prairie stories.

My family and I are heading to Burke, South Dakota to see my clan this week for our April break.  My days will be filled with my family, the Ponca Creek Bull Sale, hopefully a new baby, old friends and some meandering drives on the prairie roads I adore.

My camera is being cleaned so this trip will be all heart and memory.  It feels a little weird to me but there’s nothing I can do.  I will have my phone however.  I may need to borrow a camera at the bull sale and if my niece’s baby does arrive while we are home. I’m really trying to be “in the moment” and not as concerned with getting the shot.  It’s a tough habit to break though.

Here are a couple of old photos I layered this morning while my daughter Lucy was packing.

The first image is main street in Burke layered with a prairie sunrise image from my parent’s back porch.  Having coffee on the porch with my Mom is always one of my favorite parts of my time at home.

The second image is a country road layered with a sign I saw in the Las Vegas airport years ago.  I’m not sure what “burke in the box” is, but I thought it was interesting.

I hope you find yourself “at home” within yourself whatever your life demands of you this week.

burke south dakota sunrise main street lillibridge

why collaboration makes you think bigger.

Elizabeth Bunsen and I are collaborating.  We don’t even quite know what our project is because the ideas keep coming so fast and furious…often over burgers and beer.  These images are sketches of one of the ideas we want to explore.  I like leather, heavy stitching and raw edges.  Elizabeth’s work is such an interesting contrast and compliment to the fashion and accessory work I’ve created.

We’ve talked about printing the images I’ve created on the computer from our combined work…my prairie photos and Elizabeth’s textiles.  Alone they’re pretty cool.  Combined they  are an entirely different art form.  Here’s to computer sketches that can make an idea over beers and a burger seem much more plausible.  Cheers!

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much”
― Helen Keller