It all started with Garfield

How an orange cat who hates Mondays led me to becoming a professional artist.

As a kid, I taught myself to draw by copying the drawings in two Garfield collections that belonged to my dad; Garfield Loses his Feet, and Garfield Takes the Cake. I loved Garfield. I even had a plush Garfield that my Granny crocheted a shirt and booties. Sadly the clothes disappeared at some point, along with all of my childhood drawings of Garfield.

My third-grade teacher, Mrs. Reese, knew I loved drawing Garfield and asked if I would teach everyone else. My mind instantly went into panic mode. I can't get up in front of the class! What if I mess up? Or what if they laugh at me? Every what-if scenario I could imagine raced through my shy third-grade brain. But I also knew I couldn't say no. So I did something that I still try to do to this day. I said yes, even though my inner voice screamed that I shouldn't do it and I'd fail miserably. I can say from experience that the terrible things I usually imagine rarely ever come true. So third-grade me went home for the weekend to practice drawing Garfield and Charlie Brown. Did I mention that I'm also an over-achiever?

The following week, I got up before the class and nervously trembled through my drawing demonstration. And guess what? It went fine. I can't say for certain, but I think that day, thanks to the encouragement of Mrs. Reese, my journey toward becoming a professional artist was set in motion. 

At some point after that, my love of Garfield began to fade. Maybe it was years later when I discovered Calvin & Hobbes or the early Peanuts strips (pre 1970). But even though I no longer love Garfield, I still owe him some gratitude for sparking a love of drawing that continues to this day. And most importantly, I will always be super-grateful to Mrs. Reese for her loving support and encouragement.