A Spectacular Springer

Abigail Elizabeth Garafalo

Abby

8" X 10" colored ink

2011

Abby, a Springer Spaniel, lived a long life and she was well loved. A loving, loyal, and playful companion, Abby liked drinking water from the bathtub faucet and she trained every member of her family, including Grandma, to cater to her need for fresh bathtub water.

Triplicate

Magic, The Boss (left)

Hopkins, The Kisser (top)

Sam, The Devil (bottom)

10 X 8 colored pen and ink

2011

These three little live-wires--two Yorkies and a Shih Tzu--keep things hopping in their household. They also fill it with a lot of love.

Lulu in Living Color

Lulu

7" X 5" colored pen

2011

I don’t think my color portrait of Lulu is destined to appear in the book I’ve illustrated – “All My Dogs: A Life” by Bill Henderson. So I’ll give you a sneak preview of Bill’s favorite. Bill thinks Lulu was a mismatched mixed breed: “She was about eighty-five pounds of shagginess. Perhaps a committee had pieced her together–a German shepherd face, floppy dreadlocked Afghan ears, a golden retriever body. Her face and muzzle said ferocious, her eyes indicated kind, her tail wagged like a puppy’s for friend and stranger alike.”

Lulu in Life



I think Lulu may have been a noble Leonberger, a German water dog created by Mayor Heinrich Essig of Leonberg in the 1800’s by crossing Newfoundlands with St. Bernards. Whatever flavor Lulu was, she was Bill’s love. “I have known few animals,” he writes, “–and fewer humans–with such a natural, unself-conscious dignity. She accepted me and I her with no question. We walked and thought in tandem.”

Eustace Tilley Dozen

The New Yorker finally announced the winners of its Eustace Tilley contest in the February 14 & 21, 2011, issue--all twelve of them. Guess what? MY Eustace Tilley was not among them. I suppose my Steig Larsson/Lisbeth Salander slant was not New Yorkish enough.

Eustace Tilley with a Dragon Tattoo

Click here if you'd like to see a slide-show of the chosen twelve.

Dolce & Gabbana Showcases PenPets



PenPets moved into the world of high fashion this week with an interview in Swide, the online magazine of Dolce and Gabbana of Milan, Italy. I was interviewed by Peter Pan, a handsome black Labrador retriever, who writes a regular column for the fashion magazine.



I owe this all to Yigit Turhan, my favorite student from the Koc School in Turkey (I taught high school English there from 2001-2003). Yigit went on to college at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey, then to graduate school at Universita Bocconi in Milan, Italy. He's been on an upward trajectory ever since and is now the creative genius behind Dolce and Gabbana's online presence--Director of Digital Marketing. And he's not even 25 yet!

 Thank you Yigit!

Let it snow . . .

Let it snow,

Let it snow!