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When the Rocky Mountain Storytelling Conference (RMSC) went looking for a Chicana artist to illustrate the third book in their Tummy Tale series, Chili Today, Hot Tamale, they were not prepared for the woman they met through the Chicano Humanities and Art Council (CHAC).
"At first glance we thought she was one of the teens from a local high school," laughed Carl Ruby, former president of the RMSC. "She is a slight wisp of a woman and so effervescent you'd think she is otherworldly, right from the start. As they say, powerful things come in small packages."
So powerful, in fact, that the RMSC fell in love with Lucero's illustrations. She illustrated her first children's book for the nonprofit arts organization in 2004. Enamored with the ten full color designs and cover, the group decided to commission her to illustrate their latest project Ole! Posole!
"You have to realize that Arlette has an amazing gift, not only as a painter but also as an illustrator. We were looking for the illustrator for the third book, after the previous two books were illustrated by two different artists. Our thoughts were we would change illustrators every book to give a new artist a chance to...