Alice Jenks
"By Thy Rivers Gently Flowing, Illinois, Illinois"
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| (Photos by Patrick Fraser) |
The State Song of Illinois, “By thy rivers gently flowing, Illinois, Illinois” inspired me to seek their pathways and embellish them with many water-colored beads. Because I have lived in Illinois for my entire life, my pathways all start and end here. A printout of the U.S. Geological Survey gave me the basic information on our most prominent rivers. I printed their map and transferred it to fabric by stitching metallic blue thread to use as my guide for beading. The second banner is a guide to these rivers with their names stitched near them.
On the second side of my map, I have noted the rivers that are most personal to me because they are near the six cities where I have lived. They are shown on the map with purple crystals surrounded by silver beads. The Mississippi and Rock Rivers converge near my hometown of Moline. The Sangamon River is near Champaign where I was a student at the University of Illinois. Lake Michigan (I know it’s not a river, but many flow into it) is adjacent to where I lived and taught school in Evanston. The Des Plaines River is near my homes in Arlington Heights, Mt. Prospect, and Des Plaines. The final river is the Illinois River that flows across our whole state, connecting the Des Plaines, where I live now, with the Mississippi, my hometown river. The Fox River snuck onto my map because he is a mischievous little guy and didn’t want to be left out.