What inspired me:

When I was very small, I used to drag a cat around with me wherever I went. Where other small people used well-worn flannels to drag through leaves, dirt, peanut butter and jam, I had my cats. The companionship of the cats seemed to fill my emotional needs as well as my imagination.

My main human cohort was my grandfather who contributed greatly to that ever-blossoming imagination. His yarns contained some of the all time greatest grampa fibs ever fabricated. I also learned that the old folks were the ones that were full of tall tales, comfy laps, warm cookies, and magic! I've loved the seniors ever since.

As a rather loquacious preschooler, I was often plopped in the rear of the station wagon, given some paper and a pencil and told to “Shut up and draw.” This kept me occupied and my parents sane on the family trips. I often dreamed on those trips about one day becoming a famous artist and running away to France where I would paint to eat.

How I did it:

Drawing and painting were always only my 'hobby.' I dabbled in them whenever I had some spare time that was not already reserved for my family, my job, my house, or my yard. My art encompassed painting on walls as I decorated my home, to fashioning things out of seashells and driftwood to hang in my patio. My first real job in art was in the medical field where I did some freelance medical illustration for a few pubications. Later, working as a Planner/Scheduler in various indusries from utilities to aerospace kept me in paint, canvases, sketchpads and an occasional bottle of red wine, but rarely presented me the time to create.

My cartoons have always seemed to command the most attention. For many years I had longed to become a political cartoonist. Perhaps it's because of my desire to portray people as others see them and not as they would have you see them. I have believed that one had to maintain a sense of humor to survive. Well, I've survived thus far and no one has gotten too offended by my portrayals. Many friends, family members (and yes, my cats) have become characters that have skittered across my canvases and found lives of their own. I have given up the serous and launched into the whimsical, coupling my love for cartoons with my love for painting. The results, I hope, will make you smile.

Shelly Wilkerson