Jamie Schaffran Perry is an original. What makes her so special? Her works make people smile! Her exceptional drawings are an unprecedented combination of talent, technique, and personality. Jamie's award-winning drawings are causing her to become one of the most popular colored pencil artists in the United States.

Jamie has been drawing all her life. Even as a child her drawings communicated her unique perception of the world and won her numerous honors and scholarships. She earned her B. A. in Sculpture at the University of Illinois and her Masters in Art Therapy from the University of Louisville. For seven years, she was a practicing Registered Art Therapist. Jamie attributes her decision to actively pursue her art career to her husband and manager Michael and their two Siamese cats, The Kid and Gilda. In 1982, the Perrys took to the road exibiting Jamie's work extensively in California and Arizona.

Her acute sense of design, subtly brilliant color mixtures, and whimsical subjects enhanced by her vivid imagination, sense of humor, and original style make her work uniquely recognizable. Her originals take between 120 and 600 hours to complete, depending on the size and complexity of the piece. Her works begin virtually as free scribbles - then comes the designing and refining. She then transfers the preliminary drawing to 100% rag paper. The pencil, used dry and almost always sharpened, is then meticulously laid down layer by layer blending both color and stroke-work, to produce the rich hues and textures for which her drawings are noted.

Jamie uses Prismacolor Pencils and her work has been selected by Berol Corporation to represent them at national and international trade shows. In 1988, her magical CALL OF THE WILD took First Place for Overall Interpretation of Cats in Los Gatos (Ca) Cat Art Competition. And so it has gone with Jamie's work - with awards, featured articles, showcased drawings and sold out editions. Her overwhelming popularity as a cat artist has generated a large following of established collectors who anxiously await her new work. Because of the amount of time it takes to complete each drawing, Jamie averages only 10 - 12 new originals each year.

Why cats? "Because they're fascinating!" Says Jamie, who had only owned dogs up to the time she met her husband. " It was a package deal - Mike came with a Siamese cat and I fell in love twice. It was The Kid, however, who taught me what Catdom was all about. After that I adopted a Siamese kitten of my own. Living with them so closely during our years on the road, I found what wonderful subjects they where for communicating mood and feeling. Each had her own 'pussonality' aspect of which inspired drawing after drawing." In fact, PUSSONALITIES has become the trademark name for her line of limited edition cat drawings.

The Perrys settled in Sonoma County, California in 1984. The Valley of the Moon has had a definite influence on her work, from the imaginative CATTAILS, to the playful FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES, to the serene SUNBATHERS.