The Seven Hills Chamber Music Festival to Return to Lynchburg in August

Photos courtesy of Seven Hills Chamber Music

Like many forms of classical music, chamber music is evocative of the past. Established in the late 1700s, it is deeply rooted in tradition and frequently associated with the great composers of that time: Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, Vivaldi, Handel, and so on. That said, chamber music most certainly does not belong to or in the past; rather, it is an ever-evolving art form that continues to enchant audiences around the world thanks to the contributions of innovative and talented composers and musicians. Luckily for Lynchburg, one such group of musicians has made it their mission to share their art with local audiences for free every summer: Seven Hills Chamber Music.

Seven Hills Chamber Music was founded by Dudley Raine IV, a freelance violist currently based in New York City. Raine established a piano quartet in 2017, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced the group to cease performing; ultimately, though, the pandemic also inspired Raine to think bigger—and closer to his hometown. After networking with musicians he had worked with in New York City, met at festivals, and met through school (Manhattan School of Music), Raine established Seven Hills Chamber Music.

“As we were coming out of the pandemic, I was looking to do something for my hometown of Lynchburg, Virginia,” Raine said. “We had 13 artists come together for three concerts, and we were
all really excited to play live music again. After that, the momentum kind of kept picking up!”

Those three concerts comprised the first Seven Hills Chamber Music Festival in August 2021. Following the success of the inaugural festival—which reached about 1,000 people—the group hosted its second annual festival with 23 performers last year and will present its third festival with 31 performers this August. The group has also added standalone concerts to its repertoire.

A chamber music concert is markedly more intimate than an orchestra concert in that each musician who is performing is usually the only person playing that particular part. Additionally, unlike orchestra ensembles, chamber ensembles do not have conductors.

“In an orchestra, there might be ten violinists playing the same notes, but with chamber music, it’s typically one person—or maybe two people—per part,” noted Raine. “Chamber music is also generally unconducted, which means that the musicians are the ones who have to keep time and breathe together. We have to know each other’s parts because there are a lot of things that go on across the ensemble during a performance.”

As such, the group has developed a close camaraderie that imbues their already dynamic performances with a palpable, effortless, and knowing energy. Listening to them play could easily be compared to listening to a conversation among old friends—a conversation built on familiarity and trust and full of seamless transitions as a wide variety of thoughts and feelings are discussed.

In addition to figuratively telling stories with their music, Seven Hills Chamber Music utilizes literal storytelling to help audience members, many of whom may not be familiar with chamber music, connect with the compositions.

“Before we play a piece, we have one of the artists talk about the piece,” Raine stated. “This artist may give little examples of what people will hear, point out what to listen for, tell a story about the piece, and so on. This makes the experience more relatable for those who may not know much about classical music.”

Showcasing new works by living composers and works by lesser-known composers also enables the ensemble to make chamber music more relatable for modern audiences.

“Everyone likes to hear Beethoven and Mozart, but we bring a lot of new music as well,” Raine said. “My co-director, Nicole Brancato, does a lot of the programming. She is an expert in the field of new music and knows a lot of great composers, and I also have my share of experience with new music. We try to program many different styles of music by all sorts of composers.”

In fact, this year’s festival will open with a celebration of female composers, past and present, on August 16.

“Our opening night concert in Lynchburg this summer will be music exclusively composed by women—both women of the past, such as Fanny Mendelssohn and Clara Schumann, and living composers like Missy Mazzoli,” remarked Raine.

The group will also be joined by two composers-in-residence, one of whom is on the faculty at Juilliard Pre-College in New York City, and the other of whom is based in San Francisco and often composes music for movies.

After operating out of Raine’s old 501(c)(3) for his piano quartet for about a year, Seven Hills Chamber Music officially became a 501(c)(3) organization last summer. The group has been awarded two grants thus far—one from the Schewel Charitable Foundation and one from the James River Arts & Cultural District program—and has received a great deal of support from the community at large. 

Although the group is currently working on producing a concert for New York City and ultimately hopes to tour throughout the year, Raine stated that “our home base will always be the Lynchburg festival.” He added that he envisions collaborations with other organizations, such as dance companies and chorus groups, and the incorporation of visual arts aspects.

No matter what the future holds, Seven Hills Chamber Music will undoubtedly continue to delight audiences while proving that chamber music is anything but a relic of the past. 

“It’s incredible to be able to share our music with people for free!” Raine exclaimed. “We are passionate about what we do and about sharing that passion with others.”  

For more information about Seven Hills Chamber Music, including the schedule for their summer festival, please visit sevenhillscmf.org.

Tony Camm is Writing His Own Artistic Story

Photos by Ashlee Glen

Local influencer, musician, and creative Tony Camm has nothing more to prove when it comes to how he impacts the Lynchburg community. All know him for his funk band FunkAllStars but he is much more than that. Calling himself an “entertainer-prenuer,” Camm is a jack-of-all-trades. Starting his creative journey around the age of twelve, while making home films with his younger brother, allowed him to learn the importance of creativity and its impact. Starting off with silent films he began to realize the value of being creative, leading him to become a well-versed artist, entrepreneur, and influential leader, whose goal is to entertain, impact, and exude positivity. 

The entertainer-prenuer works in many facets such as painting, music, cartoon producing, and much more. He is a father, actor, leader, and community member who believes that entertainment is his way of impact. He also manages the Lynchburg Grand Hotel across from the Academy Center of the Arts in downtown Lynchburg.

“I think my creative imagination was always there, you know… when you get into the school system they always want to put you in the box,” Camm said, remembering that school only encouraged students to learn certain subjects. “What about the creative side of things?” 

Likewise, Albert Einstein once said, “Creativity is intelligence having fun.” That thought further validates that the need for arts and innovative programs not only adds value to learning but enhances intelligence. 

Camm understands the importance of the arts in that they help youth determine who and what they want to be—understanding the value of education but emphasizing the importance of creativity in schools. 

“When I was younger they defunded a lot of the arts stuff, [but] that’s the key stuff because kids at their young age need to know at that age what they really want to do,” he said. 

In addition, it is clear that math, reading, and other subjects are valuable, but Camm believes it is not what everyone uses every day. 

“We use our reactive minds all the time,” he shared. 

Moreover, it is creative sensibility that influences our society and Camm truly believes that all ideas can be completed if there are two things. First is “being able to come up with an idea,” and the second thing is to “have the [support] and people to help you make it happen.” 

Realizing that the things he does make an impact on the people that watch, he ensures that he thinks of every individual in his following when doing a project, program, or event. Being an entertainer-prenuer has given Camm the space to create community everywhere he goes, though he is well aware of the impact he makes and does not take it lightly. 

“With everything I do, I make sure I think of how it can impact someone because it can impact someone positively or negatively,” Camm explained. “And if you think it will impact someone negatively then you have a choice. You can still do it, if it will benefit you or you could say, ‘Well that would be cool but I don’t want it to [impact others like that]’. That option is always right there.” 

He cares about what he provides to his community to certify that the arts can truly help change the atmosphere and connection among individuals within a community. Hoping that his impact has youth saying, “Well if he [Camm] did it let’s see if we can do it.”

Despite the possible mental obstacles such as self-doubt, Camm continues to muster the courage to act on an idea. 

“It’s not why, it’s a why not?” said Camm, as to say, the only thing stopping an individual from making all of their ideas possible is based on the resources and support they have. If the individual has all of the above, then is it the individual getting in the way of one’s own dreams and aspirations?

It can be believed that he is an amazing person who all can learn from. Teaching those who come in contact with him the principles of positive thinking and overcoming self-doubt. 

Recently, Camm launched a Jazz Club in the shared space at 720 Commerce Street—something he didn’t even know the community wanted until he started to do it. 

“Everybody wants to be entertained and sometimes people don’t even know they want it…,” he shared, yet again reinforcing that it’s all about acting on your ideas and having confidence that it will all work out. 

Tony Camm has various ideas he has pursued—his jazz club, comic book series, radio show, and even his own clothing line—and yet he still continues to grow and dream up new ideas. His motto is, “Live everyday like it’s your first…” and every day he says to himself, “I’m brand new to the world…so what can I do today?” Ultimately showing how profound his wisdom is and why he is so successful at what he does. 

Entertainment is one thing he does well and will continue to do because, “Everything we do daily, involves some form of entertainment… Entertainment to me equates to fun. So, if you wipe away all forms of entertainment and there is nothing but work, there is no art, no music, there’s no culture—all that stuff, in my opinion, is more important than anything else. I don’t think anyone is born to work a job… the arts and the culture, which doesn’t get enough credit for anything, needs to be different.”

To see Camm’s current projects, visit his website at cammentertainment.com.  

Muralist paints life on a large scale

Muralist Andrew Williams has always been an artist. Born in West Palm Beach, Florida, Williams’ mother was a proponent of his connection with the arts from an early age.

“I had great access to art stores,” Williams remembered. “My mom would buy charcoal pencil sets and paper—I still have my first drawing pad. It started with charcoal drawings, and then I got into drawing Disney characters. From there, I transitioned to watercolor.”

That transition to watercolor was the first time Williams experimented with color—an experiment that led to his future as the muralist he is today. In 2016, Williams was contracted by The Draper Mercantile and Trading Company in Draper, Virginia, for a large-scale mural.

“I was good friends with the folks at Draper Mercantile and I had gifted the owner a watercolor of the building,” he said. “She offered to have me take a stab at the wall outside, which already had a mural on it, but it was faded. It’s a 160-foot wall and was the first mural I ever did.”

The Draper Mercantile mural took three months for Williams to complete. The process began with sketches with pen and pencil on paper and then, once approved by the owner, the design transitioned onto the wall surface.

“While I was working on that mural, I was contacted by someone from Wytheville to do a 90-foot mural,” Williams said. “And it just kind of snowballed from there.”

In 2018, Williams’ muralist work brought him to Lynchburg when he was commissioned to paint a mural of Donkey Kong at The Water Dog. Then, just a few years later, The Water Dog team commissioned Williams to paint a large-scale sign for the entrance of Oktoberfest in downtown Lynchburg.

“Dave [one of the owners of The Water Dog] wanted Donkey Kong, so that was pretty straight forward,” he explained. “But, as for the Oktoberfest sign, that was an incorporation of the logo mixed with German characters and beer. Dave pushed the envelope for me with the Oktoberfest sign because it opened up a different path to travel down and seeing the opportunities that can come with that. I’m excited to see the evolution of public art, and that’s what I’m trying to focus on for these next few years. I’m excited to see what’s next after murals for public art—what balances between a mural, a sculpture, etc. I’m excited to continue to explore the beautification of public events.”

Williams’ work keeps him traveling all over Virginia—hopping from one commission to the next. As of this writing, Williams has just finished a memorial for a WWII veteran and is currently working on a three-dimensional mural in Roanoke.

“I’m at the point in my career where I can find a wall that’s begging to be beautified,” Williams said. “I see a vision, and then I cold call it and pitch it. I’m not afraid to tackle any sort of project that someone may have. The more unique and the more crazy a project is, the more I want to do it.
I’m not scared to push the envelope on some of these projects.”  

What the Revitalization of the Tutelo Language Will Mean for the Monacan Indian Nation

“A language is not just words. It’s a culture, a tradition, a unification of a community, a whole history that creates what a community is. It’s all embodied in a language.”
– Noam Chomsky

Throughout its history, the Monacan Indian Nation has demonstrated astounding resilience in the face of obstacles orchestrated by those who wish to eradicate its identity. The Monacan community has not only overcome these obstacles, but has also utilized them as opportunities to reclaim and strengthen its identity time and again. To say the least, the journey has been arduous and the victories hard-won, but the Monacan people have continued to reclaim and revitalize the aspects of their identity that have been taken from them. 

One such aspect is the Monacan language, Tutelo, which is in the process of being recreated, restored, and cataloged. The importance of language to a community’s identity cannot be overstated; when a community’s language dies, that community must then use the words—which, as Chomsky said, are never just words—of others to refer to itself. The Monacans’ reclamation of Tutelo is monumental, a fact made even clearer as one learns about the journey that led to this reclamation.

The Monacan Indian Nation is headquartered on Bear Mountain in Amherst County, and its citizens are descended from Eastern Siouan groups from Virginia and North Carolina. The Nation’s efforts to attain state and federal recognition—which it did in 1989 and 2018, respectively—demonstrate the Monacans’ longstanding strength and ability to turn obstacles into opportunities. 

In fact, the earliest documentation of Monacan presence in Virginia—documentation that was ultimately integral in the Nation’s achievement of federal recognition—details the capture of a Monacan man.

“The history of our people dates back to 1608 as far as physical, handwritten proof of us being here in the state of Virginia goes,” said Lou Branham, Director of the Monacan Indian Nation Ancestral Museum. “It goes back to a personal journal kept by Captain John Smith. He ran across a Monacan named Amoroleck, took him captive, and questioned him about the Powhatan Confederacy. This document was very important when it came to the Bureau of Indian Affairs and us getting federal recognition.”

In the 1920s, Dr. Walter Plecker enacted what Branham calls a “paper genocide” of Virginia-based Native Americans by eliminating the option to identify oneself as an indigenous person when responding to the census. Plecker, along with the Anglo-Saxon Clubs of America, persuaded the Virginia General Assembly to pass the Racial Integrity Act of 1924, which stated that it was illegal for whites and non-whites to marry, and which recognized only two racial classifications: “white” and “colored.”

“Plecker was in a position of power—he was the head of Vital Records and Statistics for 32 years—and he believed in eugenics,” Branham noted. “He thought that you were either white or you were colored; to him, no Native Americans existed.”

As a result, Monacan people who moved away—often to marry whom they wanted and to generally escape the rampant racism in the area—would frequently be unable to locate family members upon their return.

The United States Supreme Court overturned the Racial Integrity Act in 1967, thus allowing Native Americans in Virginia to marry whom they chose and to change their birth certificates—for a fee, until 1997—to accurately convey their identities.

“When we went for state recognition, we had to mail off our birth certificates,” recalled Branham.
“If we hadn’t gone for state recognition, we never would have known that that documentation had been changed.”

Branham chooses to see Plecker’s contemptible actions as a catalyst in the Monacan Nation’s journey to fully reclaim its identity.

“I’m a firm believer that in our walk in life, we have ups and downs and many side roads that are taken,” she stated. “Plecker was just a part of the plan that happened to happen to the Monacan people.”

Branham’s father, Ronnie, started the Monacan tribe as an entity along with his first cousin and founder of the Monacan Indian Nation Ancestral Museum, Phyllis Hicks. Ronnie Branham was the first elected chief of the Nation, and Hicks was an ordained minister who pastored the church that resides on the Monacans’ seven-and-a-half acres of land alongside the tribal schoolhouse (once used as both a school and a community meeting space) and the museum.

“This land is the heart and soul of our community,” said Branham. “If you take this away, it’s almost like ripping a heart away from a body. The history of generations and generations of our family—of kids playing in the creeks and running through the woods, of people going to the church and the school and attending functions—is here. Here I promote no negative energy. Everything here is positive for me because this has always been a positive and peaceful place in my life.”

As the Monacan Nation’s recent federal recognition continues to open doors to various government programs—including a community health services program that will be open to Native Americans from any tribe and to community members who are Medicaid and Medicare recipients—the restoration of the Tutelo language has come to the forefront.

The process was initiated by the late George Whitewolf, who was a Monacan medicine man, in 2000. According to Branham, Whitewolf spent a great deal of time with the Lakota tribe and shared their language, Lakhota, with the Monacan tribe upon his return. These interactions prompted further research of Lakhota and other Siouan languages, and the Monacan people ultimately discovered that they spoke Tutelo.

The near-extinction of Tutelo resulted largely from colonization. Additionally, the last native speaker passed away around the year 2000.

“A lot of it had to do with colonization and eugenics,” Branham noted. “The United States’ political ideology of things is that they wanted to colonize Native Americans and make them conform to non-Native ways.”

A group of historians and linguists, led by indigenous historian and language activist Dr. Marvin Richardson of the Haliwa-Saponi Tribe, is working with Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages to create a Tutelo-Saponi Monacan Living Dictionary. This online dictionary is accessible to the general public and continues to grow at a steady pace.

“We’ve got to recreate words and grammar,” stated Branham. “We’re currently working on creating words and phrases, but it’s hard to do the verbs right now. We actually have about 700 entry words so far, but by the end of 2023, we hope to have 3,000.”

For Branham, the revitalization of Tutelo is important on both a personal and a wide-scale level.

“When I was little, I remember my grandmother using certain words and phrases, and my father would say, ‘You can’t teach her that,’” she recalled. “My great-grandmother said, ‘If we spoke our language, we could risk having our homes burnt down.’ I think it’s a shame that you have to live in fear just because you have different cultural beliefs and speak a different language.”

As Branham continues to build bridges with community organizations to raise awareness of and garner support for the Monacan Indian Nation, she is excited to see the bridge between the Nation’s past and future become fortified by Tutelo’s return.

“It’s going to open up a new world from the old world,” she said. “It’s our old, traditional language, but to so many it’s going to be something that’s brand new.”  

Photos courtesy of Mitchell Bryant

Lynchburg Living Editor Megan Williams: You’ve been seriously pursuing photography since you were in the 10th grade; were you initially interested in adventure and landscape photography?

Mitchell Bryant: The outdoors was often the subject of a lot of those early photographs as I didn’t know what I was doing. I could practice by myself and learn with no real boundaries. I’d grab my camera, go for a walk behind our house, and shoot through a roll of film. Now, my love for the outdoors is a much more holistic endeavor. I love being in nature. My camera has become a faithful hiking/backpacking partner throughout the years and one that I lean on to retell the stories in vivid detail. 

MW: Who or what has most inspired you, or driven you forward in your growth as a photographer?

MB: In the early parts of my career I religiously followed Jeremy Cowart. He had such a creative and innovative approach to image-making, while maintaining such a lovely balance of technical prowess and experimental creativity. I learned a lot from his images and continue to follow his work closely today. 

One of my favorites to keep up with is painter and traditional artist Mark Maggiori. His method of reproducing massive landscapes with impeccable detail and visceral color leaves me scratching my head often saying, “How?!”

Another no-brainer follow is Chris Burkard. 

MW: How do you approach your outdoor/adventure/travel photography? Do you set out with a specific vision in mind, or do you tend to capture moments that are more spontaneous or real-time?

MB: If I’m traveling to a new place, I’m like a kid seeing the world for the first time. Almost everything is image-worthy. I want to remember it all, and some of it might be considered art. When I return to a place, experience or environment that I love, I’m much more particular and premeditated. There are certain aspects of that adventure or that story that I want my viewers to experience and “remember” even if it’s something they’ve never experienced. That often involves wide context imagery, action/journey of some kind, and, of course, my layered, textured, patterned, artful landscapes. 

MW: In your opinion, what makes a good photograph?

MB: Technically speaking there are rules, a prescription of aesthetics that you can follow, like many art forms, that are the “compositional elements of a great, technically sound photograph”. Those elements come together to create a well-structured, beautiful, pleasing image.

Great photography is found at the intersection of innovation, expertise, courage, and creativity—knowing everything you “should do” and daring to abandon that appropriately. My favorite images (and most art for that matter) transport us to another time and place where presence—the power of here and now—is visceral and transformative.

MW: Looking back at your work, what are some of your favorite photographs that you’ve shot? What makes them special to you?

MB: I’m big on Type 2 fun (look it up). Any images that help me recall a certain moment, adventure, or experience of course have a special place in my book. My wife can tell you I’m constantly scrolling through my phone looking through old photographs and laughing, or sighing, or saying, “Oh man look at this, wow that was 2015?!” It is absolutely one of my favorite things. My friends and family probably get tired of me taking over the TV so I can Airplay an image and tell them about what was going on again and again. 

Also in terms of favorites or images that are special to me—anytime someone seeks out my work for a large print in their home or workspace—that is the ultimate compliment. 

MW: Do you have any photos or styles that you want to explore? Where do you see your photography going from here in terms of subject and style?

MB: This is fun for me to think about. In the future I want to involve my family more. Photography can tend to be a solo venture. I want my boys in particular to find a love and appreciation for this world and a love and respect for all of nature’s beauty and the people within it. If I could bottle the reactions my boys have, their wonder and imagination running rampant, and pour that all over my images, I’d be doing just fine.

The work I want to focus on involves being outside more and more. There is a lot left to be explored in that regard. 

I’m also working on having more of my images printed/installed on a massive scale, whether that be in retail spaces, custom residential builds, or hospitality projects.  

Finds Creativity in the Routine

Jill Jensen knows a thing or two about methodical problem-solving. With an educational background in material science and chemistry, Jensen spent the early years of her career as an engineer.

“Part of what I’ve learned in science training is that you don’t quit,” Jensen explained. “If the first thing doesn’t work, you come up with a solution and you keep going.”

When Jensen left her engineering role to start her family, she applied that same diligence to her other passion: printmaking.

“There is a rhythm [with printmaking] that comes into play,” she said. “Printmaking is process-oriented and there are multiple steps to get from the idea or image in your head to the final piece of work.

I like the process of methodically going through the steps of coming up with ideas. I draw the ideas out on tracing paper, so I can turn the paper over and transfer the image to a block. Then, I carve the plate.”

When Jensen creates her original designs, they are only contour drawings with no details, which allows her a bit of creative freedom to add elements as she works. As Jensen explores the possibilities of each design, she incorporates color pencil sketches within the print or will add embroidery or machine stitching to add even more texture and visual interest.

Jensen’s printmaking has evolved over time to incorporate additional media largely because of her daily and weekly commitment to creating something every day.

“I have both a daily art practice and a weekly art practice,”
she explained. “I make sure that I do some sort of artwork every day, usually a drawing in a sketchbook. I made the rule for myself that I can’t go to bed until I put something in a sketchbook—it may be pen and ink, pen and ink plus watercolor—but something has to be done every day. And then I have my weekly practice. I have the rule that between Sunday and midnight Saturday of that week that I must do a miniature art quilt. It can be related to something that happened that week—like a holiday or something—or an experiment in mixing colors or carving a new printing plate.
It changes size each year, but it is the same size for the entire year. On the backside of each miniature quilt, I journal about what happened that week. Each one has a weekly number and then the date that I did it.”

Jensen has been committed to her weekly practice for 22 years, only missing her midnight deadline twice.

“If you stop, you lose momentum,” she said. “Knowing myself, I realize how important it is for me to make something, no matter how small it is. To keep the ball rolling.”  

Jensen will be participating in a solo art exhibition at The Lynchburg Art Club for the entire month of January. Her work is available for purchase via jilljensenart.com, and she is currently accepting commissions.

How this Altavista Resident Built a Life Using Age-Old Art Techniques

Most Americans delve into an industry, work on average 40 hours each week for 40 years, then retire on 40 percent of their income. But master engraver Tim George of Altavista chiseled against that mold by mastering and selling a unique artform.

Every well-designed engraving you see in this story was done by hand. No fancy machinery like air utensils, high-end microscopes, or expensive engraving pens. Only tools made from small carbide steel drill blanks, countless hours of chisel practice and refinement, and a passion to master this ageless art. 

The art of engraving is as old as time, but very few still practice the traditional hands-only techniques. Engraving is the art of carving initials, patterns, and picture art into an object’s metal components. 

The industry rose to prominence in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries, and evolved further as time passed. Today, popular metal objects signatured with engravements include handguns and rifles, knives, and a wide variety of jewelry.

“What we do is so cool, and I just love it,” George said. “You’re in contact with the metal in a different way. This is closer to the way it was done thousands of years ago, going on back to cavemen carving images on the wall.” 

According to the Firearms Engravers Guild of America (FEGA), where he is a member, George is one of 50 certified master engravers in the country.

For decades, jewelry, knife, and gun companies have commissioned George to engrave his illustrations and designs into exclusive and limited-edition products. George also extends his services to private clients, who pay upwards of tens of thousands for just one project. 

Popular features of his art include 24 karat yellow gold, 18 karat green gold, and even rose gold, in addition to multi-dimensional layering and flush.

George has been commissioned by Ruger, Colt, and even William Henry, a jewelry company that sold one of George’s masterpieces for $57,000. His work has also been featured in magazines and other publications with national circulations, like Garden & Gun.

 “Now that I’m older, I often reflect back on my career and wonder sometimes how the heck I made it,” George said.

“I was lucky in that I loved my job and really enjoyed creating something every day out of nothing. I also had, and still have, the ability to critique my work and be proud of it, but also to notice little things to improve on.

Most commissions begin with a sketch. Once approved, it may take George anywhere between a couple weeks to a year to complete one project, depending on size, features, and workload.

George’s love for art began with his grandparents.
His grandmother on his mother’s side was a painter, and his grandfather on his dad’s side was a craftsman. Both of his daughters are also entrenched in the visual arts, one being a photographer, and the other an art teacher. 

“I do think that art runs in people’s families,” George said. “This is the only thing I have ever done for a living, aside from being a ski mechanic. I like to have a flexible schedule.”

With art holding a special place in his soul, George looked for any opportunities to leverage this passion for a living. In 1981, George apprenticed under master engraver Ken Hurst, a former master for Colt Firearms. As Hurst’s company grew, George became his general manager and even trained new engravers. By 1987, large projects came to an end, so he and two other engravers formed their own company, Old Dominion Engravers, based out of Lynchburg. In 1990, as his knowledge and skill improved, George left the company to go solo—and he has never looked back.

“I still shake my head when I think back over my past,” he said. “I never thought about it much in my early days. I just wanted to learn as much as I could as fast as I could. I was trained to be a production engraver when I first started and was paid piecemeal, so I learned to be fast. Most of the better engravers that I know are fast and efficient, so that always helped.”

George works from the basement of his home. There’s nothing fancy about his 8-by-16-foot “office”—just a couple tables and tools scattered around the room. Several scratch marks blemish the floor, worn down by his chair. 

Through it all, George is thankful for health, as his craft can become physically demanding.

 “I never thought about it then, but I think about it now: I’ve never broken a bone. …If you’re cutting, you need to be moving your whole body,” he said. 

George has coated his art onto some of the nation’s most expensive collectible guns, knives, and jewelry. People often ask him if he ever experiences apprehension while handling delicate, expensive weaponry. His answer is always the same: never. 

Aside from engraving, George enjoys fishing, cigars and bourbon, and participating in the public square. He is on the Altavista town council.

“I loved growing up in Lynchburg,” he said. “I lived there for more than 30 years. I moved to Altavista about 22 years ago for family reasons and fell in love with this small town immediately. I love our parks, the YMCA, and the beautiful Staunton River that runs right through our town.”

George showcases much of his work through Instagram, where he shares photos of current projects and even videos of him at work. 

“There are very few of ‘us’ that still basically use the hammer and chisel method in the US,” he said. “I know lots of engravers that I admire that use the new modern method—air-assisted tools in conjunction with microscopes. They do incredible work. I guess I just like the way I learned the best. I like antiques and feel pleasure doing what I do the old-fashioned way.”

For more information, visit George’s Instagram profile @timgeorgeengraving. To learn more about his portfolio, visit his website www.timgeorgeengraving.com.

Legacy Keeper Artist Hannah Burnside Is Keeping a 700-Year-Old History Alive

In August, tattoo artist Hannah Burnside woke up in Jerusalem. After long layovers, even longer flights, and hassles through airport security, she walked through the streets of the Christian Quarter and found herself in front of a solid metal door. On the door, no other markings were clear besides a phone number written in permanent marker.

“I called the number and this dude just rolled up in an old Harley,” Burnside, a Savannah native who has been living in Lynchburg since college, recounted. “His leather jacket had ‘Holy Land Bikers’’ on the back, which is a Christian biker club in Jerusalem.”

Stepping off of the bike was Wassim Razzouk, a 27th generation tattoo artist and the current owner of
Razzouk Tattoo.

For the week following that phone call from the crowded streets of the Holy City, Burnside worked alongside the Razzouk family, learning their tattoo styles and, more importantly, the legacy that they represent.

“The Razzouk family immigrated from Egypt 700 years ago and followed a similar path to Jerusalem that folks take on pilgrimages to the Holy Land,” Burnside explained. “To commemorate their pilgrimage, people would get a tattoo of a particular saint or something that represented the pilgrimage. If they returned, say a year later, they would get the date tattooed underneath the original tattoo. So, some people would have dates stretching down their arm that marked their annual pilgrimages.”

Wooden carved stamps were used as stencils for the tattoos—stamps that are still used some 700 years later at Razzouk Tattoo.

“There are some stamps at the shop that they believe are older than that,” Burnside said. “But they just can’t date them back that far.”

During her apprenticeship at Razzouk Tattoo, Burnside immersed herself into the culture and worked tirelessly alongside the Razzouk family as they helped people memorialize a significant journey.

“One day, we had a group of 20 or 30 Armenian pilgrims come by the shop and ask for cross tattoos to mark their journey,” she said. “It was really cool seeing all of these groups who have different takes on religion, but whether they were Christian, Jewish, or any other religion, Jerusalem marks the Holy Land for all of them. Knowing that they all didn’t believe the exact same thing, but still gathered for the same goal, was really beautiful.”

Despite the language barriers—folks travel from all over the world to get tattooed at Razzouk—Burnside noted that she still found such deep bonds with the people she was able to tattoo.

“They have full trust in you even though you can’t understand each other,” she explained. “That’s a really powerful thing and a really amazing experience to have.”

That level of trust is something that Burnside has worked to cultivate since she began tattooing in 2020. A tattoo apprentice at Caspian Tattoo in Lynchburg, Burnside puts a big emphasis behind comfort and trust with the people she tattoos.

“I understand that a lot of people come into the shop with body image issues, or not loving a certain part of themselves and I just want our time together to be a time of complete ease and confidence,” she said.

After returning home from her Razzouk Tattoo apprenticeship, Burnside is now an official Razzouk ambassador, which means she is in possession of some of the antique tattoo stamps and has expressed approval to tattoo those designs in Lynchburg. As one of only nine current ambassadors—all of whom are situated around the globe—this is an incredible privilege and honor.

“I even had the opportunity to design my own stamp before I left,” Burnside explained. “So now my stamp sits in the shop at Razzouk and they will tattoo my stamp for folks all over the world. And I can tattoo it here in Lynchburg, as well.”

Burnside shared a Ram Dass quote that she felt was particularly poignant in commemorating her journey to Jerusalem—her own pilgrimage in a way. “The quote is, ‘We are all walking each other home.’ I can’t think of a better way to describe what this experience has been like, or what these tattoos mean, than that.”

Grief Work AND the Art of Intention

Potter Bosco Bae blends emotion and clay

Imagine having the opportunity to grab ahold of your grief—to shape it, swipe it away, and turn it into something durable and beautiful. Potter Bosco Bae’s most recent series, called Grief Work, is exploring the different forms that grief and healing can take.

“A lot of my work nowadays is trying to capture grief and work through the myriad of emotions involved with love and loss. The work can get pretty dark, but I try to remain true to the idea that there is meaning and beauty within struggle, within hardships, and imperfection,” Bae explained.

While the acceptance and celebration of imperfection is something that Bae, a Ph.D. and professor of Religion at University of Lynchburg, has been exploring artistically for years, the expression of that has shifted since the passing of his brother last year. Bae takes inspiration from the moon jar, which is a Korean form in ceramics and traditionally combines two symmetrical bowls to create one large vessel. While the two bowls individually are perfect, they come together to create an asymmetrical, imperfect union. Traditional moon jars feature a white glaze and a very thin base, which make the vessel look like it’s floating—like a moon. “It’s minimalistic yet sophisticated in its evocation of a calm and serene ideal,” said Bae.

But he takes the form a step further.

“The moon jar, in its traditional form, is romantic, normative, ideal. My work aims to be a bit more descriptive, flawed, messy—to allow suffering to speak and find expression,” he said. “How does a form retain, embody, or convey lament?”

One of the first pieces that Bae created in his Grief Work series began with the moon jar form. Using his hands, Bae tore a hole through one side of the vessel to exemplify a piece of him that is now gone.

“After that part of the vessel was ripped out, I went to the other side and started taking pieces out to patch the hole.

When that patch was mended, of course, another hole emerged on the other side. I then started digging into the bottom and scraping out any clay I could use to patch up the side that was given up to mend the first hole” Bae said. “So, in this particular piece, you’ll see where I’ve scraped from the bottom.”

In another piece from the Grief Work series, Bae began with a moon jar, cut it apart, and reassembled it.

“After deconstructing the piece and breaking it down, there was an active attempt to try and put the pieces back together—to go back and recreate what it was before breaking down—kind of like drawing somebody from memory,” he explained. “But during that process it changed and it was clear that the reconstruction wasn’t going to be the same. The vessel was transformed into something else with only traces, shadows, or memories of what it was before.”

Metaphorically, the piece showed just how different a person can be after grief, trauma, or hardship.

“All the pieces in this series begin with the moon jar form, thrown as a singular piece, as opposed to combining two.

The piece is then altered, stressed, and it endures—sometimes it doesn’t—and accepts the distortions, rips, and unanticipated irregularities that emerge from the process. I think a lot of the uncertainties and unintended consequences from the intentional moves and gestures I put into the piece make it interesting, perhaps, even difficult, or uncomfortable to look at,” Bae said. “Grieving is an uncomfortable process in which bracketed realities can intersect and break into the forefront of our consciousness at any given moment. Grappling with difficult truths is a process of reconciling with a dissonance that jars against tacit presuppositions about ideals and expectations, whether we acknowledge them or not. Sometimes, words are insufficient and talking about it isn’t always the best way to express ourselves. Being intentional through nonverbal forms of expression can be just as, if not more, relevant in the healing process.”

This level of intention—of dissecting an emotion or experience—is what encapsulates Bae as an artist. Whether he is throwing teapots or mugs with perfect, ergonomic form, or exploring just how beautifully imperfect a piece can be, Bae reverently approaches each piece and accepts it exactly the way it is.

Nina Simone once said, “It’s an artist’s duty to reflect the times,” which is a charge that Bae has fervently accepted. While his most recent body of work reflects his current experience of grief and healing, the journey isn’t over and his art will surely evolve again.

One thing is certain, however—it will be beautiful.

To connect with Bosco Bae, find him on Instagram at @potsbosco.

Photos by Ashlee Glenn

Lynchburg’s Punk Rock Flea Market Creates a Beautiful Community

Walking into Three Roads Brewing on a Sunday at 3 p.m. is like walking into a family reunion. Everyone is catching up, the beer is flowing, music is playing. You hear, “Market day, baby!” muffled in the background amidst the chatter and clinking of glasses, and you realize that this isn’t a family reunion at all (or is it?). It’s an art market.

Kaleb Gay is the man behind the curtain of this joyous, and sometimes chaotic, scene.

“You want people to stop and wonder what is happening, and then realize that it’s good,” Gay said, almost with a renegade glimmer in his eye.

And stop and wonder is what people do. The LoveLYH Flea Market is Lynchburg’s very own punk rock flea market. From Seattle to Philadelphia punk rock flea markets have been popping up in cities across the country for years, so it was only a matter of time before one came to Lynchburg as well.

While Gay is the current maestro of the weekly market—home to artists, makers, crafters, musicians, and folks hoping to make some cash from their unwanted clothes and housewares in true flea market fashion—Katy Wetzel is the one who brought the concept of a punk rock flea market to Lynchburg.

“I’m originally from just outside of Philadelphia, and I came to Lynchburg to attend Randolph [College]. I had the opportunity to go to a punk rock flea market in Philly, which is a twice-annual thing,” Wetzel explained. “There are punk rock flea markets all over the country and it’s an opportunity for people to just sell stuff if they’re cleaning out their garage, but it’s also a space for makers and artists.”

After Wetzel moved to Lynchburg and got connected with her own network of artists and makers, she knew that Lynchburg had the type of creative community to support a flea market of its own. Dave Ellis, owner of Dish in downtown Lynchburg, offered up the patio and parking lot of Rendezvous, his former restaurant on Main Street across from Dish, as a free spot to host the market.

“Dave is someone who is supportive of all sorts of different cultural happenings in Lynchburg,” Wetzel said. “He’s always all about supporting folks. I wouldn’t have initiated the flea market if I didn’t have the space, and Dave was able to provide that.”

With the venue nailed down, Wetzel knew she needed a partner to help organize and promote the flea market.

“Kaleb was the first person who came to my mind. He’s a maker at heart and an artist,” Wetzel said. “I couldn’t imagine a better person to talk to about starting something like this.”

So, in 2019, the first Lynchburg punk rock flea market was born. Vendors set up tables and tents in an empty parking lot, selling handmade zines, artwork, and clothes. Fast forward three years, and the flea market has grown by leaps and bounds.

Now the flea market has found its home at Three Roads Brewing, where Gay is also a bartender. Having a larger indoor/outdoor space has allowed the flea market to open itself up even further to makers, artists, and musicians.

“It was another opportunity from another wonderful friend,” Gay explained, speaking of former Three Roads manager Molly Fusco, who offered up the Three Roads space in August of 2020.

It’s that sort of mentality—folks stepping up and helping out—that truly encapsulates what makes the LoveLYH Flea Market so special. Wetzel’s and Gay’s vision for the market has always been to keep it as accessible as possible, which is why there are zero fees or costs to have a table or booth space on Sundays. Artists don’t need to sign up or commit to coming long term, they simply need to have something that they want to sell and show up.

“I want people to understand that it’s a free place to set up. You don’t have to be an established arts and crafts person. I’ll probably take a Sunday soon and sell my excess garden tomatoes,” Wetzel said of the free-flowing structure of the market. “It’s a space for all, and it’s so cool that there is no charge for a table or anyone cutting into people’s sales for anything.”

“I see people coming here sometimes who are out of work right now, or struggling financially, and they have an opportunity to sell their stuff and make some income,” Gay furthered. “There’s something to someone showing up and seeing that, ‘You know what, someone just liked my stuff enough to buy it.’ and then they keep doing it and coming back each week.”

That feeling of pride—and of bravery to show up and put yourself out there in the first place—is palpable every Sunday at the market. Rain or shine, folks are able to display their work and make life-changing connections with others.

“The market has been a miracle for me,” said Kat Newcomb, who makes and sells jewelry made with precious and semiprecious stones. “I moved to Lynchburg right before everything shut down [for COVID], so I didn’t know anybody and I hadn’t been anywhere. Kaleb kept telling me that he had started this market, and that I needed to come for a visit, so I showed up, and it quickly became something that I looked forward to every week… . This was my haven every Sunday. I started to meet people. I’ve met so many people who are now my support system. I credit Kaleb and I credit the market for that.”

Newcomb also brings her 8-year-old son with her to the market on Sundays, which has done wonders for his confidence as well.

“He has started doing the singer/songwriter showcase on Sundays,” she said. “Everyone has been so encouraging of him. The round of applause that he received the first time he performed just encouraged him to keep going. He’s getting into music because he has gotten so much encouragement from folks at the market. He’s been so brave, and it’s been a journey for him as well.”

When you experience the LoveLYH Flea Market, you get a sense that maybe it’s not about the art at all—it’s about the connections that you can make. The flea market is an opportunity to meet folks from all walks of life, and share a conversation and a beer with them. The art just happens to be the icebreaker to those conversations.

“We’re a social gathering exploring the limits of community,” Gay said. “It’s a bit more corybantic than your standard or structured market. It leaves a nice amount of wiggle room for expression—and that’s what we all could use a bit more of.”

Folks looking to sell their wares, or simply shop at the LoveLYH Flea Market, can visit Three Roads Brewing on Court Street every Sunday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Follow @lyhpunkrockfleamarket on Instagram for updates.