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Description
For the 'Myths of my Hometown' contest at : [link]
Actually... it's two parts. I wrote a short story to go along with the image...

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The Myth:
Long ago, in the time of the First People, there was a small village on a hill. The view from the hill was beautiful--ancient evergreens, sparkling lakes, and snow-capped mountains. Above them all rose the Father mountain, shrouded in clouds.

The villagers would smile when the weather was clear and they could gaze upon his beauty. A particular young woman in the village would not just smile, however. No, she would do nothing but stand and gaze off into the distance with a far-off look in her eyes. At sunset, she was even moved to tears from the glorious display of colors. Others in the village did not understand how she could be so smitten with something so trivial as the scenery.

During the winter, when the mountain was almost constantly shrouded, she would become depressed. Many men attempted to woo her, but she wouldn't have it. Her heart was elsewhere, and soon, she realized she couldn't stand to be apart from the object of her desire.

Once the harshness of winter lifted, she decided to take a journey and visit the mountain in person. The people of her village warned her that the mountain was dangerous--it was a place where the earth shook and smoked. She didn't listen; she knew her place was where she didn't have to always wait for the clouds to clear.

It took her many weeks to cross the forest, but her target was easy to find. Finally, she had arrived! She laid down in a high valley and gazed up at the clearest view she'd ever had. She didn't move from that spot for days, unfazed by even hunger.

On the third night, she was greeted by a strange shaman dressed in fur. "You've been here for days. Aren't you going to go home?" he asked her.

"No, this is my home. I want to live here forever. It's so beautiful," she replied.

"Is that so? You will surely die if you do not leave."

"Being here puts me at peace, and there is nothing more in life I can ask for than that happiness."

The shaman was surprised at her answer, but left it at that. Over the next several nights, the shaman would sit and talk with the strange woman. Soon, he learned of her life-long obsession with the mountain and her desire to be nearer to it.

On the seventh night, he revealed to her that he was the spirit of the volcano she admired so much. During their conversations, he had realized that, unlike her, he was unhappy and lonely, but her company seemed to brighten his mood.

In exchange for providing him with companionship, the spirit built her a nearby peak to live on where she could always be close to him and with a beautiful view unrivaled by any other. Her spirit lives on in that peak to this day, and can be seen clearly from her old village as a reminder to those who dream.

***************************
The Inspiration:
This ([link] ) view of Mt. Rainier (aka 'Tahoma') from my campus. It's so pretty... when it's out. Like the story says, we can only see Rainier when the weather is clear and that doesn't happen often during the winter. The small, sharp peak to the left is 'Little Tahoma', the home that the spirit built in the story. It doesn't look like it, but the peak is actually the third tallest in the state if you count it separate from Rainier.

For the contest, I felt really compelled to write/draw something with Mt. Rainier. As one who studies volcanoes intimately (I'm a volcano seismologist), it's difficult for me not to anthropomorphize them. This is not the first and will certainly not be the last time I draw volcano caricatures. I need to update my drawings of Pele and Loowit and put them up here sometime...

Anyway, there are a few legends about the volcanoes in the area from the Klickitat tribe, I think... but they're very Mt. St. Helens centric (she's such an attention whore). I haven't found anything explicitly on Mt. Rainier, so I made something up. For the image, I tried to have 'Tahoma' look as much like the mountain as possible (approximate shape is what I was going for). The fur pelt, white hair, and headdress are supposed to be symbolic of the thick mantle of glaciers on the volcano. 'Little Tahoma' has darker hair because her peak is steep enough to not really support as many glaciers.

Pencil + Photoshop = Win.

Description
For the 'Myths of my Hometown' contest at : [link]
Actually... it's two parts. I wrote a short story to go along with the image...

***************************
The Myth:
Long ago, in the time of the First People, there was a small village on a hill. The view from the hill was beautiful--ancient evergreens, sparkling lakes, and snow-capped mountains. Above them all rose the Father mountain, shrouded in clouds.

The villagers would smile when the weather was clear and they could gaze upon his beauty. A particular young woman in the village would not just smile, however. No, she would do nothing but stand and gaze off into the distance with a far-off look in her eyes. At sunset, she was even moved to tears from the glorious display of colors. Others in the village did not understand how she could be so smitten with something so trivial as the scenery.

During the winter, when the mountain was almost constantly shrouded, she would become depressed. Many men attempted to woo her, but she wouldn't have it. Her heart was elsewhere, and soon, she realized she couldn't stand to be apart from the object of her desire.

Once the harshness of winter lifted, she decided to take a journey and visit the mountain in person. The people of her village warned her that the mountain was dangerous--it was a place where the earth shook and smoked. She didn't listen; she knew her place was where she didn't have to always wait for the clouds to clear.

It took her many weeks to cross the forest, but her target was easy to find. Finally, she had arrived! She laid down in a high valley and gazed up at the clearest view she'd ever had. She didn't move from that spot for days, unfazed by even hunger.

On the third night, she was greeted by a strange shaman dressed in fur. "You've been here for days. Aren't you going to go home?" he asked her.

"No, this is my home. I want to live here forever. It's so beautiful," she replied.

"Is that so? You will surely die if you do not leave."

"Being here puts me at peace, and there is nothing more in life I can ask for than that happiness."

The shaman was surprised at her answer, but left it at that. Over the next several nights, the shaman would sit and talk with the strange woman. Soon, he learned of her life-long obsession with the mountain and her desire to be nearer to it.

On the seventh night, he revealed to her that he was the spirit of the volcano she admired so much. During their conversations, he had realized that, unlike her, he was unhappy and lonely, but her company seemed to brighten his mood.

In exchange for providing him with companionship, the spirit built her a nearby peak to live on where she could always be close to him and with a beautiful view unrivaled by any other. Her spirit lives on in that peak to this day, and can be seen clearly from her old village as a reminder to those who dream.

***************************
The Inspiration:
This ([link] ) view of Mt. Rainier (aka 'Tahoma') from my campus. It's so pretty... when it's out. Like the story says, we can only see Rainier when the weather is clear and that doesn't happen often during the winter. The small, sharp peak to the left is 'Little Tahoma', the home that the spirit built in the story. It doesn't look like it, but the peak is actually the third tallest in the state if you count it separate from Rainier.

For the contest, I felt really compelled to write/draw something with Mt. Rainier. As one who studies volcanoes intimately (I'm a volcano seismologist), it's difficult for me not to anthropomorphize them. This is not the first and will certainly not be the last time I draw volcano caricatures. I need to update my drawings of Pele and Loowit and put them up here sometime...

Anyway, there are a few legends about the volcanoes in the area from the Klickitat tribe, I think... but they're very Mt. St. Helens centric (she's such an attention whore). I haven't found anything explicitly on Mt. Rainier, so I made something up. For the image, I tried to have 'Tahoma' look as much like the mountain as possible (approximate shape is what I was going for). The fur pelt, white hair, and headdress are supposed to be symbolic of the thick mantle of glaciers on the volcano. 'Little Tahoma' has darker hair because her peak is steep enough to not really support as many glaciers.

Pencil + Photoshop = Win.