By DARLA MCCAMMON
Lakeland Art Association

It is amazing how one thing leads to another sometimes. In researching the Ball State Art Museum and learning about the Ball family, I discovered that a rather famous Indiana artist attended Ball State. I will give you a few clues as we go along to see if you can figure out why this artist is famous around the world.

On July 28, 1945, Jim Davis was born in Marion. He and one brother, Dave, grew up on a small farm in Fairmount. Being an animal lover and running our local Animal Shelter of course I became even more intrigued when I learned how having 25 cats on this farm certainly had an impact down the road for this artist.

Figured out his fame yet?

He studied art at Ball State and loves animals. Davis’ art is patterned on knowledge he gained when he was growing up on that farm. After graduation Davis worked for a while for an advertising agency. Next, he found a job working on the comic strip Tumbleweeds. Striking out on his own he left that job to create his own comic strip titled “Gnorm Gnat” which was not successful. Not a lot of interest developed in Gnorm the bug. Davis did receive enough positive comments however to try a different animal than a gnat. You probably guessed what his strip is about now from the photo I’ve provided showing a sample of the cats he would have seen on his farm.

Yes, the adored “Garfield” syndicated comic strip is created right here in Indiana with a staff of 50 artists and since 1978 has grown to be loved by about 300 million readers every day. It is now the world’s most widely syndicated comic strip. Davis has won too many awards to list here and has expanded into TV and film. Merchandise valued between $750 million to $1 billion has been sold by his company, Paws, Inc. If you, like me, love and appreciate the talent that has gone into the creation of this famous cartoon character, smile next time you read the strip and be proud it was done by a fellow Hoosier.

Upcoming and Current Events:

• The Bev Garner exhibit opens Tuesday, April 7, at Warsaw City Hall gallery. Garner is a marvelous colored pencil artist and has many awards to her credit. We will talk about Garner next week. Visit the gallery for free 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. weekdays.
• Small But Mighty is the current theme at Lakeland Art Gallery. This innovative exhibit is filled with art that must be smaller than 12 inches. This is your chance to enter a bidding contest and possibly walk away with work from a noted local artist at a phenomenal price. All the work in this exhibit is available for bidding. Try to fit a visit in your schedule and check out the chance to own an original by an up and coming artist. Work by Kelly Shoemaker, Teresa Smith, Bev Garner and others will be available. Lakeland Art Gallery is located in downtown Pierceton. Hours are 11:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Find out about some great new workshops during your visit. You may want to learn how to create something yourself. Kids workshops are coming up soon as well. If you have questions, call (574) 594-9950 during open hours.
• Honeywell Clark Gallery will sponsor a themed art competition in April. The theme will be trees. Contact Clark Gallery for more details.

More information on LAA can be found at www.lakelandcartassociation.org or on Facebook.