From the Big Bend Conservation Alliance
THE BIG BEND — Thank you to everyone who has purchased a bandana to support The Big Bend River Rangers program during our end-of-year fundraising campaign. Because of your donations, this program can continue to bring students out of the classroom and into nature to learn how to protect and steward the river and land. If you have been intending to give and haven’t yet, it’s not too late.
We’re excited to share that we are launching an online auction. Dana Falconberry has generously created and donated The River is Home paintstitch to help support the Big Bend River Rangers.
Join the fun: Bid in the auction!
Get your bids ready at https://bbca.schoolauction.net/bigbendriverrangers/, and let’s have some fun raising money for the Big Bend River Rangers! Bidding opened on Monday and ends Friday, January 24, 2025, at midnight CST.
Dana Falconberry created this piece exclusively for Big Bend Conservation Alliance and it is only available through this auction.
What is a “paintstitch”?
“I am calling these pieces ‘paintstitches’ as they incorporate both acrylic paint and chainstitch embroidery,” Falconberry said. “Typically, I begin with the paint and add chainstitching after nearly all the painting is completed. In these pieces I am interested in centering the experience of the present flora as they engage with the land, water, and sky around them. I wonder if the prickly pear sees this view of the Rio Grande at sunset the same way we do. Do you marvel at the receding mountains and winding river, longing to hear their stories as we do, little cactus?”
What inspired “The River is Home”?
“I spend an extended period of time in the Big Bend region every spring, and this past year I spent a lot of time particularly in the state park,” Falconberry said. “This view of the Rio Grande from River Road took my breath away. When Shelley [Bernstein of BBCA] approached me about a design for the year-end campaign featuring the river, this place immediately came to mind. While driving along the river it is impossible not to notice the abundance of green life that surrounds the river in stark contrast with the exposed rock of the mountains in the distance. While designing this scene for the bandana, I also wanted to portray this through paint and embroidery; the magic river reflecting the sky and drawing life too close to it, like fans crowding the stage at a concert.”