Gwen Frostic

I have been finding these really neat books while working at the Literacy Council in the used bookstore. I am attacted by the neat artwork that looks stamped on and the wonderful verses. I found a few more today and I looked up the author/artist. Click the title above to visit her site. I wish I could have had the chance to meet this lady before she died. She must have been such an interesting person to know. It's just amazing that she was so observant of nature and so patient and talented to be able to transform a block of wood into such a beautiful work of art. They even have rubber stamps and note cards with her art and poetry available on that website. I hope I can find all of her books. I certainly love the collection I have now.

More to love about Denali

I loved everything about Denali. Of course the mountains are beautiful and the fall colors spectacular but I found many other things to enjoy about Denali, especially the great coffee and gift shops! I found a store where a local artist named Tok Hwang was selling some beautiful prints. They were paintings of the Denali area. I had an awful time choosing but finally selected two different mountain scenes, "Seward Glacier" and "Hatch Pass". They both have a little green in them so they will look good in my house after I have them set into matching green frames and mats. Next on my wishlist is "Walking in Denali", a picture of a moose walking in snow. Tok is the only artist I know of who was truly mastered the art of painting realistic looking falling snow! In this picture I had stopped to admire the beautiful view with my wrapped art in hand.
At the hotel, there was this neat round room surrounded in windows. There was a little coffee place in there with great deli type snacks. On our last morning there I found a cozy little table in this room to spend a little time doing my newest hobby. I enjoyed knitting while taking in the view with a great Mocha and some various cheeses and grapes. The cute little shop outside called The Denali Glass Studio is where I found some great "Alaska grown Shepherd's wool" from Spring Valley Farm in Talkeetna. I also found some nice bamboo knitting needles. I was fortunate to find that shop since I somehow lost one of my needles! I had to move up from a size 6 to a 7 but I really can't tell any difference. This is the start of my first washcloth! Aren't the greens beautiful?!