Artist Ashley Dull

One of the things I love about being a writer is all the cool people I get to meet.

Since it's my job to share stories, I often find myself seated across people who've got great stories to tell. More often than not, these people are also doing something they are passionate about.

Ashley Dull is no different. She's a landscape artist who paints with oils. She is enthusiastic about her work, eager to learn about the world and ambitious in how she hopes to change the world.

Her paintings reminded me of Van Gogh and Monet all at once. Her paint is layered on in thick, clumpy strokes that take weeks to dry, and while her images make up a coherent image from far away, the closer you move in, the more blurry the image becomes.

And her colors were amazing. She mixes her own and I must say, whatever color she is using to create her blue skies just amazed me. It is so vibrant!

Water -- A Movie About a Child Widow

I watched a great movie the other night. It was called Water.

The movie took place in India just as Gandhi was starting to gain popularity. It follows an eight year-old child bride whose husband has just died making her a widow.

At the time, widows were rather looked down upon. They were another mouth to feed so many families pushed widows out of their homes. New brides and married women tried to stay clear of widows as they didn't want their bad luck to rub off on them.

This young widowed child bride, then, is forced to move into a house full of widows. Because she is so young, she lacks the social understanding to comprehend what is happening to her.

It was a heart-wrenching tale, but very enlightening. I watched about half of it with the director commentary turned on, so I felt like I learned a lot.

I recommend it for anyone interested in great acting, foreign films, women's rights or India.

Local Minneapolis Travel Planner

While working on a story for the newest issue of Minnesota Bride, I interviewed a woman named Jen Knoch.

She started a business called Radar Concierge and she will plan your Minneapolis night on the town or your Minneapolis weekend stay.

For example, if you're a bride who knows out-of-town guests will be visiting Minneapolis for a long weekend when they come for your wedding, you can contact Jen and she will plan out a bunch of activities for them -- perhaps dinner reservations, some entertainment options and some lists of local exhibits at area museums. Whatever. You tell her what your guests would like and she will plan it.

She also works with travelers who are coming into town for other reasons and looking for things to do.

I thought this sounded like a great job. There have been many times that I've found myself in a city without a guidebook and have wondered what to do with myself while there.

Of course, my bridal story turned out to be a much longer article than just this one bit. If you're interested in the whole thing, you can check it out here:

Minnesota Bride Notebook Winter 2010