North Carolina Ecology of My Own

“The Northern Twin”
2020

Slopes, rolling fields, and forests. What have we done with these? To these? I am the Land of the Pines….where trees cast dots of light on the needle floor. Loblollies edge a vehicle path. On it, a table, long, centered on needle trail, crowded with steaming casseroles, pies, all imaginable salads, and rainbow Jell-O. The 4th of July! Running between the pines in stoic stand – out into the field with fireflies, mosquitoes - in equal measure. Behind the church, the hill harbors a weaving of blackberries and shade trees on its slope…

Music from: The Carolina Outdoor Journal & the movie Hoosiers - chosen for personal childhood significance to the designer.


First Hunt

                Wildlife in North Carolina               
2016

I was a newbie. I didn’t grow up around hunting and I didn’t know anyone who hunted. The only gun my father kept in the house was the fake replica Davy Crockett gun leaning against the wall behind the grandfather clock in our living room...

Full Story


The Rural Academy Theater

Our State Magazine

A team of horses halts in a pasture in Black Mountain. As the red covered wagon behind them rolls to a stop, curtains flutter in the mountain breeze and shield a collection of costumes, hand-painted props, and puppets. 

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Jerry Pasewicz - Triangle Strings

Treasure Carolina Blog

Story link: Triangle Strings

Obsessive is the word the Raleigh craftsman uses to describe himself. One would have to be exactly that to execute the level of craftsmanship for which luthier Jerry Pasewicz is known.

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Carolina Wild

Our State Magazine

In 2013, Elizabeth Maxwell’s dream of revitalizing the retired fields of her parents’ Pink Hill tobacco farm resulted in an epiphany: muscadine juice.

Full Feature




I was born and raised in North Carolina, though my parents are originally Hoosier-born. This state is my home, a great love of my life, and my very favorite subject about which to research and write. Every grain of the state, every person I meet, is teaming with stories. I love to hear them – I love to write them down – so others can know them too. Treasure Carolina Blog.

My undergraduate degree is in Art and Design from the College of Design at North Carolina State University. My minor is English focusing on creative nonfiction and fiction writing. I worked as an intern for Wildlife in North Carolina  magazine doing editing and writing. I also assisted the design team there and worked with the lead photographer, Melissa McGaw in the field. I worked as a Design Assistant at Walter Magazine doing page layouts and photo editing. Finally, I worked as an editorial intern at my favorite magazine in the whole world, Our State Magazine, where I edited, proofed, fact-checked, and wrote stories. I’m focusing on everything I’m passionate about in my work – that’s why I love what I’m doing. I hope you enjoy these stories as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them.