Loose Leaf Notes

We used to go to Asheville more often, but since Josh comes to Floyd 4 or 5 times a year (for holidays and 16 Hands), it had been awhile. 

I knew we were overdue to see the up-cycled landscaping improvements he’s been making to his 3 acre property in rural Marshall County.

My interest was particularly piqued when I saw the Contemplative Labyrinth Garden that Josh sculpted with salvaged roofing material and recently posted on Facebook. So we made the 3 1/3 hour drive, had some night life in the city and then got a tour of the property the next day.  

Josh is a potter but he’s also an artist of other mediums.  He’s known for his fantastic body of work with collage journals, but less known for his masonry artistry.  It’s not a big leap to see how his love of clay bricks and their historic relevance could translate to a love of rocks, which he collects from the property and builds rock walls and rock gardens with. 

Just past the Labyrinth Garden, the Party Plaza is coming together.  Josh pointed out the spot where the pizza oven he’s going to build under a shed roof will go.  There’s seating and a fire pit.  Herbs to garnish the pizza are already growing nearby in raised beds.

Josh and Christy have been planting lots of trees on the property, where three kilns, a studio/showroom and the airstream trailer that Josh stays in when he’s not in town are already housed. 

Perennial flowers also figure in, including the ice plants taking hold between the cracks of the granite slab floor, remnants from a nearby counter top place. 

Joe has helped with past building projects on the property.   He was there for the Tearing Down the House Party, a workday to take down and salvage the old house that was on the property when Josh bought it.  He was also there for the kiln buildings, the kiln shed roof raising (using salvaged materials from the old house), and the building of the studio/showroom, which Joe is looking at here.

Josh calls the rock garden by the creek, The Zone.  It’s an invitation to reflect or to play.

It was a good thing that Christy brought Judah, the little boy she takes care of, because kids are the perfect compliment to the creek, where Josh has plans to make a beach.   

We had snacks in the grass and watched Judah play peek-a-boo in his dinosaur towel.

Then lunch at Zuma Coffee House in downtown Marshall, which Josh describes as “one less street and one more stoplight than Floyd,” before heading home, knowing that our next trip won’t take so long to happen.  

 Read 24 Hours in Asheville Part I HERE.Watch a video peek of the Party Plaza HERE. One of the Rock Garden by the Creek is HERE.