THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 15, 1996 TAG: 9603130140
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 01W EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BETSY MATHEWS WRIGHT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
Tabbies and Aby's. Siamese, Angora and Persians, too. Purebred's and alley cats. They all come alive when Leslie W. Bell picks up her paint brush and crafting tools.
Bell is the creative force behind ``Cat Tales,'' a home-based crafts business that she operates out of her Western Branch garage.
Bell's artwork is captivating. Her cats are cunning and mischievous, even whimsical. A beach-bum kitty totes a bright umbrella. One crazy cat is a real party animal, complete with a lamp shade on its head. There are sports cats (tennis, bowling, golf, aerobics); occupation cats (teacher, doctor); and hobby cats (books, sunbathing).
The jewelry pieces - pins, earrings, necklaces and hair clips - are priced at $9 and up. They are made of lightweight birch wood, but coated with a polymer product that gives them the look of glazed porcelain. Bell also makes cat-adorned clothes (shirts, canvas bags and aprons at $15 and up); mirrors, at $100 and up; and furniture, at $150 and up.
``My jewelry is definitely whimsical and fun,'' Bell said. ``I never wore jewelry that much until I got into this. They're real conversation pieces. People walk up and see my cats and just start a conversation. They're wonderful ice-breakers.''
Born and raised in Portsmouth, Bell is part of a family whose Portsmouth roots date back to the 1700s. Some of her relatives are buried in historic Trinity Church's graveyard.
Bell married her high school sweetheart, Robert Bell, after graduating from Wilson High School. Their 28-year marriage has produced two children: Robbie, 22, a senior at Radford College, and Ashley, 20, a student at Portsmouth School of Nursing.
Bell says she's always been ``crafty.''
``But I did it only for myself as a hobby,'' she said. ``My kids hated it. My daughter helps occasionally, but like most crafters who have dragged their kids all over, the kids know how hard it is, so they just aren't interested in crafting as a career.''
The idea to become a crafter began in 1979. Bell wanted a job that would allow her to be home for her children.
``So I created a job for myself. There weren't computers and fax machines back then, so there weren't many home-based jobs to choose from. Crafting was one of my choices.''
She began the new career by immediately signing up for local shows. Her first was at the Indian River Community Center. She next went to Surry for the Pork, Pine and Peanut Festival. Then she was part of the Chesapeake Art Show, an event she still enters. Today she participates in juried arts and crafts shows in Ohio, Florida, Connecticut, Maryland and Georgia.
In her 17 years of crafting, Bell has changed her art four times. She began with seashell collages, then moved on to cross-stitched frames and painted straw hats. She then did decorative children's name plaques for 10 years, just retiring that craft at the 1995 Maryland Christmas Show.
The cat craft was the child of necessity.
``In the 1980s, when the economy dipped,'' Bell said, ``I decided I needed something small and easy-to-pack to go along with the children's name plaques. for 90 bucks apiece. I figured I could do something similar, but for a whole lot cheaper.''
Bell's jewelry, clothes and furniture are sold locally at the Cascades Gift Shop in Colonial Williamsburg. They can also be ordered from Faith Mountain Catalogue out of Sperryville or by calling 1-800-822-7238. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by CHARLIE MEADS
Included among Leslie Bell's cat-inspired jewelry, clothing and
other craftwork is this hand-painted antique table with a handmade
moon-and-cat mobile hanging inside.
Leslie Bell is the creative force behind ``Cat Tales,'' a home-based
crafts business that she operates out of her Western Branch garage.
by CNB