I was led off the trail of birds this afternoon. I had an important task to complete that was overdue. Lisa S contacted me many months ago to ask about my Cornish Rex artwork and she has been waiting patiently in New York for a signed copy of Thunderstorm Dancing for a long time. Boy is she tired!
Because she has been waiting so long, she got some little bonuses in her bundle. Some Cornish doodles. Lisa has two Cornish Rex cats. One is black (Nigel). One is white (Finley).
Check out Finley with my Cornish Soliloquy drawing from last year.
Here’s the title page from The Cornish Soliloquy
Here’s adorable Finley!
Today, I have finally wrapped up a signed copy of Thunderstorm Dancing for Lisa and it will go into the post tomorrow, bedecked with cats.
Tucked into the book:
A little white Cornish sketch painted on the endpapers of ‘The Book of British Villages’. I was going to paint him on a map of Cornwall, but I got engrossed in this one instead.
The little white cat with his friend the black cat, drawn on a (terrible) 1980s dress pattern
Thunderstorm Dancing all wrapped up:
Ready for the post bag
And finally, a doodle on the envelope:
parcel ready for stamps
When I was at the post office a few days ago, the only stamps they had were husky dogs… That’s not going to go down well! Fingers crossed there are some stamps there tomorrow that are more feline friendly.
endpapers 
How lovely for Lias, she will be delighted with these beautiful drawings, well worth the wait I should think!
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Oops misspelt , I meant Lisa….
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I kept doing that myself!! I wonder if poor Lias get’s that happening often :-)
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I am so excited to see my package when it arrives! You have definitely gone above and beyond an I did not mind the wait at all! I was just glad you were willing and able to send me a signed copy of the book. Your artwork is lovely and your depiction of the cat named Thunder is my Nigel to the tee! Thank you so much again!!!!!
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Lisa, I have taken so long to discharge this request that you definitely deserved a bonus! I hope Thunder lives up to expectations. I found that the cat is quite different from one page to the next, so he may look like Nigel on one page and not on others. Character continuity is one of my biggest challenges as a book illustrator, but I decided to go easy on myself with regards to the Cat called Thunder, as long as he looks charming and suits each page. If only I had my own little Cornish Rex, I would be drawing him all the time :-) We are moving house soon, so who knows what may happen down the track… perhaps a cat may enter our lives. Although I suspect if so, it will be from a cat rescue centre instead. Cheers Lisa, and thanks for waiting. xx
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Yes, rescue is wonderful! I’ve always had rescues in the past but Cornies are a bit hard to come by in rescue unless you’re very lucky. No matter what the breed, cats are lovely creatures and make wonderful subjects for drawing. Good luck in your move.
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Thanks Lisa. Yes, I imagine if you found a Cornish Rex in a cat shelter you’d really think you’d hit the jackpot!
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My wonderful package arrived today!!!! I think a visit to the frame shop is in order! Thank you so very very much! I will be keeping even the adorable envelope since you’ve made it impossible to discard. It was such a lovely thing to do!
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Gee, that was quick! Well done postal service!
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I thought so too. I was quite surprised when it arrived today. It usually takes my family longer to receive the packages I send to Florida and a week to England never mind the other side of the world.
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Cat power!
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