The daughter of one of Seattle’s founding families, Emily Inez Denny (1853 – 1918) was both a painter and writer. Greatly influenced by seeing the drawings of Sarah Willoughby as a student at the Washington Territorial University, she took on painting as a life-long pursuit. Denny trained with Miss Parsons, Thomas Harrison, and Harriet Beecher. In 1909, she authored and illustrated "Blazing the Way," a book about Seattle’s early white settlers. A woman who thrived on the creation of art, she constantly traveled with a notebook so she could quickly capture her impressions in sketches and paintings. Emily Inez Denny’s works display a unique vibrancy that conveys her joy in painting and drawing.