Deborah Freedman has been painting barn quilts for five years, but she conveys a sense that she has been creating these paintings her entire life. 

In an effort to preserve and perpetuate the heritage arts and lore of the Great Smoky Mountains and greater Southern Appalachia, the Smoky Mountain Heritage Center has now come to fruition at the Meadowlark Motel in Maggie Valley.

The series “Where We Live: History, Nature and Culture” will host the Women’s History Trail program “Voices from the Past” at 6:30 p.m. Monday, July 17, at the Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center in Franklin.

Recently I stumbled upon one of my columns from 2017. I talked of an evening where I sat with my then 5-year-old little boy and read “Harold and the Purple Crayon” by Crockett Johnson.

The ancient art of bonsai will take center stage during the “Bonsai as Fine Art” exhibition June 2-11 at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville. The event will feature 20 works created by professional bonsai artists and members of the Blue Ridge Bonsai Society. 

Adventure-themed artwork by the late William Nealy on loan from Nantahala Outdoor Center is on display through June 9 at the Reece Museum at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City.

With the help of the Jackson County Municipal Grant, Sylva may soon be able to implement a Sylva Art Walk. 

For those of you who read Rumble, you may have noticed the uptick in naked women painted across the artwork that adorns the top of the newsletter each week. For those of you who don’t, well, perhaps you’re more interested now. That’s how the world works, after all. 

Recently I wrote an article on the American artist Edward Hopper and his vision of solitude and alienation. Though I used the internet to hyperlink pictures of his paintings to those discussed in my essay, I also went to my local library, where — this was a bit of a miracle — I found three volumes of his work.

On June 11, intrepid artists step up to create in the public eye as guests stroll, sip and goggle at the creative process. Under the vaulted ceilings of Laurel Ridge Country Club, regional fine artists and craft artisans will create in a live quickdraw. The one-hour quickdraw features two types of live art: painters racing the clock to finish their art in 60 minutes, and artists demonstrating technique in paint, clay, metal, jewelry, and collage. Each artist presents an original artwork at auction to support art education.