It was while wearing an itchy waitress uniform in a near-bankrupt restaurant that Cathy decided to take stock of her life. She found it wanting. Almost 30 years old and feeling hopeless, she knew that something had to drastically change. What she wanted more than anything was to explore the creativity that had been so important to her as a child. 

A lofty ambition and one she feared was quite unrealistic given her need to eat, pay rent and such.  Unsure of what the next step should be, she continued to drag herself to work with increasing dread.

Then she heard about The Art Centre, a city-run art school in Toronto.  It offered a three-year-program with training in drawing, painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography, and printmaking, all at no charge!

It seemed like the perfect answer until she found herself paralyzed in front of an easel, trying to tune out the instructor’s warning that the likelihood of succeeding in the arts was close to nil, and that most students would probably end up waiting tables!

But two short months before graduating, lying in bed worrying about her future, it simply came to her. She began to sketch figures that looked like the drawings she had made as a child.  Below the illustrations, she wrote captions, and there it was ... Everyday People Cartoons! The cartoons poured out of her effortlessly and were well received by students and teachers.

That was in 1999. Today, Cathy lives and works on a quiet street in Toronto, with her husband and two young children, who offer her valuable new perspectives and enough challenges to inspire a lifetime's worth of comedic material.

 

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People throughout Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand have enjoyed Everyday People cartoons in publications such as:

NEWSPAPERS
The Advertiser (Adelaide, Australia)
The Canberra Times (Canberra, Australia)
Corpus Christi Caller-Times (Texas, USA)
Courier-Post (New Jersey, USA)
The Press (Christchurch, New Zealand)
Richmond Times-Dispatch (Virginia, USA)
Staten Island Advance (New York, USA)
Sunday Herald Sun (Melbourne, Australia)
Sunday Telegraph (Sydney, Australia)
Tallahassee Democrat (Florida, USA)
Toronto Star (Ontario, Canada)
Ventura County Star (California, USA)

WEB SITES
babycenter.com (Johnson & Johnson, USA)
DelawareMoms.com (News Journal, Wilmington, USA)
JerseyShoreMoms.com (Asbury Park Press, NJ, USA)
MassMoms.com (Telegram & Gazette, Worcester,USA)
mom2momkc.com (Kansas City Star, Missouri, USA)

MAGAZINES
Big Apple Parent (New York, USA)
Detroit Metro Baby (Michigan, USA)
More Magazine (National, Canada)