An·thro·po·mor·phize, verb, to attribute human behavior or characteristics to non-human entities.

I have to admit that I was happily painting my portraits, anthropomorphizing away, for a long time before I could say the word without tripping over it. But actually attributing human characteristics to non-human entities? I had that down right from the start. In my art school days, art history was a snooze-worthy class for me. Slide show in the dark, a goal of memorizing artists and dates. It was hard to get excited about. It’s a whole different story now. I see an historical portrait, and I immediately size up the composition, the attire, and the painting style. I challenge myself to guess the artist and era. And I usually can come up with three or four critters that would be lovely in place of the historical subject. Often, the creative process starts with an animal. I have a catalog of historical portraits and artists in my brain that helps me get started.

One of the reasons I think I so love this artistic expression, is  because it’s so darned fun! But another is because it makes a statement. I don’t know if that statement translates to others, but here’s what it is; We are humans but we are no better than other living beings. Let’s offer others in the animal kingdom the honoring and respect we have for humans. Oh sure, it’s ridiculous to think that animals should act or behave like people; it’s not their nature. But we humans see everything through human eyes, and we tend to attribute human qualities to things and beings we feel a connection to. If those who enjoy my work see the dignity and beauty of animals just a little bit more, I’m pretty happy with my life’s work. And maybe this hedgehog art is endearing you to the cute critters just a little more right now!