News

On December 14—two weeks before the Commonwealth of Virginia purchased the nearly 1,200-acre Biscuit Run property for a $9.8 million bargain sale

 I’ve been hearing more and more about these ongoing, semi-private house concerts in Palmyra. Apparently they’ve been happening regularly for a while, and it looks like they’ve been putting on some pretty solid shows—Charlottesville singer-songwriter Jason Pollock (remember Seven Mary Three?) did one in January, for example. So what’s the story, Ace? And how do […]

The Charlottesville City Market rang up a record $1.2 million in 2009, more than six times what the market generated when it first moved to the Water Street lot in 1993. What’s more, 2010 will be the first year the market will accept food stamps and debit cards, which may spur more growth. The Charlottesville […]

  MEET THESE LOCALS Angie Hogan (Typesetter, Virginia Arts of the Book Center) Sarah Barker (American Sign Language instructor, Independent Resource Center) Jennifer Maton (Calligrapher, If So INKlined) Ben Miller (Tattoo artist, Ben Around Tattoos) Ted Wood (Typewriter repairman, Charlottesville Office Machine Co.) Jamal Millner (Flat-pick and fingerstyle guitarist) Jon Bright (Lensman, Spectacle Shop) Kenny […]

“I’m not opposed to one thing or the other,” says Hogan of letterpress versus e-books, “but it’s like the difference between writing somebody a letter by hand and sending them an email.” Tools? I primarily use a Vandercook press, which is not that old, really. It’s probably from the ’60s or ’70s. It’s primarily a […]

“People tell me that I fingerspell constantly, without even realizing that I’m doing it,” says Barker. Typical workday? I only teach evening classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights. There’s no typical pattern on the whole. In the higher classes we have a sign discussion about how everybody’s week is going, and maybe we’ll do a […]

“Occasionally when we’re using screwdrivers and we flip off the screws, we’ll accidentally stab our fingers,” says Bright. “Or burn our hands from working with soldering. But in general, it’s pretty low impact.” How did you learn your craft? I went to college. But I got started in second grade when I had to wear […]

“They’re normal hands,” says Maton. “The pen I use is fairly smooth, so it doesn’t rub my fingers raw at any points.” Typical workday? I usually start around 8:30am with warmup exercises for the hands, then I’ll begin one of the projects I have for the day, whether it’s wedding invitations or designs, or whatever’s […]

“I wear gloves all day long, which keep my hands fairly soft,” says Miller. Tools? For the most part, we use tattoo machines anywhere from an ounce to six ounces apiece. We use pigments. Most of the tattoos we do, we use surgical skin markers to draw under the skin, then tattoo over it. And […]

“I have to be careful, think about closing doors and stuff like that more than anyone else does,” says Millner. Tools? A guitar, flat-pick, sometimes a slide.   How did you learn your craft? I started playing when I was a little kid, on the banjo before I picked up the guitar. As far as […]