2.14.20 Happy VD4U

#memoriesat60
Happy VD4U
I have previously reflected on the challenges for me of living in Fort Worth in the late 80s. Other than the joy of giving birth to my son, one of my top distractions was meeting and hanging with Renee Sherrer, who was working on her MFA at North Texas State in Denton.
I was not yet into making art - this was my public relations and marketing for non-profits phase - but what Renee was doing with fabric and postcard art and female identity combined with her endearing quirkiness, made me want to make the trip north as often as I could. One night we danced so wildly to Brave Combo's nuclear polka that I flew right off the raised floor, ending up several feet below with a sprained ankle - upside? the bartender installed me with a bucket of ice at the end of the bar and people bought me shots. downside? the effect of all those shots realized too late.
When her program was completed, she asked if I would be interested in helping her move to Montana, a state that had never been on my radar. It sounded like an epic road trip, but ... I couldn't get off work.
After a couple more years in Cowtown and a few in a quite different city, Portland, Oregon, Steve and I moved to Billings in 1993. I had lost contact with Renee and she wasn't on our minds when we happened to walk into Cafe Jones (currently Ebon Coffee). On the walls were a few oversized brassiere prints. Steve and I simultaneously exclaimed "Renee!" And, she was there, next door in her office above the current Montana Gallery (then a book store). She, and her cup and saucer embellished art car, did not stay in Billings long. But, this unexpected reunion set a sweet tone to our new city, underscoring how, despite moves and travels and changes, life can provide interesting reconnections as it weaves forward.
Renee talked about SirQ and he was credited with many of the photos in her postcard art. I have since been told he still lives in Billings. After 26+ years here, I have never run into him. But their postcards remain in my collection. This last image is from her MFA show "Designer Straight Jackets."