Valerie Meiss greats her audience during the livestream on Facebook, Oct. 1, 2020. Photo by Alma Russ.
A raven flew across a full moon, and the light shone on blue hair and a big smile. She sipped from a wine glass and petted her cat before playing the piano, the ukulele, the kazoo, and singing like a Mary Poppins of the underground.
Valerie Meiss, otherwise known by her stage name Valerie from Faraway, is an illustrator, puppeteer, and musician. She made the paper raven and moon herself, which light up her attic for her weekly livestream, Toys in the Attic, on the Valerie Meiss Facebook page at 6 p.m. on Thursdays. It features songs, visual arts, and stories.
Meiss has performed in Western North Carolina since 2007. Her act has taken her across the globe. When COVID-19 postponed her venture to Europe and dried up work and gigs, she turned to weekly livestreams as a way of sharing her art with her community. Thursday, Oct. 1 marked her 29th livestream. The audience started with five viewers then fluctuated between 15 and 20. Comments of encouragement and appreciation flew onto the screen.
“It started as a coping mechanism,” Meiss wrote in an email. She does the live-streams for her own fun, and they also help her keep in touch with her community. “I can cope, myself, by engaging people and reminding them (and therefore myself) that we will get through this and everything will be alright (eventually).”
Meiss began making music as a child and eventually entered the world of opera, fulfilling a high soprano role in the Charlotte Symphony. She joined punk rock band Hellblinki in 2005 and followed them to Asheville, NC in 2007.
But music is only a piece of the puzzle. Meiss embraces the term “interdisciplinary artist” as her songs are accompanied by everything from shadow boxes to puppets and illustrations. She weaves stories from her worldwide travels into songs and images with colors and characters. “I used to think it was some sort of cop-out,” said Meiss. “That I am unable to focus entirely on one medium, and that’s totally true. But now I find one medium to be limited and sometimes boring.”
“She’s amazing,” said Ben Ogletree. Ogletree worked at Guadalupe Cafe in Sylva, NC, where Meiss has been a regular performer and customer. “I just kind of decided she was going to be my friend.” While he did not attend the Oct. 1st livestream, he has followed her work over the years. “Her work is really cool. Just like walking into her house, you feel like you’re in a different world, a little wonder world of magic.”
Toys in the Attic was not intended to replace live shows, but the livestreams have their own charms: Nemo the cat, Japanese snack tastings, and an online gathering of Meiss’ friends and fans that span the globe. “I found ways to engage people in their own homes, and just talk to them for a little bit, tell stories, make paper crafts, sing songs, and especially our sacred hymn of the Apocalypse: Row, Row, Row Your Boat”
Meiss plans to keep pursuing travel and the arts. She will be getting a Masters in Fine Arts in Puppetry at the University of Theatre and Film Arts in Budapest, Hungary in the spring of 2021. “I have no idea what to expect will come out of this, but I am looking forward to seeing what direction this strange narrative life takes.
