In other Dragon and Goat community news, we’re excited to hear that artist Shanon Kelley of East Tennessee has been busy making work and is illustrating the first children’s book about the Pigeon River. The river runs through Newport, TN where Shanon has worked with local people to collect stories from local elders about the Pigeon River and put image to them.
Though Shanon and I first met back in middle school when she lived in my hometown, I was fortunate to have her in my Storytelling with Mixed Media drawing class at Arrowmont in Gatlinburg last October. Her work in the workshop was fantastic, and we definitely look forward to seeing how she brings pictures to local history in this book!