Here follows the story upon which this illustration is based:

I'm sitting in the lobby of the Chateau Marmont on a breezy autumn afternoon when a loud commotion from the front door pulls me out of my cup of spicy black tea. Surrounded by a whirlwind of reporters, hotel staff, and assistants, a petite figure swathed in fold upon fold of mink and the latest Chanel crystal sunglasses emerges. The buzz around her is palpable. She saunters up to my table and flops into the chair opposite me. With a smile, Miss Puffy purrs, "I hope I haven't kept you waiting, darling."

Miss Puffy casts off her finery with a flourish, smoothing her whiskers back, and ordering a glass of warm cream and a plate of flaked tuna before we get down to business - and business has been very, very good for her this year. After her breakout role in Purrates of the Kittybean she's been bombarded with scripts and endorsement offers. She's just come from shooting an ad for her lucrative Fancy Feast contract, not to mention her very own Christmas special for CAT Network today alone. Despite her hectic schedule, Miss Puffy remains close to her humble beginnings.

"I've always known I was meant for something bigger and better," she says. Her home was in Bristow, a one horse town, minus the horse, in northern Virginia. It was a modest middle class existence on Sapphire Ridge Place.

"At first, she was so quiet, she would lie around, content to be carted around with Annie," says Judy Oyhenart, a mid-forties legal assistant who first adopted Miss Puffy for her daughter five years ago. "We had no idea what was brewing in that little head of hers. One day, she met her muse, and it was all downhill from there."

Annie, now a bright and bubbly 10 year old, agrees. "She used to be my kitten, to cuddle with at night. And then she started writing songs and dancing. We still talk every day. And I go see her movies. I didn't know she could be so rude."

Although her subject matter is admittedly a little coarse, Miss Puffy is quick to defend herself. "All the great songwriters draw from personal experience, things they hold close to their hearts. Carly Simon wrote 'You're So Vain' about an ex boyfriend. It makes sense that I would write about what I hold dear. I feel, as a proud cat, that these would be eating, sleeping, and licking myself." Here she pauses, almost as if for dramatic effect, and does just that; she raises one fuzzy leg held high above her head, and, almost delicately, begins to groom herself. It is shamelss, and enchanting in some strange way.

Her newest project reveals the monumental personality cooped up in her furry little body. It's a musical spectacular of dancing fish and can openers, with songs she composed herself, elaborate sets, and choreography, all designed to show off the one and only Miss Puffy. She says she was inspired by the glamour of old Hollywood, with much of the film having a Bugsby Berkeley feel. It would have to be quite a production to hold up next to this little powerhouse.

"My favorite is the 'Gentlemen Prefer Tabbys' bit, I get to bathe myself in pink satin, sparkly bits, and the most luscious white mink, all the while carted around by the most handsome dancers imaginable. I chose them all, like everything in the show, myself you know; to best compliment my fur tone and eyes."

This leads me to ask about one of the most controversial aspects of Miss Puffy's skyrocketing career. She wears fur. Many have seen this as some kind of perversion, being that she is, in fact, a cat. Miss Puffy pooh-poohs such chatter.

"Darling! I wear fur every day of my life, some of the most beautiful fur I've seen, I might add. So what if I want to add a little more to it? You silly humans wear hair extensions, don't you? Often made from the hair of other people. It's so much the same," she giggles as she laps at her cream. "I think no one has more of a right to wear fur than me."

Her fur and designer collection is growing these days, considering the paychecks she's been pulling in with the endorsements, films, and other opportunities. It seems everyone wants a piece of Miss Puffy right now. She escapes when she can to the new $1.7 million compound she's just purchased from Tom Cruise in the Hollywood hills.

"Oh, everything is fabulous, my house, my career, my life. It's just fabulous." she purrs.

And I have to agree; Miss Puffy is nothing if not fabulous.

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Another one for Graphic Essay, we had to do a profile piece and then a portrait to match. I chose the one and only Miss Puffy.


I've been DYING to upload something for weeks now, since I've been working like a madwoman on all kinds of art and things. Sadly, nothing is quite finished yet (you know how finals are). But within about a week I'll have TONS of new paintings and such. In the meantime, let's all bask in Miss Puffy's presence.

Watercolor, Acrylic, 2H and Ebony Pencil, and Colored Pencil on Illustration Board.
Image, Miss Puffy and Story © ME!!! 2006

EDIT 8/17/2007: tweaked and fixed the color a little bit like my professor told me to... a year ago. lol much snazzier