I recently learned that my piece Heron Moon, was purchased by the University of Wisconsin – Madison for one of the greenhouses on campus. Again, a purchase through the Percent for Art program administered by the Wisconsin Arts Board. Unfortunately, the Arts Board will be unrecognizable after the new fiscal year begins. It’s budget has been slashed by 75% and the remaining positions will be absorbed into the Department of Tourism. This is an enormous loss for the State and will impact the quality of life to which we’ve become accustomed. To learn more about how WBA is changing go to: http://artsboard.wisconsin.gov/
This piece was created by folding and dyeing in fiber reactive dyes, then silk screening the images with a chemical that removes the dye. The moon is silk screened using illuminated vat dye – a process that removes the base dye and replaces the color with the new reductive dye. Reductive dyes oxidize as they’re exposed to the air and the color can become quite intense. The green heron was screened onto a separate piece of silk and handpainted – again using fiber reactive dyes. Then he was cut out and appliquéed onto the background fabric.
The inspiration came from my residency at Pine Needles in Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota. The cabin was situated on the high bank of the river and I was able to look down to the Wisconsin shore line where I often observed juvenile green herons. All of the other animals on this piece also visited the cabin during my stay.
Dancing Bird Studio 
Wow. That one’s a real beauty. But I wouldn’t expect anything less from you. Congratulations on the sale.
I don’t know what to say about funding, except that there’s no money for nothin’ except war, so whadda ya expect?