Monthly Archives: April 2014

Meet Artist Judy Thompson

Judy Thomson, artist of Silver Lake Reflections, the painting featured as the cover of the soon-to-be-released annotated Pioneer Girl, discusses her work. A hairstyle controversy ensues. (But the painting is lovely!)

The Pioneer Girl Project

SDSDS LIW BIO CVR 4-low res Adorning the cover of Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography is a stunning watercolor by award-winning artist Judy Thompson.

Made possible through a donation from De Smet Farm Mutual, Thompson’s Silver Lake Reflections captures a glimpse of Laura during her homestead years in Dakota Territory. In the painting, Wilder is depicted as a young person sitting in the lush prairie surrounding Silver Lake. This image is based on an early photograph of Laura Ingalls with her sisters, Carrie and Mary.

Born and raised near Chicago, Illinois, Judy Thompson now lives in Orange City, Iowa.  Predominantly self-taught, she has been selected twice as an artist-in-residence with the National Park System and is an approved teaching artist for the Nebraska Arts Council. The Iowa Arts Council awarded her a grant in 2012 that enabled her Homestead Seriesto tour the Midwest in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Homestead Act. This…

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Pioneer Girl is in Design!

The Annotated Pioneer Girl is finally in the design stages! After several delays, the South Dakota State Historical Society Press has announced that the annotated version of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s original memoir, Pioneer Girl, edited by Pamela Smith Hill, is nearing completion and slated for publication later this year. I’m sure we are all anxious for its release; I know I am!

The Pioneer Girl Project

SDSDS LIW BIO CVR 3

We are excited to share the good news that the design of Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography has begun and the cover will feature a watercolor entitled Silver Lake Reflections by artist Judy Thompson. It depicts a young Laura Ingalls Wilder surrounded by the prairie that defined her teenage years. The book, in final editing and design, is still on track for being released later this year.

—JMc

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A Woman in a Man’s World

One of my favorite bloggers, the woman behind “My Bright Spots,” has some wonderful insight to how women sometimes find themselves behaving against their own personality when working in a male-dominated field…regardless of how talented and experienced we may be, there are times when we don’t speak up, or take a needed break, because we are the sole (or one of a very few) representative of the gender.

mybrightspots

I’m a woman who works with men most of the time. Always have. When I was a teenager, I was active in Explorer Scouts, an extension of Boy Scouts of America. It was co-ed, but still mostly guys. I went on to college where I majored in Electrical Engineering. By the last half, I had settled in with a nice group of 4 or 5 girls, but most of my classmates were men. Then I got a job in Software Engineering, again, men.

This has never bothered me, particularly. I get along with my male coworkers. I’m not a high-strung woman that takes offense easily. I’m not overly girly in my speaking or mannerisms. I wear jeans and tennis shoes to work, just like any of the other guys.

But I’ve been having this strange awakening lately. It’s come partially from interacting with more female coworkers and partially from reading…

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