Alson Alexander, my granpa, has been my muse since I was a little boy, growing up in North Carolina. He had a few acres of land in Snow Camp, no running water, no electricity, but he had everything we needed to create a life of poetry. In 1996, Sullivan Goss Books & Prints Ltd. published a book of my poetry titled Flying Pimento Cheese Sandwiches. Frank Goss called them "your Carolina poems, we love them here". Michael Douglas, after reading four or five, and after introducing himself, said, "I like your work, are you from North Carolina?" I responded, "Yep, my granpa liked your pop's work." We laughed. You see, my granpa taught me that everything we need to be happy is around us.

But, we have to help the land and the water and the air nurture us. He built his tobacco barn (long before we knew tobacco was not healthy) beside a little cold spring-fed pool. Beside the tobacco barn he planted his watermelon patch. He built two straw ticks -- one for me, and one for him -- left them unclosed on their sides, and put a tin roof over them, held up by four poles. Before we went to bed, he rolled three watermelons into the spring. Each time we woke up to stoke the fire, we pulled a watermelon out of the spring and dropped it on the ground, dug out the heart with one hand and ate it while smearing it across our faces.

When I saw the log house on Mt. Carmel Church Road, I was drawn to it. Then I spoke with Dan Deacon, the owner. He told me that the house had been built from recycled tobacco barn logs.

Pure poetry, in all its forms, arrived in my awareness in that moment.
I knew that Susanna, my wife and other muse, and I must put Bill Hester Fine Art in the log house at 1035 Mt. Carmel Church Road. The house has wood floors, wood ceilings, wood walls, and sits on an acre of green land with large trees. It is perfect for the poetry necessary for the viewing of art.

We will have a grand opening at the gallery on September 26. The event will be titled Two Muses and it will feature the spirit of my granpa in words from Flying Pimento Cheese Sandwiches. Paintings created by my other muse, Susanna Hester, will be featured. Her paintings are sited by the sea in North Carolina and at Winslow Homer's beloved Prouts Neck, Maine.

Each month there will be more news of new painters and sculptors.

We will feature my published poetry at each event. Included will be works published by little poetry presses from across the U.S.A.

Thank you,
Bill Hester