Whether an artist, chef, or ordinary person doing extraordinary things, sharing an individual’s story leaves me inspired and honored for the trust placed in me. (Click on any photo to read the full article.)
Alaska Home: Artist Romney Dodd*
Romney Dodd’s life as an artist was driven by a mother’s love. That, and the need for a new set of dinner plates.
*2020 Alaska Press Club Award, Best Short Feature (Print-Small), 3rd Place
Alaska Home: Chef Shana Whitlock, Chicken Shack
“Oh, it’s fried chicken. How hard can it be?” Shana [Whitlock] says of her first real foray into casual dining. Turns out chicken, the star of so many comfort foods, isn’t so simple after all, she admits. “It’s ridiculously complicated. Chicken Shack has definitely been the hardest project I’ve ever undertaken.”
Alaska Home: Artist Dee Carpenter
“Painting was the last thing I ever thought I would do,” Dee Carpenter says. “Once I started, my family said, ‘Oh, we always knew you were an artist.’ I was the last one to know!”
Alaska Pulse: Kate Landis: On finding a healthy dose of humor and giving it all you’ve got
An hour after her breast cancer diagnosis, Kate Landis wiped her tears and decided to make the best of the hand she was dealt. “If I was going on this journey, I was going to have a fun journey,” she said. “It wasn’t going to be a crappy one.”
So she started a pool with family and friends. The wager? What date her hair would fall out. The prize? A bottle of wine.
Alaska Home: Chef Lionel Uddipa, SALT
Lionel Uddipa’s dish for the 2017 Great American Seafood Cook-off in New Orleans was more elaborate than what he normally prepares. The executive chef of SALT in Juneau skewered smoked Alaska king crab on blueberry branches, blueberries still attached.
But, the effort paid off. Not only did it net Lionel the crown (as the “King of American Seafood”), it caught the eye of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay.
Alaska Home: Douglas Francois Girard
For Palmer artist Douglas François Girard, painting is like a conversation. Whether it’s a feeling, the way the sunlight hits the mountains, or how the color of a bird’s feathers plays off the surrounding landscape, Douglas paints to share how he sees the world and invites viewers to explore it with him.
Amy Newman 