I hear tell, we’re all hanging out on a big round ball spinning in space around a bigger round ball. The thing I have noticed about spinning around and around is that things seem to happen over and over… sometimes it’s often and sometimes it’s very rare. I have noticed, each year when we are about here on our lap around the track, I tend to find myself feeling a little underwhelmed… a little dark a little cold – Under-challenged, underwhelmed, maybe even… dare I say, bored. Every year though, I try to use that discomfort and force myself to go find the alternative. 

This year, no exception. I’m have been finding myself fidgeting in the dark that is winter in February in the Black Hills. I have pushed myself to go out and see what the world has to offer and boy-howdy has it shown me some beautiful things.

I’ve crawled through Spearfish Canyon and sat in the waist deep snow and watched the crystal clear water meander through the frozen spruce trees. It was also there where I watched the trees whisper to the sun as the softest breeze lifted the delicate ice off the pine branches up to the sun.

I found myself crawling through the recently scorched earth in Custer State Park where I was able to find a different kind of beauty, one of change, destruction, growth, potential, and renewal. 

I’ve wandered, I’ve hiked, I’ve fallen on my ass and most of all I have sat and carefully witnessed what mother nature has to show me this time around. The moments are more subtle, more delicate, more poetic and soft but they are there with abundance and there for us if we’re willing to look 

But back to the topic of redundancy, I do feel compelled to share with you one such occurrence that brought me the utmost joy. It happened yesterday as I finished my wander out in the biggest snow storm we’ve had this winter. The snow, falling steady has laid a thick blanket over everything. I ventured out again to see the world with its fresh new coat. This trip took me down through the heart of the hills to Sylvan Lake, through Custer State Park and out to Highway 79 before coming back home into Rapid City. I decided I wasn’t quite done and did a little bopping around from park to park to see what there was to see. My last stop found me turning right into a little out of the way park where I got out and walked a bit along the still flowing creek. The air was cold the snow was heavy enough to get caught up in my eye lashes. I took some deep breaths before noticing several birds picking at berries along the creek – I wandered over and to my delight they were Cedar Waxwings.

Now, I have to interject here that I have had a fascination with these delightful birds for years, ever since they started stopping by my moms house for a couple weeks each Spring on their way through on their migration. They have the sweetest little noise they make, it’s not a song, or a tweet, it’s more of a hum, but it’s enchanting. Often I have been able to identify them because I hear them before I see them. I am digressing, point is, I have loved them for a long time, I have seen them all over and I have ALWAYS tried to get photos of them to no avail. Yesterday though, yesterday was my day, there they were, in the most unlikely of places… just sitting there, eating berries and only looking slightly annoyed at the sideways snow.

But here’s the best part, and where I bring it all back to that circular thing I touched on at the top of this post.

They sat, perched each on their own branch, stacked up in the little tree right next to the creek and I immediately thought of another photo I had taken, several laps around the sun ago…. It was a very similar day – a day of heavy snow, a day of personal discontent, a day I found myself wondering, looking, seeking… 

That day I saw several robins up in a tree, it was only slightly later in the spring –  the trees were budding and these robins… they were so glorious up there in those trees. I captured the shot and it went on to be one of my most appreciated photos to date – and is still one of my favorite photos to this day. 

And here I sat, all these years later, looking at a very similar sight but this time they were cedar waxwings! The birds I have delighted me for years but have always escaped me. Yesterday when I needed it the most they let me walk right up to them and got into formation and they let me know, that even though we go around and around and around, and even though sometimes seem redundant, there is still delight to be found even around the most familiar of corners. 

Spring is coming friends, the blanket of white will melt and soon it will grow into a blanket of green. The cycle continues and what a gift it is to have a seat on this ride. 

Fleming is a photographer and graphic designer who owns Bonzeye Studio in downtown Rapid City. The natural beauty of western South Dakota inspires much of her work, including a line of stickers. On Dec. 10, one day before the Legion Lake Fire ignited, Fleming’s newest sticker design proclaiming “I Love the Black Hills” debuted in her studio.

As the Legion Lake Fire burned 85 square miles in Custer State Park, Wind Cave National Park and private land, Fleming launched an impromptu fire recovery fundraiser. She posted a video on Facebook on Dec. 14 announcing the sale of “I Love the Black Hills” stickers at $4 each. Fleming’s goal was to raise $1,000. The fundraiser turned out “a little bit better than anticipated,” Fleming said, laughing.

“I didn’t expect to raise the $7,000 at all. I thought I would sell stickers and give the money away. The response was simply overwhelming. We received online orders from every corner of the country. We sold thousands in just two short weeks. I’ve never done anything that took off like this.”

The sticker’s sentiment struck a chord. Fleming had 200 stickers in stock on the first day; within 24 hours she had orders for 432 stickers and she’d already raised more than $1,000. In the midst of the hectic Christmas season, Fleming was filling and shipping hundreds of orders a day, selling stickers in her downtown gallery and ordering more from her supplier.

“Stickers really did go everywhere,” she said. “I had people come into the store and buy them and tell me they were sending stickers overseas. Everybody could pitch in and be a part of something and do something good.”

Fleming credits the town of Custer and enthusiasm on social media for the fundraiser’s success. “I did a little live video and the town of Custer shared it and that’s when it really took off. I compare (the fundraiser) to the way the fire burned; it was going and it just exploded,” Fleming said.

“The thing that was so cool for me was how many people participated. I just offered this way for people to help, and they were the ones that made it happen. It was so fantastic to be a part of it. … I think that’s the special thing about where we live. People come through and help everybody out.”

Fleming concluded the fundraiser Dec. 31. On Jan. 3, she sent a $7,000 check to the South Dakota Parks and Wildlife Foundation. The foundation will use the funds wherever they are most needed to aid fire recovery, she said.

The “I Love the Black Hills” sticker can still be purchased at blackhillsstickers.com, although no more proceeds will go toward fire recovery, Fleming said.

A quick glance at the apps on our phone showed the KP index holding strong at 7 for another hour so we ventured further north. The KP held strong most of the night and as wee wandered all around western South Dakota enjoying each other’s company and the marveling at the sights unfolding before our eyes. All in all we put about 100 miles on Aaron’s Jeep and didn’t pull into the driveway until about 3:30 in the morning (which is way- WAY past my bed time). I have seen the Northern Lights a dozen or so times in my life and what amazes me most is how completely different each event is. Last night though, it just kept changing every time we stopped it was doing something completely new and something I had not seen any of the previous times. It was truly a night I will treasure.

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA TV) – We have some of the most beautiful landscape in the country, from the plains to the hills.

Bonny Fleming, owner of Bonzeye Studio in Rapid City, shot this landscape photo titled “Road to the Pot of Gold”

Amateur photographers: Share your best landscape photo that was shot within the last 12 months (April 2016 to now). Please, this is nature so the photos must be as natural as possible, no photoshopping beyond basic cropping and tweaking the exposure.

After a week of submissions (April 10-17), we will open voting (April 17-23) to the general public. The amateur landscape photo with the most votes will be preserved as a metal print.

Bonny Fleming of Bonzeye Studio, 508 Sixth Street, Rapid City, will reproduce the winning image as a 12×18 metal print. Printed using dye sublimation process, the artwork is printed directly onto high-quality aluminum for a clean, lasting finish. Contemporary, vibrant and captivating pieces take on life-like depth and dimension for an impressive display that stands the test of time. Finished with a durable metal-hanging bracket gives the piece an appearance it’s floating ¾” from the wall.

Enjoy, and here’s to the next lap around the sun!

Bonny Fleming is a photographer and digital artist in the Black Hills.  Her work includes landscapes and wildlife of the Black Hills and Badlands.

Think of a stand of ponderosa pine trees silhouetted against the vivid layered colors of a Black Hills sunset, or a lone bighorn sheep atop steep snow-filled gullies of the Badlands, or a close-up of a coiled prairie rattlesnake about to strike.  

Her digital art includes composites of thousands of photos she has taken over the years that fill the space inside an animal.  There is a raven that includes images of Yellowstone Lake, and a buffalo with a jagged ridge of pine trees that make up the arch of back, and a butterfly that includes images of a lightning bolt and the blue sky.  

Some of her time lapse videos of swirling Black Hills super cell thunderstorms have been picked up by major TV networks after going viral on the internet.

Fleming is now switching gears, from doing her art to running a downtown gallery in Rapid City that features her work and a few other Black Hills artists.

She sat down with SDPB’s Charles Michael Ray to talk about the intersection of being an artist and running a business.    

I had a lightning fast trip to Montana last weekend. I headed up to hang a show at the Lockhorn Cider House in Bozeman. The activity I drove all that way for, took me about 45 minutes and even though I only had one day to spend in the area, the freedom from my obligation gave me plenty of time to roam around the mountains. A quick hike with Jake and Betty G to Fairy Lake left me more than inspired to keep going. I set off for a noble drive up multiple mountain ranges, and Montana, you did not disappoint. You really do take that whole “Big Sky” thing seriously.
My show will be up through October and I will be back at the end of the month for a small reception and to say hi to what is quickly becoming my favorite home-away-from-home.

Nothing quite reminds me of the circular nature of our lives like Fall. Each year I find myself in similar places, wondering around winding trails, getting my socks wet trying to capture the way leaves look in the trickling streams that crawl below the simmering changing leaves. The air changes. Everything exists with the awareness of the season’s punctuation mark. Yesterday, infinite breath-taking beauty met me around every corner. I could have clicked for hours if the sun weren’t getting ready to leave us for the day.

The Daughter and I spent last week bumming around in Montana. We were fortunate enough to catch the an excellent fireworks display in Big Sky while my brother Jake and The Tiny Band played in front of thousands. The weather was lovely, the sights were extraordinary and the company was top notch. We were there mostly for work but managed to squeeze in some playtime as well.

My work will be up for the month of July in Bozeman at Maya Rising (upstairs at 20 Main St).

The Needles of the Black Hills are among South Dakota’s oldest rocks. They were formed around 2 billion years ago when molten magma slowly solidified beneath the earth’s surface.

The moon was formed 4.5 billion years ago during a massive collision between a smaller proto-Earth and another planetoid, about the size of Mars.

Our amazing planet is 4.543 billion years old.

The oldest stars in the Milky Way are roughly 13.4 billion years old.

…. and I am 36.

We all stood together for a few hours of timelessness and everything was beautiful.

Three years ago, my daughter graduated from 5th grade. (Meaning she was making the move from elementary school to middle school). It was a lot for me to process, so I threw the young one in the car and headed out. I remember we didn’t have much time but we managed to find ourselves in front of a glorious rainbow. A rainbow that, because of the circumstances, mattered more to me than others. We watched it together and I tried to convince her that it was amazing. We watched the rainbow but eventually left it behind to get back to town for something important, I don’t remember what it was. Funny that, I remember the exact day, I remember it was Anna’s last day of 5th grade, and I remember the rainbow, but I don’t, for the life of me, remember what was so important we had to get back to town.

*********************************************

Today was a gray cloudy day. Today was an ass-kicker. Today I only wanted to go home and find my couch and let all the bullshit drip off me and fall away. Anna asked for the third time if we could go get some dinner. Reluctantly, I peeled myself off the couch and, after a quick glance outside, I decided it wouldn’t hurt to grab my camera. We drove down the driveway and after another momentary study of the sky I said “I… think this is gonna get cool.” Anna agreed. “Would you mind if we drove for a bit and grabbed dinner when we get back?” I asked, to my surprise, she said “No! Lets go!”

The rain continued to fall as we drove an old familiar gravel road east of town. A road I travel often; a road that is never disappointing; a road that fixes things. With one eye on the sky, I chose that road with intention. I had a feeling it would get us to where we needed to be.

Today was Anna’s last day of 8th grade. That means for the next 4 years you may hear me utter the words “My daughter is in High School.” I’ve heard other people say things like that, but how could it be possible that I am the one saying it now? The thing about having a kid who is in (**cough) high school, is that she’s really interested in terrifying things like learning to drive, and boys. I’m not much help in the later category, but I can do my best to make sure that when she does get behind the wheel, she’s prepared.

The request to drive came almost immediately, but I held off until we were a safe number of miles down the gravel road. It was still raining, but you could see the distinct edge of the storm, and I knew once the sun dropped below the clouds, we would be witness to a glorious rainbow… at least, that’s what I hoped. I must admit, although I was successful in predicting what we eventually saw, I grossly underestimated how long it would take. This mistake was no trouble for us though, we drove all about and the time spent waiting for the storm’s edge to catch up to us was rich with quality conversation and beautiful sights to see…. not to mention some lessons in how to drive in reverse.

Eventually though, The sun finally fell into position below the clouds and it was blazing…  it was time for the show. “Here it comes! Stop right here!!!” Anna pulled off in the most insanely picturesque spot ever and less than 3 seconds later the sky exploded. To the east ribbons of rain caught not only the rainbow but the red/orange glow from the blasting sun.

That sucker was epic, there’s no other way to say it. One so good I can’t even come close to being able to do it justice with my camera. (Not that I didn’t try) I clicked and snapped and realized we could keep the magnificence going if we followed the storm. So we piled in the car, Anna still at the wheel and kept going

About a mile down the road I exclaimed again “STOP HERE.” She did and I clicked some more. It was then that I remembered being there, in that exact same spot, 3 years ago… watching that rainbow with my just freshly middle-schooled daughter. A tear fell from my eye as I looked back at my now just freshman, behind the wheel of my car.

There will always be moments like that, and there will always be rainbows… but sometimes both the moments and the rainbows get to be SO good that they blaze themselves into your memory forever. And sometimes they are so good, you forget to grab dinner, which is why you had to get off the couch in the first place….

Behind me some fresh calves frolicked
and chased each other around the safety of their mothers.

Meadowlarks sang from atop nearby fence posts,
joined by chorus frogs hiding below them in the water collected in ditches.

In the distance I heard a covey of sage grouse
chuckle as they danced to impress their ladies.

A local woman first fell in love with photography at age 12 ,and says she’s never really set the camera down since.

For the past few years she’s sold her work at craft shows and *other people’s* galleries.

But in a couple weeks she plans the grand opening of her own small gallery, ‘A Long the Way” in her hometown of Rapid City.

Bonny Fleming uses her camera like a poet uses words.

Fleming says, “What I try to take pictures of is the stuff that I can’t believe I’m looking at.”

She works full time doing graphic design and spends her free time pursuing what she’s loved since childhood.

Bonny Fleming says, “For me it’s the excuse to sort of blow those things off a little bit and run off and play and be out in the world and see what it has to show me.”

Born in Deadwood, she says she moved to Rapid City around age 5.

Bonny Fleming says, “I realized that being outside and seeing what’s out there is what makes me happy, a beautiful sunset or a cool thunderstorm or watching some buffalo, or even the way the grass looks.”

Bonny with an eye for moments: equals Bonzeye Photography.

Bonny Fleming says, “I’ve figured out there’s 9 ways out of Rapid City and so the challenge is, you know, which way out of Rapid City you’re gonna go. And the reality is, you know you’re gonna find whatever adventure you find when you go down that road, and every other road is gonna have it own adventures that you’re gonna have to let go of.”

Every picture has it’s own life story.

Fleming says, ” One of them looks just exactly like that mom buffalo is kissing that baby buffalo.”

“Looking up when you’re inside a teepee without the outside on and I just looked up and I couldn’t believe how beautiful the clouds looked and the way it contrasted with the poles,” says Fleming.

Fleming says, “I have this rattle snake and it kinda jars you but I think people like that because that emotion is transferred from me to them through looking at the photograph.”

Or the time she caught a rainbow and lightning at the same time.

Fleming says, “And I got out and it was still raining and I lifted up the hatch of my truck so I could get my tripod under it and try to stay as dry as possible and just shot and shot and shot”

Her imagination, her way of seeing the world, is not limited to one picture at a time.

Bonny Fleming says, “These are new things I’m doing. I’m calling it the Synthesis Series. What I’m doing is I’m stacking my photography on top of my photography. I’ve called it painting with photography.”

Steve says: Combining her photos to create a single image that somehow simply blends into one.

“You put a forest on a buffalo’s back and all of a sudden it looks like fur. Or, you know, I put this waterfall down this butterfly wing and it just fit in this odd way,” she says.

Even her Gallery embraces her view of the world, a Raven photo topped by a black hat, or a lamp wearing a scarf.

Fleming says, “If there’s a way to change the world so simply as showing people how you see it, you know, that’s what I want. And for them to know it’s for sale,” she says with a laugh.

If you’ve met someone cool “Along the way”, please e–mail or call us with your story ideas.

She just recently filed for a Federal Tax ID: which means officially transitioning her hobby into a business.

Her official gallery grand opening is set for May 15th.

After that: until business grows, her little gallery behind 616 West Street, will be open by appointment only.