As part of my mid-to-late-2009 personal deliberation, months after returning from a memorable 10-day expedition to the US (Nutley, NJ, to be exact) and brainstorming ways to make big wads of cash on the side in order to fly back there! I had nothing to sell, no savings, and let’s not forget the 2008/09 financial collapse (and keeping my job was up-in-the-air)… no chance of a sudden lottery win, I’m sure (although, I’d hoped. Boy, did I hope!). So, what am I to do?

Here’s just one loony idea I seriously thought I could master: iPhones were a new thing at that time - why not learn about app development, create an app, make money selling that app, and live high on the hog? Easy, I’m sure. Turns out… NO! IT’S NOT! YOU IDIOT!

I then turned to finding ways to monopolise skills I’d honed over the years… Starlog Magazine had folded (so, cash for my cartoons was out)… somehow, the idea of drawing people’s pets was floated by my fan/friend in NJ (to whom was a veterinary technician).

Long story short, the below painting was THE first Kitty Kature (yes, THAT was I called them)(patent [not]pending).

And here are a couple more. I signed these with my alternate pseudonym “furbawl”.

There are a few more, I’m sure, lurking away in a dusty hard drive somewhere in the closet. I remember drawing up dogs… anyways, I find ‘em, I’ll add them to this post