While on a recent trip through the state on assignment, I pulled over to take these photos of the rolling hills of central West Virginia. Beautiful.
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For Morgantown entrepreneur Randy Scott, everything seems to become art eventually. On a cloudy fall day, I find myself invited into his home studio in the historic Chancery Hill district to learn about one of his projects, Wine By Design. Several flat surfaces are covered in glass stemware — most commissioned by clients, all hand-painted by Mr. Scott.
“I got tired of palettes,” he says, motioning to his desk. A large area of its surface is covered in a thick, textured layer of paint dabs and smears used for his work. “Once the whole thing is covered, I’m going to sand it down and put a layer of glass over it,” he tells me. Which is to say, the byproducts of his art will become art. He is creating while he is creating.
The glasses around me (apparently ready to be delivered) depict a wide array of imagery, from emojis to portraits to landscapes. Customers choose the subject matter, which seems to keep the styles varied and flexible. He shows me a couple of glasses (presumably preordered for Valentine’s Day) covered in textured shades of pink except for a small, heart-shaped window left unpainted. Through it, the words “I love you” are visible on the back, inside of the glasses.
Wine By Design has done well since its inception, serving up artisan glassware to various Morgantown movers and shakers, along with a couple of national celebrities. (I pry about this a little, but he’s reluctant to advertise names without photo evidence.) He has designed glassware for the Morgantown Marathon, the annual Children’s Hospital Gala, the West Virginia Wine and Jazz Festival, and Dogfishhead Brewery, to name just a few.
It has been four years since Mr. Scott painted his first wine glasses, but his aptitude for visual artistry began early on. In fourth grade, a teacher who took note of his gift managed to enroll him in a college level painting class. Throughout much of his young adult life, painting took a back seat to sports and learning the finer points of digital design.
Still, his hand-wrought artistry found moments to shine, such as his bartending stint at High Street’s Boston Beanery, where he was often asked to illustrate their specials board with chalk art.
Eventually, Mr. Scott joined a Morgantown business networking group. He had hoped to exchange referrals with other Morgantown entrepreneurs, but membership came with a catch: the group could only have one person in each specialized field, and there was already a graphic designer. There was not, however, anyone doing artwork by hand. In the end, this coincidence was how he returned to his fourth grade painting.
Wine By Design has grown beyond the boundaries of Morgantown and West Virginia, shipping to customers in West Africa, England, Dubai, South Korea and all over the United States. But Randy Scott is still right down the street. You can follow his work on Facebook, Instagram, or at the Wine By Design website.
If you've never backpacked several days through a wilderness area, it may be hard to understand how a photographer/documentarian like myself could possibly leave my camera behind while hiking through one of the most beautiful regions of the state. If, on the other hand, you have backpacked before, you probably understand how much weight matters.
The high meadows of Dolly Sods
Proper backpacking means that you carry everything you will need for the entire trip on your back - water, clothes, food, shelter, cookware, everything. After days of hiking through rugged, slippery and mountainous terrain with more than 20lbs of gear, every single pound matters. I agonized about bringing my camera setup on this trip, but in the end, decided that a DSLR and lenses were luxuries I could not afford.
I did take my cell phone (a lower-end Samsung Galaxy model) to capture a few images, and while the grain and lack of detail hurt my photographer's eyes a little, I thought I'd share them with a disclaimer.
Final note: If you live in West Virginia, you absolutely have to visit the Dolly Sods wilderness. The high meadows, rock formations, beautiful creeks and waterfalls are resplendent. You don't have to spend days backpacking. Even a full day trip down a trail or two is worth the trip.
Lion's Head
Almost one year ago, the "bridge of love" was dismantled in Paris. Along the wire railings of the Pont des Arts bridge, hundreds of thousands of lovers had written their names and initials on padlocks, throwing the keys into the River Siene. By the time cranes tore up the bridge railings in early June of 2015, an estimated 45 tons of locks had completely covered them.
In addition to worries over structural integrity, the city also seemed to find it rather... uncouth. Bruno Julliard, the deputy mayor in charge of culture, told the New York Times that the bridge panels that publicly affirmed the love of so many people "could be seen as rather pleasant, but as years passed they took on such proportions that they were no longer acceptable for the cultural heritage” of Paris. (Read the NYT article and watch video of the dismantling here.)
Now, along the Walnut St bridge over Deckers Creek, there are inklings of the same tradition stirring in Morgantown.
About two dozen padlocks, large and small, now dot the wiring over the bridge, most with initials and dates. The oldest dates well before the Pont des Arts railings were torn down:
The chain looped through this lock clearly once held some charm or special item, but rust and time has left it dangling.
Most of the dated locks, however, appeared after Pont des Arts bridge exchanged its wire for plexiglass panels. Once there was no way to affix the locks, the practice spread to other bridges in the city, and then to several other cities. Are we seeing a rebirth of the Paris love locks in the hills of West Virginia? That's up to you folks.
Dozens of beautiful streams and waterfalls flow down the wooded banks of the Monongahela River along the Mon Trail. I took these photos of a few during a 12-mile bike ride earlier today. Spring is here and it's starting to feel that way.
I could not have chosen a more beautiful day to drive through the West Virginia countryside with the windows down.
Paw Paw, WV is a quiet mountain town of only 500 residents.
The nation's early travelers, including George Washington, used the mountain pass here, navigating horseshoe bends in the Potomac.
The town also has one of my favorite spots along the scenic journey from Morgantown, WV to Richmond, VA.
Where the North River feeds into the Cacapon is a short, one-lane bridge. It's simple and unassuming, but has always caught my eye as I passed by.
This time I got out and took some photos to share.
