Frame Shop to Exhibit Illustrated Children’s Book

Kayla Desroches/KMXT

This month’s First Friday Art Walk brings with it a selection of exhibits across town, including one children’s book based on two Siberian huskies. They belong to Krystin Leghorn, who says the book “An Alaskan Adventure with Archer and Ember” follows her two dogs across Kodiak as they run into various native animals.

“My dogs are very, very friendly and they love children and one thing I had noticed mostly was how much children love them. It was very rare that my friends’ kids would remember me, but they also remembered Archer and Ember.”

She says she met her illustrator, Annjanette Larsen-Vainio, through her job in nursing and she reached out to her when she needed an artist for her book.

Larsen-Vainio, who painted the illustrations in oil, said they’d meet often at local coffee shops.

“We just sat down and did a couple of rough sketches in what direction to go and really quickly got the perfect look for the dogs. If you don’t know them, you might think they look alike, but they’re very different, they’re very different personalities, and you kind of have to get to know them to know which ones are going to be looking like this, which one’s the leader.”

Larsen-Vainio says the project got her excited to work.

“I was inspired every single morning and I knew it was going to be fun. I woke up and said this is going to be really fun. And I had a really tough critic in my phone, a five year old who would say dog if I got it right, or bear if the dog didn’t look right, so I had a little help in the house.”

The illustrations and text will be exhibited at The Frame Shop beginning at 5 p.m. tonight.