Just in time for the Wimberley Valley Library’s 50th Anniversary and formal Grand Opening of the new building and renovated original library on Saturday, September 14, a new mural will greet kids in the children’s area. The front cover of the children’s book, “Goodnight Wimberley,” by Monica Rasco and Abby Adams has been replicated by the book’s original artist, Bethsaida Jacobsen.
A freelance artist who likes to work in different mediums, Bethsaida, who goes by Saida, has a special affinity for pen and ink and enjoys drawing people. In addition to her artwork, she teaches elementary age home-schoolers, and manages Sips on the Square.
Saida grew up in Wimberley. Her older brother Caleb, who was a volunteer at the Wimberley Valley library, used to put on puppet shows for the children. He drafted her to create set designs for the shows. That led to her own volunteer work with the library, usually working with then Chil- dren’s Librarian, Monica Rasco, who held the post for 12 years.
SAIDA JACOBSEN CREATES A MURAL FROM THE CHILDREN’S BOOK “GOODNIGHT WIMBERLEY” BY MONICA RASCO AND ABBY ADAMS, FOR THE NEW STORYTIME CORNER AT THE WIMBERLEY LIBRARY. SUBMITTED PHOTO
One day at the HEB grocery store, Monica told her about a project she was working on. The project was a children’s book co-written by her granddaughter, Abby Adams, and she needed an illustrator.
“You can have full creative freedom and there is no deadline,” Monica told Saida.
Once she accepted the project, the first of this kind for her, the challenges soon presented themselves. Besides a learning curve, the project required endurance to complete the book’s 26 illustrations. It took two years to complete.
So when Monica approached Saida to recreate the front cover of “Goodnight Wimberley” for a mural in the new library wing, she agreed.
The mural itself presented a fresh challenge. The original illustration was rendered in watercolor; interior paints would be used for the mural. She began painting the darker colors and, with a wet cloth, buffed the paint to get the correct luminosity.
Beth Jordan, the library’s current Children’s Librarian and President of the Friends of the Library, asked her to make a few changes from the original illustration. For a touch of nostalgia, the image of the library was changed to show one of its early incarnations, a much smaller building than the brand new wing and renovated 13,300 square foot structure being celebrated at the Grand Opening. Beth also asked her to add a squirrel reading a book and a blackbird flying overhead. A painted plaque will observe the mural’s donors, Rasco and Jordan, and honor their mothers who instilled in them a love of books and reading.
This is the artist’s fourth mural. “It’s cool to see the book grow from an idea, to a manuscript, to a book with many illustrations, and now to see its cover as a big work in a public space,” said Saida.
Visitors can see the mural during the library’s 50th Anniversary and Grand Opening on Saturday, September 14 from 1 to 4 p.m.
