Charlie Brown

Two Kitties in Color

Missy

7" X 5" colored pen and ink

2011

Charlie Brown

5" X 7" colored pen and ink

2011

These two kitties were fun to conceive and draw in color, especially their eyes--green and golden! Here's how Pam, their person, describes them:

Missy was a little diva. She liked to boss ole Charlie Brown around and she would talk your ear off! She loved to tell you a story or give you her opinion. Charlie Brown is very quiet and laid back. He’s a big old softy.

Fu Manchu Whiskers

Rainy

5" X 7" pen and ink

2011

A Couple of Cool Cats

Cali and Earl

8" X 10" colored ink

2011

I love this description of Cali and Earl from Nancy, their person: "Earl is a one-year-old long-haired tuxedo that I adopted from the Greater Cat Resuce. He was feral but now owns my home. Cali is an eight-year-old Calico who has accepted her adopted brother with the grace of an older woman." Perfect! 

Kitty Heaven

Kitty

5" X 7" pen and ink

2011

Although Kitty lived most of his long life in Worcester, Massachusetts, he spent one glorious summer here in Maine at his grandperson Nancy’s camp—catching mice, stalking bats, and bedeviling squirrels. Nancy, my sister-in-law, thinks nothing of throwing a cat in her car and driving six hours from Central Massachusetts to Downeast Maine for the summer. She likes the company of cats and she’s convinced that the cats like the good life in Maine. The exhilaration of dispatching rodents all summer long compensates for the humiliation of the long car ride for the cats. And Nancy’s cabin benefits from their rigorous vermin extermination campaigns. Nancy has brought three cats to her summer camp, just down the drive from our house—Kitty, Gregory (her own cat), and Boomer (another grandcat).

Gregory

Boomer

Alas! None of Nancy’s consorts are still with us. They’re all in kitty heaven, which looks and feels a lot like the camp in Brooksville, Maine.

Catching Up

You may think I’ve been goofing off all summer, swinging from a hammock between two shady trees, sipping iced tea, and reading Scandinavian mysteries. Not So! The Brooksville Farmers’ Market is up and running and I’ve had perfect attendance for the last nine weeks. One Tuesday morning I had a whole crew of assistants:

Peter (my nephew), Bella (my niece), and Bella’s best friend, Lucy

Note the new blue tent, the new PenPets banner, the new clear plastic card rack, the new "Welcome to Brooksville" T-shirts, and the new driftwood bookmark rack. It took eight markets to pay for all my expenditures, but it's all gravy now!


I’ve also mounted three exhibits of my work. In June I had a solo show, “Woodcut Critters,” at Mainescape, a Blue Hill garden center that also sells pet products, and now sells a full line of my PenPets greeting cards—like hotcakes, they say! At the end of June I showed seven woodcuts and pen-and-ink drawings at a group show, “Chosen Places,” at the Deer Isle Artists’ Association. Currently I have another solo show of 25 woodcuts and drawings at the Brooksville Free Public Library. Here are some shots from the opening.

Judy Madson (past President of the Library Board of Trustees) & Leslie

Leslie & Heather Tooker (current Co-President of the Library Board)

Leslie & Margie Van Dusen, Patron Saint of PenPets!

Speaking of the Brooksville Free Public Library, our Board of Trustees held its Annual Summer Book Sale on July 10th (I was in charge this year) and we made a whopping $1,700 selling used books from 9:00 AM until noon. Not bad!

I’ve also done two new PenPets commissions this summer:

Minnu & Dakota

8" X 10" pen-and-ink

2010

Jassie (short for Jasmine)

8" X 10" pen-and-ink

2010

And that’s not all! I carved a multi-color woodblock and I’m now illustrating a book, but more about these adventures later.

Cat, Pup, & Boot

I haven't been totally twiddling my thumbs, just totally impatient with my slow-speed, dial-up connection to the internet. Here are two new woodcuts, my first in the year 2010. Yikes!

Cat's Paw

7X9 woodcut

2010

What Boot?

9X7 woodcut

2010

Three Cats

Jimmy

7" X 5" pen and ink

2010

Ivan and Violet

7" X 5" pen and ink

2010

Jimmy, Ivan, and Violet live together in Washington, D.C. "They all adore each other," Kristin, their person, writes, "but it is hard to find the three of them in one place simultaneously." Jimmy is 15 years old. The sleeping beauties--Ivan and Violet, brother and sister, orange and grey--are 1 1/2 years old.

Three Cats

Harry, Teddy, & Dexter

10" X 8" pen and ink

2009

Candy and I had quite a time coming up with just the right combination of cats for her son Andrew’s Christmas present. Candy took over 60 photos of the three kitties and sent me a dozen of her best. We played around with five or six arrangements, all from separate photos, and finally came up with this one. Candy also put her heart and soul into her descriptions of the three cats. Here’s the gist of what she wrote. I hope it’s enough to give you the essential flavor of each cat and I hope I've captured their flavors in my drawing:


Harry, believe it or not, is 15 years old. He's the oldest of the cats. Andrew got him when he was in 7th grade as a reward for good grades. He was an only cat for 5 years and is the one Andrew is most attached to. Harry is like a dog. He's got such personality. People who hate cats love Harry because he is so sweet and gentle. He's at the door to greet you. He's a purrer and loves to snuggle against necks. He stays rather active, but not in a bad way. He loves to drink with his paws out of the kitchen sink faucet or bathtub faucet. He knows how to tell someone to turn it on so he can get a drink. This cat is part human, I swear.


Teddy is second in age, about 12, the photogenic one. He's Mr. Easy-Guy. Not a thing bothers him. He lumbers along at his own pace, never much one to hurry. He's only a lap-cat to Andrew. If Andrew lies on the bed or the sofa, you know Teddy will be right there, either right on the pillow or between his legs. Always. I love the pix of Teddy upside down; it is so Teddy. He so often is lying on his back, sometimes with his front paws over his eyes. I'm not sure it's useable for the drawing but I thought I'd send it along just in case.


Dexter, the youngest, is about 6 years old this year. He's Mr. Rambunctious. He's a tease to the other cats. Loves to play. He's always got his snout looking out the window. If the blinds aren't open for him, he'll ruin them by putting his face right through the slats so he can see outside. He loves playing with toys, tossing and pushing fluff balls around the wood floors and up and down the steps. Harry does this too. Teddy could give a hoot.

It's tough to make bookmarks (part of my packaged PenPets deal) of three subjects. I was pleased with my solution to this particular problem -- four separate bookmarks.

Ta-Da!