I was approached by the director of Olson-Larsen Gallery in the spring of 1999 concerning a project at the Hotel Pattee in Perry, Iowa. Two rooms were to have the border paintings replaced: the RAGBRAI-BRR Room and the Needlepoint Room.

RAGBRAI-BRR Room

RAGBRAI stands for the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa and is annual tradition in the state started by the Des Moines Register. The RAGBRAI-BRR Room was an exciting challenge. My father was a career newsman at the Des Moines Register. My connection, therefore, compelled me to stretch my skills to produce a final product that I hope would impress everyone down at the Register. My original idea was to produce a visual narrative of the actual trek across the state and include actual landmarks which have hallmarked the ride over these many years. I contacted the Register and obtained some slides and a few posters as visual reference. My husband and I then spent many hours driving through the back roads in the summer creating a photographic journal of the Iowa landscape. I scoured the newspapers for possible photos. Over the years there have been sponsors and legendary individuals who have taken the River-to-River journey, and I wanted to include portraits of them. Among the faces that look out at the visitors to the RAGBRAI-BRR room is the gentle old Clearance Pickard in his pith helmet.

After finishing the “summer'” ride I began the “winter” ride which is a one-day journey in the first week of February. The bundled-up bikers start in Perry and ride to the small town of Ripey. They take a break and begin the trip back to Perry. This ride has been dubbed appropriately the BRR ride. The Hagger family farm has been a traditional midway stop every year where cold and weary bikers can warm themselves with a cup of hot chocolate. I decided this was the place to go to get some inspiration. My husband and I pulled up to the house on a hot July afternoon and we spent the afternoon going over newspaper clippings and many photographs. The Haggers were very helpful. It is because of their help that I was able to paint the BRR mural with as much visual information as I have. I also included several portraits of the BRR sponsors.

The mural was installed in January of 2000. I would like to think my father would be proud of my effort.

Needlepoint Room

The Needlepoint Room was to have a border resembling a lace design. My challenge was to produce a running pattern that would retain the visual integrity at all four corners. I designed the four sections with ends that when joined would produce a corner design. After a lot of calculating and several reworks, I finally achieved this goal. The technique consists of a combination of hand painting, collage, and glazing.