The vision that became ELLIE'S DREAM came to me exactly as you see it here. I was thinking about the Moon Race and the clear cloudless skies of my childhood days in California. The curving structure is shaped to resemble a wind-twisted rocket contrail, something that I witnessed many times while living near Vandenberg missile base.

I chose a girl at the pinnacle of the structure because humanity's reach for the moon will be incomplete until a female crew lands there and explores the surface, representing the other half of our species. (She's named after Dr. Ellie Arroway, the character in Carl Sagan's CONTACT, portrayed by Jodie Foster in the movie, but that's the only connection to the story.)

The job remains undone, the dream unfulfilled.