“I keep drifting back to the funny side of life”: Sherrie Shepherd, 53, artist, cartoonist, graphic designer Little Rock , Arkansas
self-portrait
Sherrie Shepherd was born in Nebraska but has been living in North Little Rock most of her life. She always loved art and started cartooning in college, “didn’t have anybody to learn from just dove into it”. She sold some freelance cartoons to women’s magazines. A couple of years later she decides to do a comic strip. She came up with a central female character named Francie, a single mom with two kids. In 1985 she signed with United Feature Syndicate. She stayed with them till 1996.
during the interview
Francie was influences by Sherrie’s own childhood stories, her mom raised to teenage girls by herself. After the comic strip was over, she drew cartoons for local newspapers, “it’s kind of a gift from the heart, a pure joy… I keep drifting back to the funny side of life”. If Sherrie was to draw a comic strip about her own ageing she would find a treasure and ran off to an island.
When Sherrie was younger she thought 53 is old and she would be ready for a walker, but now “I fell like in my mid thirties and I hope with 93 I feel like 63”. She would not prepare for old age, but keep on living as she does now: lot’s of hiking, healthy diet, doing art work, helping others and trying to get involved with my community as well as occasional visits to the Buddhist center.
The mural where the interview was done is a work by V.L. Cox in cooperation with Sherrie.
Interviewed on: 18. 9. 2011
At the mural with Lynette and Sol