Mother’s Day Weekend artful adventures

Both my mom and step-mom live out in the Seattle area, so I won’t be spending this Mother’s Day with either of them. However, whenever they visit we like to go on little “art adventures” around the area.

We could start off on Friday evening by taking a drive up Hwy 176 toward Saluda (call 828-749-4400 if you need directions) and visiting the Gallery at Bear Creek. There will be a live concert on the porch at 6 p.m. from the Hendersonville Christian rock band Humbled playing to accompany our tour of intriguing outsider art. I may just have to go up there myself and look through the collection of beautiful greeting cards that can be sent quickly across the country to let them know I thought of them.

My step-mom is a quilter and has dabbled in the various forms of crafts you can find at the Tryon Arts & Crafts new Heritage Gallery. After visiting the lovely opening reception for the new space I was quick to call her and try to entice her into another visit just to see what an amazing transformation has taken place in the building that was once the middle school. If she lived here, I know that the perfect gift would be to sign her up for a class in something she hasn’t tried yet, like lapidary or throwing pottery. Maybe she’d even start weaving again if she could join the ladies at the TAC in their lovely weaving room and didn’t have to worry about vacuuming around a loom in her living room.

My real mom is a horse woman, so we’d have to make an “art stop” at the Red Clover Gallery for their current exhibit “Horse Course: Celebrating the Equestrian Life.” This beautiful collection of work celebrates the majesty of the horse with various perspectives and styles from the Southern Exposure artists collective. I might make it an early mother’s day surprise and visit on Saturday so we could then stop for a bite to eat at the Hare and the Hound from 3-5 p.m. and listen to the lovely Fred Whiskin Trio. Mom was a trumpet player in high school and still recalls playing several of these jazz standards back in her days with the Stardusters dance band in Kansas. I might even get a few more stories out of her about my great grandmother playing the dances in Kansas City with her fingers flying across the keyboard.
Next stop would be the Upstairs Artspace to introduce her to more of the beauty of the Polk County landscape with their current exhibit “Generations.”
Here we’d have a chance not only to look at the work of local artistic families (Margaret Brown Davis, Cynthia Davis and their grandfather J. S. Brown as well as Michael McCarthy and his grandfather J. Stephen Ward), who have been capturing the beauty of the area for years, but also to visit and let her tell me stories of the artists in our own family. I’ve seen a few of my Great Aunt Hazel’s paintings and stone sculptures, but she was always considered a “little bit different” in a family of farmers and teachers.

We could grab ourselves a coffee from the Gallery Coffeehouse so I could point out the work of Ray Pague, Mike Locke, and Niece who she met on her last visit when Cantankerous was playing at the Coffeehouse. I don’t think Niece had even started sharing her beautiful colored pencil work at that time, and Ray and Mike keep bringing in new and wonderful paintings.

A trip through Tryon wouldn’t be complete without a visit to her favorite gallery Simply Irresistible up on the hill. My step-dad enjoys checking out Bill Crowell’s work in the forge while mom and I wander through the amazing collection of work from artists and craftspeople of the Carolinas. Maybe one of these days I’ll finally save up enough money to ship her one of the beautiful tile tables she adores made by Bill and Kathleen.

On her last visit, Mom was enchanted by Frances McCain and would be thrilled to have tickets to see the upcoming show directed by her, You Can’t Take it With You, which will be playing at the Tryon Fine Arts Center next weekend May 15-18 (Call the box office for tickets at 828-859-2466). I know her love for color would also have us visiting MONA! at the Cottages in Hendersonville for the opening reception next Saturday May 17 with Dawn Ashby and her beautiful pottery. She loves the Flat Rock area too, so that would give us an excuse to stop by Little Rainbow Row and check out the festive Animals, Animals, Animals exhibit at the Hand in Hand Gallery.

Instead, I’m just going to have to make a visit to the West Coast and see what my moms have to show me out there this spring. Dad’s already booked the ticket to ensure I’ll make it next weekend.