Crafts Business Magazine

Artist's Journal
By Luann Udell

I remember the first time I told my editor my rabbit was hanging out at my feet as we talked on the phone.   "A wabbit?   A wabbit ??," he exclaimed.   "I gotta get a picture of that!   Send me a picture of you and the rabbit for the magazine."   I declined, of course.   It's hard enough for people to take a humor columnist seriously without sticking a bunny in the picture.

It got me thinking, though.   How important a role do pets play in my creative process?

Animals are a recurring theme in my artistic process.   After all, my entire aesthetic is inspired by a little horse painted on a cave wall 15,000 years ago.   But other odd animal moments come to mind.  

For years our only pet was an aged cat, which also happened to be the most annoying cat I've ever known. Unfortunately, it was also the most long-lived, reaching the ripe old age of 17.  

If you've ever been owned by a cat, you know the downfalls--especially if you also happen to be a fiber artist.   I laid out the first sweater I knit, lovingly pinning it to a damp towel to dry overnight.   In the morning I found our cat had also paid tribute in the form of a massive hairball she'd upchucked on it.   (From then on, all sweaters were laid out with a second towel on top of them.)   Most fiber artists have tales of cats and dogs sleeping on comfy piles of fiber, leaving a matting of shed fur behind.   Cats also know what you need to work on next--you will often find them sleeping on it.

Read more in this issue of Crafts Business