Last year the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society — which, as many of us will recall, hosts the wildly popular Bay to Barkers Dog Walk every July — decided to do something for the kitties. An art show, someone suggested. With a cat theme. Let's call it Purr-casso...
Local artists responded with enthusiasm, and there was quite a respectable fundraiser. Everybody was happy, and it seemed like this year's event would continue along much the same path. Then Bill Presing of Emeryville got into the act.
Bill's an artist and a cat person. When not on the job as a story artist at Pixar, he works on his own projects. His graphic novel, Rex Steele: Nazi Smasher, co-authored with fellow cat fan Matt Peters, is about to debut in France, and these days he's busy with the last-minute details.
Bill's not allowed to have cats where he lives, so he began volunteering at Berkeley Humane as a Cat Cuddler. "It's a good place to get my kitty fix," he says. On learning about plans for this year's Purr-casso, he decided he'd create a piece for the benefit.
He didn't keep the news to himself, either. Back in July he posted his plan in his blog, Daily Peril. Within days, fellow artist/bloggers were on board, donating works of their own and, in the case of one intrepid Canadian, launching their own successful fundraiser for the hometown shelter.
To the astonishment of the Humanes, donated art began pouring in from all over the country, and some from as far away as Japan. A week before the event, new pieces are still arriving — over 250 at last count, from nearly 100 different artists. From ceramics to comics to clothing, it's all unique, it's all donated, and 100 percent of the proceeds go to help the animals at Berkeley Humane.
One of them is Bill's two-panel illustration "Kitty Kiss," of which we show the second panel. Judging by the blog posts, demand is going to be high for this one...
Purr-casso takes place on November 4, 2007 at the Hollis Street Project, Grand Hallway, 5900 Hollis St., Emeryville, noon-4:00 p.m. Admission is free. For more info, see the Berkeley Humane Web site, or call (510)845-7735 ext. 13.