Becka’s Project Journal

Ok, I do really seriously want your roommate stories! Come on people.

A co-worker of mine told me about her roommate “Rosemary”. To make a long story short, it seems that dear sweet Rosemary had imaginary friends. She had a friend who died and she had to speak at his funeral, she went to London to visit her ultra-cute boyfriend who had a freak accident and was hospitalized there and sent long email conversations to her friends. All made up and ultimately confessed to. 2 years of total fiction. Wow. Beat that!

If you really don’t have anything to share, then go check out my new vintage rabbit ornament kits. I love to design projects and these turned out so cute! The kit has all the instructions and materials you need to make a cute cameo style rabbit ornament. I even put in some of my little stash of vintage fabrics.

My first college roommate was named Kim. Kim was a sophomore who hadn’t found a roommate, so she got a freshman by random assignment; that was me. I talked to her on the phone once before school started and she basically told me to bring nothing – she had everything and it would all be perfect. It was all perfectly mint green and peach. Her carpet matched her towels which matched her sheets and blankets, which even matched the carpet “cleaner” and air freshener she loved – fresh peach. I still think of her every time I smell artificial peach.

I was telling one of my summer camp groups about my roommates. I don’t remember why. But I got this great idea. I want to do a series of art pieces all about roommates. Not sure what exactly it’s going to look like yet, but I have some great ideas percolating.

So here’s what I want from you: Please inspire my art! Tell me about your roommate. Basic info, quotes and fun facts. Either leave a comment or drop me an email.

Roommate: Kim
Basic facts: College dorm room, business major, crispy bleached blonde hair
Color scheme: Peach and mint green
Her story: She stopped speaking to me about October and left little notes “I will be vacuuming on Tuesday, please move your stuff.” and “Please do not print anything on your computer when I am here. I need to sleep and I don’t appreciate it.” My friends called her “the PsychoB*tch”. She never spent a single weekend at school but went home every Thursday night and didn’t appear again until Monday afternoon.

Roommate: Wendy
Basic Facts: College Dorm, flunked herself out playing computer games
Color scheme: Anything goes with black
Her story: Both Wendy and I were ditched by our original roommates. They decided they wanted to live together about a week after school started so they went and got everything switched and informed Wendy that she was moving in with me. Wendy had a pet rat named Wolfgang. He was very much not allowed in the dorms. She spent all of her time in the computer lab playing “MUDDS” with a bunch of trenchcoat-wearing friends and never went to class. I referred to her friends as the “Lost Boys” and I became “Captain”. We made s’mores in the microwave once and burned the marshmallows. Wendy only had 2 cd’s – Prince and Meatloaf.

Sexual Revolution
Becka Rahn
2008

“In so many ages and so many places, a young girl is considered the
property of her father, brothers, or husband. She is not given the
opportunity to study and pursue a dream, but is expected to marry and
have children or become a commodity to trade for family status and
prestige. My experience has been very different. This piece is a wish
for all young girls to experience the freedom that I have enjoyed by
growing up in the time and place that I did.

In this piece, I used the idea of fertility to represent that freedom,
because it is used as a symbol in many cultures. Acorns, snakes,
elephants, lotus blossoms, rice, pine cones, frogs and pomegranates
are all motifs embroidered and woven in to textiles used to wish
fertility to a new bride. In the style of “Space Invaders”, a video
game representing my place and time in history, the girl in the
picture is shooting down these symbols. The number 1960 is the date
that the birth control pill was approved. The letters RSR are my
initials.

Hand embroidered with hand-stitched appliqué. Cotton threads and
fabric.”

You can see this piece in person as part of the “Freedom: The Fiber of our Nation” show at the Textile Center Joan Mondale Gallery, now through October 18.

We managed to get to the State Fair for a few hours one evening. I found my “quilt on a stick” The ones that won ribbons were lovely, but very traditional quilt sorts of patterns. The butter princess sculptures were near where Andy got ice cream at the dairy barn. The “spaghetti & meatballs on a stick” looked yucky, but we had to take a picture. The lamb was in the baby animals barn and was about half a day old. So cute and sleepy.