Atlanta-based writer Dawn Trowell Jones will read from and discuss her work on Saturday, July 7, 2018 at our next salon at the Microscopic Theater. Dawn is a speculative fiction writer and poet. She describes her writing as dark, hard fantasy and social science fiction—stories about new paths, dead ends, and personal narratives that bind. I find both her fiction and poetry intriguing, highly original, and intelligent, and urge you to join us for what promises to be an exciting presentation and lively discussion. Formerly a commercial tax preparer, practicing attorney, mediator, law-student career counselor, and computer programmer, Dawn has had a short story and poem published, self-published another short story, and has written a novel, The Long Last of Mary B. Tate. Her website, https://dawntrowelljones.com, is one of the best I've run across. Check out her blog posts.

This gathering will begin at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 7th.  There will be wine and cheese etc.  The Microscopic is...

 JP Barreda staging his sculptures at the Microscopic Theater last Saturday

Our April 28th salon featured three sculptures from J P Barreda's Mesedoras (rocking chairs) series.  The sculptures, which are re-workings of all the parts of rocking chairs, drew exclamations of approval from the double-sized crowd in attendance, and sparked lively conversations throughout the evening.  I asked J P about the significance of the rocking chairs having been discarded and in derelict condition when he acquired them.  He explained the significance of an artist's relationship to the materials with which he creates, and made it clear how very different the work would be if, for example, he used new rocking chairs in this series instead of these old "found" ones.  His answer to my question was both simple and quite profound.

In the photo above, J P is placing a rendering of the rocking chair (in its original form) used for the sculpture.  Each sculpture is accompanied by a rend...

The format for our next salon at the Microscopic Theater will be an interesting departure from what we've done heretofore.  We'll start at 7:00 p.m. -- nothing unusual there -- on Saturday, April 28.  And we'll have wine and cheese etc. very much like we've had before.  But placed within the Microscopic Theater will be several pieces of sculpture by J P Barreda, and viewing will be free-form and at will, with J P present to chat informally with all comers about his work.  So it'll be more like a gallery opening than a sit-down presentation.

The sculpture series is called "Mesedoras."  J P, who hails recently from Juarez, Mexico, tells me this about the pieces he'll be showing:  The Mesedoras series focuses on a singular concept: the transformation of an existing object into a new form completely separate from its previous function. The trio of sculptures from the series, each its own mesedora (Spanish word for rocking chair) were found in thr...

 You're a young professional woman waiting for your train in an almost abandoned train station, when you're approached by a stranger who needs his traveler's check cashed.  Thus begins Stuart Warmflash's charming and poignant one-acter "Tyler's Theory of Love."  Our reading of the play was a sit-down, quickly rehearsed presentation, yet the play's emotional dynamic and the playwright's sharp storytelling shined right out!  Stuart led a lively discussion immediately after the reading, in which we covered the topic of the theatre experience compared to other audience/performer experiences, especially movies.

A veteran of over thirty-five years in the theatre, including writing and directing plays in New York City and elsewhere, Stuart was a real treat for the Microscopic.  Thanks so much, Stuart, for making your way from a busy life in the big city to visit the salon!

This play will soon be available as a Muleboot Press publication to salon attendees.

Stuart Warmflash will present a reading and discussion of his one-act play "Tyler's Theory of Love" (as yet to be cast) at our salon on March 29th at 7:00 p.m.  Please note that this is a Thursday evening.

A native New Yorker, Stuart has been involved in the theatre for over thirty-five years.  After graduating N.Y.U. he attended the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London. He then enjoyed a successful acting career appearing on Broadway and off-Broadway, as well as in film and television, and then began writing and directing.  Almost two dozen of his plays have been performed at some level all over the United States and Europe.

In 1994 he founded the Playwrights Harbor to provide a supportive, self-directed, cooperative workshop for writers, with a supporting company of actors and directors. Later, fortified by artistic growth and enthusiastic public response, he launched the not-for-profit Harbor Theatre, which ultimately contributed to the developme...

Since we didn't have an event in February, I'd like to say hello to you all and update you on things salon.

You may remember my post almost a year ago in which I expressed the hope that we could get New York-based playwright Stuart Warmflash here to do a salon event. I'm very pleased to report that I'll be announcing such an event officially in just a few days. I already know the date will be March 29, but the announcement will have full information about the event itself.

In April, the date not yet determined, we're having a salon with a talented young sculptor from Mexico, J. P. Barreda. It's looking very much like the salon will include displays of several of his sculptures. I have seen photos of his work and can assure you this is an event that will excite and inspire, so stand by for a full announcement.

Last night I attended Bill Kopp's first public reading and discussion of his book, "Reinventing Pink Floyd." Bill led our very first official salon back in 2016, and more recently co...

Bill Kopp will present a workshop on marketing his forthcoming book, Reinventing Pink Floyd, at The Salon at the Microscopic Theater on Saturday, January 20th, 2018, at 7:00 p.m.

 The book is due out in February, and Bill already has a series of bookstore readings lined up, and would like input about choosing the selections he'll be reading and topics he'll be discussing.  This is a chance to help give Bill a strong send-off when his book launches, and to get a great preview of the book.

Since the book won't be out for a few weeks yet, there will be no copies available to purchase at this event.  However, Bill is offering a steep discount on the book for anyone at the salon who wishes to pre-order.

As always, I'd appreciate your dropping me an email if you'd like to come to this event.  jstubblefield49@gmail.com.  This will be a wine and cheese event, with plenty of opportunity to speak with Bill and everybody at the event before and after the presentation.  

Microscopic Theater Meet-n-Greet...

The next event at the Microscopic Theater will be a rare chance to meet and/or say hello to Phoebe Stubblefield, who will be home for the holidays from her studies in Paris. From 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 20th, Phoebe will be at the Microscopic (directions below) for an informal conversation and celebration. Wine, beer, cheese, bread, and random holiday treats will be available to all. Jerry and Cindy Stubblefield will serve as hosts.

Phoebe received her undergraduate degree in French with honors from UNC Chapel Hill. She has held study abroad residencies in France in Saumur (in the Loire Valley region) and has lived in Paris, working as an au pair while pursuing her Masters in French literature at The University of Paris, where she is also employed doing research in her field. Growing up in Asheville, Phoebe was vocalist in the family band The Stubblepuppies, performing hundreds of shows, many of which were done gratis for area res...

 At our September 9th salon, I presented -- and we discussed -- my plan to journey to the New Mexican wilderness and walk out to "the middle of nowhere," meaning the profound quiet I hoped to find there in the chapparal, in order to deeply contemplate my relationship with the universe.  Now, on October 28th, 7:00 p.m., at the Microscopic Theater, I'd like to present the 16 minute video that chronicles my journey, and follow that with an open discussion -- or just a celebratory hoot and holler.  The short film is made up of some of the video I shot along the way, and my narration, as edited and musically scored by Nick Stubblefield.  Nick did a presentation about scoring video and film at our December 31, 2016 salon, and this piece demonstrates yet again that he can and does put his money where his mouth is.  I'm very grateful to Nick, who, in my opinion, did an outstanding job on this.

As always, I would appreciate hearing from you in advance if y...

I've been referring to this trip variously as a vision quest, a leg of my spiritual journey, a detour on my spiritual journey, a silly indulgence I've wanted to do all my life, and an art project. It's probably more meaningful to say that trying to define it would tend to defeat its purpose. When you explore, you don't know what you'll find, and sometimes you don't even know what you're looking for. I know I'm not exploring for oil deposits, but I might be looking for something I sometimes refer to as my center. "I need to get centered," I've said sometimes when I've been out of whack and not functioning smoothly.

Maybe there's a difference between "getting centered," which I manage to do sometimes, and actually "finding your center," in the sense of gaining some knowledge of where it is, what it looks like, what resides there. If you can actually locate it (and I realize I'm not even defining what your "center" even is) maybe it would be possible to reside there for a period of time, b...

"I walked out into the desert, sat on a sandstone boulder, and studied the creosote bush in front of me.  That's when the meaning of my life became clear."  -- Me, thinking about what I would like to happen.

Once again, the Microscopic Theater will host something a little different from the events we've had up to now.  This event will take place at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 9, and will be a wine and cheese soiree, but the focus will be on brainstorming for the best way for me to chronicle my impending trek to the desert of New Mexico, on which I'll be embarking a few days later.  Writers, theatricals, visual artists, musicians, cinematographers, sand sculptors and all other artists are encouraged to attend with your creative juices flowing.  Right now, I can tell you that I do have a video camera, I do have notebooks, I do have favored fountain pens.  I want the journey to be more than a sight seeing tour, and I want to come home with material I can shape into an artful expr...

Personally, I already knew how powerful Genève Bacon's story is, having read it when it was published in a volume along with other excellent short stories by her and two of her colleagues. But hearing her read it was -- Wow! -- a different experience. Genève reads prose perfectly, giving each phrase accurate inflection and diction without trying to "act" the story -- a mistake I hear many readers make -- so that the story itself comes alive. The appreciative listeners, clearly moved by the exquisitely crafted work, broke into spontaneous applause at the end, and followed with a barrage of questions. The fact that Genève's answers were fascinating -- much ado about her own life as it relates to "Perdida" -- kept the conversation lively. But it was afterward, when she told me that she had learned something about the value of the story herself, that I felt this particular salon was exactly what I always hope for.

Genève Bacon had a long career with New York City publishers beginning with C...

The next salon at The Microscopic Theater will be a wine and cheese event starting at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 29th.  Genève Bacon will read her short story "Perdida," which was published in the 2008 collection Irons in the Fire along with several of her other stories and those of two other members of The Flatiron Writers.  Genève had a long career with New York City publishers beginning with Conde Nast, followed by Hearst, McGraw-Hill, and Harper & Row. I readily admit to having been in awe of her writing skills since first seeing her work several decades ago.  This event is a rare privilege to hear one of Asheville's most brilliant wordsmiths read from her own work.  Let me know a.s.a.p. if you'd like to attend.
 

 Our "Success" event Sunday (June 25, 2017) was quite a, well, success.  Don't ask me how we ended up defining success, because we all knew at the outset that the whole concept is subjective.  But asking the question is important, and Sunday night it spurred a lively and uplifting conversation.

Notably, we also tried a slight alteration to our format.  Through Skype, two additional artists participated, one in Seattle and one in Brooklyn.  They shared a computer screen that sat on a small table, and could speak and hear pretty much the same as everyone else in the room.  I think everyone was pleased with the result, so future presenters might want to consider this option.

Our next salon at the Microscopic Theater will be an open discussion relating to artists of all kinds. This will be a wine and cheese event at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 25th. We'll consider whether pursuit of your art should, can, or might be your main livelihood. Does making money at your art in any way compromise the art itself? Should the measure of your success include the income you get from your art, or just your artistic output itself? Here's a quote from Pablo Picasso we can use as a starting point: "Well, success is an important thing! It’s often been said that an artist ought to work for himself, for the “love of art,” that he ought to have contempt for success. Untrue! An artist needs success. And not only to live off it, but especially to produce his body of work. Even a rich painter has to have success. Few people understand anything about art, and not everyone is sensitive to painting. Most judge the world of art by success. Why, then, leave success to “best-selling paint...