A Curious Collection of Cats (and More!)

"I think everyone should live their lives as if it was a really grand adventure, starting now." - Michael Wertz

My friend Michael lives in San Francisco and spends his time drawing everything he sees. Or at least that's the way it seems, judging from the prodigious output he displays on his Wertzateria website.

Lively, zippy, colorful and crazy, his world is full of everything from flying cats to grinning skulls to rollerskating Egyptian gods. Posters, books, illustrations, songs, even drawings of matchbook covers come flying out of his head from some bottomless well of creativity. Oh, and he teaches, too, at the California College of the Arts. And he's is one of the founding members of Monster Illustration, a loose confederation of illustrators who seek to bring color back to an otherwise gray landscape. He is a proud member of the Elsewhere Philatelic Society, an interactive fiction project set in various locations throughout San Francisco Bay Area.

Then, in his spare time, Michael and his husband Andy host a radio show called The Argyle Adventure Tree on the first Thursday of every month. He's also a member of the Verasphere, whose members create characters out of recycled items and appear at impromptu events and parades, making San Francisco even more colorful and wonderful than it already is. Fortunately his dog, Miss Olive, insists that he spends some time at home with her, or he might never sit down and relax.

You can order a copy of his first book, A Curious Collection of Cats, or the follow-up, A Dazzling Display of Dogs. Me, I'm going to take a nap…recounting all that activity has worn me out!