PARTY ANIMALS: THE STORY BEHIND THE BOOK

I am a painter. Every collection begins with a feeling I want to add to the world. For Party Animals, it was joy. A little more levity in everyday life.

It began with Camille the Dancing Pig in her pink tutu and party hat. She's the one on the cover. Every Tuesday evening, she attends ballet class.

On the easel, each developed a personality.

Louie the French Bulldog runs security for the neighborhood ice cream truck, his warning bark beginning thirty seconds before anyone else hears the music. Cecil the Sheep stays up to watch the stars while the rest of the flock settles in.

Maupin the Papillon makes his rounds like he owns the block, pausing for compliments and lingering outside the shop where biscuits reliably appear. Baxter the Pig wears a yellow polka-dotted party hat and a navy-and-white checkered bow tie. He is a gentleman through and through.

I wrote a short story for each one. Enough to know them.

People responded the way I hoped they would. They picked favorites. They told me which animal reminded them of someone they loved. Sometimes themselves.

So I turned the series into a book.

Party Animals is a collection of twenty-five paintings paired with twenty-five short stories. The originals are small oil paintings with loose brushstrokes, on hardboard panels six and eight inches square. The book is an 8.5-inch square paperback, and signed copies are available through my website.

The introduction begins with this line: "I wanted to paint happiness."

I still do.

Order a signed copy of Party Animals, available here.