Western North Carolina Mountain Land

This was the first year in the three since I began development at Overlook Brasstown and Overlook Martin's Creek that I had the opportunity to visit the John C. Campbell Folk Schools Fall Festival. Not that I didn't want to go before but we have been busy manicuring North Carolina Mountain Land into today's pristine communities. Needless to say, I headed out on the brisk October 3rd Saturday morning in anticipation of enjoying the day. I had heard the rumors that a minimum expected in the numbers of people was somewhere in the 5,000 range however, I never really and truly believed this as I thought it was being exaggerated. Overlook Brasstown's Summer Art & Music Festival that we hosted drew a 1000 but 5000 seemed like it was impossible. I was definitely wrong.

We arrived at the event to witness the long lines of cars heading in but amazingly the parking attendants were extremely well organized and getting a spot was easy. Then we experienced the long lines of people from everywhere - my father was visiting from Iowa and even he was amazed at the visitors from all over the country. Some had been to the folk school many times over and came back year after year in support of these wonderful artisans and performers. Not to mention the awesome food - some great BBQ pulled pork, homemade ice cream and funnel cakes!

Entering the festival we found ourselves in a maze of outdoor shops along rustic trails and paved walkways. Over 200 juried and non-juried creative folks were on hand selling handcrafted items, paintings, jewelry, pottery, weaving, rugs, woodcarvings, woodturning, furniture, baskets, ironworks, photography and more. Many of the artisans were extremely skilled in their craft. One woman, from Blairsville, makes jewelry from recycled materials such as magazines and coffee filters. Very attractive jewelry and affordable.

The weather was perfect with sunshine and mild temperatures. My father and I enjoyed a bit of the clogging going on in the barn where there was standing room only. From cloggers to church choirs, banjos to bluegrass - there's was a wide variety of entertainment and it was all free.

John C. Campbell Folk School’s resident clay artist, Mike Lalone presented a special “thank you” gift to Overlook Brasstown owner and developer, Blake Twedt. Lalone, representing over 25 artists who attended last month’s “Overlook Brasstown Music & Arts Fest”, created a beautiful glazed piece of pottery as a gift to express a special thanks from all the artists. “We were treated very well,” said Lalone. “They didn’t charge us for booth space, fed us lunch and gave out bottled water all day. It’s a beautiful place to have a festival and most of all, it helped the local food banks.”

Twedt has spent more than two years creating Overlook Brasstown, a 200 acre upscale scenic mountain property near John C. Campbell Folk School. “With our close proximity to the school and Brasstown’s thriving arts community, we want to be a part of it and promote the local arts, heritage and culture any way we can.” said Twedt , “Offering a venue for a music and art festival celebrates that, helps the artists and gives back to this community we are so proud to be a part of.”

Recently completed on the property is a custom designed water mill created from recycled timbers from an old cotton mill. The water mill house, complete with a 12 foot water wheel, includes hand crafted iron hardware on the doors that were created by another Folk School artist, blacksmith Paul Garrett. The structure will serve as the development’s mail kiosk and also as a site to promote local culture and art. “We’d like it to contain old photos of Brasstown and artwork from local artists on the walls, as well as information about the Folk School.” said Twedt, “This is a great way for visitors to get a sense of the arts community that surrounds us and the unique history of Brasstown.”

Photo Caption:

Clay artist, Mike Lalone (left) presents a special thank you gift to Overlook Brasstown owner and developer, Blake Twedt. They are pictured in front of the stone water mill house that is the hallmark of the property.

Be sure to visit our Western North Carolina Mountain Land at Overlook Martins Creek.