EXPLORATIONSA Publication of Mountain Empire Community College’s Fine Arts Magazine • 2014 Photography • Poetry • Drawings • Paintings • Writings ELCOME to Mountain Empire Community College’s 2014 arts magazine, Explorations. In these pages you will find the nonfiction stories, poems, photographs, drawings and paintings of some of our very talented students and alumni. The artistic style and vision that produce each piece may vary greatly, but all the works represent an artist who’s creative, inspired, engaged with the world, full of curiosity and Wenergy, and eager to reach an audience. On behalf of the entire campus community, we would especially like to thank all the contributors for their willingness to share their talents with all of us. Also, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to the very talented judges, all distinguished in their respective fields, who agreed to judge the entries for us: Ms. Rita Quillen for nonfiction, Ms. Jada Ach for poetry, Ms. Brooke Wonders for short story, Ms. Val Lyle for painting and drawing, and Mr. Mike Smith for photography. Finally, we appreciate the support of the college administration, Student Services, the Arts and Sciences division, the Print Shop, and the Office of Community Relations for their financial support and technical expertise. Explorations Faculty Sponsors: Alice Harrington Brandi Martinez Janet Richards Derek Whisman Mountain Empire Community College JUDGES 2014 MIKE SMITH - Photography Mike Smith was born in Germany but served in Vietnam as a part of the U.S. Army. He earned a BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art and an MFA in photography from Yale University. He is a professor of photography at ETSU, where he has served since 1981. Mr. Smith has published several works in the New York Times, Washington Post, Oxford American and Harper’s magazine, among many others. He has been featured in countless exhibitions all over the country from New York to California and has won several awards for outstanding photography, including the Tennessee Governor’s Distinguished Artist Award. VAL LYLE - Painting and Drawing Val Lyle is an acclaimed artist currently serving as one of the three artists-in-residence at the William King Museum in Abingdon, VA. An adjunct professor of art at Emory & Henry College, Lyle is a graduate of the ETSU MFA program with an emphasis in ceramic sculpture, but her work includes painting and printmaking as well. In addition to her teaching she is currently working on two public sculpture commissions for the City of Bristol. One will be a life size bronze sculpture for the Birthplace of Country Music and the other is a collaborative work of art with Charles Vess as an entrance to the Bristol Public library. RITA QUILLEN - Nonfiction Rita Quillen’s first novel, Hiding Ezra, will be released in 2014 from Little Creek Books. Quillen’ poetry collection, Her Secret Dream, was named the Outstanding Poetry Book of the Year by the Appalachian Writers Association in 2008. A new book of poetry, Something Solid to Anchor To, will be published in 2014. Ms. Quillen was one of six semi-finalists forthe 2012-14 Poet Laureate of Virginia. Her poetry received a Pushcart nomination, as well as a Best of the Net nomination in 2012. She was also a finalist in the 2005 Dana Awards competition. Her previous works include poetry collections October Dusk and Counting the Sums, as well as a book of essays, Looking For Native Ground: Contemporary Appalachian Poetry. JADA ACH - Poetry Jada Ach is currently a doctoral candidate in American Literature at the University of South Carolina- Columbia. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Slice Magazine, Apple Valley Review, Southern Humanities Review, and elsewhere. In 2011 Jada participated in the Dzanc Books/CNC DISQUIET International Literary Program in Lisbon, Portugal. More recently she was awarded a 2012 North Carolina Arts Council Regional Artist Project Grant to help fund a writing program in Lithuania. Three of her poems have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. BROOKE WONDERS - Short Story Brooke Wonders’ fiction has appeared in Clarkesworld, Electric Velocipede, and the Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror 2013, among others. Her nonfiction has appeared in or is forthcoming from Brevity, The Collagist, DIAGRAM, and elsewhere. She reviews for American Book Review and serves as nonfiction editor at new online literary magazine The Account. She will soon be receiving her PhD in creative writing from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Table of Contents Winner of the Mike Smith Award for Overall Most Outstanding Photography .............................3 Color Photography 1st Place - Rohini S. Swaminathan - “Art of Steel”. .4 2nd Place - Kayla Gillenwater - “Memories” ...........................................................5 3rd Place - Rohini S. Swaminathan - “I See Myself in You” . .5 Honorable Mention Lana Kennedy - “Legs”. .6 Pam Shelton - “Leap of Faith” . .6 Nonfiction 1st Place - Lorraine Dresch - “Flight Plan” . .7 2nd Place - Teresa Ward - “Early Morning” . 8-9 3rd Place - Jonathan Perry - “And Then There Were...”. .10-11 Black and White Photography 1st Place - Rohini S. Swaminathan - “Maybe Heaven Will Be Better” .....................................12 2nd Place - Geena Phipps - “Good Day Moon” . .13 3rd Place - Kayla Gillenwater - “Waiting”: ............................................................13 Honorable Mention Geena Phipps - “Reflections of Where My Heart Is” . .14 Rohini S. Swaminathan - “Unanswered Prayers” . .14 Poetry 1st Place - Teresa Ward - “The Gardner” .............................................................15 2nd Place - Stephanie Cassell - “Where I’m From” .....................................................16 3rd Place - Teresa Ward - “Note On The Pillow” . .17 Drawing 1st Place - Jessica Hall - “Eisley” .....................................................................18 2nd Place - Jessica Hall - “Bookshelf”. .19 3rd Place - Kelsey Blanken - “Ghost Town” ...........................................................20 Honorable Mention Holly Hayden - “The Crow’s Nest” . .21 Geneva Church - “Solitary”. .21 Rohini Swaminathan - “Vinyak”. .21 Kristina Padilla - “What You See and I See Are Two Different Things” ...............................21 Garrick Cox - “Broken Palette” .................................................................22 Crystal Willcuts Cole - “Smoke”. .22 Kelci Richelle Lawson - “Wake Up” .............................................................22 Short Story 1st Place - Brandon Whited - “Miller’s Pond” ......................................................23-26 2nd Place - Joseph Collins - “Detours” ............................................................27-28 3rd Place - Matthew Henson - “We Are Primal” . .29-31 Painting 1st Place - Taylin Valentin - “The Wonder of Life” .....................................................32 2nd Place - Jessica Hall - “Girl With a Saxophone” .....................................................33 3rd Place - Crystal Willcuts Cole - “Reflections”. .34 Honorable Mention Crystal Willcuts Cole - “Camouflage” ...........................................................35 Melinda Church - “Aglow” ....................................................................35 Sharmin Merriam - “Banjo” ...................................................................35 Jessica Hall - “Little Bottles Still Life”. .35 Melinda Church - “Lantern” ...................................................................36 Taylin Valentin - “The Pleasure of Life”. .36 Heather Culbertson - “Let’s Turn This Boat Around” . .36 Heather Culbertson - “Alice Ann” ..............................................................36 Explorations Winner of the Mike Smith Award for Overall Most Outstanding Photography Maybe Heaven Will Be Better Rohini S. Swaminathan Spring 2014 | 3 Explorations First Place 2014 - Color Photography Art of Steel Rohini S. Swaminathan 4 | Explorations Explorations Second Place 2014 - Color Photography Memories Kayla Gillenwater Explorations Third Place 2014 - Color Photography I See Myself in You Rohini S. Swaminathan Spring 2014 | 5 Explorations Honorable Mention 2014 - Color Photography Legs Lana Kennedy Explorations Honorable Mention 2014 - Color Photography Leap of Faith Pam Shelton 6 | Explorations Explorations First Place 2014 - Nonfiction Flight Plan Lorraine Dresch here’s a solid, sickening thump on the picture window. I’m ripped violently from the written world lying on Tmy lap. My head turns and my eyes widen to focus on the window, registering a feathered blur in the quick instant before gravity takes the senseless form to the unyielding ground two levels below. The scene is nauseating, ending in mere milliseconds, leaving unanswered questions surfacing in my mind, like goldfish gasping for oxygen in a crowded aquarium. “Did you see that?” I ask Samantha, the staff member on duty at the time. “That bird? Yeah…happens every few days. That’s what we get with these glass walls at River Centre Clinic,” she nonchalantly replies, her Northern accent still sounding foreign to me. But I am completely horrified. I’m too appalled to walk across the navy carpet to the window and gaze downward, searching for a crumpled body, looking for feathers splattered with blood and blanketing a section of damp earth. I would much rather believe the poor creature found its second wings and a warm updraft, or perhaps a soft patch of moss. Who’s to say it didn’t, if I never look? I won’t seal the bird’s fate. I was helpless a