Our Artists



Alice Cook
Kathy Fiedler
Eloise Forrer
Susan Ogle


Alice Cook

Illustrator of Caught in the Sluice

Alice Cook and her husband John lived for thirty years in Juneau, in a house on Chicken Ridge that had been built around 1910 for the superintendent of the Alaska Gastineau Mining Company. Cook began her career as an illustrator with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, where she worked developing texts to be used in Bush schools. She later became an environmental education officer for the US Forest Service. She was also a member of the Sunshine Gallery artists' cooperative in Friday Harbor, Washington, where she and John live, not far from Neil and Rosemarie Davis.


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Kathy Fiedler

Illustrator of The Birthday Party

When she created the illustrations for The Birthday Party, Kathy Fiedler was a semiretired editor of diverse technical texts. During the winter she walked the beaches of Oregon between storms and bouts of wrestling with the challenge of watercolor painting; summers she spent drawing and writing in the boreal forests of Alaska's interior. She has since passed away.


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Eloise Forrer
Eloise Forrer

Illustrator of Bucket

The daughter of Pennsylvania Dutch parents who lived a life of employment in the trades, small business ventures, and connected family farms, Forrer graduated from the Eastman School of Music as a concert harpist. But the Great Depression, the Second World War, and her own family intervened in her career as a musician. With her husband Paul Forrer, she taught grade school at remote sites in Arizona and Alaska, and for her entire teaching career she was able to keep her harp with her. She played harp and piano regularly for students and town folk. Forrer illustrated Bucket using techniques developed by her husband during their years in the bush. The method involves colored carbon paper, a household iron, and immense amounts of time. She is pictured here with her son, Eric.


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Susan Ogle

Illustrator of Keep the Round Side Down

Artist Susan Ogle lives and works in Cordova, Alaska. Before moving there in 1987, she and her husband spent ten years paddling their kayak in Prince William Sound. They guided guests on trips for part of the time, but their true mission was exploration and discovery. They moved to Cordova to become full-time Sound residents. Owners of a small bookstore named Orca Book and Sound, they promote reading, art, and environmental causes. Susan paints every afternoon, usually large oils of the flora and fauna of the area, but she is sometimes tempted to illustrate a story she loves.


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