Blue Ridge Country September/October 2021 - 22

COUNTRY ROADS
Skywatch September/October:
Late Summer's Stellar Triangle
ach time of year has a familiar star
pattern associated with it, one that
skywatchers like to locate as darkness falls.
Even though summer starts sliding into
fall, people look to admire and share the
" Summer Triangle. " It is always a popular
" skymark " of the late summer sky.
Lying directly overhead shines the
magnificent blue-white star Vega, fourth
brightest as seen from the Blue Ridge. It lies
immediately west of the gentle band of the
Milky Way and is easily the brightest of the
Triangle's stars.
E
Jenny
Pickens
works on
a mural in
downtown
Asheville,
North
Carolina.
To Vega's east sitting directly in the
Milky Way twinkles another easily seen star,
Deneb the brightest star in the constellation
Cygnus, the swan. The Summer Triangle's
third and most southern member is Altair,
which shines on the eastern " shore " of the
Milky Way.
These three special stars can be spotted
from suburban areas while the flowing Milky
Way can be found on a moonless night from
dark sites such as those along the Blue Ridge
Parkway and at many state parks.
Follow these three stars as summer turns
into fall, then as fall turns into winter. Yes,
even though they are called the Summer Triangle,
Vega, Deneb and Altair will be found
low in the west and northwest in the early
evenings just before Christmas.
-JOHN GOSS
ART IN ASHEVILLE
Meet Jenny Pickens
T
North
Deneb
Vega
CYGNUS
Overhead
Summer
Triangle
After finding solace and accomplishment in art, an artist seeks to give back.
he talent of Jenny Pickens weaves through Asheville's buildings and its history-her
latest expression found in a Black Lives Matter mural on the pavement
around the Vance Monument in downtown. She served as a lead artist
and worked to bring the word " Lives " into focus with vivid paints: " red for bloodshed,
black for us, and green for the earth, " she explains.
The art teams, chosen through an application process, created the mural in
July 2020. The project came amid controversy about the Vance Monument and
whether to remove it, as well as the growing protests across the country following
the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Pickens learned from an early age to turn to art for healing and solace. The
youngest of four children, she was raised by her paternal grandparents while her
parents were in prison. School, and art class in particular, filled her with hope and
inspiration.
She joyfully recalls the encouragement of her kindergarten art teacher. " She's
the one who recognized my art talent, " she says.
Her murals cover walls and spaces at such places as the Wortham Center for
Performing Arts, LEAF Global Arts Center, Stephens-Lee Center, Wicked Weed's
Funkatorium, The Flying Bike on Coxe Avenue and one at a Peace Garden in West
Asheville.
She loves working with acrylics, but she's also an expert seamstress, quilter and
creator of hand-built pottery. " When I'm stressed I will go from one medium to
the next, " she says. " Art is a good way to release tension. It's therapy. It helps with
healing. "
Altair
Milky Way
45º above
southern horizon
Facing South in September or October 90 minutes after sunset.
Her newest endeavor involves serving as an artist curator and artist mentor at
Noir Collective on Market Street. " This place is designed for people of color, " she
says. " I can tell younger people what to do to make their art better, to help them
feel more confident. Art doesn't have to be painting or drawing. It can go into
music or spoken word. You have to have someone who believes in you and shows
you there's another way. "
-MARLA HARDEE MILLING
22 BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM
West
East
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Blue Ridge Country September/October 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country September/October 2021
