By Mickey Mercier

FAYETTEVILLE — The supernatural mystery Inthralled won prizes for Best of Fest and Audience Choice at the 2025 Fayetteville Film Fest in Arkansas — as the state’s thriving independent-film industry continued its own upward arc.

Also at the Sept. 20 awards, the river adventure Delta County won for Best Narrative Feature at the film festival in Fayetteville, which is known for the University of Arkansas’ Razorbacks sports teams.

The festival happened in the huge public library of Fayetteville, an unofficial capital of the southern Ozark Mountains. The multimedia department features a professional theater. It also houses a working film studio with a soundstage and equipment for video, sound, lighting and editing.

The industrial-grade facilities enhanced some eagerly attended workshops on directing, editing, acting and sound design. Amateur filmmakers mingled with industry pros — brainstorming for future collaborations, exchanging contact information, and trading tips and tricks.

YOU WILL GET CUT!

The cast and and crew of the 2025 documentary Shaken & Stirred: The Story of Flair Bartending provided live entertainment on the main stage. Flair bartending is a performance art which combines juggling, mixology and charisma.

Flair bartending went big time in the 1988 Tom Cruise movie Cocktail. Co-star Bryan Brown advises Cruise to find a rich woman — so Tomcat springs his athletic bartending schtick on Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas).

Trivia: Fans will recall that Aussie icon Brown already had a cult following for his role as a movie special-effects man in the 1986 thriller F/X.

Written and directed by Deborah Richards, Shaken & Stirred follows three Las Vegas flair bartenders as they prepare for a championship competition. One of the cast notes: If you play with glass, you will get cut.

When flair bartenders pour in real-world bars, successful flirting with the customers brings the big tips and dividends.

GO DOWN, DILLER

(Red-carpet photos and text copyright 2025 by Mickey Mercier)

Winners' List and more on Fayetteville Film Fest's Instagram

By Mickey Mercier

EUREKA SPRINGS – After sunset, the darkness comes fast to the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow. Shadowed by a limestone cliff and steep hills, the small campus sits on the edge of an Arkansas tourist town which claims to be haunted.

At the Dairy Hollow Writers’ Colony, visitors hear the click-clack of authors typing on laptops – sometimes with ferocious passion. Writers of all types, from novelists and poets to cookbook writers and memoirists, travel to the colony for semi-solitude, inspiration and rejuvenation. The publish-or-perish academic crowd also frequents the enclave.

This July, a dozen screenwriters gathered at the colony for four days of concentrated writing, collaboration and brainstorming. The Northwest Arkansas Screenwriters Collective organized the seminar for writers in the state’s growing independent-film industry.

Two of those screenwriters currently have films on the festival circuit: Kate Siegenthaler’s My Italian Waiter and DZ Rife’s After the Beep. Ms. Siegenthaler’s new feature-length movie Inthralled won best picture at the 2025 Fayetteville Film Fest later in the year.

The Dairy Hollow Writers' Colony was an additional draw for the screenwriters. It’s a rustic members-only lodge and hangout in the mountain resort town of Eureka Springs. The catch is that guests must submit a writing sample, usually weeks in advance. The tourist town has plenty of other lodging for last-minute visitors and non-writer, however.

Amber Lindley, leader of the screenwriters’ group, has penned festival-winning films like Madelyn Wild and The Sowers. By day, she’s a speech teacher with a lit degree in the college town of Fayetteville, 90 minutes to the southwest. Ms. Lindley is a “script doctor” for hire and produced After the Beep.

Ms. Lindley’s recipe for screenplays, compiled from various sources, is concise and lucid – a series of bite-sized steps that can yield a basic film script for any motivated writer. But most of the screenwriters at the weekend were experienced well beyond the basics.

Ms. Siegenthaler, a full-time psychotherapist who lives in Bentonville, an hour from Eureka Springs, switched to screenwriting from poetry and fiction about 20 years ago. At the retreat, she worked on the script for her next movie – a prequel to Inthralled.

“I loved connecting with other screenwriters and my own work,” said Ms. Siegenthaler, who’s been making short films and documentaries for a decade. She has a lot riding on Inthralled, her first feature film, a thriller about a forbidden book that unleashes a murderous curse.

Richard Width, a new member of the screenwriters’ group, arrived in Northwest Arkansas last year as an established playwright and actor. His 2023 theatrical adaptation of Dracula premiered in New York City – which earned him membership in the exclusive Dramatists Guild.

“The retreat was an inspiration,” said Mr. Width, who lives in Rogers. He formed friendships with other writers and described the atmosphere of the writers’ colony as “a pocket universe.”

He was working on two memoirish projects inspired by his other job in the emotionally intense profession of hospice nursing. One is a pitch for a non-fiction book, the other a movie script he’s submitting for festival judging.

Mr. Width worked for eight years as a staff actor and director at a busy Shakespeare theater in Orlando. Since it competes for attention with famous theme parks, the troupe needs a catchy moniker. Its name is Orlando Shakes, which sounds like a WNBA expansion team. The theater specializes in accessible adaptations of works by the Bard and other classics – spirited productions in which the world-class stage acting might be punctuated by pyrotechnics or showgirls.

A MOUNTAIN HIDEOUT … WITH GHOSTS!

Eureka Springs brims with arts, music, food, rustic lodges and themed festivals. It’s a destination for camping, hiking, bicycling and motor rallies. The town has craft shopping, lots of restaurants and bars, and even a haunted hotel. Halfway between boomtown Bentonville and the theme parks of Branson, it’s the main vacation town in the western Ozark Mountains.

Eureka Springs first became famous 150 years ago for its abundance of clean mineral water. The town sits on a small mountain irrigated by a myriad of streams like a leaky showerhead. An outpost on the westward trek, it attracted thirsty pioneers, dowsers and health nuts – along with the usual outlaws, speculators and shills.

The town’s rapid early expansion is still evident in its crazy patchwork of architectural styles — ornate Victorian mansions sit beside hillside shacks and Italianate villas. Greek Revival, Gothic, and Craftsman houses — and everything in between — line the winding hilly streets. It’s a glorious architectural mess, spilled across the mountainside like mismatched chunks of candy.

The resident population is only 2,200, but the town (formally a city) swells with year-round vacation trade. For decades, Eureka Springs has been a freewheeling haven in the Bible Belt with a fascinating ecosystem of townies and visitors.

…Graying hippies with waist-length ponytails rub elbows with fit, tattooed lesbians in biker bars. Wiccans and hillbillies mingle with sculptors and off-road bicyclists. Reiki masters and rebels. A stray dog howls at a poetry slam. Giant cupcakes! An architecture fan from Boston tinkers with an old Leica camera. Real live tigers! A pilgrim looks for the ginormous Christ of the Ozarks statue. An influencer with a selfie-stick seeks a viral meme – or at least a free latte. Pipefitters and preachers. A bejeweled vacationer seeks a dirty martini after hot yoga. A ham-fisted busker serenades cigar-smoking hot-rodders and Birkenstock grannies with designer shopping bags. Kaleidoscopes for sale!

And if that is not enough, Eureka Springs is haunted – maybe even legitimately. The town has a reputation for ghost sightings, inexplicable noises, flickering lamps, and disembodied hands reaching out of hotel mirrors.

Eureka Springs has gleefully promoted the supernatural theme, turning it into a visitor draw. The town’s even been called the “Halloween City” where the haunting happens all year.

Much of the horror vibe flows from the Crescent Hotel & Spa – an 1886 Romanesque palace built of limestone. It’s a genuinely elegant building that’s informal and a little shabby chic. You can get a room or just take the kids for an afternoon to check out the hotel’s gardens and get a pizza.

The hotel's ghost tour features a basement morgue. It dates to 90 years ago when a deranged quack bought the hotel and promoted it as an asylum. Today, visitors report seeing ghostly nurses wheeling gurneys in the morgue.

Two of Eureka Springs’ biggest horror events come the week before Halloween. The Nightmare in the Ozarks Film Festival runs from Oct. 22 to 25. The New York Times said it’s one of the five best horror-movie festivals. The venue has something to do with that: a century-old 900-seat auditorium where Ray Charles performed.

October 25 also brings the town’s annual Zombie Crawl, which begins at noon and culminates with a costume parade at 6 p.m. It’s for all ages with food booths and a seasonal market. The parade is a celebratory spectacle where make-believe ghouls perform Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” dance.

Despite all this, the Writers' Colony at Dairy Hollow itself is not haunted. You can ask anyone – it's the conventional wisdom. Though the colony’s less than a half mile from the Crescent Hotel, as the raven flies, it has been mostly immune to the freaky goings-on around town.

Shira Fouste, the writers’ colony’s coordinator, allows that some creepy phenomena may have occurred over the years. “Little events, unusual things, but not ghosts,” she said.

Never mind that most of the writers’ suites at the colony are named after dead poets and novelists like Maya Anjelou, Langston Hughes and Marianne Moore.

A SUMMER CAMP FOR WRITERS

The Dairy Hollow Writers’ Colony resembles a summer camp for grown-ups more than the award-winning bed-and-breakfast it used to be. It has a dining hall for gatherings and overflowing bookshelves everywhere. It's a comfortable, lived-in place – something like a country boarding school where the kids get to make the rules.

On weekdays, a concierge-like front desk helps resident writers with pens, pencils and restaurant tips, arranges airport rides and local shopping runs, loans pieces of computer gear, and assists with printing and even package handling. Beyond that, the staff's main function is to provide encouragement and a sympathetic ear to writers-in-residence.

If the writer colony is like a summer camp, then Ms. Fouste is currently the head counselor. She’s attentive, reassuring and even motherly sometimes. “We reflect the character of the town, which is artsy, curious and intimate,” said Ms. Fouste whose family also runs a B&B in town.

The comfort-food cooking of the colony’s Czech-born chef Jana Jones mixes styles like vegan, school cafeteria, and Eastern European grandma. She handles special dietary needs – and can bake. She spreads the 10-foot oak table with a hearty dinner five nights a week. For other meals, the residents can forage in a well-stocked larder or venture to eateries within a mile or two.

The colony has eight writer’s suites in two buildings. The suites include queen-bed sleeping quarters, a refrigerator or kitchenette, and a work area with a desk, power strip, task lighting and wi-fi.

One of the buildings is a big wooden farmhouse that’s been expanded in several dimensions. The other is a massive mid-century masonry home, inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright, which houses a warren of handsome suites. Many of the colony’s rooms have their own porches or patios, and a big party deck can accommodate everyone.

The decor throughout the colony is an eclectic assemblage of old wooden furniture and easy chairs. Handmade quilts and Eastern-style rugs adorn the suites. The dining hall has a massive stone fireplace and a grand piano. And this being Dairy Hollow, it owns an impressive collection of cow pictures, many enshrined in a gender-neutral loo.

The furnishings follow a sort of country bookworm theme that reflects earlier times and a slower life. Many writers find inspiration and productivity there, but some report becoming over excited by the artistic atmosphere, collegiality and park-like environs.

In 2024, more than 250 writers stayed at the Writers’ Colony, said Ms. Fouste. These included a Nobel laureate, a Haiku master, and a local author of lesbian travel-romance novels. However, the colony also welcomes “inexperienced writers and those of all levels who are legitimately working on their craft.” Stays range from two days to weeks – maybe as long as it takes to finish a book when an anxious publisher is paying the room charges.

As a special treat for visitors, summer at the Writers’ Colony brings abnormally loud noises of insects and wildlife. High in the Ozark Mountains, crickets and cicadas chirp and beetles click like broken metronomes. Frogs croak rhythmically with occasional bass notes from bullfrogs. Wild melodies of songbirds soar above. Amplified by surrounding hills, this cacophony is famously beautiful but nearly deafening.

Hiking and cycling are steps away, though the neighborhood is hilly. The trees and terrain are scenic. Animals like deer, squirrels, rabbits, and opossums wander. A trolley service to downtown Eureka Springs stops nearby.

But the purpose of the writers’ colony is for visitors to write. The suites lack televisions for that reason. Nobody says that writers can’t enjoy the attractions of Eureka Springs, but it can seem like there’s some subtle encouragement to keep working instead.

A writer known as Crescent Dragonwagon founded the colony 25 years. Today it’s a registered non-profit organization with a staff of four.

Writers pay an all-inclusive nightly fee that covers much of the colony’s operating costs, according to Jude Gaillot, interim director — who’s writing a trivia book about Eureka Springs himself. The colony also gets grants from private and public sources.

John Hoppenthaler, a writer-in-residence for two weeks, was working on his fifth book of poetry. He said the colony helps him “find time, be alone, and work when I want.” Being there gives him respite from the demands of a university professorship and raising a family.

Professor Hoppenthaler teaches writing and literature at East Carolina University in Greenville. He’s found that writer colonies are useful for getting work done, and he has tried several. “Some are fancier with newer facilities and more amenities, but Dairy Hollow is informal, reasonably priced and has good food,” he said.

This was his second residency at the Dairy Hollow colony. Asked whether it might be even slightly haunted, the poet dismissed the notion with a backward wave of his hand.

SCREENWRITERS’ LOT

The dedication of the screenwriters at the retreat was something of a mystery. As a group, they are successful middle-aged career people with families. They’re highly educated and well adjusted with busy lives. Why do they devote so much time, energy and money to the demanding craft of screenwriting? It pays little to nothing at the semi-pro level and making films yourself can be very expensive.

Dramatic screenwriting is one of the most difficult disciplines in all of fiction writing. The motives of complex characters must be distilled to a few sentences, and individual scenes need to deliver the emotional wallop of a fine short story. In addition to the literary meat, screenplays include concise instructions to the director, actors, and technicians for the movie shoot.

Most of the screenwriters at the retreat seemed to genuinely like to write. Some of them say they do it for artistic fulfillment, to create something of significance, and to earn the admiration of peers.

The work ethic of these screenwriters contrasts sharply with that of certain journalists whose method involves daydreaming, reading newspapers, drinking whiskey, and looking for amusing people to drink with. Eureka Springs, with its many bars and interesting individuals, is an excellent destination for an assignment. The actual writing, however, comes last. It’s an unpleasant obligation performed only under duress – when an impatient editor fumes or a reporter is flat broke.

Ms. Rife poured details of her life and romance into the script for After the Beep. But she knew that editorial changes would come when she relinquished control to director Marc Crandall and his crew. “We needed more conflict which I had not put in the script,” she said. “So, understanding that all movies must have conflict, I was okay with the changes.”

Ms. Rife holds a degree in theater from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and has worked as a professional set designer. As a writer, she won awards for the comedy short Back to Bora and the feature script Riley’s Gift. Another script in progress, To Hell With Manners, had been stuck until she bounced it around at the Dairy Hollow retreat.

In general, a script needs to be flat-out great to attract enough money to produce it (even if the film turns out to be mediocre). That’s why some indie screenwriters produce and fund their own movies – typically short films and documentaries at first because they’re cheaper and easier. Digital equipment and other tech advances have lowered costs and the workload.

“It’s fun, my retirement gig,” said Ms. Rife. “I don’t have to make a living at it and I have a little money to put in.” The latter is a dangerous idea because when writers start paying to make their movies, it can become a costly hobby – like exotic-car collections, Paris shopping sprees, or photo trekking the seven continents.

Some of the screenwriters discussed the “nine-act structure” for romance dramadies like the ones on Lifetime network. Many such scripts script opens with a familiar fish-out-of-water tale: A prim career woman loses her job, moves to a rustic area for a new start, gets drunk at the local bar, and bangs a bearded oaf in a flannel shirt (who eventually turns out to be marriageable). A commercial script like that could bring a good payday – if you can stomach writing it and then manage to sell it somehow.

Commercial success is barely possible. It’s true that some screenwriters have gone overnight from couch surfing in downtown LA to buying a beach house in Malibu. But the odds of that are probably about the same as those for composing a hit song.

For Ms. Siegenthaler, screenwriting is an obsession “It’s an addiction that I can’t walk away from,” she said. “I call it The Bug. Where it originates, I don’t know. Perhaps a childhood experience, or it’s in the blood.

“Film is a powerful medium. Maybe it gives us a voice. Maybe it converts our inner visions to ones that we can share. It’s a dream – and when it comes true, it’s exhilarating,” said Ms. Siegenthaler who spent five years making Inthralled.

MIDNIGHT AT THE WRITERS’ COLONY

A severe thunderstorm came to Eureka Springs on July 10, 2025. The moon was full — a Buck Moon, which is the proper name for a full moon in July. The orb was in a lower summer path where it appeared larger and had an orange hue like a Halloween pumpkin waiting to be carved.

…Dark clouds blow in fast and the first booms of thunder shake the writers’ colony. Lightning rips across the mountains as sideways rain pounds the windows.

A discordant dyad resonates from the piano downstairs. Rain sounds like a gong when it hits the skin of some metal object. Or was that a cat bell? Porch chimes jangle crazily. Who could sleep during hours of this commotion — and the smell of ozone in the hot, humid air?

The Buck Moon storm rages. House lights flicker and computers click and hum as they reboot. The road is a sluiceway for overflow rain gushing down the mountain.

Could those noises be people talking? Is that the low husky voice of Maya Angelou or the reedy rambling of the longer-dead poet Marianne Moore? A few minutes of fitful sleep on a sweaty rumpled bed are all they allow.

The morning is clear and pleasant. Scrubbed by rain, the roadway shines. The collective soul of insects begins to stir and a few birds chirp tentatively. A lone fawn wanders, blinking in the sun.

The writers’ colony may not be haunted, but the night’s delirium left a vision of an endless stream of pages escaping out the windows and flying away:

Purple-prosed short stories with startling payoffs; textbooks that will remain unread; a soliloquy; a road-movie idea scribbled on sticky notes; a devils-food cookbook; the self-confessional novel of an alcoholic sex addict …

Unconventional haiku and disembodied poetics; a bodice-ripping romance paperback; a sex manual typed with two thumbs on a cellphone; a memoir of life with my dog; a hagiography; a new case solved by a series detective — and another try at that damned doctoral thesis ….

The pages twist in the breeze of Dairy Hollow, whirring like a flock of baby bats flying on a leaf-rustling wind — an endless stream of ideas soaring on an updraft, over the mountains and out to everywhere else.

…

(Text and photos copyright 2025 by Mickey Mercier)

By Mickey Mercier

Independent films from Arkansas and around the world landed at the Fort Smith International Film Festival in August 2025 at the convention center in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

The festival included 160 films spread across several auditoriums. Screenings also spilled into Fort Smith’s hip Bakery District and community venues in the Arkansas River shipping port northwest of Little Rock near the Oklahoma border.

Dr. Brandon Chase Goldsmith, executive director, said the festival, now in its fifth year, has found an ideal mix of films. It featured groups of movies made in Arkansas and Oklahoma, U.S. and international films, sections for Indigenous, People-of-Color and LGBTQ+. It also shows music videos, as well as selections from the festival’s sister-city arrangement with Cisterna di Latina, Italy.

……

The prize for best overall film went to Surviving the Spectrum, a short documentary about by autism and suicide by Oklahoma director Carley Marissa Dummitt. It also won for best short doc.

Several films from Northwest Arkansas stood out in the large field of competitors.

Th festival screened the much-anticipated premiere of the new film by Arkansas director Marc Crandall (an early cut had a soft showing in spring).

DZ Rife wrote the 25-minute romantic comedy which spans several decades. Lauren McCullough and Warren McCullough star as would-be lovers. Amber Lindley produced the movie, along with and Zak Heald who also shot it in wide format.

Skilled production design by film veteran Carla Nemec lends pastel undertones which support an atmospheric effect of a slightly altered reality – something of a trademark for this director. It’s a good-looking movie with a standout comic performance by Ms. McCullough.

The Mirror by first-time director Benjamin Harrison won best Arkansas movie. It’s the second festival win for the low-budget action short which stars Jasper Mize, Raeden Greer and Taylor Holbert. It also took best amateur movie at the Rogers Short Film Festival in May. Andrew Jenner wrote the script and Hayden Morris shot the widescreen film in and around Fayetteville. The 30-year-old director alternates compressed storytelling with explosive action to deliver a 12-minute thrill ride.

“Savor Every Moment” is the subtitle of My Italian Waiter, a comedy short on the festival circuit this summer. It features a winsome performance by Cassie Haley as a neglected beauty whose boorish boyfriend (Johnny Bannon) isn’t meeting her needs. But before long, a hunky Italian waiter enters the picture, played by Warren McCullough.

Northwest Arkansas filmmakers Katherine Forbes and Kate Siegenthaler co-wrote the movie and Forbes directed. While the title suggests some major silliness will be afoot, the dialog-driven, well-acted movie sometimes seems more like a dramatic stage play.

Filmed at a residential location and Flora Jean’s restaurant in Little Rock, this movie succeeds on a small budget. “Our goal was to make an engaging, romantic movie that every woman could relate to, and every man could enjoy,” said Siegenthaler.

Trivia: Filmmakers offered the real-life Italian waiter who inspired the film, Sylas Sungenis, the lead role, but he demurred. He chose a supporting part instead

…….

The festival offered a large lineup of panels discussions and how-to sessions. Filmmakers brainstormed for future collaborations, exchanged contact information, and traded tips and tricks.

The event included the MidAmerica Film Market with special workshops and mentoring opportunities for filmmakers.

In a well-attended film-financing panel, producer Kate Siegenthaler spoke of how she broke a glass ceiling for Arkansas independent filmmakers. Her upcoming feature Inthralled managed to qualify for the state film office’s tax credit/rebate program.

In a filmmaking panel, Fayetteville director Jason Pitts discussed the elements that went into his 2025 horror feature The Forest Through The Trees. The movie, which stars Annie Sullivan and James Stokes, has been winning festival awards and is on streaming services.

This Fort Smith festival organizers deserved their own special award for hospitality done right — the filmmakers’ lounge had finger-food buffets and an open bar with top-shelf liquor.

Text and Pauline Angelina photo copyright 2025 by Mickey Mercier

…..

FULL LIST OF WINNERS

Best Overall Film Surviving the Spectrum

Best Overall Short Film The Pretty La Bonita

Fort Smith Proud Club Kinkeads

Best of the River Valley Dunklin

Best International Short Film Amplified

Best Feature Documentary Susan

Best LGBTQ Short Film The Ball

Best People of Color Film Colbert: All Students Can Learn

Best Indigenous Film Keepers of the Coastline

Best College Short Film Submerged

Best Animation In Half

Best Music Video Blood on Your Lips

Best Episodic Space Station Village

Best Narrative Feature Delta County

Best Short Documentary Surviving the Spectrum

Best Thriller Film Palate Cleanser

Best Arkansas Film The Mirror

Best MidAmerica Film Just the Janitor

Best Alumni Film Drowned Land

2025 Top Screener Ronald Nichols

2025 Top Screener Melissa Woodall

2025 Top Screener Rain Story

2025 Top Screener Marilyn Knapp

2025 Top Screener Patrick Conrad

2025 Top Screener Lisa Jan-Bohne’Clay

2025 Top Screener Crissie McBride

By Mickey Mercier

Travis is a rock singer with stringy blond hair, a surly attitude and a drinking problem. He slouches, Marlon Brando-style, on his motorcycle parked in downtown Bentonville, Arkansas. He blows a stream of cigarette smoke – which reeks of rebellion even more today.

Eric Nelsen snarls like a trapped ferret as the frontman of a struggling rock band from Bentonville in the new drama Shakey Grounds, now available on streaming services. Fans might recall his recurring role on the series 1883 – as Ennis, the grinning cowpoke boyfriend of Elsa Dutton who dies defending her in a gunfight.

Shakey Grounds, released in May, is an entertaining, rough-around-the-edges indie movie about an impoverished rock band named the Cuticles. On the cusp of success, they struggle to retain their grungy roots despite pressure to sell out from recording executives. It’s set in Bentonville and was shot on location there.

Shakey Grounds is the first full-length feature for director Michael Garcia of Miami, best known for his music videos of superstars like Sting and Machine Gun Kelly. The film’s cinematographer, Parris Stewart, is also a music-video specialist.

The skanky Travis doesn’t have a steady girlfriend, but he’s in a complicated arrangement with Mel, played by the Australian actor Ella Cannon (iZombie). She’s the band’s manager who also runs the fictional coffee shop Shakey Grounds. (She inherited the cafe from her father, but doesn’t know why he misspelled the name).

It’s difficult for Mel to manage the band in a businesslike way with Travis involved. He’s chronically late, often inebriated, and rude to everyone. There’s also a suppressed romantic attraction. During a moment of candor, Travis asks Mel why his life is so chaotic. She replies: “You’re not complicated, Travis, you’re just an asshole.” Maybe that honesty is where love begins in the music business.

ROCK AND ROLL SUICIDE

On stage, Travis’s demeanor makes Joan Jett look like a debutante. He plays an electric guitar with a tape-stenciled paint job like Eddie Van Halen’s famous axe “Frankenstrat.”

By day, he works in a food truck on A Street. He’s homeless, surrounded by prosperity in the thriving northwestern Arkansas city. The role is similar to Nelsen’s earlier part on The Affair – as Bram, a druggie surfer on wealthy Long Island who torments series star Joshua Jackson in season four. The dinged Montauk surfboard has been swapped for a beat-on EPS Viper guitar.

Worse, Travis’s former bandmate and brother-in-law Steven committed suicide some time ago after consuming drugs supplied by Travis. That tragedy left the band a trio and Travis with a crushing load of guilt. His unreliability risks the loss of the band’s only source of income, a regular gig at a bar in Rogers.

Travis’s scruffy leather-jacketed band isn’t much to look at either, but they can lay down a monster sound. In an interview, director Michael Garcia said he chose to cast professional musicians for the drummer and bassist instead of actors.

Three original songs in the film were produced by the hip-hop group ¡MAYDAY! with member Bernardo Garcia acting the part of Clint the bass player. The Cuticle’s sound is a tasty soup of early rock, grunge and rap. Only three original songs are in the movie, but they alone almost justify seeing it.

Two competing music executives travel to Bentonville to sign the band. One shady producer hands Travis the keys to a new Harley as a pre-signing gift. Band manager Mel, whose legs sport tattooed sleeves, flirts with another big-city producer (Jonny Danks). She insists that he buy a flannel shirt and work boots at the great Helping Hands Thrift Store. (Maybe the out-of-town filmmakers didn’t know it, but real Bentonville newcomers have used this tactic for blending in.)

With Travis on the verge of drug-fueled nervous breakdown, the Cuticles are already at risk of breakup when yet another disaster strikes. The band and Mel must deal with a life-altering situation – on the very day of a showcase concert at the famous Meteor Guitar Gallery in Bentonville.

ON LOCATION - NWA

Shakey Grounds was shot on location in Northwest Arkansas in winter 2023-24. A little snow on the ground lends some grit to Bentonville’s smooth new streets. The production bosses and primary actors flew in, but the movie employed dozens of trained locals from the growing Arkansas film industry.

Michael Garcia estimated that 80 percent of the labor and craft gigs were filled by technicians from Arkansas – electricians, grips, carpenters, makeup and hair, drivers, etc. Many locals appear in this movie as extras, especially in the concert scenes.

“The local crews were extremely professional and qualified,” said executive producer Jack Sattin of New Jersey. “In addition to hiring local actor and crew talent, we spent money for such things as hotels, restaurants, rental vehicles, gasoline, real estate sites, groceries and banking.”

The production received nearly $139,000 in tax credits or rebates from the state, according to a published report. That subsidy is low compared to other film projects across the U.S. However, Sattin said it was “one of the primary reasons we filmed in Arkansas.”

A CHALLENGING FORMULA

The 82-minute runtime of Shakey Grounds is concise (for a change!) but maybe at the expense of the story in this case. A few more scenes might have helped. It would be nice to know more about the other two band members. A flashback could reveal something about the deceased Steven and his relationships with the survivors. And a little private time for Mel and Travis might have warmed their tepid chemistry.

In the story by screenwriter Trace Slobotkin, a sub-plot explores Travis’s relationship with estranged niece Lisa (Total Eclipse series star Mackenzie Ziegler). A trust develops as he teaches her to play guitar and rescues her from a risky situation.

In a five-minute cameo, Eric Roberts (Star 80) portrays a third disreputable music executive. The veteran character actor’s performance is precisely what fans have come to expect in recent years.

Movies about fictional rock bands and their struggles are a challenging subgenre for directors. For starters, it demands especially charismatic performers and new, exciting music. Even harder to capture is a rock ’n’ roll spirit that’s fierce and true – but elusive as coolness itself. The Shakey Grounds filmmakers deserve respect for even attempting this.

Memorable successes in the mold include 1983’s mysterious Eddie and the Cruisers, Cameron Crowe’s semi-autobiographical Almost Famous and Tom Hanks’ agreeable That Thing You Do. Other attempts floundered, like Michael J. Fox’s confused Light of Day and the appalling Rock of Ages with Tom Cruise as a shirtless hair-metal god. The 2023 mini-series Daisy Jones and The Six was a disappointing, even with the superstar cred (and acting chops) of Elvis’ granddaughter Riley Keough (American Honey) in the title role.

Shakey Grounds sits somewhere in the middle, in the space between a shoestring indie effort and a well-funded mainstream project with brand-name stars. It aspires to big dramatic and romantic payoffs. It’s a fun though formulaic movie that makes you want to cheer for the underdog band. It has some eye-opening original music and special appeal for rock fans and Arkansas audiences.

Shakey Grounds proves that the rock ‘n’ roll dream survives – even on the cold, gritty streets of Bentonville.

Text copyright 2025 by Mickey Mercier

By Mickey Mercier

The family drama Toots won the top award at the Rogers Short Film Festival in May, which showcased the works of filmmakers from Arkansas and far-away places like Berlin and Ukraine.

In addition to screening dozens of new and significant short films, the event at the 2nd Street Studio in downtown Rogers buzzed with creative energy. Filmmakers brainstormed for future collaborations, exchanged contact information, and traded tips and tricks.

Directed by Chris Alan Evans, Toots depicts the close relationship between a mother and son from the moment of his birth until her death decades later. As the mother's health declines from Parkinson's disease, the son struggles as her caregiver. Pam Dougherty and Logan Sledge star in the 12-minute film.

Evans and the film’s director of photography/colorist Alexander Jeffery are part of the El Dorado-Shreveport enclave of filmmakers who make many fine indie movies. Clayton Henderson’s Fast was another example shown at the Rogers festival.

The Mirror by Fayetteville director Benjamin Harrison rocked the audience like an amphetamine blast. The premiere screening of the low-budget thriller won the festival prize in the amateur category.

The story involves a criminal conspiracy to spring a murderer from police custody. Director of photography Hayden Morris shot the movie in wide letterbox format at locations in and around Fayetteville. Andrew Jenner wrote the screenplay, which seems like the 12-minute denouement of a full-length picture.

It features convincing performances by Jasper Mize as a deputy with a hangover and an assault rifle, Taylor Holbert as a creepy serial killer, and Raeden Greer as a desperate news reporter caught between them in a bloody gunfight.

Despite a couple of rough spots, the various aspects of the film mesh well. Special effects, props, sound and editing are terrific. A sparse guitar score by Brooklyn composer Noland Vannoy complements borrowed songs from the Brudi Brothers and Fayetteville singer-songwriter Ashtyn Barbaree.

This is the first dramatic film for director Harrison who made some earlier documentaries and is a professional prop master in the film industry. Next he’s planning a full-length feature called The Robbery.

……

The two-day festival, in its fifth year, took place at 2nd Street Studio, a commercial soundstage in downtown Rogers. In 2025, it showed 50 films, nearly twice as many as the first year. The festival also offered classes in screenplay writing, casting and film finance.

In earlier years the Rogers festival was at the Victory Theater, built in 1927, which was damaged by a tornado that hit the Northwest Arkansas city in May 2024. Barry Cobbs, festival director, said he hopes the theater will be repaired in time for next year.

Cobbs was impressed by the level of craftsmanship in this year’s films. “There was a more holistic approach that involves every element of filmmaking.” he said. “Lighting design, props, production design, acting – everything in the frame should move the story forward. It’s amazing what they do with small crews.”

In the future, he hopes the festival will attract a larger number of movie submissions and offer more filmmaking classes.

A wall-sized screen composed of smaller flat-panel monitors displayed the films. The venue was somewhat small for several hundred filmmakers and paying customers, but that encouraged more social interaction. And the bar was decent, with $6 mixed drinks and free coffee by the Onyx Lab.

…..

Director Cole Borgstadt’s Mudpuppy begins and ends with the deliriously gorgeous cinematography of Jenna Huskisson, the film’s director of photography. It won the category of best professional film.

Mudpuppy is visual poetry as much a narrative drama, alternating between color and black and white. It’s a generational saga that meanders into nature documentary with picturesque scenes of the Buffalo River region of Arkansas. Then it comes alive with action footage from the Rodeo of the Ozarks in Springdale.

The film also disputes the myth of hyper-gendered masculinity in professional rodeo. Stars are Leeroy Crossland and Barry Clifton. Borgstadt is a Northwest Arkansas native now making films in California.

Buyer’s Remorse is a five-minute comedy from Little Rock by Ben Aaron. “It’s a comment on the absurdity of lengthy packaging info,” the director said.

Aaron shot the movie at Stratton's Market, which he chose partly for its natural light. An unhinged customer, played by Johnnie Brannon, enters the store and proceeds to read aloud the lengthy fine print on a bag of candy.

Nora B. plays the store cashier who listens cheerfully for a while, but becomes increasingly annoyed by the verbose customer. The audience begins to identify with the unfortunate cashier as she grows frustrated by the boring, ad nauseum recitation of arcane packaging text.

One could almost say that Buyer’s Remorse is a rare – possibly unique – film intended to irritate the audience and make them want it to end. “I had no real goals in mind,” said director Aaron. “I just wanted it to be fun and absurd.”

Aaron, a professional video producer and editor, said he has already shot his next short film. It’s about a man standing on a bridge, ready to commit suicide by jumping off. Nora B., who’s also known as the musician Princeaus, composed the score.

Nowhere’s the Place to Be is a quiet film about a college-age man and woman who drive a van to an outdoor music festival. They’ve been looking forward to a fun weekend. But they arrive at the rural site to learn that the concert is cancelled.

Regardless, they find a way to have a good time. They go hiking in the woods, make a camp, build a bonfire and eat snacks from a gas station.

Outwardly, the film is about taking life as it comes, living in the moment, and making the best of whatever you get.

On another level, the film depicts a friendship on the cusp of becoming a romance. The two young people are in love with each other but haven’t quite realized it yet. That lends the movie an innocent eroticism.

This 12-minute film by Maddie Welborn competed in the category for post-secondary students.

The crowd-pleasing sports film The Fundamentals by Kyle Yazzie was made in Bentonville. It’s about an adolescent girl (Mia Carney) discovering her exceptional talent for basketball. Her father (Gabe Williams) tutors her in the fundamentals of the game

Whispers of Freedom is a fact-based drama from Germany directed by Brandon Ashplant. Set in 1989, it tells the tragic story of Chris Gueffroy, who was killed in one of the last daring attempts to escape East Germany by climbing the Berlin Wall. He mistakenly thought that the shoot-on-sight order had expired as Communism crumbled in eastern Europe. The film features Wendy Makkena, a well-known harpist and ballet dancer from New York City who appears as Gueffroy’s mother.

And finally the Ukrainian movie Before the Dawn by Alexander Denysenko is not about the current war. It depicts Slavic mysticism and unspeakable tradition in a 19-century thatch-roofed village.

The full list of winners is here: https://rogersshortfilm.org/#winners

Text copyright 2025 by Mickey Mercier.

Recently I went on a magazine assignment to write about Arkansas artist Monica Moore’s "Hearts Project.” The full article is in the hard-copy edition of The Idle Class magazine this month.

“The Hearts Project: A Covid-19 Memorial” is a remembrance of approximately 13,000 Arkansans who died from the COVID-19 pandemic. The project comprises 2,700 hand-cut paper hearts, each symbolizing a life lost, arranged in multi-colored geometric patterns. Three six-foot wooden frames contain the hearts.

Shown here is Monica Moore with one of the three large collages. (Photo copyright 2025 Mickey Mercier).

By Mickey Mercier

BENTONVILLE — “The Forest Through the Trees,” a campy new horror movie by Arkansas director Jason Pitts, is sweeping awards at film festivals and heading toward streaming platforms.

Pitts led a determined crew of 30 filmmakers who shot the feature-length movie in three weeks. The low-budget indie effort premiered at a sold-out theater in Fayetteville this January.

It’s a supernatural monster movie depicting a bloody battle between a working-class family and the bird demon Malphas – who is second in command of Hell only to Satan.

The film won the prize for best horror movie at the 2025 Santa Barbara Film Festival in California. It received a half dozen awards at Italy’s Florence International Film Festival including best director, actor, actress and screenplay.

The movie will play at the Rock City Film Festival in Little Rock in May. In June, it will run at Cleveland’s Horror Hotel film festival. Pitts said New Jersey distributor BayView Entertainment will represent the film for the commercial market.

FAST FOOD AND STRAIGHT WHISKEY

A beloved wife and mother runs away from home after receiving a cryptic summons in a flower delivery. Her twenty-something daughter Chloe, played by Annie Sullivan, and husband Ken are bereft. Ken gorges on fast food and bangs shots of whiskey at a tavern. Chloe’s in bed, snogging with tattooed gf Eva (played by scene-stealing Alivea Disney).

A deranged leader of a demonic bird cult, Julian, lurks in the dim barroom. Played by Scott Doss, he looks like a cross between Freddy Krueger and the Spy vs. Spy character from Mad magazine.

Events lead Chloe and Eva to a rustic cabin where the bird cult binds them with chains. Chloe is afflicted from birth with heterochromia – one blue eye and one brown. The cult wants to sacrifice Chloe because her mismatched eyes are a portal for summoning the bird demon. The altar awaits – with a blood chalice, crocodile head, incense and horns.

Ken, played by James Stokes, is on the trail of the missing women. Cultists bludgeon him with a crowbar and bury him alive. Ken digs himself out and unleashes B-movie backwoods revenge on the villains. He isn’t above ripping out their fingernails with pliers.

This movie has no guns, for a change. However, that’s made up for by the knives. The production had its own knife maker, Jonathan Nichols. Ken and his cultist adversaries all brandish impressive daggers.

The muscular, tatted Ken takes to the pale cultists with a machete. The carnage commences – neck snapping, impaling, decapitating, disemboweling, throat-cutting mayhem. The detailed work of half-dozen special-effects artists led by Sahlah Tepes depicts eye-melting gore.

The party is just getting started as missing mother Kathy reappears. Plenty of plot twists and bloody action are still to come in the 107-minute feature as Chloe struggles to find the forest through the trees.

FREDDY KRUEGER, ROLE MODEL

Director Jason Pitts was a horror fan from childhood. One influence was the first “Nightmare on Elm Street” movie by Wes Craven.

“Forest Through the Trees” is the first full-length feature for Pitts. His earlier efforts include the 60-minute horror pic “Voorhees Night of the Beast” in 2021 and a well-received 2022 short “When the Stairs Creak.”

Pitts, who lives with his family in Fayetteville, keeps his technical skills sharp as a television director for 40/29 News. He earned a degree in television and film from the University of North Texas in Denton.

Horror has always been an early-career genre for filmmakers because it has legions of enthusiastic fans. With luck, “Forest Through the Trees” could find a large streaming audience if it delivers the suspense and gore those fans expect.

The movie required a cast and crew of around 30 people – actors, photographers, sound and light techs, designers, graphic artists, prop masters, producers, writers … and assistants for everything. They shot the movie at locations like Siloam Springs and Clifty. The cost was around $80,000, Pitts said.

Pitts was effusive in acknowledging the skilled crew who filled some gaps in his own skills. Arkansas is on the map for its local filmmaking talent – creatives, cinematographers, technicians. They come from drama and technical programs at University of Arkansas and other colleges. There’s a screenwriting support group and a cinema society. A constant flow of new movies, festivals and events happens around the state, from El Dorado to Rogers. Independent studios are popping up.

Filmmaking’s potential needs to be better understood and nurtured by state leaders. Successful homegrown productions like “Forest Through the Trees” help make that case.

AN INGENUE’S JOURNEY

When Jason Pitts offered Annie Sullivan the lead role in his horror film, she was wary. “I wasn’t sure if I was the right person for the role,” she said. “I was a scaredy-cat growing up.” She was afraid of ghosts, of the unknown, and of feeling out of control.

A University of Arkansas graduate in theater performance, Sullivan lives in Los Angeles. Her career is going well, with supporting roles in Lifetime and Amazon productions. Her next project is playing a public-relations flak for a misbehaving football star.

Sullivan has acting chops and blue-eyed, dimpled good looks. She’s an athletic 5’8” brunette whose smile is something special. Between roles, she’s a server, along with some other actors, at the Taiwanese restaurant Din Tai Fung.

She arrived in LA at the time of Covid lockdowns, fires and industry strikes. But the larger struggle was more personal, she said. Actors need to believe in themselves and project confidence at packed auditions. They must handle rejection without taking it personally.

She’s from Dallas and studied abroad at Shakespeare’s old Globe Theatre in London. The students were allowed a single rehearsal on the historic boards. “It was surreal to be on the stage where so many legends have performed,” she said.

Sullivan returned to Arkansas to shoot “Forest Through the Trees.” It was her first film as the top-billed actor – even though the movie turned out to be an ensemble piece with a half-dozen leads. And it was the first time she confronted a demon – on camera at least.

Much of the grueling shoot was at night, and she became sleep-deprived. That somehow helped her to feel less inhibited during terrifying scenes. She was pushed around, tied up and threatened with blades. She wore prosthetic contact lenses that obstructed her vision. “You need to give a guttural scream from your stomach – let yourself go and not overthink it,” she said.

In the end, Annie Sullivan’s work on “Forest Through the Trees” earned her a taste of movie glamor. Now almost famous, she returned to her college town of Fayetteville on a chilly winter evening. Flushed with excitement and cold, she posed for photos in a low-cut red dress outside the theater. Her name was on movie posters at the premiere of her first movie as a leading lady.

“It was overwhelming in a good way,” she said.

FUN WITH FILMMAKING

With “Forest Through the Trees,” director Jason Pitts has proved that he can show-run a big production and deliver a full-length movie. He’s most proud of the twisty, heterochromia-themed script he wrote with co-author Charlie Brady who was also director of photography.

Startling sound effects complement a resonant musical score by Italian composer Simone Cilio. A hard-rock theme song by Norwegian-born guitarist Kjetil Landsgard sets a mood.

As in any splatter movie, the special effects are critical. The gore in this movie is shocking and screamworthy, not simply disgusting.

The centerpiece of the sacrificial altar, a longhorn steer’s giant horns, was splashed with too much fake blood during filming. Production designer Carla Nemec had to use a special industrial bleach to remove the stains before returning the prop to the collector who loaned it to the production

The man-sized villain wears a decent crow costume with a creepy head made by Tony Buck.

The film avoids the horror-movie deathtrap of taking itself too seriously. It has an over-the-top spirit, and the filmmakers seem to have had fun making it. That fun leaks to viewers.

Most important, “Forest Through the Trees” maintains suspense until the finale – and that’s a bloody accomplishment.

Text copyright by Mickey Mercier.

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A filmmaker and her subject grew closer during production of Vanishing: A Love Story which had a preview screening at Yale University on April 8. ABOVE: Documentary director Sandra Luckow (left) with the late Cai Emmons (contributed photo).

New Haven Independent arts editor Brian Slattery reports:

‘But as Emmons herself promised, Vanishing ​“is not about the moment of death,” Luckow said. It’s about the way Emmons lived her life, right up to the end, driven to experience as much as possible, arms and mind wide open. And, Luckow said, ​“it’s about her having the agency to do what she wants to do.”’

Full article here: A Full Life Through Death

Wilderado, the Tulsa indie-rockers headed for Bonnaroo and Red Rocks this year, stormed the Momentary in Bentonville with a crowd of road-tripping hometown fans — the type of fans who dance and know the lyrics to the group’s original songs.

Wilderado was the Feb. 8 headliner at the Send It South Bike & Music Festival with three days of winter riding on the area’s 500 miles of bicycle trails. Other acts included the OKC dream punks Stepmom and Bonnie Montgomery, a country music bad-girl from Little Rock.

Wilderado, rooted in folk and country as much as rock, sounds something like Wilco with the sweet harmonies of the Jayhawks. Other influences breeze through their sound – some jam band and an occasional hint of invasion pop. They could also be called an Americana act.

After a decade of paying dues in Oklahoma, the band is on the verge of wider fame. Wilderado is embarking on a nationwide festival and club tour to support its 2024 album “Talker.” Stops include Nantucket with a finale at Red Rocks in October. They appeared on CBS television, and sang a Richard and Linda Thompson song on the soundtrack of last year’s disaster movie “Twisters.”

At the Momentary, the band played a polished 90-minute set with material from the new album and their eight-year catalog of singles and EPs. The performance was well-paced and entertaining, with the band fulfilling its reputation for engaging an audience.

Singer-songwriter Max Rainer, Wilderado’s frontman, was rustic in voice and wardrobe. He and writing partner/second guitarist Tyler Wimpee cycled through a stable of vintage axes, including hollow-body electrics. Justin Kila is the third longtime member and vocalist whose drumming was crisp and concise. Despite its folkiness, the band often deploys quick, driving beats.

Avid fan Hayden Peters, a Tulsa native now working in Northwest Arkansas, said the concert was “tuneful and soulful.” A follower since 2018, he remarked that Wilderado is “unlike anything else I’ve heard out of Oklahoma including the Flaming Lips.” He enjoys the band’s unusual lyrics and “borderline psychedelic folk.” Peters departed the venue holding a set list autographed by Max Rainer.

Both the audience and band enthused about the excellence of the sound system in the Momentary’s RØDE House music club. Distortion-free and warm while plenty loud, the setup was perfect for Wilderado’s vintage instruments and melodic vocals. The light show was immersive with multiple small spotlights and waves of shifting, shimmering colors.

After the concert, Wilderado’s merch table was mobbed – a promising sign for any up-and-coming band on the road.

Story and photo copyright 2025 by Mickey Mercier.

Ed Askew, a Yale-educated painter who achieved wider renown as a singer-songwriter, died in New York City on Jan. 4, 2025, at age 84. The venerable music publication NME described him as a ​“psychedelic folk musician.” People magazine called him a cult figure.

I knew Ed Askew since I was a kid. I was at the large outdoor concert in the 1970s at Southern Connecticut State University where he was one of several featured acts. Ed was seated, singing and and playing the Tiple, when an equipment malfunction struck. One of the legs of his stool broke, sending him sprawling on the stage.

Probably high at the time, I thought, Now I understand why he’s is called “askew.”

Ed and his friend Bob Melzmuf gave me this self-portrait of Ed (above) when we were neighbors on Quinnipiac Avenue in New Haven in about 1990. We had fantastical apartments on the riverfront just south of the Grand Avenue Bridge.

Here’s an obituary of Ed Askew that I wrote for the New Haven Independent.

New Haven Independent - Askew Obit

The new Arkansas-made horror movie “The Forest through the Trees” premiered at The Auditorium in Eureka Springs on March 22, 2025.

The movie concerns a father and daughter searching for their missing wife and mother. The trail leads to a terrifying encounter with a demonic cult. Lead actors are Annie Sullivan, James Stokes and Scott Doss.

This is the first full-length feature for Jason Pitts of Fayetteville, Arkansas the film’s director, writer and producer. His earlier efforts include the 60-minute horror pic “Voorhees Night of the Beast” in 2021 and a well-received 2022 short “When the Stairs Creak.”

The Eureka Springs show caps a trifecta of premieres for “The Forest through the Trees.” It also screened in Fayetteville and Hot Spring earlier in 2025.

Above: “Forest Through The Trees Star” star Annie Sullivan in a scene from the movie. (Contributed photo).

On the morning of her 100th birthday, January 17, 2024, Arkansas artist Mary Louise Talbert awoke in her small wooden house in West Fork. She began to paint – as she has done countless times in eight decades as a working artist.

Talbert also rested with her cat in anticipation of what she knew would be busy days ahead. The next evening, more than 250 friends and patrons honored her at a 100th birthday celebration at The Medium in Springdale.

More accolades followed. On August 15, Talbert’s solo exhibition opened at the Apollo on Emma in Springdale. A one-woman show was an achievement that she had long worked toward.

And on October 13, a documentary film about her life, “The Timeless Canvas: A Century of Mary Talbert,” debuted at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

Public recognition of Talbert’s work eluded her in earlier years, but was abundant in 2024. “It’s hard to believe this is happening,” she said. “I’m thankful, but overwhelmed. My life’s work has been validated.”

AN AMERICAN LIFE

Mary Louise Rau was born in Topeka, Kansas, on January 17, 1924 – halfway between World War I and the Great Depression. She grew up in Atchison, Kansas with two brothers, the daughter of railroad man Frederick John Rau and his wife Pansy, a homemaker.

Mary wanted to be an artist from an early age. “I couldn’t wait for the first day of school because I heard that every pupil would receive a watercolor set,” she said.

After graduating from Atchison High School, she couldn’t afford art college. She moved to Kansas City and landed a job folding paper at the Hallmark Cards company in 1942, when it was still named Hall Brothers.

Mary persisted in asking her bosses for illustration work. She finally got her wish when the company licensed the Bambi character from the Walt Disney Company for a line of greeting cards. Disney sent some celluloid transparencies for reference. In the early days of animation, these “cels” were the Disney drawings for individual frames of motion cartoons.

For the greeting cards, the animals were required to be close copies of the Disney figures, but Mary was free to add scenery such as forests, rocks and ponds. She drew the nature scenes in several layers for color-separation plates.

From then on, Mary was a professional artist with a career spanning 80 years in commercial and fine arts. She worked at Hallmark for two more years, contributing to projects like framed samplers with positive messages.

In 1944, Mary left Hallmark to marry Joe Bruce Talbert from Colorado. She took his last name, and they had three children: John, Gerald and Linda. During this period, she concentrated on raising her family.

However, she still painted for pleasure and earned a little money drawing pictures of peoples’ pets. She also contributed to a public-art project in Atchison, which had been decimated by a flood. Artists painted pictures on boarded-up store windows to beautify the downtown.

Talbert and her family struggled financially in Kansas. In the early 1970s, they relocated to Northwest Arkansas where her husband’s family owned land. They tried farming but found it difficult, and their finances didn't improve much.

Talbert continued to paint in Arkansas. Her paintings sold well at craft shows, but were usually rejected for juried competitions. For a time, she and her husband Joe made large-scale glass etchings, framed and lighted, for sale to institutions like hospitals. They used the proceeds to buy land.

Joe died in 2003. Later, in one of life’s bittersweet twists, their daughter Linda, once estranged, reconciled with her mother at the 100th birthday celebration in 2024. Sadly, Linda died only two weeks later.

Talbert said that one of her early obstacles was a lack of interaction with other artists. Later she received support and companionship from groups like Artists of Northwest Arkansas and Golden Creatives. She still drives her 2009 Chevrolet Impala to the West Fork fire department hall where local artists gather to work and collaborate every week.

“I always wanted to be good enough at art that someone would buy it,” she said, adding that validation from peers is nearly as fulfilling as selling a piece.

ARTISTIC COMMENTARY

Talbert has worked in watercolor, pastel, pencil, acrylic, etching and photography. Along the way, she completed occasional art classes, including ones with the Pastel Society of America and the University of Arkansas.

“I don't care for oil paints, because I’m too impatient to wait for the layers to dry,” she said. Nowadays, she favors pastel pencils, believing they give her the most control since the onset of arthritis.

Among her influences, she lists Monet, the Wyeths, and John Salter, a magazine illustrator from Atchison who specialized in scenes of daily life. Talbert’s strongest work includes acrylic landscapes that employ precise perspective and bold colors. Her hazy impressionist pastels of people playing and working are especially appealing. The accessible style of a former Hallmark illustrator makes the scenes feel instantly familiar.

Stan Dark, president of Artists of Northwest Arkansas, said: “Mary Talbert is a natural, self-taught artist. Her sunsets, barns, pastures, horses, and florals portray a sense of peace and harmony. She seems to know exactly where she is going.”

The perspective of an arts educator was provided by Dr. Evelyn Jorgenson, former president of Northwest Arkansas Community College and Moberly Area Community College. She said: “Mary Talbert's impressionistic, yet boldly colorful paintings of people, animals and scenes of everyday life are moving to both the trained and untrained eye.”

Talbert described her approach this way: “The essence of a painting is a story – of a person, place or event that gives pleasure like a parade that your grandson was in. It’s not something that might be lost like a snapshot in the Cloud.”

For a centenarian artist, perhaps the remembered images of a long life exist in sort of an internal Cloud, like cascading layers of paint on canvas.

Photo by Carla Nemec, who also contributed to research for this article.

An earlier version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Idle Class magazine.

For more on Mary Talbert, see the documentary “The Timeless Canvas: A Century of Mary Talbert” on YouTube. Dennis Figueroa and Craig Pasquinzo directed the 19-minute film for Springdale Public Schools, Don Tyson School of Innovation.

With his blazing guitar album gaining international attention, 15-year-old blues prodigy Taj Farrant is coming into his own.

Farrant is currently on a U.S. tour to promote his 2024 album “Chapter One.” Recent appearances included Lollapalooza in Chicago and the Meteor Guitar Gallery in Bentonville. The Meteor has been one of the young artist’s early supporters, and that’s where I shot these cell-phone pictures in late 2024.

Taj Farrant has been performing since he was nine years old and barely able to lift a Stratocaster. He was something of a novelty act until recently. Now he has matured into a wispy young man in dreadlocks and a floppy hat. His busy, warp-speed soloing is reminiscent of earlier teen blues sensations like Jonny Lang and Joe Bonamassa, both of whom mellowed somewhat with age.

Farrant’s “Chapter One” album and some of its singles have reached top positions on streaming services and the U.S. and Australian blues charts. The well-produced album delivers all the raw testosterone listeners expect from a teen player.

Several hard-rocking originals like “2x2” and “House Always Wins” are mixed in with a couple of jazzy and ballad-style songs. An obligatory cover of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Tightrope” features high-wire solos.

Bonamassa has said that rising blues guitarists face a choice of paths. The difference between being a high-earning headliner or a perennial sideman can be the ability to deliver a convincing vocal performance in front of an audience. That requires dedication and practice for young performers like Farrant who sings on all the album’s songs.

The album is good, but Farrant’s live show is badass. Playing in bare feet and wearing baggy surfer clothes, he shreds at warp speed. Farrant displays the tech savvy of Gen Alpha in torturing his guitars and effects boxes for his original songs as well as new interpretations of Hendrix and Prince standards He’s often backed by a rowdy trio of hired guns from Missouri.