20 Years of Art

Written By: Marjorie Christiansen | Issue: April - 2022 | Photograph By: Susan Renfro

Marjorie Christiansen and Janet Cummings

Welcome to our April 2022 issue, part of our 20th Anniversary Celebration.

 I’ve included the above quote from Mary Adair because she gets to the heart of our magazine – our undying support for the local arts scene and the endlessly fascinating men and women who give it color and life.

When my Business Partner and Sister-from-Another-Mister Janet Cummings and I were talking about launching a magazine specifically for Highlands and Cashiers (and all the little communities in between), we knew we wanted to showcase local artists and their creations. 

That’s why we embraced the idea of creating a high-quality glossy magazine to capture their creations in all their sublime glory. With my lifelong passion for photography and our relationship with so many nationally-recognized photographers here on the Plateau, we knew what was possible in terms of coverage and presentation. 

As for our desire to find top drawer artists living and working here, well, that was never going to be a problem.   

That’s why we asked Kevin Vinson to provide our inaugural cover, all those years ago. 

Kevin is a native Highlander and, though he’s modest about his many talents, they demand to be showcased. He’s also the embodiment of what’s best about the Plateau – stop by the Highlands ABC store, where he serves as general manager, and see how easy it is to fall into conversation with him or to lose yourself in one of his stories. 

And that first cover – well, just look at it. 

The explosion of Mountain Laurel blossoms backed by a bed of green, that’s how Janet and I envisioned this magazine springing to life – beautiful in its simplicity, yet inviting you to look closer and be seduced by its underlying complexity. It’s pure and bold, and so eloquently a part of the Plateau. 

Or consider Mase Lucas, our cover artist whose work has graced our pages many times throughout the years. Give that cover a careful look and you’ll discover the complexity that underlies the entire composition. You can autopsy the image and label the components that constitute the entire work, yet through some strange alchemy Mase is able to lace it with something transcendent and vital. 

That’s what we try to do with every issue of The Laurel. Look at the pages of this issue and see if you can detect the subtle balance between our photos and text – each is composed with an artist’s sensibilities. 

Or consider the wise words of our writers. Mary Jane McCall is simply incapable of writing a story that isn’t imbued with a dose of Plateau warmth and optimism. Deena Bouknight can turn a simple trail hike into something rich and strange and resonant, like a Southern Appalachian Mary Oliver. And our Marlene Osteen takes her decades of working with some of the finest restaurants in the country and turns something as simple as a recipe column into a tale that’s wise and witty and imminently readable. 

Even our contributors bring art and color to their work. 

William McReynolds never fails to deliver portraits of our winged neighbors that are animated and passionate. 

And finally, consider the astonishing Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society story featured in our April 2021 issue (you can find it in our archives at thelaurelmagazine.com/archives). 

Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society’s Executive Director David Stroud’s account of his beloved Max is simple and profound (and caused our editor Luke Osteen to “cry great tears upon my keyboard”).

That’s art of the highest level, and it’s something that we’ve been bringing to you since the birth of this Labor of Love.

Please enjoy this issue of The Laurel and never, ever, forget to notice the Art and Beauty that’s all around you.

by Marjorie Christiansen,
Managing Partner, Laurel Magazine