Nancy Thorne Chambers' installation "A Story Place" is the culmination of a lifelong dream for the Olympia artist. A retired therapist, illustrator and self-taught ceramic artist, Chambers has long wanted to create a life-size storybook world.

Imagine this: an 8 by 10-foot diorama featuring 30 life-size woodland creatures - anthropomorphized bears, squirrels, birds, a fox and a skunk, ducks and butterflies - all dressed in their finest outfits and gathered in a sunny glade to listen to a girl read a tale from a storybook, everything from the leaves on the trees to the leaves of the book made from kiln-fired and painted ceramics. The artist taught herself to create this idyllic scene, and her brilliant and exceedingly handy husband, Lee Chambers, invented, designed and built special equipment for moving the delicate pieces and lifting them in and out of the kiln.

Read Alec Clayton's full feature on "A Story Place" in the Music and Culture section.

"A STORY PLACE," 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Tuersday and Sunday, through Dec. 29, Matter Gallery, 422 Washington St. SE, Olympia, 360.943.1760