Cheap Joe's Art Stuff Comes to Asheville!!!!

Strangers were high-fiveing each other in the parking lot!

and squealing uncontrollably with glee when we walked in the door!

Yes, right here in my hood, I can walk into a store and buy a pastel, see and feel the color, try out a quality pen, chat with friendly sales associates- who are artists!!!

Yes, I bowed.

Paper! 

See the colors, touch the texture!

There are still empty shelves, and they had to open the door while they are still stocking and pricing as so many of us were standing with our nosed pressed to the door!

Come in and tell CJ's what we want to see  available here in Asheville.

There are forms right when you walk in the door.

They want to know.

And please! Buy stuff.

If you are just getting into watercolor, I highly recommend CJ''s brand, American Journey,

-You can't go wrong with Joe's Red-

and Golden Fleece Brushes,

great price, they last a long time, and if you mess them up,

YOU CAN GO GET ANOTHER ONE!

10-7 Monday through Saturday at Broadway and Riverside!

If you get to the Bywater you missed it!

I'll meet you there and we can go have a drink!

This is a regionally owned business, with reasonable prices, who want to serve the arts community.

Let's support them!

Thank you Joe's.

Now can we do something about an Apple Store?

Visit my FB page, follow the link and leave a comment to Apple that we need an Apple store.

It takes 1000 comments for them to get interested.

Yes I know it is not local, and while I am content with the service I get in Asheville, they can't compare to the Genius Desk. We need one.

Excuse me, I must go color with my new pens!!!!

Comments and Questions warmly welcomed.

One is Silver and the others Gold / T is For Tuesday

I enjoyed both old and new friends this past week.

Guests mean going out to eat!

I took my dearest friend Diane and her husband John to 

All Souls Pizza

From their website:

All Souls Pizza is committed to using fresh seasonal ingredients. We mill our own flours and polenta from organic grains, many of which are traditional varieties. We source our meat and produce as closely to home as possible. Our bread comes from Farm & Sparrow Bakery.
Aside from serving meat, their food philosophy is very close to mine.
I always feel healthy after I eat here, even if I stuff myself as everything I have ever had is so good!
The servers are knowledgeable , have great memories, and I love sitting outside by the field.
This pizza is kale, crimini mushrooms, onion and olives on their amazing wood fired crust.
youc an also get a polenta crust that is surprisingly wonderful!
My DD was also with us, and we wanted the watercress, watermelon radish, green been salad, and it had cheese in it, so our server suggested butter lettuce salad and he would add some watercress.
This is the only restaurant I don't ask for my dressing on the side.
In addition to perfect butter lettuce leaves it had roasted beets and a herb vinaigrette dressing.
Keep your salad plate to wipe up with your pizza crust.
It's that good.
Note on the photos- it was dark, and we used an additional phone as lighting.

Starters and salads were shared (the salad photo has gone the way of all things!).
The roasted beets were delicious, sweet, perfectly cooked and served with a horseradish sauce (we ate around that).
The bread, ah, the bread! This is the best bread I have ever eaten. 
If you must eat bread, eat Farm and Sparrow.
It is wood fired, self leavened, fresh ground with mostly locally grown grains.
Delicious, honest bread.
David is a master baker and we get the benefit of his labor.
Thank you David!
The ferment plate for the bread was outstanding. 
Tasty fermented carrots, cabbage and peppers in a sea of olive oil.
Again, great to wipe up, if you have any left with your pizza.


Saturday I went to a class at a new gallery/art space
TEXture Art Bar.
The entryway.

The sink(note glassware- T is for Tuesday)

to take a class in pointed pen with

Kathy Milici.

Kathy creating for Diane and John

I enjoyed the class, learned a new hand and made some new friends.

We went out to dinner at 
Nine Mile
also new to me, and a fav of my DD, so she joined us again!

From the website:

Nine Mile is a casual full-service vegetarian-friendly restaurant and bar with two locations in Asheville, NC. The original location is in the heart of Historic Montford. The newest location is in Downtown West Asheville on Haywood Rd.

Our cuisine consists of Caribbean inspired pasta dishes, rice dishes, a handful of traditional pasta dishes, daily specials, and an array of locally made desserts.

The carrot, coconut soup was a delicious special for starters.
Love the presentation. It makes you hungry!
Note the water- our drink of choice for the evening.

I'm sure the bread is ok, and I'm just a Farm and Sparrow(All Souls) Girl.
I don't eat anything( when I can help it) that isn't worth the calories , in the mouth.
We were so hungry I forgot to get a photo of our mains, till after we dug in.

DD and I shared the raw zucchini pasta, with a pesto sauce, and a good (I'm guessing out of the bag) mixed green salad, with tempeh, apples and a balsamic vinaigrette.
I love tempeh, and even tho I live in Asheville, I do not love Smiling Hara, our local maker.
No matter how it is prepared, it  has a tastes that is a bit off to me, and the mouth feel is soft, and sometimes slimy.
I wish I liked, it as almost everyone serves it, and it ruins the dish for me.
I'll keep trying.
The zucchini "pasta" is a welcome change to another flour product, and I found it refreshing with the pesto sauce, that was well, basally! in a good way.
Over all I enjoyed the meal.
Our server seemed a bit confused a times, and it was hard to catch his eye when needed.

I was happy to see both restaurants very full on both evenings.
Nine Mile was packed, and quite noisy.
I don't think they have any outside seating.

It's really hard to get a bad meal in Asheville!
Come visit, my gold and silver friends!
and come hungry.

Comments and Questions always welcomed.