams painting at Blackrock Summit overlook, South District of the park at mile 84.4 on Skyline Drive.

Looking east over the Piedmont, he is working on From Black Rock Summit, 9” x 12”, oil on canvas.

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dency was painting with members of the public who happened past me while I was working. I had planned out my schedule of locations and the park not only published the “join a painter” information throughout the park, but also gave me a sandwich board to place at the trailheads when I was on location, so that the curious could find me.

I will be working on this series of paintings for a long time, but hope to start showing the work at some point this fall at the Gay Street Gallery, and I will be donating one of the paintings to the park. (The Shenandoah National Park Trust chose my painting “Old Rag and the Piedmont” for a limited edition print to celebrate the park’s 75th anniversary, and those prints are available now at the Gay Street Gallery—a portion of the proceeds from each sale benefits the Trust.) Please stop by; I love to talk about the residency and my work. And the coffee pot is always on.

Left, top:Corbin Cabin Trail (mile marker 37) 24” x 30”, oil on canvas Left, below: Overlook Rocks Sandy Bottom Overlook (mile marker 68) 9” x 12”, oil on canvas

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JOIN A PAINTER

Forest Light, Lewis Mountain (mile marker 57) 24” x 36”, oil on canvas

Thanks to a lastminute grant from the Claudia Mitchell Fund of the Rappahannock Association for Arts in the Community, I was able to purchase and take with me to the park small canvases, paints, brushes and other supplies so that I could invite people to paint or draw.

Over the course of my residency, I had more than 40 people—from age three to 82-yearsyoung—stop, look, listen, and then paint and draw with me!

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THE ARTISTIC PROCESS Not all Adams’ paintings were finished on location in the park; many were finished in his studio after the residency had ended.

Here he shares his process of finishing paintings off-site.

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brought home from my residency not just 40 unfinished paintings, but also a storehouse of information to work from. My sketch book is full of notes on color, weather, light, and my thoughts about the day (not to mention the sketches themselves—I spent one morning walking a trail and stopping to do a sketch every hundred steps all the way to the top). In short, I have a library of local color, textures, and compositions.

The work I did while in the Park necessarily was reactionary and aggressive, trying to capture the fleeting, magical moments the Park gives us if we look closely as the clouds and light quickly change. Now, in my studio, I need to look at each painting and see if I can 36 PIEDMONTVIRGINIAN.COM |

strengthen the composition and the sense of a singular quality of light, or perhaps decide to use that canvas only as a reference for a new start on a painting.

My goal in reworking these individual canvases in my studio is to maintain the freshness and truth of the moment’s character, but to structurally tighten the overall image within the perimeters of each canvas’s composition. Each painting is like a short story, and I need to confirm that the plot is solid and that I can get to that particular story’s ending on that canvas. My hope is to convey as broad a range in the series of paintings as what I saw and experienced during my stay, but still to show the connecting fibers that make Shenandoah National Park so unique.

The canvases that I took with | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

me were primed either yellow ocher or a grey blue because I knew that I would find a lot of green around me in June, and would be drawn to rock formations as subject matter. Those base colors would contribute to the initial color study, done on location, whereas if I had left the canvas white, it would have read as an unpainted part of the plein air work. I look at each of them now, and quickly relive that day, that moment, and ask myself what I need to do to convey more clearly about what I experienced and why I chose that subject and scene.

Despite being a frequent visitor to the Park, this residency brought unexpected clarity to what I already knew of the Park’s textures, colors, and character—and helped to show

Dark Hollow, 36” x 36”, oil on canvas; at left the version done on location, at right the completed painting finished in the studio. Dark Hollow is at Mile Marker 51

me what I didn’t know. My brain, my arm, and my hand holding the paintbrush now carry a greater understanding of the Park’s DNA. Yes, I can mix the wrong color, or make a bad mark. But, like learning a language, the eye-hand signature of the Park is ingrained and confident. I will make these finished paintings true to my experience, and to that end, I find myself closing my eyes to relive those moments as I pick each painting up and place it on the easel.

PIEDMONT HOMES

Home Is Where The Art Is

A gallerist and an artist have created a spectacular hilltop home and destination art venue.

BY GUS EDWARDS, PHOTOGRAPHY BY JACLYN DYRHOLM

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he view from Les Yeux du Monde is itself almost like a work of art. A 360-degree Turner landscape, perhaps? Situated on a hilltop off Route 20, high above Charlottesville, the sweeping panorama takes in the city, the mountains, the wooded countryside, and offers an astounding spectacle when the sun sets behind the Blue Ridge to the west.

Combine these elements with a somewhat eccentric modernist house, plus a Cubist gallery-cum-studio building, and you’ve got an extraordinary venue for making and selling art. Lyn Bolen and Russ Warren do both from this lofty aerie.

Designed in in the early 1990s and completed in 1993, the house is in the modernist style, but with a distinct Mediterranean flavor that makes it appear part palazzo, part castle, and part monastery. Its character is at once imposing and appealing. A few yards away from the house on an open -entry courtyard stands the light-filled gallery-studio, a glass, steel, and concrete rectangle. The gallery-studio’s austerity is immediately offset by the warmth and intimacy of its exhibit space.

Lyn Bolen Warren established Les Yeux du Monde (“The Eyes of the World”) in the house in 1995 as a contemporary art gallery that featured both established and emerging artists from Italy, New York, and Boston, and later, primarily from central Virginia.

She relocated the gallery to downtown Charlottesville in 1999, where it remained until 2009. Then it moved back home to occupy the purpose-built, gallery-studio next to the house.

The four-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath home was designed by Charlottesville and New York archiLyn and Russ Warren are always ready to welcome visitors to the gallery and studio annex.

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PIEDMONT HOMES

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PIEDMONT HOMES tect Kate Nesbitt, who taught architecture at the University of Virginia. Lyn received her doctorate in art history from UVA in 1994 and greatly admired Nesbitt for her ability to combine her knowledge of architecture with theory and even dance, as Nesbitt was a dancer with Merce Cunningham before pursuing her graduate work at Yale.

W. G. Clark, a native of Louisa, and his associate, Josh Stastny, designed the building to accommodate Lyn’s gallery, where she mounts at least eight shows throughout the year, and Russ’s studio, where he paints, sculpts, and creates collages. Clark served as the design critic at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and later as the chairman of the architecture department at UVA. He has won countless awards and his projects are widely published. He was named twice by Time magazine as one of America’s best designers, and is a three-time recipient of the National Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects.

“I can’t emphasize enough how absolutely amazing they were to be able to translate our thoughts and dreams into realities even better than we could have expected,” Lyn says. “Architects are so important, and Kate Nesbitt and W. G. Clark really gave us huge gifts when they agreed to take these projects on. Their work continues to surprise and uplift us, while seamlessly adapting to our ever-changing needs.”

One of the design aspects of both projects discussed with the architects was a desire to conform to Thomas Jefferson’s sense of place, which Lyn felt was crucial. While it’s far from a typical Virginia farmhouse, there’s a horse barn and paddock nearby, and the house has a “silo” that echoes its rural setting. The silo, or tower, is what gives the house its exotic characteristic. The tower has served multiple functions including (formerly) a children’s play and study room, office space for Lyn, and the archives of the late Lydia Csató Gasman. Gasman was once a UVA art history professor, artist, and one of the world’s leading experts on the life and work of Pablo Picasso. She was also a mentor to Lyn, who now comanages Gasman’s archives and estate.

Far left: The highly functional, 360-degree “silo” tower room has seen service as a children’s play and study area, an office, and a library/archive for the Lydia Gasman papers.

Top: A view of the imposing residence from the west displays its affinity for light as the “L” lines a formal courtyard on two sides.

Bottom: the airy and light-filled great room, an ideal and frequently used entertaining space, combines a living and dining area that opens onto the courtyard.

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PIEDMONT HOMES

Top left: The rectangular gallery/ studio is within a few steps of the house.

Bottom left: The gallery space occupies the first floor of the annex and provides ample space and light for viewing art.

Far right: Russ Warren, surrounded by his sculpture, paintings, and world-class collection of postcards, presides over his studio loft, which takes up half of the second story.

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“We now have Lydia’s books in the upstairs round-room, floor to ceiling,” Lyn says. “The room started as my office, but now it’s our ‘control room.’ We also have Russ’s sculpture perched on the bookshelves up there. Necessarily, the whole house has to be storage for art, too, but I’m not complaining!”

The great living-dining room on the ground floor of the L-shaped house wraps around another courtyard that brings the outside in through large windows on two sides. The space is conducive to entertaining, which is convenient for the gallery’s many openings, lectures, and attendance by their Collectors’ Club. Lyn and Russ strive

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“to raise the level of art awareness in Charlottesville.”

Across the way, the tri-level gallerystudio features and displays the work of artists­—both nationally known and regional. The excellent lighting, high ceilings, and window placement allow for striking shows that present the art to its best advantage.

The second level houses Russ’s studio, which would inspire even non-artistic types to take up the brush, or chisel, or whatever tools are needed to create Russ’s large, colorful, detailed canvasses and almost life-size sculptures that dominate the scene with wit and artistry. His work has been featured at the Venice Biennale and

PIEDMONT HOMES

the Whitney Biennial and is kicking off Les Yeux du Monde’s fall season with a oneman exhibition.

W. G. Clark wrote, “Architecture, whether as a town or a building, is the reconciliation of ourselves with the natural land. At the necessary juncture of culture and place, architecture seeks not only the minimal ruin of landscape, but something more difficult: a replacement of what was lost with something that atones for that loss. In the best architecture, this replacement is through an intensification of the place, where it emerges no worse for human intervention, where culture's shaping of the place to specific use results in a heightening of the beauty of the landscape. In these places,

we seem worthy of existence.”

In designing the gallery-studio, Clark “really did accomplish that idea of replacement by using the corten steel on two sides that changed slowly from slate gray to the red color reminiscent of our red clay. And the glass block on the side that faces the house keeps the structure from taking over. … It all sort of blends in amazingly,” Lyn says.

Les Yeux du Monde—which Lyn so named because she hopes “to open people’s eyes” to the wonders and meaning of art—is a self-sufficient and welcoming setting that enriches visitors’ intellectual and spiritual lives while providing a world-class showcase for the visual arts.

Les Yeux du Monde 481 Wolf Trap Road Charlottesville, VA 22911 www.lesyeuxdumonde.com LYdMGallery@gmail.com Gallery Hours Thursday – Sunday, 1 – 5 p.m. and by appointment.

Call 434-973-5566 or 434-882-2620

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PEOPLE OF THE PIEDMONT

A Fresh Face and an Old Place Move Foxhunting into the Future

MFHA’s relocation to Middleburg with Executive Director David Twiggs opens a new chapter.

BY GUS EDWARDS

COURTSEY OF MFHA

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e calls it the “shadow sport” because it’s not highly visible or well understood by those who are non-participants. He aims to do something about that. So, the venerable Masters of Foxhounds Association of America (MFHA), foxhunting’s governing body in the U.S. and Canada since 1907, will remain a fixture in Virginia’s Piedmont, but with a new executive director and a new headquarters in Middleburg.

A genteel North Carolinian, David Twiggs assumed his post in April after a long career in outdoor sports, conservation, sustainable community planning, and tourism promotion. And lots of foxhunting.

Over the past few years, the MFHA has been contemplating a move from its offices in Millwood, Clarke County, to a more accessible spot. The group looked at other possible sites in Virginia and Kentucky but settled on Middleburg, which boasts of being the epicenter of foxhunting in the U.S. It seemed like a natural fit.

When renovations are complete, the MFHA and its newly minted executive director will be ensconced in a nearly two-centuries-old stone house with a rich history of its own and proximity to the National Sporting Library and Museum, other important equine venues, and about 15 of Virginia’s 25 recognized foxhunting clubs.

Twiggs is enthusiastic about the project and says the facility will serve not only the foxhunting community, but also establish itself as a center for public education about the sport. “We need to do a better job of educating the public as well as our own hunt Twiggs in his role as Master of Foxhounds PIEDMONTVIRGINIAN.COM |

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PEOPLE OF THE PIEDMONT

The MFHA’s new headquarters in Middleburg is a twocenturies-old home with many ties to history

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room, conference rooms, and the MFHA Foundation. Also included will be a museum featuring foxhunting artifacts and memorabilia from centuries past. The sport has been followed in Virginia since the end of the 17th century.

The building itself, known as the Chancellor or Allen House, has been home to a couple of Middleburg mayors since the early 1800s. It’s one of the first buildings that comes into view when entering Middleburg from the east on Route 50. The building reflects the prevailing architectural style of the 18th and 19th centuries and was built of local stone, much like the Red Fox Inn and other ancient and significant town structures. Most recently, it was owned by the Middleburg Museum Foundation, but was acquired by the MFHA when the museum foundation decided not to move ahead with its plans.

Fittingly, the building has a history as rich as that of foxhunting. It was the home to Lorman Chancellor, the town’s Civil War-era mayor, whose family gave its name

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BY GUS EDWARDS

fields,” he says. “We’ve got good stories to tell, especially about our land conservation and preservation programs. We just need to get the word out.”

Twiggs also is eager to make foxhunting “more relevant” in the sporting world because he believes it to be as legitimate a sport as any other, but with fewer players than more mainstream athletic activities.

He’s particularly focused on making the sport more “relevant to younger populations.”

In addition, Twiggs says he has already begun working with the state’s department of tourism to stress the economic benefits associated with foxhunting, including breeding and raising hunting horses, encouraging hunting tourism among out-ofstate foxhunters, and developing retail and wholesale businesses that support the sport.

The plan is to have the new headquarters open to the public at least three days a week for exhibitions, displays, seminars, and other educational programs. The building also will house the MFHA’s offices, board

to Chancellorsville. Current Middleburg Mayor Betsey Allen Davis’s family occupied the house for 50 years.

Perhaps the most important historical aspect of the house is its connection with John Singleton Mosby, the Confederate “Gray Ghost” of Civil War fame whose guerilla exploits against the Union Army became the stuff of legend. Historians note that Chancellor and Mosby were, if not good friends, at least well enough acquainted to share an occasional meal.

Chancellor was an officer in the Virginia Militia while Mosby served as a cavalry officer in the Confederate Army. In 1862, Mosby and a group of horse soldiers from the Middleburg area formed what became known as Mosby’s Rangers. Legend has it that Chancellor allowed Mosby to hide in his attic from time to time to elude Union forces out to capture him and end his career of harassment.

As the story goes, Chancellor and Mosby met at Chancellor’s home for dinner one night in March 1863. It was during that dinner that Mosby hatched one of his most ambitious exploits: the capture of a Union cavalry regimental commander while he slept in a camp nearby. The plan failed as Mosby’s target had left the camp before he got there, but—ever resourceful—he salvaged the mission with the capture of a different Union general.

“Yeah, this is quite a place,” says Twiggs as he shows off the extensive garden that lies behind the house. “We can have some great events out here.”

He’s looking forward to the future and is eager to start the 18-month or so period that he figures it will take to restore and reconfigure the building. Meanwhile, Twiggs will operate from the MFHA’s Millwood offices as he begins to shape what he hopes will be a new era for foxhunting in America.

CONSERVATION

Saving the Bay and Preserving a Family Legacy A story of two cousins, one wild dream, and millions of oysters.

BY ERIC WALLACE

Rappahannock Oyster Company farmers head out at sunrise every day in the Carolina Skiff to harvest oysters for market.

Photography courtesy of Rappahannock Oyster Company 46  PIEDMONTVIRGINIAN.COM |

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early 20 years ago, a pair of cousins with ties to the tiny Rappahannock River community of Topping made a decision that would spark a local-foods revolution and, eventually, transform the East Coast culinary scene. The year was 2001, and Travis Croxton and Ryan Croxton were sharing pints at a Richmond restaurant, slurping oysters from the half-shell— specifically, those imported from the Gulf of Mexico. Saddened by the import, they began to ruminate on the demise of the Chesapeake Bay oyster.

Once upon a time, Bay oyster bars had been so abundant that European explorers were forced to steer around them. Jamestown’s infamous John

Smith described the underwater piles as hazardous nautical encumbrances. Eventually, a thriving oyster trade developed. In 1887, at peak harvest, a whopping 24 million bushels—that is, nearly half the oysters consumed in the world—were sourced from the Bay. However, by the time of Travis and Ryan’s reflections, 150 years of unchecked pollution and unsustainable harvesting practices had nearly wiped the population off the map. The decline had rendered their great-grandfather’s century-old oyster business defunct.

Considering the tattered legacy of the family enterprise and the region’s oyster culture in general, the cousins figured it was time for a change.

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CONSERVATION “We decided to revive the Rappahannock Oyster Company, which had unofficially been founded in 1899 and gone out of business in 1991,” says 41-year-old Travis.

“At the time, the Chesapeake Bay had just recorded its lowest oyster harvest in history, and the industry looked to be heading for a total collapse. So, for us, the mission seemed pretty clear: We wanted to resurrect the native Bay oyster and put it back on the map.”

deners,” the cousins decided to implement an experimental cultivation method called “off-bottom aquaculture.”

“Basically, this meant caging the animals and floating them on the surface, where they’re off the muddy seafloor and closer to better food and oxygen,” Travis says. In March of 2002, they seeded 3,000 oysters off a dock in Ware’s Wharf.

“That made us the [Rappahannock

Revival Consulting with their fathers, the two discovered the family’s century-old lease with the state to farm oysters on 200 acres of Rappahannock river-bottom was about to expire. They promptly assumed the lease. While many thought the cousins had gone insane, the Croxtons refused to be dissuaded. “You have to remember that, in those days, there was talk of moratoriums, even threats to place the Bay oyster on the endangered species list,” Travis says.

“In fact, most of the industry had abandoned hope for the native oyster altogether, and was lobbying to introduce a Chinese oyster to take its place.”

Citing the oyster’s critical role in the Bay ecosystem, the Croxtons felt a moral imperative to revive the bivalve. “Initially, we got into this as a means of connecting with our heritage,” Ryan says.

“But as we looked at how to make it work, we realized this little animal was, as Muir said, ‘hitched to everything.’ ” Acting as a filter for excess nutrients—namely nitrogen and phosphorus—a thriving oyster population would play a key role in cleaning up the pollution-ravaged Bay. “To hell with bananas,” jokes Travis, “[the oyster] is nature’s most perfect food—fit for our nourishment and the service of our environment.”

Working with a small contingent of local, retired “oyster gar48 PIEDMONTVIRGINIAN.COM |

“To hell with bananas, [The oyster] is nature’s most perfect food.”

Oyster Company’s] fourth-generation of oystermen,” Ryan says.

“And while we had no intentions of quitting our day-jobs, we took a lot pride in that fact.”

The decision to use the offbottom method proved to have a slew of benefits. According to a 2016 study conducted by biologists at Texas A&M University, the method offers several advantages over traditional production methods: faster growth, increased survival, control of fouling (e.g. barnacles, overset oysters, mud worms), improved shell shape and appearance, and increased product consistency. All of these results ultimately led to a product that was healthier, superior tasting, and better-looking than its wild-dredged counterparts.

But for that, the cousins had to wait.

“Those first two years, we did a lot of work refining the method,” Travis says. And it paid off.

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Soon enough, advances made in sorting, handling, breeding, and density control made Rappahannock one of the first commercially viable aquaculture operations in the Chesapeake. By the spring of 2004, the two felt their oysters were ready to be introduced to the world.

“We didn’t have anything to lose, so we just up and called the reservation line at Le Bernardin,” Ryan says with a laugh, referring to the number-one rated restaurant in New York City, and one of the premier eateries in the world. “We asked to speak to celebrity chef Eric Ripert—which, looking back, was completely ludicrous.” While they didn’t get through to Ripert, the two were routed to his culinary director, Chris Muller, who in turn invited them up for a tasting. “Within a week we were shipping 200 oysters a week to Le Bernardin,” Ryan says, “which was just mindblowing.”

From there, everything changed. The cousins rounded out the year by nabbing accounts at Jack’s Luxury and Shaffer City, both in New York, as well as Washington, D.C.’s Equinox, which is owned by award-winning chef and culinary mastermind Todd Gray. Then, in November of 2005, Rappahannock Oyster Company was presented with Food & Wine magazine’s prestigious Tastemaker Award.”

And the deal was sealed.

Today Seventeen years after taking over the family lease, by all estimates the Croxtons have accomplished what they set out to do.

Producing three kinds of oysters with varying degrees of salinity—the original sweet and buttery Rappahannock River variety; the slightly saltier Rochambeaus (these replaced the stingrays); and the bold and briny Olde Salts— the cousins have resurrected the

Top left: Rappahannock Oyster Co. farm team Top right: Fresh chilled oysters with lemon, house-made mignonette, and cocktail sauce are served best with a cold beer at Merroir, Rappahannock Oyster Company’s restaurant in Topping.

Center left: Home base, the Rappahannock Oyster Company oyster shed and dock in Topping, right across from Merroir Center: After employing an experimental cultivation method called “off bottom aquaculture” for two years, the cousins felt their oysters were ready to be introduced to the world in the spring of 2004 Center right: Farm manager Alex Pratt tasting a raw oyster fresh from the river Bottom left: Cousins Ryan and Travis Croxton revitalized the oyster population and resurrected a century-old family business Bottom right: Farm manger Eli Nichols harvesting oysters on the Rappahannock

COURTESY OF RAPPAHANNOCK OYSTER COMPANY (7)

CONSERVATION

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CONSERVATION

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time friend Dylan Fultineer, their Richmond-based restaurant, Rappahannock, was named Esquire’s “Best New Restaurant” of 2014.

More locally, Travis also owns Charlottesville’s seafood-centric Rocksalt Restaurant at Stonefield.

Additionally, the cousins have begun exporting Virginia oysters to China, Hong Kong, Colombia, and Dubai. “These places have been importing French and Australian oysters for quite a while, but now they’re beginning to go with us,” Travis says. “We’re selling on the fact that … when it comes to health standards, we are light-years above anyone else.”

What does the future hold for Rappahannock Oyster Company?

Occupying the number 14 slot on Zagat’s list of “24 Restaurant-World Power Players Around the U.S.,” you can rest assured, it’s only up from here.

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COURTESY OF RAPPAHANNOCK OYSTER COMPANY (2)

native Bay oyster and put it back on the map.

In fact, according to the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, Virginia is now the top oyster producer on the East Coast. During the 2015–16 season, the Bay’s 2,000-plus commercial farmers and wild oystermen harvested more than 630,000 bushels of oysters— nearly twice the number from five years ago. Shipping well over 200,000 oysters a week, and more in a year than the entire Bay did in 2001, Rappahannock Oyster Company is spearheading the push.

After opening the Merroir raw bar in Topping in 2011 to great critical acclaim, Ryan and Travis followed up with restaurants in Richmond, Washington, D.C., and Charleston, South Carolina, and have plans to open another in Los Angeles in late 2017. Enlisting the help of celebrated chef and long-

Top: The “White Collar Oyster Man,” William “Bill” Arthur Croxton (center) always wore a suit and tie with a hat Bottom: “Gran” James Arthur Croxton, founder of Rappahannock Oyster Company and Ryan and Travis’s great-grandfather

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GARDEN

The Overlooked Beauty of Autumn Gardening tips to cultivate splendid arboreal backdrops year-round

BY DAN AND LESLIE GREGG

CRIMSON RED/BURGUNDY • Red Sunset Red Maple • October Glory Red Maple (burgundy to crimson) • Black Gum • Pin Oak • Red Oak • Scarlet Oak • Native Dogwood • Japanese Maples • Parrotia • Sweet Gum

W

hen planning or embellishing a landscape, many people immediately think about which flowering perennials, shrubs, and trees will burst with spring color.

What is often forgotten is the fabulous array of plants which best display their vibrance and beauty during the fall season, trees being foremost among them.

Trees provide interest and variety throughout the entire seasonal cycle; they provide blooms in the spring, shade and privacy with lush foliage in the summer (and, for some varieties, fruit), vivid colors in the fall, and bark texture and branch structure in the winter.

Are you looking for tree inspiration for autumn landscaping? Fall is upon us, with gorgeous colors in native forests. Fall foliage begins in the Piedmont in early to mid-October when dogwood leaves begin turning maroon. Peak season hits in late October through early November, bringing yellows (hickory, poplar, and chestnut oak), oranges (sugar maple, sassafras), and reds (red maple, black gum, dogwoods, red and black oaks).

Don’t let spring take all the landscaping glory. There are many showstoppers during the autumn months that can bring just as much beauty to your surroundings.

YELLOW-ORANGES • Sugar Maples (Commemoration, Legacy, and Green Mountain) • Paperbark Maple • Three Flower Maple • Trident Maple (latest tree to turn color allowing you to extend fall color in landscape) • Crape Myrtle • Kousa Dogwoods • Sassafras • American Smoke Tree • Flowering Cherry (Yoshino) • Japanese Stewartia • Ginko “Princeton Sentry” YELLOWS • Hickory (hard to transplant but worth the effort) • Tulip Poplar • Native Fringe Tree • Paw Paw Tree • Willow Oak • American Elm (Princeton, Valley Forge) PINK/PURPLE • Seven Son Flower • Kousa Dogwood

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PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF MARKET AT GRELEN (ALL)

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1. October glory red maple (Acer rubrum) 2. Red Sunset Red Maple (Acer rubrum) 3. Kousa dogwood) (Cornus kousa ‘Wolf Eyes’) 4. Green mountain sugar maple (Acer sacharum) 5. Sweet Gum (Liquidambar styriciflua) 6. Native dogwood (Cornus florida) 7. American smoke tree (Cotinus obovatus) 8. Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba ‘Princeton Sentry’) 9. Japanese Stewartia (Stewartia pseudocamellia) 10. Paperbark maple (Acer griseum) 11. Seven-son flower (Heptacodium miconoides) 12. Three-flowered maple (Chinese) (Acer triflorum) Facing page: Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum) PIEDMONTVIRGINIAN.COM |

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The Earlysville Oak

By Steve Trumbull, C’ville Images 54 PIEDMONTVIRGINIAN.COM |

| SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

The Mighty White Oak “Virginia’s finest tree, period.”

BY PAM OWEN PIEDMONTVIRGINIAN.COM |

| SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 55

CONSERVATION

“Among the oaks [in Virginia], the white oaks “hog the spotlight.’ ”

A

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| SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

HELP CONSERVE THE WHITE OAK The Virginia Department of Forestry can help landowners manage and replace white oaks, including offering healthy seedlings for sale. Visit dof. virginia.gov, call (434) 977-6555, or contact your area forester for more information. The Virginia Native Plant Society, which discourages wild collecting of acorns, lists nurseries that propagate acorns for sale at vnps.org/conservation/plant-nurseries.

BIGSTOCK.COM

strong, graceful tree emblematic of Virginia forests, our native white oak (Quercus alba) also offers many important ecological services, including providing food and shelter to many types of wildlife. As one arborist is quoted in the book Remarkable Trees of Virginia, “White oaks are Virginia’s finest tree, period.”

Growing from Maine to Florida and west to Texas and Minnesota, the white oak gets its name from its pale-gray bark and the pale underside of its leaf, which has rounded lobes distinguishable from those of other oaks. In autumn, the leaves’ surface color adds varied hues to the Piedmont’s famous leaf-color display.

Not only does the white oak provide us with shade, its wood, which is close-grained, heavy, strong, and hard with an attractive light-brown color, is prized in carpentry and woodworking. Cell outgrowths in this species can dam up vascular tissue, making the wood “highly watertight,” according to the Virginia Department of Forestry’s guide Common Native Trees of Virginia. For this reason, it’s valued for making barrels for whiskey and wine production and, in earlier times, for shipbuilding.

Remarkable Trees of Virginia, written by Jeff Kirwan and Nancy Ross Hugo, was the culmination of their project by the same name in which anyone could nominate trees they found remarkable. So many oaks were nominated, the authors write, that they gave this genus its own chapter in the book. And among the oaks, the white oaks “hogged the spotlight.” This is not surprising as, the authors note, white oaks “live the longest and therefore have the longest connections to Virginia’s people and landscapes,” and with their enormous trunks and wide-spreading crowns, they “most often achieve the classic form, shape, and size people expect of a remarkable tree.”

The two white oaks featured in the book are in Albemarle County (the “Earlysville Oak”) and Cumberland County. Another program that celebrates large trees is the Virginia Big Tree program, which uses several size parameters to score and rank candidates nominated by citizens. In the program’s online database, the Earlyville Oak is listed as the third-biggest white oak in Virginia. Two other northern Piedmont white oaks in Fairfax County are also in the species’ top five. The Earlyville Oak, with 396 points, is 75 feet tall, has a crown spread of 100 feet, and a trunk circumference of almost five feet.

The biggest white oak, which is in Brunswick County and believed to be more than 500 years old, scored 451 points. Like many trees, the most impressive white oaks usually achieve their size in open space, where plentiful sun and no competition allow them to grow and spread their crowns.

The white oak is also a boon to wildlife. As entomologist Doug Tallamy wrote in his award-winning book, Bringing Nature Home, oaks serve as preferred hosts for 534 species of butterflies and moths whose caterpillars feed on the foliage. Additionally, 90 percent of songbirds depend on caterpillars of these pollinators to feed their young.

In spring, the white oak literally casts its fate to the wind. The pollen of male flowers is released in the slightest breeze, which carries it to female flowers on the same tree and on other white oaks.

Once pollinated, females begin producing another important food for wildlife—acorns.

“Acorns are a nutritious food providing protein, fat, and energy in the diets of 90 species of game and nongame animals in Virginia,” a Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) blog post points out. Year-round wildlife residents—including bears, deer, squirrels and chipmunks, rabbits, opossums, wild turkeys, crows, blue jays, quail, raccoons, and wood ducks especially—depend on this “hard-mast” crop to get them through the winter. The white oak’s acorns are preferred over those of other oaks by many animals because of their high sugar content.

In 2015, acorn production crashed across Virginia and only rebounded last year. The red oak averaged higher crops overall, but in the Piedmont and Blue Ridge regions, the white oak beat out the red. White oaks can live 300–600 years and, even in decline, continue to benefit wildlife, offering cavities for nesting animals.

A buffet of insects and mushrooms also consume the tree as its defenses give way in old age, and then they are consumed by their predators in turn. In fact, the “shii” in “shiitake” refers to trees that are relatives of our oaks, and the white oak is widely considered to be the best native tree on which to grow these popular mushrooms.

Landowners might well consider planting the native white oak instead of quicker-growing, shorter-lived, nonnative trees—they are likely to be rewarded more quickly than they think. As Tallamy notes, a planted oak acorn can grow “surprisingly fast ... with a little pampering.” Even the slow-growing white oaks he planted on his property were “throwing some shade and creating their own little microhabitats” within five years.

MADE IN THE PIEDMONT

TEAS AND HERBS Not your typical Piedmont farmer

BY GLENDA C. BOOTH

BY GLENDA BOOTH

“F

irst, I imagine the tea mix in my mind. Then I start mixing tea leaves with flavors like orange, anise, and hibiscus,” Sabry Alsharkawi carefully explains, surrounded by hundreds of boxed jars of teas, herbs, and spices in his 4,800-square-foot workhouse on his Fauquier County farm. “You cannot find these teas anywhere else in the world,” he adds with a sparkle in his eye.

Since 1985, Alsharkawi has grown herbs and flowering plants organically in Broad Run. When he visited Virginia farmers’ markets in the early 1980s, he found no homegrown, organic herbs, spices, or teas. Voila! He had found a market niche. An agricultural engineer by training, today Alsharkawi makes and sells 20 teas such as Jasmine, Paradise Black, Fiji Green, Imperial Spice, Blue Eyes Fruit Blend, and Relaxing Tea. His black and green teas contain caffeine; the herbal teas do not. His Cold Comfort (as in a bad cold) tea boosts the immune system, he contends. “It’s a lifesaver. People buy it by the case.” Roger Miller, a Fairfax County customer, raves about the Red Fruit Cocktail Tea with elderberries, which he says is “especially refreshing served chilled on a hot day.”

Alsharkawi grew up drinking tea in Egypt, a tradition deeply embedded in the culture. “If you visit someone in Egypt today, they will serve you tea without asking,” he explains. “Egyptians drink eight to ten cups a day.” He speaks deprecatingly of American brands of “so-called tea” like Lipton and Nestea: “It’s just dust—powder. If you really look at what’s in the tea, you’d never drink it.” He also advises, “If you do not see leaves, it is of bad quality. A good tea is strong and smooth, a joy to drink.”

He’s even a tea historian, explaining that tea originated when a Chinese emperor was drinking hot water and a tea leaf fell off a tree into his cup. The emperor sipped it, delighted in its taste, and instantly, tea as a beverage was born. It has evolved into a favored beverage, enjoyed around the world for millennia. Traders took tea from China to Egypt about 2,000 years ago, Alsharkawi believes.

Filling the Herbal Niche In two 3,000-square-foot greenhouses and one 4,800-square-foot, outdoor plot, Alsharkawi grows rows of rosemary, thyme (four varieties), basil (ten varieties), chives (two varieties), cilantro, parsley (two varieties), French tarragon, Greek oregano, lavender (three varieties), stevia, sage, spearmint, peppermint, dill, bay leaf, and more.

From April to November, his greenhouses also bulge with rows of dense green plants that include lemon grass, seedless cucumbers, nasturtiums, rhubarb, Japanese and patio eggplants, and fig and guava trees—all sparse in typical American groceries. He also nurtures some flowering plants: phlox, hibiscus, and meadow sage. By late August, he has sold 6,000 pansies. He also makes and markets seasonings for lamb, seafood, and other meats. By the end of November, customers

“You cannot find these teas anywhere else in the world.”

Sabry Alsharkawi tending his guava trees

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MADE IN THE PIEDMONT

BY LITA TRIMMING

Above: A sampling of the vegetables and herbs grown at Sharkawi’s farm, including peppers, a staggering array of fresh herbs, tomatoes, and lavender.

Left: Alsharkawi’s unique, personally hand-blended teas and seasoning combinations cannot be found anywhere else in the world. He also designs his own jars and labels.

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| SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

MADE IN THE PIEDMONT

BY GLENDA BOOTH

Alsharkawi’s two 3,000-square-foot greenhouses can provide the even temperature and constantly misty environment necessary to grow tea plants.

have swooped up cases of herbs, teas, spices, and seasonings, preparing for winter.

On Sharkawi Farm, there are no corn fields, haying baling machines, looming silos, or grazing Angus cattle. “I’m small. The big commercial guys produce huge quantities. They focus on quantity. I focus on quality,” he emphasizes. Miller concurs: “He has such a green thumb that I have never seen plants as hearty, full, and beautiful as the plants he sells.”

Growing herbs organically requires constant attention, the careful planting of the seeds on top of the soil so the sun can cause germination. Alsharkawi mists them every hour for 7 – 10 days; If the seeds dry out, that crop’s gone. He hand-irrigates plants in one greenhouse and uses drip irrigation in the other. Commercial producers rarely invest the time and attention in that kind of hands-on, up-close agriculture. By using products like neem oil and insecticide soaps for pest control, he believes he is offering safe products. “I like the idea of being safe, not greedy,” he says.

Brenda Jordan has shopped at his stand for ten years because “he really knows his products and he gives you tips on how to grow them.” Mount Vernon-area resident Som Zimmerman buys his super-chili peppers to make green papaya salad, a fa-

vorite from her homeland, Thailand. “He has very healthy products,” she maintains.

Miller takes home parsley plants to provide host plants for black swallowtail butterflies.

Alsharkawi once had a customer who spent $120 a week on parsley to support butterflies in her garden.

“It’s not an easy business,” Alsharkawi points out. “Mother Nature does not cooperate all the time. Wind and hail can quickly destroy plants.” The hours are long in the growing season also; from Wednesday through Sunday, he rises at 4 a.m., drives to a farmers’ market, sells his wares, drives home, and works until 6 or 7 p.m. to serve five farmers’ markets in Warrenton, Dale City, McLean, Annandale, and Mount Vernon. He has to load and unload flats and individual plants from the greenhouse into the van, from the van to the farm stands, from the farm stands to the van, and from the van to the workhouse. “I only rest between customers,” he sighs.

With his academic background, he understands various plants’ requirements and persnicketiness. Why aren’t tea plants grown in the United States? They need a high elevation, an even temperature all year (no dramatic seasonal shifts), and a constantly misty environment. He imports tea

leaves from India, Ceylon, and Japan.

Not only is he selling unique teas, herbs, spices, and seasonings, he designs the jars they come in and owns the exclusive rights to the design.

Alsharkawi came to the United States for love. He met his wife-to-be, Salwa, a U.S. resident, when he was studying agricultural engineering in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where she was teaching computer science. He was researching plants that could adapt to the harsh conditions of the UAE, where temperatures can reach 120 degrees. Today, Salwa is an architect.

They have three adult daughters: one is an aerospace engineer; one, an Army chemical specialist; and the third, a Fauquier County school teacher.

Why does he do this? “I love it,” he answers.

Back to Sharkawi tea. Why is Cold Comfort Tea so comforting? The label offers hints—chamomile flowers, elderflowers, echinacea root, licorice root, and peppermint leaves. Yum. SHARKAWI FARM 6068 Old Bust Head Road, Broad Run 540-272-4962 facebook.com/Sharkawi-Farm

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HISTORY

The Ghosts of Davis Street Is there a hidden world of spirits roaming Culpeper’s historic district?

BY JOHN HAGARTY

T

he proprietors often start off as skeptics. Then things happen.

Strange, unexplained things.

Previous convictions begin to

waver.

Welcome to Davis Street’s world of apparitions.

If ghosts exist—45 percent of the U.S. population believe they do—the shops and restaurants on Davis Street might be good place to starting looking. But be forewarned, owners and employees appear to have a greater chance of encountering them than the clientele. Proximity deepens relationships.

Ground zero in the world of Davis Street spirits may well be the building at 195 E. Davis Street, which dates to 1790. Today it is the locale of Grass Rootes restaurant.

A host of humanity has lived, worked, and some likely died under its roof, making it an exceptional location for encountering spirits from beyond.

The owner of Grass Rootes is Andrew Ferlazzo. He purchased the restaurant in February 2016 from Peter and Karen Stogbuchner, who operated it as the Hazel River Restaurant for 17 years. After five months of restoration, its opening was the highlight of his three decades of restaurant work.

“I wanted to be in this building since I was 13 years old,” Ferlazzo said.

“I went to my senior prom dinner in this restaurant, then called the Davis Street Ordinary.”

A resident of Culpeper County, he and his wife are raising two girls, ages 10 and 15, in the place he loves. Owning and operating a restaurant in the 60 PIEDMONTVIRGINIAN.COM |

historic building brought his career dreams to fruition.

Stories from the Past After the restaurant changed hands, Karen Stogbuchner suggested she share with Ferlazzo her experiences before he opened to the public. “I knew about the stories. Everybody on Davis Street knows the stories. A lot of proprietors talk about their ghosts. All the buildings are old. There’s no need to talk,” he assured her.

Ferlazzo characterizes his initial attitude as closed-minded. He had never been exposed to anything like what he was about to experience in his new eatery.

“Karen, there’s a face in your fireplace!” Previous owner Karen Stogbuchner was amused when a diner exclaimed she saw a ghostly image in the flames on a winter evening. “I told her not to be concerned. ‘There are lots of them around here.’ ” Within a few weeks, the new owner and skeptic, however, had a change of heart. “What’s going on here? What do I do?” he asked Karen. The doubting Thomas had become, if not a believer, a more open-minded restaurateur.

And what was he encountering?

“There was an energy in the building that began as little things like singing, laughing, and chains or keys rattling against a wall. Then wine bottles be-

| SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

gan flying across the room. Not once, but on several occasions. Boxes moved across the floor and plates spun while sitting on a table,” he said.

“I can’t explain it, but every staff member has had similar experiences.

A flying wine bottle was seen simultaneously by five staff members on one occasion.”

The incidences continued to the point at which the owner was beginning to question his own reality. “I was fearful in the beginning. I thought I was losing it.”

One startling incident occurred when a staffer came to him in tears on a busy night claiming a young AfricanAmerican girl was in the bathroom singing. When he went to investigate there was no one there. The young bus waitress resigned.

And what was Karen’s advice? She counseled that he should announce himself when entering an empty room or going down the staircase to the bottom floor. She further suggested thanking the spirits for letting him work in the building.

In short order, the scary encounters became more fun than terrifying.

Today the owner still employs the dialogue tactic to settle not only his nerves but also, apparently, those of his unseen guests.

Ferlazzo’s executive chef, Kevin Scott, reinforces the stories, saying, “I’m not sure what ‘ghost’ means, but I’ve repeatedly seen shadows moving against the wall in the basement when there was no sunshine down there.”

It’s his belief the heavy paranormal activity erupted soon after they began working in the building because it had

HISTORY

HISTORY OF

195

“ ”

195 East Davis Street may well be ground zero in the world of Culpeper spirits

Grass Rootes opened in the spring of 2016 with the goal of serving incredible farm-to-table cuisine with local influence in the oldest commercial building in Culpeper.

Culpeper traces its history back to George Washington, who was commissioned to survey and plot the town in 1749. The north side of Davis Street was designated as the public square which comprised the colonial jail, original courthouse, stocks, whipping posts, and Plot 35.

COURTESY OF THE MUSEUM OF CULPEPER HISTORY

The first documentation of any structure on plot 35, where Grass Rootes now stands, is a deed of sale in 1790 to Thomas Reade Rootes. T.R. Rootes was a distinguished Virginia lawyer and later a member of the House of Delegates.

Since its construction, the building has been used to house various businesses such as a tobacco warehouse, stables, a tin shop, a Civil War-era jail for both Union and Confederate deserters, a slave jail for runaways, and, during the 1900s, a hardware store. It has survived two fires and a major earthquake.

It is said that the spirits of soldiers and slaves still remain within the building’s walls.

Incidents of guests having necks touched and shoulders rubbed while sitting at the bar only to turn around and see nothing are commonplace. The bar itself has experienced flying wine bottles and moving objects in the waitress station area.

been empty for months. “I think they were kind of lonely. Nobody had been here and we woke them up, surprised them,” Scott said.

The most alarming thing he has observed was a 300-pound mixer sliding off a counter when no one was near it.

The Investigators Three separate paranormal groups have conducted investigations in the building since Ferlazzo’s purchase. The groups are sometimes deemed pseudoscience practitioners by nonbelievers, but, not surprisingly, they have confirmed what the owner and his staff have seen or heard.

Typically, these groups use a host of equipment such as electromagnetic meters, thermometers, digital video cameras, thermographic night vision cameras, audio recorders, and flashlights to identify and communicate with the spirits.

All the groups have targeted an alcohol storage room in the basement as one center of ghost presence in the building; employees confirm a strong energy emanating from the room. One group identified it as an angry, black Civil War soldier.

In the hard evidence world of investigative science, no scientific body has

ever been able to confirm the existence of ghosts. Nonetheless, graphic descriptions and multi-witnessed occurrences continue to intrigue and excite those who have seen or heard what they think are apparitions.

Hazel River Restaurant Since ghosts imply history, it’s no surprise the previous owners echo the same stories Ferlazzo has encountered over the last year. The Stogbuchners’ 17 years of experience simply mirrors what is happening today.

“From the beginning I could always hear my name,” Karen said. “I’d turn around and nobody would be there. At first we had four or five ghosts in the building. I couldn’t tell the differences in personalities.”

Like Ferlazzo, the Stogbuchners allowed several groups to probe the restaurant during their ownership. Then a group called Twisted Paranormal conducted an in-depth investigation.

The focal point of the group’s visit was a flashlight session that taught the owners how to communicate with their ghosts. The key was the use of a Mini Maglite flashlight. The flashlight was placed on a table and positioned in the middle of the on-off switch. With a slight a twist it would come

PIEDMONTVIRGINIAN.COM |

| SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 61

HISTORY on, but was delicately turned off to start the dialogue.

A series of “yes” and “no” questions were then posed to the spirits. If any of the ghosts wished to communicate, the light would surge on, brighter than possible through its conventional use.

“It was an amazing experience because I could finally talk with my ghosts. Peter would come and take the flashlight apart and say something was wrong with it,” Karen said.

In 2014, a German man, Burkhard Reike, conducted an extended investigation into the flashlight phenomenon and concluded that an energy leak in the flashlight in the half-on/half-off position caused the reflector to expand and make electrical contact, turning the light on but brighter than normal. It would then overheat the reflector and switch it off. As it cooled, the energy level rose again, triggering the light to go back on.

See a profile of Grass Rootes and get an exclusive crispy halibut recipe.

Notwithstanding his findings, all of the ghost contacts over the last two decades remain unexplained.

Karen contends that between 75 and 100 ghosts dwell in the building. To underscore that possibility, it’s said that a roof collapse long ago caused the deaths of many people.

Like Ferlazzo today, the Stogbuchners had no fear of the spirits they’ve lived with for so many years. “I felt safer with them there.

I felt like they had my back. Like they would protect me if anything would have happened,” Karen said.

As we approach another Halloween, the apparent vibrant spirit life of Davis Street thrives and, shall we say, lives on.

Science simply hasn’t yet marshaled the technology to confirm or deny the reality of ghosts. And therein lies the magic and mystery of the beyond—throughout the world, and in one small building on Davis Street.

ON THE

W E B

piedmontvirginian.com/grassrootes

The original steel gates that housed prisoners in a cell during the Civil War are displayed in the restaurant. The gates confined both runaway slaves and deserting soldiers from both sides of the conflict.

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| SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

The downstairs fireplace heated the jail section of the historic building. When owner Andrew Ferlazzo gives tours of the area many guests state they get a “really strange feeling when they’re down there.”

BY JACLYN DYRHOLM

A visiting paranormal group video taped orbs flashing through the window and door of the locked alcohol storage room in the basement. Every visit from investigating paranormal teams were drawn to the area stating a strong spiritual presence emanated from the room.

LIFE IN THE PIEDMONT

Peace and Quiet

BY TONY VANDERWARKER

BY MACKENZIE JOYCE

O

ne of the things we love about country living is the tranquility.

We pride ourselves on the fact that, except for the chirping of the birds and the rustling of leaves, our farm is completely quiet.

And that’s the reason so many of our Airbnb guests enjoy their stay here. “I don’t remember when I’ve had such a peaceful time,” is what we hear.

Or, “It’s only when we come down to a place like this that we realize what a constant hassle and racket the city is.”

So one day recently, I was doing some yardwork while a guest sat reading in a grove of trees just off to the side of the house. She was a professor and

had a small stack of books next to her. Obviously enjoying the rural ambiance while she prepared for her next whatever.

First, I began mowing the lawn with my zero-turn, 25 horsepower Kubota mower.

Riding in the Kubota makes me feel like a Chinese monarch being carried around in a sedan chair by six flunkies, except it makes such a racket I have to wear headphones. I usually tune it to NPR and, listening to subdued classical music, I’m barely aware of the roar of its diesel.

Next, I took out my gas push mower and trimmed all around the house. This baby is small and low, but when you start it up it sounds like it’s trying to be heard in the next county.

But once I get it going, and put

on my phones, it’s just a low rumble.

Then, what grass the mower missed, I nailed with my weed whacker. The weed whacker sounds like a Japanese Zero coming in on a kamikaze run.

But again, with NPR playing sonatas, I hardly notice.

Later, I took out my backpack blower and circled the house cleaning up all the grass the two mowers had left behind. The blower screams out a high-pitched wail that becomes ear-splitting when I goose the gas, but, boy, does that baby blow—leaves run and hide and blades of grass do a disappearing act.

Realizing I had missed a few spots, I started up my hand blower and took care of those.

Compared to the backpack, it’s PIEDMONTVIRGINIAN.COM |

Seven machines on a peaceful summer afternoon. I guess that’s what you call a country symphony. only an angry whine.

Then it was time to mulch a few spots I missed, so I jumped on my John Deere 54 horsepower tractor, loaded the bucket up with mulch, and pulled it up to one of the front peony gardens. Now, my tractor is only 20 years younger than me, banged up and dinged by years of use. Its muffler has seen better days, and there are a couple of rusted out spots on the exhaust, so when she starts up, you know it. Not that it sounds anything like a train, but it’s so loud the thing could wake up any bears hibernating nearby.

I’m happily mulching away when I realize I need to weedwhip some grass bordering the garden. So I walk up and hop in the Gator to retrieve my weed whacker. Now, compared to the Kubota, the backpack blower, and the gas mower, the Gator just purrs.

But riding up to the garage, I stop and think for a second.

Here we live in this bucolic and peaceful environment, but in the space of four hours, while our guest has been reading some arcane stuff in this beautiful country setting, I have loosed on her the racket of two mowers, two blowers, a weed whacker, a tractor, a Gator, plus a reprise of the weed whacker.

Seven machines on a peaceful summer afternoon. I guess that’s what you call a country symphony. | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 63

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