Black Hills Woman - March April 2021 by Tout Advertising

Behind this Issue

Tracy Bernard

Kara Azevedo

Editor-in-Chief

Accounting

Publisher Tout Advertising, LLC Editor-in-Chief Tracy Bernard Copy Editor Katie Pavel

Katie Pavel

Jessie McGriff

Copy Editor

Advertising Sales

Layout & Design Tracy Bernard Danielle Beadle 527 Kansas City Street, Suite 2 Rapid City, SD 57701 To place an ad: bhwsales@toutadvertising.com 605.877.1446

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Riley Winter

Content Specialist

Cover Photographer

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@blackhillswoman

Chris & Lisa Huot Cover Models

@blackhillswoman

Tout Advertising, LLC assumes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, photography or artwork and reserves the right to accept or reject any editorial or advertising material. Articles, advertisements, and opinions in this publication do not necessarily carry the endorsement of Tout Advertising. ©2021 Black Hills Woman Magazine

Inside this Issue

The Vision Behind This Issue

Editor’s Note

Critical Thinking Lifestyle

Navigating Conflict

Relationships

Q&A With Breadroot’s Rachel Wester Girl Gives Back

Sober Curious: What You Can Gain When You Give it Up Health & Fitness

34 Rock Solid

Women in Business

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The Hidden Cost of Smelling Fresh

Beauty

Oil & Acrylic Artist: Desy Schoenewies Area Artist

Janet Hedrick: Has a Head for Design

Home & Garden

Local Fashion Finds Fashion

Why Pantyhose Sales Are Sagging Humor

-Editor’s NoteThe Vision Behind This Issue

Riley Winter brought his A game during our cover shoot. Chris and Lisa Huot were great models. It’s always awkward to ask another woman’s husband to remove his shirt, but they were total pros.

Janet Hedrick, our feature for her design skills in the HOME section, is the landlord for our office space — she’s also a kind hearted human. When COVID-19 hit, unprompted by me, she offered me a discount on our office rent...no questions asked.

From the Editor

A ground breaking book that will change the way you interact with others. While it is about love, its benefiting principles far surpass only romantic relationships. Find common ground. If the disagreement is political, for example, perhaps the common ground

TOXICITY Political Social Media - even in perfume.

A quick easy read with a big return.

is a mutual love for the United States, or respect for the constitution. Build from there.

We deconstruct these things in this issue to hopefully help you navigate a progressively toxic world.

From the Editor

Critical Thinking By Kayla Gahagan

Fake

Lifestyle

Fact

hen Dr. Amy Fuqua set out to discover the attributes employers wanted most in people W they hire, she was surprised by what she found. “It wasn’t a skill like accounting or spreadsheets,” said Fuqua, who serves as the dean for the College of Liberal Arts at Black Hills State University. “The number one thing was critical thinking. At the college level, the most important thing is helping students with critical thinking.” It’s a skill that has become even more important as the superhighway of information is constantly available at our fingertips, experts say. Sorting through it all is a challenge, and especially for younger generations. In a study by MindEdge, a learning company founded in 1998 by Harvard and MIT education, many millennials need more critical thinking skills. In the study, a group of adults between ages 19 and 30 took a test to determine their ability to detect fake news. Only one in four could correctly answer eight of nine questions, and less than half could correctly answer six of the nine questions. The study concluded that more than half of millennials rely on social media for news and share content often. High school students in particular, Stanford researchers pointed out, are unable to distinguish between a news story, an ad, and an opinion piece. Angela Phillips, an English teacher at Stevens High School, expects more from her students, many of whom will be able to vote in the next presidential election. Part of critical thinking is keeping your eyes and ears open to the information around you, and taking the time to evaluate sources before forming your own opinion, she said. “I really ask them, ‘Are the sources you’re using biased? Why are you using them?’” she says. “A news report or an organization could be sponsoring someone or trying to influence you.” She asks students to take a stance and justify it. Critical thinking can, and should, lead to civil discourse, Phillips says.

Lifestyle

“How do we have conversations with people who disagree with us?” she says. “In class, we talk about controversial topics, and it’s about having spirited discussion and in a civil manner. And then, it’s about whether they can go and do it outside the class, too.” Phillips said part of her job in the classroom is to help teach students to analyze what they are being told, a skill they will need their entire lives. “I ask them to think, “Why are you buying what they’re selling?’” she says. “Everybody is trying to get you to think something and you need to know what you think and why. And then, once you have decided, how do you convince someone to your side? How does empathy, science, facts all work together?” Jennifer Haar, a math teacher at Stevens High School, says critical thinking is really about monitoring your own understanding. “It’s important for my students to recognize whether they understand what is going on around them, and then make adjustments,” she says. Watching the progression of critical thinking development from students’ freshmen to senior year is exciting, she says. “We really want to push them from always asking, ‘Ms. Haar, is this the right answer?’ to

Lifestyle

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having them ask the question, ‘Could this be an answer in this context?’ Or, ‘Does this even make sense?’” It’s as important out in the world as it is in math class, she adds. “Without critical thinking, the danger is that people can be misled,” she says. “It’s everything from voter fraud to climate change, to any topic where people are trying to persuade you. You need to have reason and logic and not take everything at face value.” Fuqua said that mission continues at the college level. Students need appropriate skills to enter the work force, and they need to be able to think on their own. They have the space to learn that skill when a professor refrains from voicing their personal and political views in class. “That is the number one ethic of higher education,” Fuqua says. “It’s helping people toward critical thinking. We always ask our professors, ‘Are you teaching them what to think or how to think?’ And that’s even in a political science class.” A local senior citizen attends Black Hills State classes for fun and visited with Fuqua one time about her experience.“She said she had no idea what the politics were of her professor, and that was in a class that they talked about politics every day,” Fuqua says. “That’s a good measure of faculty who are committed to helping students develop that thinking skill.” Employers desire critical thinkers so desperately in the work force because it’s not a simple skill to train, Fuqua says. “Critical thinking is hard to teach once they’re already there,” she says. “What a drag to have an employee who can’t be in a situation and make an informed decision. Management is making every decision and it slows everything down. It’s interesting to me that the skill [needed] to protect democracy is also the skill people need to get jobs.”

Lifestyle

Phillips is encouraged by what she sees in her classroom when students hash out difficult topics like racial injustice, politics, and fake news. “I’m hopeful for these students,” she says. “They really have to talk to each other and listen. We are reading Of Mice and Men, and the opinion is usually split about half and half with the topics in that book. When they are talking, they’re not just parroting what someone else told them and they’re open to different perspectives.” BHW

Lifestyle

By Brittany Pruess Photos by Riley Winter

Relationship

s a society, we are becoming increasingly

more aware of pointed issues, yet, at the same time, struggling to find productive resolutions. Imperfect people cannot make a relationship, work environment, community, or anything in-between perfect; we need someone far greater than ourselves for that kind of healing. However, regardless of our imperfections, we can and are learning how to have productive conversations that lead to healthy and beneficial conflict resolutions over time. By establishing a small tool-kit filled with helpful tips for having healthy discussions, we are preparing ourselves for the conflicts we will face in the future.

Establishing Foundations Regardless of the disagreement at hand, establishing the fundamental elements for having a healthy discussion is vital. Foundational pieces for resolving tensions include respect, honesty, authenticity, open communication, and the capacity to listen. Malcom Chapman, Rapid City’s Human Relations Commission Coordinator, expresses the importance of these components being present in a group setting; “If you are going to form a group, know there will be conflict in that group at some point. Today is the day to set the ground rules: the foundational environmental pieces, the community norms, the ‘this is how we are going to play,’” says Chapman. By preparing for when tensions arise, we set ourselves up for having a conversation in a space that is already defined by us and for us.

Relationship

Mental Preparation As we approach a difficult conversation, we have the opportunity to quiet our minds, pray for discernment, and speak from a place of humility and grace. We can enter into a discussion from a place of genuine concern. Even if we disagree on an issue, what is available to us is an internal environment receptive to hear and consume what the individual across from us is saying. It is in this preparation where we foster an environment that is comfortable and safe for everyone involved.

Define the Issue If an issue is not defined, solutions cannot be constructed. As a result, discussions naturally become more diluted and can go off course. For example, if a parent wants to discuss a child’s inability to complete his or her chores; first, the parent must clearly define the problem at hand. If the parent fails to directly spell out the issue, the parent and child are more likely to branch off into conversations unrelated to the original discussion. The issue must be established for constructive communication to occur. If the conversation begins to swerve off course, circle back to the clearly defined concern.

Removing Obstacles Additionally, healthy conflict resolution requires that we eliminate the obstacles that tend to creep in and poison the potential of having constructive communication. Katie Baskerville, a local Black Hills counselor and president of the

Relationship

West River Counseling Association, reminds us to recognize, “Conflict is a normal part of everyday life. The biggest communication killers are criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling (Gottman Institute). It is important to identify these as they arise in conversation because if they are present, they will hinder any genuine attempt at conflict resolution.” The more willing we are to look at our own roots of bitterness, anger, deflection, etc., the more fruitful our conversations with one another will be. To this point, Chapman highlights, “There is always room for us to grow in our capacity to be humbled.” We must be willing to see ourselves as imperfect human beings with our own sins and baggage as we sit at the table. Other tools for keeping toxicity at bay include bringing a mediator to the conversation, listening to understand rather than to argue our point, and taking a breather with the goal of coming back to the table once again. We all are battling tension, but with this battle comes the opportunity to have productive conversations. May we gather around tables and begin having intentional discussions. May we humbly serve our neighbor however we know how to currently, but then discuss how can better assist one another moving forward. Let us not grow weary but rather forge ahead. Let us be prepared, active, and intentional in approaching our next disagreement, and grow as we do so. BHW

Relationship

Q&A With rachel wester on Breadroot's drive for Feeding South Dakota

The Girl Gives Back

Briefly describe Breadroot and your role. Breadroot Natural Foods Co-op was incorporated in 2000 by community members who wanted to bring affordable, delicious, nutritional, and local food to a single storefront. We have over 1,700 member-owners, but you don’t need to be a member to shop with us. We have more than 300 local products from over 30 local vendors, ranging from local produce like micro-greens, mushrooms, carrots, and a variety of lettuce, to eggs, beef, buffalo, chicken, honey, and cheese to local bulk items like locally roasted coffee from Pure Bean and Harriet & Oak, to spelt berries and flour, golden flax seed, white winterberries, and local wellness items like lotions, salves, lip balms, and candles…just to name a few.

The Girl Gives Back

There is sometimes confusion around what a co-op is, so for clarity, a co-op is a business that is voluntarily owned by the members who use it and that operates specifically for the benefit of the members. Members are at the forefront of each of our decisions and we put their interests first. There is no single person who benefits from co-op profits; instead, our profits are dispersed as dividends or community giveback, or they are reinvested into the co-op for store improvements. As the marketing manager, I’m responsible for promoting Breadroot, raising the community’s awareness of the co-op, and essentially communicating our story in a way that resonates with people: who we are, what we stand for, the types of awesome products we carry, and why community members should shop with us. Briefly describe what you and your group did for Feeding South Dakota. Soon after COVID-19 hit our area, our management team brainstormed ideas on how we could step up as a community member. In late March, we initiated a money matching drive for Feeding South Dakota where we would match, dollar for dollar, up to $500/day. At the same time, we started a food donation drive for Feeding SD and WAVI. To say the response we received was heartwarming would be an understatement. Our community really showed up and we routinely had overflowing donation bins and up to $200 donations in a single donation. We ended up donating over $17,000 to Feeding South Dakota!

The Girl Gives Back

Why did you choose this organization? Food insecurity is a real issue within our community, and as COVID-19 shut down businesses and put people out of work, additional members of our community couldn’t afford food. Our desire is for everyone in our community to have access to nutritional food, and Feeding South Dakota distributes free food to individuals and families within the Black Hills. As a grocery store, it worked seamlessly to partner with an organization who could take care of the logistical side of our efforts. All of our donations, both the monetary donations and the food donations, were kept within the Black Hills area. How are the two organizations a meaningful collaboration – what makes it work well? The partnership worked harmoniously. Our customers would donate money and non-perishables, Breadroot would match the monetary donations, and at times we would donate boxes of food to accompany the donations of shoppers. We mailed Feeding South Dakota a check every month or so, and they would send an employee by the co-op every couple of weeks to empty our donation bins. What has been the most impactful thing you’ve witnessed through this effort?

To say the response we received was heartwarming would be an understatement!

Our front-end staff witnessed heartwarming things like people stopping by Breadroot to

The Girl Gives Back

donate money (up to $200 in a single donation!) just because they had heard we were hosting the money matching drive. Customers would stock up on sale items to donate, and Breadroot would do the same. What can other people do to help? We encourage community members to get involved! Donate when and what you can. Support businesses in our community that are focusing on community giveback, especially during times of increased need. We will continue to hold food donation drives, and in January we initiated an effort we’re calling Donate a Dollar where we encourage shoppers to donate a dollar, or more, as they check out. During January and February, donations will go directly to the Rapid City Hope Center. When you bring your own bag while shopping with us, you receive a 5¢ bag credit that can be used towards your purchase, or donated to a local charity (Feeding SD or WAVI). BHW

The Girl Gives Back

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Health & Fitness

n invitation to anyone (like me) who enjoys liquor, beer, and wine: Go alcohol-free for at least one month a year. Yes, “Dry January” and “Sober October” are popular choices, but really any month of the year will do. (March is a personal favorite.) Can’t do a month? Try two weeks. Not ready to cut it out completely? See if you can at least cut back. Because the reality is, even though alcohol in moderation can be part of a healthy lifestyle, it’s still a drug. And the more willing we are to consciously examine the way we use such a popular drug, the more likely it is that our relationship with alcohol will remain intentional. Besides, there are just so many wonderful things that can happen when you give it up. First, A Few Disclaimers: • If you’re currently being medically supervised, talk to your healthcare provider before making changes to your diet or lifestyle. • You don’t have to have a “problem” with alcohol in order to take a break from it or even give it up completely. • If you do feel like alcohol is a problem for you, there are tons of resources that can help you make necessary changes. Talk to your doctor or look up local support groups, including Alcoholics Anonymous or the Addiction Recovery Centers of the Black Hills. • I recommend keeping a journal whenever you go booze-free. It’s an eye-opening experience to document any of the changes, large or small,

Health & Fitness

that you notice when taking a break from alcohol, and it’s valuable to have a written log to refer back to later on. • Being “sober-curious” may be trendy, but as far as trends go, I think it’s a pretty good one to try. The low-alcoholic and nonalcoholic drink market is expanding rapidly and projected to reach a whopping $1.6 trillion by 2025. And while you don’t need to spend money on “mocktails” to go alcohol-free, they can be a fun addition to your temporary or permanent abstinence. Lastly, I’ll admit that “giving up” alcohol might sound restrictive, difficult, or even boring. But when you consider all the things you can gain from the experience, most of us would have a hard time not feeling freer, lighter, and closer to our best selves because of it. Personally, I can count on at least five impossible-to-ignore benefits whenever I take my periodic vacations from alcohol. And while everyone’s experience is different, it turns out that these same benefits happen to be well-documented in scientific literature. Get pumped—these could be yours, too:

Alcohol is a sedative, so sure…it might help you fall asleep. But alcohol also disrupts the quality of your sleep, which can leave you feeling groggy and fatigued.

Health & Fitness

Within just a few days of going alcohol-free, I’m waking up before my alarm feeling clear, alert, and well-rested (much to the annoyance of my night-owl fiancé). I also have more energy for my creative endeavors, like fiction writing and learning piano.

Many people habitually seek out alcohol as a way to relieve stress—a bit ironic, given that anxiety is one of the main symptoms of a hangover. Alcohol, a depressant, can also disrupt your mood by leading to issues like irritability, heightened emotional volatility, and embarrassment over all the goofy things you do or say while under the influence. Without alcohol, I feel happier, calmer, and (this is important) better equipped to accept and deal with challenges when they do arise.

During a “Sober October” a couple years ago, I ended up losing six pounds in one month without consciously trying to. And while cutting back on alcohol isn’t a weight loss guarantee, it certainly can help, especially if booze causes you to snack more, which I know it often does for me.

Frequently consuming over two drinks per day for men or one drink per day for women increases the risk of many health problems, including chronic liver damage. But this damage (up to an extent) is reversible and your liver can start undergoing positive change within just a few weeks of going alcohol-free. And it’s not just your liver—virtually every organ and organ system in your body, from your heart to your skin, stands to benefit from being off the booze.

Think back to some of the biggest conflicts you’ve had in your marriage or closest relationships. How many of these conflicts involved alcohol in some way?

Health & Fitness

For many of us, alcohol acts like an accelerant on our interpersonal issues. That’s certainly been the case for me. By consciously cutting back on alcohol, I find myself more present, which translates to more effective communication with my partner and an enhanced ability to serve the people around me.

A mentor once told me, “The vice you are willing to give up the least is probably the one you should give up the most.” Humbling words and a wise call to action for an imperfect, sober-curious woman like myself. If you’ve been thinking about going alcohol-free and have been waiting for a sign, consider yourself duly notified. If you’re so inclined, you might even choose to tell your family, friends, and colleagues about what you’re up to. Because after all; it’s normal to drink, but it’s becoming increasingly normal not to drink, too—and that’s a cultural shift I’ll toast to any day.

Health & Fitness

Remodel Your House Into Your Dream Home By: All Star Construction

Remodeling your home is one of the most exciting and nerve-racking things a person will go through. You can skip out on all the worries by doing one simple trick, PLAN AHEAD! Most people looking into a remodel have a general idea of what they would like to see updated in their home. Maybe it’s that bathroom that is stuck in the 80’s, or your kitchen that needs more open space. No matter what room or area you would like remodeled, the biggest step is pulling the trigger and calling the professionals that can make it happen. Be sure not to wait until the dog days of summer, instead call the remodeling professionals at All Star Construction now to plan your summer remodel! Planning for your remodel in the late winter/early spring is the ideal time to start. Planning ahead will give you the opportunity to work with All Star Construction in laying the ground work for a successful remodel. They will go over a variety of options so that you are able to find what best fits your needs and lifestyle. Then when the time comes to build, you’ll be ahead of schedule and enjoying your remodeled space before you know it. If you’re thinking about a remodel this summer, remember to plan ahead and call the remodeling professionals at All Star Construction today!

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Rock Solid

Cori Gallucci balances business,working with family, and maintaining a home By Sarah Grassel

Women in Business

Never having any interest in rocks, it took Cori Gallucci a family trip to fall in love. “When I first came out to visit my parents and they asked if I wanted to go rock hunting, I thought they were a little crazy, but they were pretty into it, so I went along,” she jokes. After falling in love with geology and rock hunting as a family, Cori and her family had long since dreamed of opening a shop. Things That Rock provides a singular shopping experience in Hill City and the Black Hills. In April of 2012, almost ten years ago, Cori and her mother were able to see that dream come to life. “While there are many other rock shops in the area, our store focuses on much more than only stones,” Cori says proudly. “Even though we pride ourselves on our carefully curated inventory, we believe what makes us stand out is our customer experience. With a passion for and extensive knowledge in the metaphysical properties of stones, we aim to deliver a personalized shopping experience, where we assist our customers in finding exactly what they might need.”

Women in Business

Taking over in 2018 as a husband and wife team, Cori and Michael Gallucci are maintaining and encouraging their passion for rocks and geology, but it is not the only passion in their lives. Cori and her husband are parents to two beautiful children. Working in a business together and learning the balance of working as a married couple while maintaining a family and home life comes with a unique set of challenges. Cori vulnerably admits, “The business and parenting were pretty all-consuming for a little while; however, I have managed to still maintain my passion for plants and the outdoors.” The biggest thing for Cori was making peace with compromise. As an individual who runs a small business, her life was consumed by work. All of that was required to change when she became a mother. She says, “Eventually, I made peace with the fact that I just wouldn’t be able to work long, continuous hours the way I used to, and that helped a lot.” “As for juggling everything, I am still figuring all of that out myself,” Cori says smiling. “Fortunately, we get to set our own schedule, and since we own the business, we get to bring our youngest daughter along to work.” Cori and Michael have learned how to leave work at work and come home to spend time with their family through trial and error. “When we are home with the kids, that’s what we are doing, 100%, instead of trying to juggle the kids and write work emails and take calls or place orders,” she says proudly. That being said, families and working in the same business can also be a blessing. Yes, it presents unique challenges, but for Cori and Michael, they’ve learned how to become more efficient in their work and admit to growing stronger in their relationship with one another through their open communication.

Women in Business

Finding a balance is no easy feat. For now, the business and Gallucci family remain rock solid. Three big tips they recommend for working together as partners, not only in their personal lives but also in their business, are the following: communication, patience, perseverance. “We are also typically very much on the same page as far as the vision for our store goes, with similar tastes and interests,” Cori says. “Yet, we’re different enough to provide counterbalances to our personal trappings.” Going to work together in the morning and coming home together at night, married business partners spend a great deal of time with each other. Being together too much can present challenges. Cori says that their honesty and openness with each other has been what has held the two of them together. She goes on to say that the ability to recognize when one is in a bad mood, or self-awareness, has also proved to be essential. The two have also delegated individual tasks at the store so they’re conscious of the job at hand and are not stepping on each other’s toes while at the store. “It took a long time for our store to get where it is, and an inch a day will get you so much farther in the long run than a single head-long sprint,” Cori advises. “It helps, too, if your work is something you are passionate about, but really dedication to your goals and the willingness to make sacrifices in order to achieve them will define your success in business.” BHW

Women in Business

Beauty

Smelling fresh and clean is something everyone desires. Perfume and colognes are used by a vast percentage of men and women to give off a fresh signature scent, and while these products can be expensive, the real cost may be lurking behind the scenes. Here are some things to consider when choosing a fragrance for your daily routine.

By Jessie McGriff

Beauty

Spray What? In a typical bottle of perfume, there can be up to 4000 chemicals that are compiled to create the aroma that hits your nose. While “fragrance” may not sound scary, there are currently no regulations that require these chemicals to be listed on the label. Perfumes and body sprays have unique formulations that are considered a “trade secret,” which protects manufacturers from having to disclose what ingredients are used to create the product. Companies can use the term “fragrance” to cover a huge spectrum of chemicals, including some that can be harmful to your health. In 2018, a women’s health not-for-profit, Women’s Voices for the Earth, flagged over 1200 ingredients used in fragrance as “chemicals of concern.” The multitude of ingredients that are combined in a perfume makes it difficult to rate the toxicity, however, many of the individual chemicals have been proven toxic on their own. You Are What You Spray The skin is the body’s largest organ and, in effect, can absorb a large amount of environmental and topical toxins. The most common places to spray perfume are on the neck and the wrists and these two areas are full of veins, arteries, and glands that can transmit harmful substances throughout the body. These positions for fragrance are also more of a tradition and a result of glamorous marketing rather than a purposeful place to spread your scent. Opting to spray your scent on your forearms, hair, or clothes can limit how much of the product is absorbed into your system. Are You Being Affected? If you are concerned that your perfume or body spray is causing you harm, there are a few ways to tell if you are being immediately affected. If you are experiencing nose irritation, sneezing, sore eyes, nausea, or asthmatic events, then you may be sensitive or allergic to the chemicals in that particular product. Although you may not have any of these immediate symptoms, it does not mean that you aren’t being affected. Chemicals can build up in your system over time and cause more long-term effects.

Beauty

Healthy Options The good news is that you do not have to walk around fragrance free; there are some safe options you can choose when searching for your signature scent. “Clean” perfume companies have hit the market with great options for scents that are transparent and toxin free. Many of these clean scents are just as nice as their toxic alternates. Another option to achieve a great scent is to create your own body mist with essential oils. Knowing what you are putting on your skin gives you peace of mind that you can have both a fresh smell and good health. BHW

10 drops Lemon essential oil 7 drops Citrus Bliss essential oil 2 drops Ylang Ylang essential oil 1 Tbsp Witch Hazel Combine the above ingredients in a 2oz mist bottle. Fill the bottle with distilled water. Enjoy! Note: This recipe contains citrus essential oils, so do not apply before direct sunlight or exposure to artificial UV rays. Recipe provided by Essential Oil Outlet

Beauty

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Oil & Acrylic Artist Desy Schoenewies

Area Artist

Running around with crayons in her back pocket at all times as a child, Desy Schoenewies cannot recall a time that she wasn’t interested in art. Throughout her youth, she found her love for painting. Schoenewies thought she would have a career in comic books or animation, but during her college years, she found herself wanting to paint more than work on comics. “Along the way, I found that I was particularly good at explaining the art process to others, which led me to my love for teaching art. My art practice has been a meandering journey, but painting and exploring has always been the core of everything I’ve done,” Schoenewies explains. Now, she has her own classroom, teaching college students about the thing she loves most, art. Schoenewies works in both oils and acrylics. She prefers to use oil based paint for her larger pieces and tends to use acrylics or oils with encaustic for smaller and more intimate pieces. “As much as I am a trained painter, I get bored if I work too much in one medium, so I work in multiple series,” says Schoenewies. Although she works with multiple series of imagery and painting mediums, her favorite work is about the conjecture between memory and place. “Revisiting a place evokes in us a feeling that is more honest than our memory. Our memories exist as faulty flickering images, influenced by imagination and emotions. I attempt to capture the uneasy moments we feel when revisiting familiar places and stories. I attempt to create images that evoke fleeting memories by using multiple timelines within a space. This creates a complex composition where the same figures are rendered

Area Artist

in multiple spaces in the same frame, or figures from one timeline are mingling with those from other eras,” Schoenewies explains. Schoenewies has always been driven to learn as much as she could about art since she was a child. She received her MFA from Fontbonne University in St. Louis, Missouri, and her BFA at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri. When asked what her favorite environments are, she says that she feels most content when she is in front of her easel, undistributed for hours on end with music blasting in her ears. “My next favorite place is in the classroom, where my students at BHSU are working and pushing themselves in their own art adventures,” says, smiling. Schoenewies spends a lot of time on her own work when she is not teaching her students. She tends to have several works in progress at a time in her studio. For her larger oil pieces, Schoenewies typically works on them for 2-4 weeks, spending about 20 hours each week on them. She isn’t always taking on such large projects, though, and a smaller piece typically takes but a few hours. Her most recent series, Ghosts, focuses on the changing landscapes of the grocery store. “The Covid-19 pandemic found me longing for my familiar former grocery shopping experiences, where all I had to worry about was my budget

Area Artist

and the calories. I began to think about the evolution of the American supermarket as a testament of abundance, yet still prone to the fickle demands of convenience,” explains Schoenewies. Schoenewies’ former art teachers have had the largest impact on her experience as an artist. Her elementary school teacher saw her as an artist from their first class together and pushed Schoenewies to keep creating throughout her formative years. “I am also very impressed by the portraiture works of Elaine de Kooning and Alice Neel. Both of these amazing women swiftly are not only able to paint a strong likeness, but able to paint someone’s true character,” she explains. “For anyone aspiring to be an artist, the key is to see yourself as an artist right now. Ask yourself what it means to be an artist, and what an art means to you,” says Schoenewies. Artists are the innovators that shape our world and we need them in order to make the imaginable a reality. Schoenewies’ works are often shown around the state. She is an active member of the Artists of the Black Hills group and often has work at the Matthews Opera House. Websites: www.desyschoenewies.com, www.artistsoftheblackhills.com BHW

Area Artist

janet hedrick

has a head for design

Home & Garden

anet Hedrick has always had a love for homes. When she was young, she would have her mom get discounted carpet samples so she could use them for her homemade doll houses, where she also used craft paper as wall paper. “In high school, I talked my dad into knocking out the windows in our dining room and making it into a sliding glass door. We did it— but then lived without a deck for a couple years,” she giggles. Hedrick loved doing house projects, and they are her first love. If she would have gone to a four year college, she would have majored in interior design or a form of architecture, she says. Instead, she went to cosmetology school and projects are her hobby. “My husband teases that I need a cheaper hobby,” she laughs, “but the truth is, I’ve sucked him into loving it too.” At the age of twenty, Hedrick bought her first home. Her father was a shop teacher and her uncle worked in construction. “Between the two of them and all my sweet talking, we made that little house on Franklin Street a complete gem,” she smiles. Most of her skill comes from doing. Through trial and error she learned

Home & Garden

more about how to turn an idea into a reality. Hedrick draws a lot of her inspiration from traveling, watching HGTV, and flipping through home decor catalogs. Hedrick has taken on a lot of different projects, but her favorite transformation is her salon, J. Leone. This is the biggest project she has taken on, being that the entire building needed to be gutted down to the bones. “I bought it without my husband seeing it first,” she says. “When he first saw it he asked, ‘Can we give it back?’” laughs Leone, “she was a doozie!” After four months of hard work on evenings and weekends, the cute little house on Kansas City St. was reinvented into a salon by adding some glam, while still keeping its charm. According to Hedrick, defining her style is complicated, because she thinks that all styles done well, are beautiful. Hedrick likes to mix and match different elements and styles in her projects. “I lean more toward the modern clean lines, but I also love the detail of more traditional styles,” she says. Hedrick really enjoys working with other people, too, and finds it fun to help others fine tune their style. “I like original, authentic pieces to inspire a space,” she says. The trick to melding her style with those she is working with, is to use something they find to be beautiful and build on that. Hedrick finds that melding classic, timeless style with current and trendy pieces keeps it from being dated. “Don’t apologize for what you love. It’s proven that we are happier and more successful when we surround ourselves with things we find to be beautiful.” BHW

Home & Garden

-TIP 1Use a variety of natural elements. Wood, brick, or stone; it doesn’t all have to match, but use it for texture.

-TIP 2Always go big on the windows and doors. Nothing can replace natural light or the feeling of open and air.

-TIP 3Use a variety of masculine and feminine finishes. If everything is dark, it will give off a heavy feeling. If everything is bright and bling, you risk it looking cheap. Mix the elements and add contrast for a more expensive, sexy feel.

“Don’t apologize for what you love. It’s proven that we are happier and more successful when we surround ourselves with things we find to be beautiful.”

Home & Garden

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Fashion

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Why Pantyhose Sales Are SAGGING By Dorothy Rosby

Humor

I recently came across an essay written by a man,

who was nostalgic about pantyhose. No, he didn’t miss wearing them himself. He missed seeing them on the legs of the ladies in his life. He asked some women he knew why they were denying him and other men this pleasure, and he got a lot of reasons, including cost, comfort, changing fashion, and that odd swishing sound they make when you walk in them. More interesting than his whine about the decline of pantyhose were the many passionate responses to it. Several men even criticized women for being slovenly, and women responded that if men thought pantyhose were so great, they should just go ahead and wear them themselves. Who knew people could get so worked up about nylons? I haven’t given them a thought in years. I seldom wear dresses anymore because as I’ve gotten older, and I’ve gotten chillier. Sometimes it’s June before I give up my long johns, and those look plain goofy with a skirt. Of course, there was a time I wore dresses almost daily and pantyhose with them. And as I recall, they do have some advantages, the main one being they keep your bare legs from sticking to your car seat on hot days. But I’m naturally curious—and always looking for ways to put off doing actual work—so I went to the great fashion consultant in the sky, the internet, to investigate the

Humor

rise and fall of pantyhose. I was shocked by what I learned. It seems stocking sales have been slipping like a pair of nylons with a worn-out waistband since the 90s, and it took a man pointing it out for me to even notice. There was a time nylon stockings were all the rage. Apparently, they made their big debut in a flashy display at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York, and women fell for them. When they went on sale the following year, stockings sold like toilet paper during a pandemic. Unfortunately, shortly after that, nylon went to war, World War II that is, where it was used to make parachutes, tents, flak jackets, mosquito netting, and other equally fashionable items. Legend has it that when the war ended, women actually rioted to get the first post-war hosiery shipment. I just can’t see me doing that. The closest I’ve come to rioting for stockings was throwing a shoe across the room after I ran a brand new pair. I read that 60 women in Tulsa, Oklahoma, were asked what they missed most during the war. Twenty said men and forty said nylon stockings. Unbelievable! If I had to choose between my husband and pantyhose, I’d choose my husband on most days. I’d choose him every day over the stockings women wore in those days: the thigh-high kind held up by a garter belt contraption. If I had to wear one of those, it would take me 20 minutes longer to get dressed every day.

Humor

In 1959, pantyhose came along and women replaced one annoying gizmo with another: the elastic waistband. It’s no wonder that by the 90s, women were beginning to go au-naturel. There are probably as many reasons for sagging pantyhose sales as there are for sagging pantyhose. But I suspect they’re just too fussy for some busy modern women. If you don’t put them on right, you risk poking a hole right through them. Then, you’ll throw your shoes, too. Twist them as you’re putting them on and you’ll cut off your circulation for the rest of the day. There are actually YouTube videos demonstrating the proper technique for putting on nylons. Like I said, too fussy. No one needs a YouTube video to help them put on their pants. Nylons are expensive, too, and you have to replace them often. Or at least I did. For me, nylons were literally disposable clothing. Imagine if you had to replace your socks every few times you wore them.

Humor

Worst of all, they’re uncomfortable. Stocking manufacturers use phrases like “sheer energy” and “all-day massage”. But anytime you add an elastic waist band, you’re asking for misery. If a man wants to understand what his wife endures when she wears pantyhose, he could try wearing his watch around his middle all day. Still women continue to buy pantyhose, just not as often as we once did. And pantyhose companies have tried desperately to win us back by offering miracle stockings that do everything from smooth cellulite to resist runs to flatten our tummies. We can even have our nylons laced with aloe vera to moisturize our legs all day long—though we may slide out of our chair. Despite these efforts, stocking sales have definitely hit a snag. They did have a good run, though. (Dorothy Rosby would riot for jeans.) BHW

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