Trinket

This was a cover for Dragon magazine, done in June of 1989. It proved to be quite popular, and was used on several other TSR publications as well, including the Thieves Handbook. (Run your mouse over the image for a detail of the Thief's face.)

It's my friend Stacia, kneeling in front of a treasure chest that contains every piece of jewelry I owned (and several I didn't,) as well as a US Quarter, dime, and penny. The cats are Julia Ecklar's cat, Albion. Julia had a clowder of cats at the time, all of whom loved to play with a certain cat toy. I thought I'd bring it over, and they'd all go nuts while Julia held the lamp (and operated the toy; a kind of kitty-fishing-pole) and I took the pictures. But no. The light and camera had never been part of the operation before, and they were all filled with suspicion and distrust, and sat there watching intently and warily. Except Albion, who was the youngest, and who had never had a chance to play with the toy unimpeded by other cats, and was therefore willing to risk it.

So she's the one who wound up in the picture!

Like Music Lover, it's gone through two limited edition runs, but I still get letters asking for it. So, because I hate to disappoint people, here it is in a smaller size, as an open edition print. (See, I do respond to e-mail requests!)

• The image area of this print is roughly 8x10 inches. It comes matted on a piece of foam-core board, open edition, signed by the artist. $25 + shipping and handling.