Each of the Gargoyle Bells born at Aesthetic Alternatives Art Studio has its own personality, purpose and name. Their faces are unique, some comical and others serious, and they all have their own voices. Although artist Dawn Malosh accidentally stumbled into creating these creatures while making a simple pinch pot in 2001, their beginnings harken back to medieval times when gargoyles were placed on cathedrals throughout Europe to ward off evil spirits from entering the churc

A bishop and a rabbi walk into a restaurant. This may sound like the opening of a joke you have heard, but it is the reality of friendship for two local men. One plays the marimba, drums, and the piano; the other is a former symphony orchestra executive and producer/host of an NPR syndicated classical music show. In the end, however, it was their intellectual curiosity and search for knowledge that 10 years ago formed the friendship between Anglican Bishop Joel Marcus Johnson

Photo by Walter Bowie It’s 7:30 on a ridiculously gorgeous Thursday night in June. At a wrought iron table on the patio of MaGerk’s, a bustling Baltimore sports bar, sit Mike Buccino and Marc Dykeman of The High and Wides, an up-and-coming bluegrass group with its roots in Kent County. Buccino is wearing a navy baseball cap and an unassuming gray camp shirt. Dykeman is wearing a subtle Western shirt in faint blue and high-waisted pants with a fist-sized belt buckle. Buccino o

Will White, 28, is the social one, chatting it up or telling stories with clients aboard his Easton-based, Tilghman-bred Kinnamon, Shore Feels Right. Will is the one who will remember the expression of the toothless seven-year-old from Baltimore who caught a fish, before he will remember the fish. While Will entertains, one of his brothers, Adam, 22, or Matt, 25, pilots. Owning a fishing charter seems like a dream, but with earthly rewards of an honest living and cooler full

This month's featured photography submitted by our local readers. Send your photos to submissions@shoremonthly.com for a chance to see your photography featured in a future issue of Shore Monthly! Photo by Lori R. Bramble #ThroughTheLens #photography #August2018 #EasternShore #LocalArtist

Atop a pillar at the end of a private lane in Bozman sits a bright red pepper. It’s shiny and curled upward, almost as if it is waving a welcome. Come in, it says to visitors, I have delightful secrets. Further down the lane, giant stalks of aqua, indigo and green asparagus nod toward one another as if confiding secrets. Just across from them, a lone purple artichoke coolly rests atop another pillar. Sculptures of round, luscious fruits and vegetables live in many spots all o

This month's featured photography submitted by our local readers. Send your photos to submissions@shoremonthly.com for a chance to see your photography featured in a future issue of Shore Monthly! Photo by Susan Hale #ThroughTheLens #photography #LocalArtist #July2018

Catching up with musician Bird Dog Wheeler these days means finding him between music gigs and riding his bike or playing a round of golf. In December 2017, the iconic Eastern Shore musician retired from his job as vice president of sales after 31 years with Kelly Distributors to spend more time doing what he loves most – writing and playing music with his band of over 40 years, Bird Dog and the Road Kings. However, the intertwining of his two professional lives, beer sales a

Over the past 25 years, Marc Castelli has been painting watercolors of the lives of Chesapeake Bay watermen. This year marks his 25th year working with Carla Massoni and her gallery in Chestertown. In his words, his paintings are reflections of the deep and profound magic of the light in the air and the water that continue to inspire him. But, he said, his paintings also reflect the relationships he has built with watermen while becoming a part of their world. He has taken ad

This month's featured photography submitted by our local readers. Send your photos to submissions@shoremonthly.com for a chance to see your photography featured in a future issue of Shore Monthly! Photo by Philip R. Parkinson #ThroughTheLens #LocalArtist #photography #May2018

The Eastern Shore is an opportunity for artist Kevin Garber. It’s an opportunity to be connected to nature, weather, tides, and to create art that speaks to this connection. And it’s an opportunity to fish. “It’s so visceral here — every day can be different based on the weather. Watching the watermen, who are so tied to natural forces like wind and tide,” Garber said. “I never thought I’d be following the tide like I do. I love to fish and have always fished. I always have a

This month's featured photography submitted by our local readers. Send your photos to submissions@shoremonthly.com for a chance to see your photography featured in a future issue of Shore Monthly! Photo by Susan Hale/Chesapeake Scenes Photography #ThroughTheLens #photography #LocalArtist #April2018

This month's featured photography submitted by our local readers. Send your photos to submissions@shoremonthly.com for a chance to see your photography featured in the next issue of Shore Monthly! Photo by Kristen Greenaway #ThroughTheLens #photography #LocalArtist #Maryland #EasternShore

The Mosaic of Our Lives: From Brokenness, We Can Find Wholeness When local artist Sue Stockman moved from Baltimore City to Denton at age 5, life changed. Instead of being stimulated by the busyness of the city streets, she became enchanted with the natural world of the new rural environment on the Eastern Shore. “I was bored, so I began to discover nature on the Choptank River. My sister and I had whole imaginary worlds we created — it was beautiful and rich. We would go to