How to Paint 100 Days of Badass Women
What's Going On Around WestVirginiaVille | feb3.2021
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1 | One Badass Art Project
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE “100 Days of Baddass Women” mini-documentary and a companion profile of Sassa Wilkes by Connie Kinsey
Sassa Wilkes, an artist based in Barboursville WV, had become a stranger to her easel, stressed and depressed by the pandemic, by Trumpism, by the coming of Winter. When Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in September 2020, Sassa felt the urge to paint again. She stayed up all night, coming to know who this tiny legal legend and beloved icon was by capturing her portrait. As the day dawned, she glanced at a calendar—there were 100 days left in 2020. Why not keep going? Why not do 100 paintings, a nice round number, of portraits of equally badass women? Why not indeed.
2 | An Eagle’s Eye-view of an Iconic Bridge
The New River Gorge Bridge is one of West Virginia's most iconic landmarks. Countless photographs show the dramatic 3,030-foot long span arching almost 900 feet above the frothy waters of the New River. Or it is seen against blues skies and tumbling clouds, framed by the gorge’s craggy grandeur. Recently, WestVirginiaVille chief videographer Bobby Lee Messer headed to the gorge on an overcast day, just as a snowstorm began to blow through. Armed with a new drone, he shot some different footage of the bridge, then composed an original piece of music as soundtrack. We present this short video to “complicate the narrative,” as they say—meaning to add different complexities to a familiar story. In this case, how the bridge might look to an eagle or maybe a god looking down from Valhalla. | VIEW VIDEO
3 | More than just that Civil War
How did West Virginia come to be? It was born from the Civil War, breaking off from the South-sympathizing, slaveholding greater state of Virginia. Right? That is only part of a more complex story, write the authors of the book “Seceding from Secession: The Civil War, Politics, and the Creation of West Virginia” Industrial and labor forces were in play well before the war that would lead to a breakaway state carved out of western Virginia—with essential support from Abraham Lincoln. See John W. Miller’s review of the book, reprinted from Moundsville.org. | READ ON
4 | Winter is Here
We’ve been capturing this winter of our discontent. As we survey the headlines—with trepidation, alarm, and disgust—it is well to recall that scenes such as these below are also happening in the world right now, too. So, here’s some Breaking News from Mother Nature:
Umbrella in the snow. Barboursville WV park. | jan30.2021 | westvirginiaville.com photo
Little-known fact: wood elves store their walking sticks in tree hollows. Barboursville WV park. | feb1.2021 | westvirginiaville.com photo
Reflections. Across from Ritter Park, Huntington WV. | jan.2021 | westvirginiaville.com photo
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