Let's get the goofy image out of the way first. We arrived in Bishop Hill on Friday, my birthday. We discovered a local tradition of a sombrero serenade and fried ice cream at Los Rancheritos restaurant in Kewanee, IL.
Gold medal-winning rosemaler Lois Mueller (Wisconsin) opened the Narrative Stage on Saturday morning.
Lois had a great two days in her exhibit tent with lots of interested visitors and buyers.
Lois likes to break rosemaling 'rules' with monochromatic painting, as in the frame.
On rainy Saturday, Nani Agbeli (Wisconsin) led his workshop in the firehouse
Nani performed an Ashanti dance on Sunday
Lots of leaps in this dance for the chief
Nani knows how to charm an audience of all ages
The mehendi artists were the most popular exhibit with the crowd. Long lines both days!
Nayan Soni, Sweta Lee and Shefali Soni (Illinois) applied henna in intricate designs.
One of Edna Patterson-Petty's (Illinois) wonderful quilts.
Edna with husband Reggie and visitor.
Ismail Alyassiri (Iowa) performed on his Iraqi oud.
Don Rust (Illinois), at left, watches as a visitor tries one of his handmade guitars.
Malgorzata Kot (Illinois) with her Polish pisanki egg display
These are wooden eggs.
Nabaa Khazal Shami (Illinois) is a recent Iraqi refugee and excellent wood carver.
Pat Gregory (Illinois) demonstrated duck decoy carving.
This was rag rug maker Sarah Holmes' (Illinois) first festival. She & her entire family were wonderfully enthusiastic.
Sarah learned from her grandma, who drove 3 hours on Saturday to check in on Sarah.
The dynamic JASC Tsukasa Taiko (Illinois) closed out the festival.
Some of the Illinois crew that organized the festival: Alex Shapiro, Sue Eleuterio, Rose Parisi, Chris Vallillo, Susan Dickson & a local volunteer. Sue did this with her own impending wedding on August 8th!
