Art Show at the Washington State History Museum

 If you are anywhere near Tacoma, WA, in the next couple of months, please consider stopping by the Washington State History Museum. The Western Washington Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators will have an illustrator exhibit there from November 19, 2014 to January 18, 2015.

We also have an opening this Saturday, November 22, from 11:00am-2:00pm. Come stop by and meet the artists!

Here is my piece for the show:

It's called Dreaming of the Summit, Mt. Baker, Early 1900s.

Here's what I wrote for the show about making the piece:

I was inspired to make this piece after looking through a book about early mountaineers in Washington State. The early gear looked so low tech; I was intrigued. Later I began wondering about early women mountaineers. When did women start climbing Mt. Baker or Mt. Rainier? What did their gear look like? I decided to find out. The photos and stories I found fascinated me; women were mountaineering in Washington State in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. It seemed incredible that women climbed mountains and scaled glaciers wearing what they wore in the pictures I found. This art piece imagines what it would have been like to be one of those early female adventurers: a young Whatcom County woman (I’m from Bellingham), dreaming of the summit of Mt. Baker. I imagined her to be inspired by stories of Fay Fuller, the first woman to climb Mt. Rainier. 

Drop me a line if you stop by. Let me know what you think.