THE EARLY YEARS
COMING SOON...
MORE CARTOONS TO BRIGHTEN YOUR DAY!
EJ ME FURRIE
WELCOME TO MY SITE!
SEND COMMENTS TO: OLEFUZZ@COMCAST.NET
HERE IS MY STORY
HI! LET’S GET ACQUAINTED!
I HAVE BEEN DRAWING A VARIETY OF CARTOONS FOR OVER 40 YEARS. AS A KID I HAD A WILD IMAGINATION AND A GREAT SENSE OF HUMOR. I HAVE ALWAYS ENJOYED COMEDY. AT AGE 15, I GUESS MY FIRST AMBITION IN LIFE WAS TO BE A “STARVING ARTIST”. CONTENT WITH DRAWING PEOPLE TREES AND ASSORTED ARRANGED FOOD.
I DABBLED IN OILS, CASEIN, PASTELS, MARKERS, CHARCOAL, AND JUST ABOUT ANYTHING THAT THE ARTIST MAGAZINE WAS THE CURRENT ARTIST TREND. I GUESS MY GREATEST “SHOCK” IS WHEN, MUCH TO MY FATHER’S DISMAY, I DECIDED TO APPLY TO SOME OF THE GREATEST ARTISTS SCHOOLS IN THE NJ-NYC METRO AREA. I REMEMBER WAITING TO BE INTERVIEWED. I WAS SITTING NEXT TO “YOUNG ARTISTS” WITH HUGE PORTFOLIOS, WHICH WAS IN SHARP CONTRAST TO MY SKETCHPAD OF DRAWING. THE INTERVIEW WAS A DISASTER AND ENDED WITH “COME BACK WHEN YOU HAVE A PORTFOLIO”!
THIS CAUSED A SLIGHT “LIFE COURSE CHANGE”. MY DAD GOT HIS WISH AND I WENT TO MAC MURRAY COLLEGE, IN JACKSONVILLE ILL. THERE’S SOMETHING TO BE SAID ABOUT “DOING SOMETHING YOU DO NOT LIKE TO DO” AND FOR ME IT WAS COLLEGE COURSES. IF I THOUGHT THE ART SCHOOL INTERVIEW WAS BAD…..IT DID NOT COME CLOSE TO THE “BAD VIBES” IN COLLEGE. ONE SHINING INSPIRATION DID OCCUR………I CREATED FURRIE.
SITTING IN THE LOCAL COLLEGE “HANG OUT” I SKETCHED OUT FURRIE ON A NAPKIN. IT WAS AN INSTANT SUCCESS WHEN THE ATTRACTIVE GIRL NEXT TO ME SAID “HEY, HE’S CUTE”. FURRIE SLOWLY EVOLVED, GAINING MORE CHARACTER AND PERSONALITY. I REALLY LIKED CREATING CARTOONS!!
HERE WAS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO COMBINE MY “WILD IMAGINATION WITH MY UNIQUE SENSE OF HUMOR.” FURRIE WAS AN IMPORTANT PART OF MY LIFE FROM 1963 THROUGH 1982. DURING THAT TIME FURRIE EVOLVED INTO A SMALL SPECIALTY TEE SHIRT BUSINESS. IF YOU HAD A SPECIAL SPORT OR (LEGAL) ACTIVITY, FURRIE T-SHIRTS MADE YOU JUST WHAT YOU WANTED.
I CONTINUED ALSO TO EXPAND MY ARTWORK. I LIKED AQUATEC PAINT AND AIR BRUSHING. ALL THE T-SHIRTS WERE HAND PAINTED…NO SCREEN PRINTING!
ALTHOUGH THIS WAS NOT THE MAIN SOURCE OF INCOME, IT DID PROVIDE “COFFEE MONEY” AND ALLOWED ME TO EXPAND MY “CARTOON INTEREST” INTO SITUATIONAL CARTOONS. SEE MY UPDATED FURRIE CARTOONS
I SENT CARTOONS TO EVERYBODY! I DID A CHILDREN’S BOOK “FURRIE MAKE A FRIEND” AND I SENT CARTOONS TO THE NEW YORKER, READER’S DIGEST, SPORTS MAGAZINES,,,,,,,I HAVE A DRAWER FULL OF REJECTION LETTERS. DURING MY NAVY DAYS, I EVEN SUBMITTED CARTOONS TO A NAVY MAGAZINE WHILE I WAS OVER IN VIET NAM.
ALTHOUGH I NEVER ESCAPED THE “NOT PUBLISHED NOT SYNDICATED CATCH 22” I DID GET RANDOM JOBS TO DO SPECIAL ARTWORK “HAVE MARKERS WILL DRAW”
ABOUT 1993 OUR DAUGHTER ERIKA STARTED HER COLLEGE CRUSADE. THE DAY-TO-DAY SITUATIONS WERE VERY FUNNY. I CREATED EJ’S WORLD.
ALL THROUGH COLLEGE, DATING, WORKING AND MORE, EJ CONSISTENTLY IS FUNNY.
PLEASE SEE THE EJ'S WORLD PAGE
IN 2010 I THOUGHT I WOULD TAKE A STAB AT POLITICAL CARTOONS.
IN 2011 I DECIDED TO FOCUS ON FUNNY SITUATIONS AND MORE FUNNY SITUATIONS. AND MY “DREAM COME TRUE” I AM THE CARTOONIST FOR
THE MILFORD AND UPTON, MA TOWN CRIER (LOCAL NEWSPAPER)
SEE MORE FUNNY SITUATIONS PAGE
I HOPE YOU LIKE OLEFUZZ CARTOONS AND WILL CHECK IN FROM TIME TO TIME TO SEE WHAT I HAVE ADDED TO MY WEBPAGE.
IF YOU HAVE A FUNNY SITUATION OR COMICAL IDEA FOR A CARTOON PLEASE SEND IT TO ME AT OLEFUZZ@COMCAST.NET AND I WILL SEND YOU A CARTOON
AS ALWAYS ALL PUBLICATION RIGHT ARE RESERVED.
THANKS
OLEFUZZ
