Dreamers – Page 2 – Palmetto Bella Magazine

The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell

The August Bella Book Club Review by Nichole Miller Samuel Hill was teased and bullied as a child due to his unique eyes. He was born with ocular albinism, which...

A Return to Art and Music

An Evening of Art & Music • September 30 • 4:30 – 7:30 pm We, here at Bella, are excited about small scale events coming back to life. Not only...

Artist Spotlight | Canaan Peeples Joins Aiken Center for the Arts this Fall

Meet Aiken Center for the Arts’ (ACA) new music instructor, Canaan Peeples. Canaan joins ACA this fall and will be offering individual instruction programs for all skill levels on the...

The August Bella Book Club Review | The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid After all these years posh Hollywood star Evelyn Hugo is ready to tell her life story. She retreated from the...

The Edge of Creativity | Creative of the Month | July

“Every child is an artist; the problem is staying an artist when you grow up.” ~ Pablo Picasso The theme of this month’s issue of Bella is youth, so this...

An Extraordinary Event

As a nurse who loves history, I’ve always gravitated to the question: what were the women doing during periods of historical interest, particularly in times of crisis? One group that...

July Book Club Selection: The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

Aiken Bella Magazine Book Club July Book Club Selection: The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James Summer is one of my favorite times to grab a fast-paced read. Our...

The Aiken Center for the Arts presents: “Burd Brain”

Marius Valdes, also known as Zoo Valdes, is known for creating a menagerie of lovable animals and whimsical creatures that pop off the page. Valdes, who teaches graphic design and...

Our Flag | June 14, 2020

I’m known by many names: Old Glory The Stars and Stripes The Star Spangled Banner The Red White and Blue That Grand Old Flag I demand care, respect and honor....

The Edge of Creativity | Creative of the Month

“Let’s get a little crazy here.” Bob Ross Art and the creative world have always been important to both Bella and me personally, and with that, we have decided to...

Introducing the Aiken Bella Magazine Book Club

Each month we will select a book to read and then publish a review. The selection will be posted on Instagram and Facebook before our publication date for anyone who...

Motherhood

A mother gazes at the face of her newborn There is so much love in that look, And so much love bundled up in so small a being. This gift...

Cosmic Bake Shop

“Relationships! We all got ‘em, we all want ‘em. What do we do with ‘em?” Jimmy Buffett’s catchy tune ‘Fruitcakes’ brings some truth about relationships and pokes fun at us...

Stranger Games | The Rise of eSports

When you think of sports, you might not think of the booming industry that is eSports. When you hear about games like Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), thoughts of teenage boys...

Stories from Leavelle McCampbell Middle School Students

Journalism in the Classroom Football By Christopher Stephenson Hi, my name is Christopher Stephenson. Today I’m going to be talking about my favorite sport, football. First, let’s talk about why...

Earth Day

A “Big Bang” may have started it all And into their respective places did everything fall. A beautiful world of earth and sea and sky Ours not to reason how,...

What Theater Taught Me

A Love Letter to the Aiken Community Theatre Your community theater is doing a lot more than just putting on productions. As this month’s character trait is enthusiasm, I started...

My Aiken Breakin’ HeART… of the Horse Festival

What do you call an Amish guy with his hand in a horse’s mouth? A mechanic. I grew up in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania — Amish Country. As a kid, that...

Peace in Our Time — A Poetic Essay

Celebrating V-E Day and V-J Day Plus 75 Years (1945-2020) May 8, 1945 • August 15, 1945 It was the beginning of the end — the end of World War...

March’s Photo of The Month

The healing power of horses. “This photo is from the Silent Witness Exhibition, which is on display in the Brooks Gallery of the Aiken Center for the Arts, opening March...

Dr. Donald Portnoy | Aiken’s World Class Maestro & His Orchestra

So how did a fledgling symphony orchestra in a relatively small southern town begin with a symphonic conductor who has, over the course of a career spanning fifty years, conducted,...

Twelve Years Of Joye In Aiken

When the Joye in Aiken Performing Arts Festival kicks off with its Second Annual New Orleans-Style Jazz Funeral Parade on March 5, it may change the way some Aikenites view...

The Drifters | Good Times

Every Thursday, when I was five, I had the same routine. I would walk home from school (back in the 80s, parents trusted their kids to do things like walking)....

Loving Your Brothers | I’ll Stand With You

There was violence everywhere. Explosions. Gun fire, bombs, missiles. Carnage. It was more than a rebellion, it was a revolution. And as the hero focused on his task at hand,...

For the Love of Art | ‘SHE’ Comes To Aiken

And just who is ‘SHE’? Stacy O’Sullivan, co-owner of the gallery in the alley known as Art & Soul of Aiken, explains, “The whole idea came out of one of...

Crowd Thrilling Grand Prix Eventing Returns to the Aiken Horse Park

Olympic-bound riders and horses expected to compete“The whole purpose behind a showcase eventing competition is the spectators,” enthuses Kate Boggan, Aiken Horse Park’s director of marketing and communications. “We want...

Finding Her Art & Soul in Glass | Bella’s Featured Artist Stacy O’Sullivan

From a young age, Stacy O’Sullivan had all the right tools to become an artist. “I grew up in Laguna Beach in southern California. It’s an art town and was...

Creativity: A Healthy Habit | Studio over Laurens — a Place to Create

A ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday, December 6, commemorated the official opening of Studio over Laurens at 142 Laurens Street SW. As a space for photographers, videographers, and so much...

January Photo of the Month

The night time photo is from a trip to Moab, Utah last year. The pinion pine is situated on the edge of a cliff in Dead Horse State Park. The...

Wellness + Creativity | Joy in the Journey

“I had no idea my husband could draw anything beyond a stick figure. Michael was a nuclear chemist, and art was the furthest thing from his mind. Everything he did...