A little hanky pysanky egg action

Confession time: I have a closet stuffed to the ceiling with art and craft supplies. There may be some paper- and candle-making accoutrement in the garage, too. Oh, and the 50-gallon bin overflowing with yarn in the attic also bears mentioning. My name is Kristie, and I’m a craft addict. I’ve known that it’s time […]

Pick: Accidental Death of an Anarchist

A farce for the force: Italian playwright Dario Fo’s political satire Accidental Death of an Anarchist pokes fun at the Italian police force by imagining a fictionalized aftermath of 1969’s real-life Piazza Fontana bombing. Giuseppe Pinelli, an anarchist wrongly accused of the bombing, plummets to his death from a fourth-floor window while in a police […]

Pick: Tuba Skinny

Preservation haul: New Orleans jazz ensemble Tuba Skinny fulfilled a lifelong dream this year with the release of Magnolia Stroll, its first album of original music. The group formed in 2009 as a loose collection of street musicians that combines cornet, clarinet, trombone, tuba, tenor banjo, guitar, frottoir, and vocals. Influenced by a wide range […]

Pick: Venus & Adonis

Sad, mad love: A grumbling Cupid, lovesick Venus, and dishy Adonis star in Venus & Adonis, a modern operatic take on the classical Greek myth, produced by the Early Access Music Project, a rotating group of musicians that brings early music to the community through accessible programming. Originally composed by John Blow in the 1680s, […]

Epic metal

In an industry divided by art and craft, blacksmith Ellen Durkan is forging her own path. Durkan creates intricate, complex, wearable art, known as “forged fashion.”  She was drawn to blacksmithing while pursuing a master’s degree in fine arts at Towson University. No one in the program was a blacksmith, but that wasn’t a problem […]

Pick: This Much I Know To Be True

True companion: Andrew Dominik’s acclaimed 2016 documentary One More Time with Feeling followed Australian musician Nick Cave on an emotional journey of creation and loss when, during the recording of a new album with his band, Cave’s son tragically passed away. Dominik has reunited with Cave and Warren Ellis, Cave’s collaborator, for the companion film, […]

Pick: Bob Log III

Enjoy the ride: Clad in a skin-tight jumpsuit and singing through a motorcycle helmet wired to a telephone handset, Bob Log III delivers a one-man show of musical mayhem like no other. The Arizona-based multi-instrumentalist stomps on a homemade cymbal with one leg, a kick drum with the other, and plays finger-picked slide guitar while […]

Rooted wisdom

If Kat Maier were a plant, you could say she has released her seeds all around Charlottesville. She’s been here since 2005, teaching and practicing herbalism, so at this point she has many former students and clients in and around town. Her Belmont home, also the site of her apothecary, classroom, and garden, is a […]

Heads will roll

Set in ninth- and 10th-century Europe, Robert Eggers’ brutal revenge saga The Northman is a lavish, sweeping film, but its unrelenting gore will undoubtedly repel many viewers.  Loosely based on the Scandinavian legend that inspired Hamlet, with elements of Macbeth thrown in, The Northman’s antihero, young prince Amleth, vows revenge after seeing his father, King […]