Sharon Himes YSM: BuffyCat

Buffy came to us the usual way -as a kitten. She heard there was a vacancy in our part of the woods and one afternoon when I was weeding the garden, I heard what I thought was a catbird.


Such a tiny high chirping mew! A small gray cat with white and tan markings came dancing up to and demanded to be adopted! She is very affectionate and social but shy around strangers and at the sound of barking dogs or noisy lawnmowers, she will disappear under the shed or any of a dozen hiding places.

Buffy is an in and out cat, having spent some part of her kittenhood on her own. We have had her for three years but her voice is still high and operatic, especially when she 'sings' to ask to go up in the attic where she likes to nap some afternoons. She has 3 acres of forest to patrol in the evening and occasionally collects small rodents or brings other presents for me to use as subjects in my nature paintings.

If I am working on the computer she climbs up to the monitor to check the work and if I'm in the studio, she will stop by to sniff all the corners or lay on the corner of the drawing table.


Buffy comes to me to be brushed, petted and snuggled and she runs off to find my husband, Larry, when she wants a buddy to play with outside. Every afternoon they walk together along the back nature trail and Buffy sometimes allows me to tag along if I don't disrupt her routine.



Sharon Himes
sharonhimes.com
Twitter: @sharonartist

Kari Lonning YSM: Emma

Emma, Old English Sheepdog, 4yrs young.

Emma's an endearing, enthusiastic, extrovert, but is glued to me during thunder storms.

She loves to play tug of war, but is very gentle at it. If I let go of the sock or toy, she gives it back to me, so we can continue! She doesn't care about "winning."


Kari Lonning
www.karilonning.com

Melissa Walker YSM: Locutis

This is my fat boy Locutis. He's had quite an interesting life so far. Here is the "nutshell" version.


Locutis was our boy, picked out of a bunch of farm kitties because he was the loudest most obnoxious one. We got him at a hard time in our life as just about 5 or 6 months before we had lost our first child, a boy, in death. We didn't get Loc to be a replacement but he did fill a need to love a small one, even if our other cats weren't impressed at the time. That was 13 years ago. About 5 years ago he developed a tumor on his back, which we went into great debt to have removed. The vet that did the surgury did a "dirty cut" and when it grew back we were told it was an agressive cancer and he wouldn't survive another year. We decided to let him go outside (which he was always trying to do) to explore for his last few months. Our neighbors stole him a few weeks later (technically, they took him to the humane society-in a different county-and adopted him).

The humane society vet operated on him again, not knowing his history, and Locutis ended up living (as you can see) but with the neighbor, for about 3 years. They kept him locked in too, but whenever he would escape he'd come straight home. When we moved we paid them the adoption fees and brought him with us. I guess its good they took him in a way, because we had taken him to 3 or 4 Drs. who couldn't seem to help him and we couldn't afford any more. The humane society vet did the surgery right and no one got charged $2000 for it. But we sure did miss him when he was away.

While my two tiny dogs are often at my feet when I'm at my desk, that's only because I have a heater there, but Loc is the one to come and just hang out. Usually in my photo booth. He's really a good boy (mostly!) and I'm very happy to have him back.

Melissa Walker
www.tweedlepox.etsy.com
http://tweedlepox.blogspot.com

SuSan SoRreLL YSM: Whoopi Doodle

She hangs out with me at my studio which is "double barrel shot gun shack".

SuSan SoRreLL
creativechick.com
sorrell@creativechick.com

Allison Leigh Smith YSM: Scout

I have three Russian Dwarf Hamsters. I adore them. They live in their expansive multi level habitrail on my desk. They are lovely company for me while I paint. This is Scout.

Allison Leigh Smith
allisonleighsmith.com
allison@allisonleighsmith.com

Susan Donley YSM: Rosie

My name is Rosie. I'm the Official Studio Poodle at PetsPictured.com, where my mom is the Official Studio Artist. She met you on Twitter and saw your invitation to Your Studio Mascot and suggested I apply for membership. Here is my Official Portrait:

Being an Official Studio Poodle is hard work. It's definitely not for everyone, but then being a Standard Poodle isn't for everyone either -- not even for every Poodle! ;-) My first job of the day is alarm clock or "Cocka-Poodle-Do" as my mom jokes when I wake her up (I know, she's not very funny first thing in the morning). That brings me to my second important job of the day, which is to make sure the OSA gets outside and takes a walk first thing to get her blood and creative juices flowing. (Before I took charge of the studio exercise program, she was pretty lax about that, I must say!) On the walk, of course, I protect us from squirrels, chipmunks, and other dogs, to make sure we get back to the studio to work.

Back at the studio, while my mom gets to work on commissions, which I understand are critical for us to afford to feed us, I get my teeth into my work, too. I like to carve bones with my teeth, though I sometimes whittle sticks, when bones aren't available. My mom did these drawings of me working on my bones:


I'm glad my mom draws pictures of me, because I hate getting my picture taken - cameras are so rude, the way they flash lightening right in your face. She always complains, though, about "the challenge of finding a range of values in an all-black subject." Well, la-de-da! Sheesh, temperamental artists! Being a model is part of the job that is very tedious, but someone has to let the Official Studio Artist practice new media and techniques on them, or we would get stuck in a rut.

I sound an alert when the mailman brings us bills or checks or when the UPS man leaves art supplies on our front porch. I remind us when its time to break for lunch and dinner. Sometimes I even have to remind us to go to bed! Honestly, humans... Or is it just artist-humans who don't know enough to hit the sack when they are tired?

I could go on and on, of course, but the other Studio Mascots have probably heard it all! If you need anything else to complete my application, maybe I could have my mom send you one of my bone sculptures.

Susan Donley
petspictured.com

Debba Haupert YSM: Tom Anderson

Meet my studio mascot, Tom Anderson (he goes by both names, don't call him Tom!). He's 16 years old so who's going to tell him to let go of me and let me work on my laptop??? Sweetest cat in the world, loves me as much as I love him (you can tell by the way he looks at me!) and during long phone calls I try to get all the cat hair out of my laptop keyboard. He often will meow at the phone if it rings near him and has been known to take it off the hook and callers have heard him meow at them. He's a pretty amusing mascot.

FYI: Got the name from an 5-year old daughter of a friend who, when I asked her what I should name my new kitten, said "Tom Anderson." I thought - He's a Tom cat and I went to Anderson University, so that worked for me. Then she changed her mind and wanted me to name him "Corn-on-the-cob Anderson" - that was too long!

Debba Haupert
girlfriendology.com