Xscape North Carolina

Dear Art Lover,

     Living in a different country puts me out of touch with my native one sometimes.  But so does my lifestyle.  As such, I often do not experience much of the activities that people do for fun, especially here in the US where I am visiting.  So, when my brother’s neighbors in North Carolina invited us all to join them for a new attraction, we went for it.

     Xscape in Hudson, NC, opened recently this past February.  We were asked to dress up like Indiana Jones (sadly, I could find nothing).  Their postcard says, “You are a team of archaeologists on an exploration through an ancient Egyptian tomb.  You only have 60 minutes to escape!  You and your fellow archaeologists must work together to solve riddles, puzzles, and clues.  Teamwork is key!  Will you escape . . . or become trapped with the Curse of the Mummy?”

     While we waited, the greeter and main man out front Connor Stamey entertained us and invited us to play darts and pool while we waited for our entire party to arrive.  They also had large comfortable couches for sitting while solving little puzzles, skills one would need in the room.  Later, Terry Osborne (aka Professor Carson) led us into our new adventure and gave us the rules.

     As a kid, I played “Clue” with my brothers and sometimes cousins.  This was a similar sort of thing, but live and with a timer.  The atmosphere was more fun than a real archeological site, in that there were colored lights and lasers sometimes.  They do have a video camera in there to make sure that things do not get too heated between team members.  And they had a walkie-talkie communication with us.  They also helped us along with clues when we got stuck.  Their record thus far was a group that solved everything and escaped in 37 minutes.  We were far less together for that.  

     Cell phones were not allowed (cheating on riddles for one reason), but no one specified cameras, so I tried to lay low to do what I do.  I rarely use flash for anything and while these images are not the best, they are fun perhaps.  After we exited the tomb rooms, we were led into a big photo room and had our pictures taken.  Connor asked if anyone had phones for him to take a photo of us on our group and I nervously produced my camera, afraid he might erase my images. Hhahah.. no worries, he was cool with it and we got a shot of our group with Professor Carson.  Enjoy.

Their Website is:  http://xscapenc.com/

Peace,

Kelly

P. S.  Happy birthday, John, from Virginia with the boys!

Grove Park Inn North Carolina

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Recently my father and his wife Peggy wanted me to see the stone work and architecture of The Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina. I love Asheville, what little I actually know of it. I had chosen (and was accepted) to go to college in that wooded city near the Blue Ridge Mountains. But once I found out that Texas was not all tumbleweeds and had some gorgeous trees and rivers, I changed my mind and chose a university closer to my father’s location in Austin. I did not know what I wanted to be when I grew up, only that I loved mathematics, so instead of a major, I chose trees and the mountains. But that was 1982.

Today, The Grove Park Inn has probably not changed much since it officially opened on Saturday, July 12, 1913. The 150-room hotel was built of stone and concrete. Each five and a half inch thick section of the concrete roof was poured continuously to avoid unnecessary seams. The walls consist of the natural, uncut edges of stone in a way I have never seen before.



Edwin Wiley Grove and Fred Loring Seely kept the economy going by buying “carloads of mules.” The mules pulled sleds of boulders down the mountain to the “automobile trains” waiting in the roads below. The trains were made up of about 14 wagons tied together in a line and towed by one of three Packard trucks. They were able to carry about forty tons of rock per trip.


This reminded me of la lizzatura -- the centuries-old act of carrying the marble out of the mountains of Carrara, Italy, and down to the ships in the ports by way of large wooden logs and oxen.

So you can imagine my delight as my father and I continued to read about the building of The Grove Park Inn and look at the framed enlargements of 100-year-old photographs and discovered that Italian stonemasons were hired. They insured that Seely’s instruction that only the uncut, exposed edges of the stones were visible.

Shortly after the 1912 groundbreaking, 450 men were hired and earned the best wages of the region – “one dollar a day for a ten-hour shift.” Additional workers from the Deep South were brought in and housed in circus tents. They worked around the clock and the construction was completed in eleven months and twenty seven days.

Today the inn now includes a cave-like pampering spa (see my last image in this series), a golf course, and outdoor swimming pool, shops, and more. The day that we were there, we teased Peggy about stalking a wedding as she “oohed and aahed” over the bride and ceremony. It was a lovely setting and a perfect day!

The Grove Park Inn is completely fireproof and open all year long. The only thing I never saw an answer to was my question “Why is Fred Seely’s name not on the inn with Edwin Grove?” You may see more of my photos from this stone resort in the Blue Ridge Mountains on my public page on Facebook

And speaking of family, I would like to say a “Bonjour” to Marie-Madeleine Delmaire, mother of my dear friend Hélène, who tells me that her mom is now one of my blog fans in France.

Life as One of the Madonnari Italian Street Painters

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Thanks to one of my long-time art newsletter readers and blog supporter, artist Jeanne Rhea, I have been invited to speak in Raleigh, North Carolina during my travels in October.

Here goes:

The Carolina Mixed Media Art Guild is hosting Texas and Florence, Italy-based artist Kelly Borsheim for a presentation titled "My Life as One of the 'Madonnari' (Italian street painters)"

When: October 15, 2009, start = 7 p.m.
Where: Artspace
201 E Davie Street
Raleigh, North Carolina
Details: $5 for members of VAE, Artspace or CMMAG. All others are $7.
Open to the public. Bring a friend and enjoy a bit of Italy right here in Raleigh

The talk will include topics about creating temporary public art, including a few techniques and tips about street performing. Kelly will share images and stories of her experiences recreating art masterpieces from the Italian Renaissance and other periods of time and place. She will tell you some of the more humorous experiences with tourists, journalists, cops, and the Italian government. And, Kelly will show you the work of many other street painters from her first competition in southern Italy.

Read Jeanne’s blog here: http://artfortheheart.blogspot.com