Regina Benson

On January 16th I and two friends traveled to Beloit, Wisconsin to hear Regina Benson lecture about her art. Regina inadvertently started her lecture early as we all crowded around her and asked her questions about her art cloth and her techniques. I found Regina to be a genuinely engaging person. She was very forthcoming about all her techniques.

But, mind you, her work processes is not for the weak at heart. They are bold and fantastic. Supported by detailed research into chemistry and the industrial arts. The chemistry supports her art cloth. The industrial art, literally, supports the subsequent art pieces as they hang away from the wall.

I encourage you to take a trip to the Wright Museum at Beloit College to see her work. It will be on exhibit until March 26, 2010. www.beloit.edu/wright/exhibitions.php

If you miss Regina this time, check out her website to see if she will be in your neighborhood in the near future. You won't want to miss her. http://www.reginabenson.com/

Happy New Year!

Courage doesn't always roar.

Sometimes courage is the quiet voice

at the end of the day saying,

"I will try again tomorrow.”

Mary Anne Radmacher

"Not Quite" wins Honorable Mention in Vicinity Show

"Not Quite" was entered into the "Vicinity" Show in St. Charles, IL. It was honored with the prize of Honorable Mention. This is the piece in a series that studies originality, composition, and presentation. "Not Quite" is a the first publicly shown piece with a new presentation process.

This is an example of the piece submitted however this piece is only 3" x 5" and is attached to a canvas wrapped frame painted black. The fabric is a black cotton, discharged, and a surface design application of painted fusible web has been added. It has been stitched together and quilted.

Above is the announcement for the show. I hope to see some of you there!

Flyer for Political Quilts

At last the PAQA group exhibit has found a place to be shown in the Chicago area. For those of you who don't know, my quilt is the one that looks like Barack Obama. This will be the second public showing for this quilt. It was first shown when it traveled to Houston and was exhibited at the International Quilt Festival. Hope to see some of you at the reception!

So I got up this morning a little earlier than usual and headed down to the pond to the north of my house. It was a pleasant morning with me as breakfast for the mosquitoes. It was still a great morning to be in the sun and seeing some local wildlife.

This first pic is not the best but I thought it was funny. The bigger turtle is trying to get the smaller turtle off her rock. It looks like she's yelling at him.


Could she possibly be the Clever Turtle? Hmmmm... something to think about.



There were some robins going crazy over the fruit from a river grape. I think they made an interesting picture.

Next to them a Flicker flew in.

And to my right a cute little downy woodpecker was trying to get the bugs out of the cottonwood tree. He's looking right at me in the first picture.

Across the pond two deer walked by. They really are beautiful creatures.

There was also a black crowned night heron and a great white egret but they were too far away for me to get a good image.

The Amazing Flying PeeWee

Hello!

My name is PeeWee. I'm a baby grey squirrel.

I found this giant foot that was attached to a giant on Wednesday night. I was just minding my own business, tucked safely in my nest when an intruder squirrel ripped my nest apart and threw me and my sister out of the tree. We fell down 35 feet the to ground. That's when I ran up to this shoe attached to this giant. My sister went into the garden and ran away. I don't know where she went.

Then this giant, who's name is Bill, picked me up took me into this big cage he called the "screen tent". He kept asking me what my name was and if I was all right. I kept telling him my name was PeeWee but I guess I wasn't saying it loud enough because he kept asking me. Then he got this rectangle and started talking into it. He said, "Hi Darcy, I caught a squirrel!".

Then he got some pieces of cloth and wrapped me in them. I was so scared. I was shaking really badly because I was cold and really missed my mommy. The Bill giant then put me on the floor of the screen tent cage and I burrowed down into the pieces of cloth.

The Darcy giant came into the tent. She asked the Bill giant what he was going to do with me. I liked the Bill and Darcy giants. He said he didn't know. It was dark by this time and they were shining bright objects into my eyes trying to look at me. The Darcy giant told the Bill giant to put me in another kind of cage called a "carrier". He put some more pieces of cloth in the carrier cage and put me in it. The Darcy giant made me some peanut butter crackers but the Bill giant said that I needed Pedilite and puppy milk replacement formula. He said he read it on the computer. So the Bill giant took away the peanut butter and gave me some water and lettuce. They put me in the a bigger cage called a "garage" and turned the light off. They went to look for my sister. They looked all over but never found her.

I was so tired from being scared and cold and lonely for my mommy that I went right to sleep.

The next morning I was already to go. I was yelling for someone to come and feed me. I didn't know where my new mommy, Bill the giant, was. I need food and I needed it now. I didn't like this carrier cage either. I was climbing all over it. The Darcy giant told the Bill giant to put me in the yard in the carrier cage and maybe my old mommy would come and get me.

I was yelling up a storm. I wanted food and I wanted it now! All of a sudden there was my old mommy jumping all over the carrier cage. She was telling me to come out. But I couldn't get out because I didn't know how to open the door. The Bill giant came and opened the door. He started to run away.

"Hey, come back here! Your my new mommy and I'm hungry!" I ran after the Bill giant. The Darcy giant told the Bill giant to get into the garage and close the door. I didn't know what to do. I was looking all over. Where was I supposed to go? Then I looked back and saw my old mommy by my carrier cage. I ran up to her and she gave me a big hug. I was so glad to see her again. She put me in her mouth and brought me all the way back up to my old home up in the tree. Then she went to look for my sister.

I'm glad I'm at home with my real mommy. She feeds me better things then lettuce. Yuk! I watch the Bill and Darcy giants down below and say "Hi!" to them all the time. I don't think they can hear me. When I get older I will go down and visit with them again.

Health Care Bill Specifications

I have contacted my local member of the House of Representatives, Debbie Halverson. Her office sent the attached document to me in response to my request. You can access it at the link below. Please be an informed Citizen of the United States and understand what is being proposed. If you have any questions after reading this, I strongly encourage you to contact your state and federal representatives. You pay their salaries. They work for you. If you are concerned about how your money is spent, contact them.

http://www.kff.org/healthreform/upload/healthreform_sbs_full.pdf