Greetings from Brevard, North Carolina

Hello friends and visitors.

I arrived in Brevard, NC, yesterday late afternoon after two days of driving. Wednesday I drove from metro Detroit to Cincinnati, a five-hour trip, then drove about seven hours on Thursday from Cinci to NC. It's the first time I've traveled that far down I-75, a common trip for many people I know. For orientation purposes, I'm about 45 minutes south of Asheville in Western North Carolina. Hello Blue Ridge Mountains!

I spent Wednesday night in a fabulous old house in one of Cincinnati's old neighborhoods. Built around 1850, it has a fabulous staircase with a glorious golden-yellow stain glass window at the top of the stairs and antiques and original art throughout. My hostess has made some stunning renovations in keeping with the spirit of the house -- the bathrooms made me feel I had stepped into a Restoration Hardware catalog! I slept in a four-poster bed. Sigh.

The home I am staying near Brevard at is at the end of a dirt road, nestled into gardens and woods on 5 acres. It's less than 10 minutes from town. The central section of the house, the living room and kitchen, is a great room with skylights. The lady of the house is a gourmet cook and caters, so the kitchen is well-equipped and the pantry is full of interesting oils, vinegars, salts and mustards. The large, screened-in front porch has a bed suspended on chains in one corner -- I slept there last night, swaying and listening to the crickets and cicadas. The cat, Simba, is a mellow 10-year-old male with long black hair. I'm using the husband's woodshop as a studio. You may see numerous paintings and studies from the gardens.

My intent is to use this blog to update my friends, with paintings, photos and messages. So please, follow along! Leave a comment here, or email me at marshastopa@yahoo.com.

Talk to you soon!