The tangled mass represents
outer choices and also the "inner architecture" that evolves as we
live and learn. It suggests the many questions we have about life, especially as a teenager. A boy juggles stars in the upper-right corner.

Ms. Lemieux has illustrated many books in a variety of mediums. She both illustrated and wrote Stormy Night, which has been translated into fourteen languages, won the prestigious Bologna Ragazzi Award, and was made into an animated film that won the Crystal Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival.

When she was a child, Ms. Lemieux loved to write stories and draw pictures for them. She would make up little booklets that she would give away as Christmas presents. Her mother was an artist and always encouraged her. But she remembers one class assignment in which students had to write about what they wanted to do when they got older. While all the other girls had traditional goals like getting married or becoming a nurse, she felt embarrassed and strange that she was the only one who said that she wanted to write and illustrate.

As an adult, two of her favorite artists are Picasso and Saul Steinberg. She knows a lot of people who have no goals and complain about their life. She lives by a quote from Seneca, "If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable."

"If I was stranded alone on an island, I would build something with my hands, even if no one ever saw it.
I have a need to create, to be a part of life and leave something behind."