T-Shirt Artist Helps Pet-Lovers Wear Their Sentiments on Sleeves

“I don’t know what it is, but people on the East Coast want portraits of themselves,” said Patricia Derby, 39, who paints pictures on sweat shirts and T-shirts for a living. “In California, they want their dog.”

Dogs may be the main draw, but Derby also paints cats, birds and horses, among other creatures. “This one guy wanted me to put his pet boa constrictor on a T-shirt. I’m glad I work from the pictures they bring to me.”

Besides her own peace of mind, she added, “It’s really difficult keeping an animal still, and I don’t want to go through the holding and sitting process. Humans are bad enough.”

Derby, who calls her cottage business Looking Glass, paints at her Costa Mesa home. But she gathers her orders at dog and cat shows, fairs and the Orange County Swap Meet in Costa Mesa, which, she said, “is probably the best because it’s ongoing and there are always big crowds.”

Despite the passing parade, much of her work comes from word of mouth and repeat orders.

“I have this customer who has her dog on five different shirts in different poses,” said Derby, who took art classes at Orange Coast College. “One shows her dog with a bonnet and bows in the dog’s hair. She treats the dog like her child.”

The shirt-portrait business has been making her a handsome living for the last five years, she said, after trying a series of other ventures, including free-lance portrait and commercial painting in Hollywood and later operation of a combination boutique and jewelry store on Balboa Island.

“The key is, I’m having a good time and enjoying what I’m doing,” she said. “I get a real charge out of the way people look when they pick up the shirt and see what I’ve captured on fabric.”

She told of painting a pet on three T-shirts for a mother and her two children. “When they came by, they took a look and hugged each other because they were so happy. I got a real charge out of that one.”

Derby uses fabric paint “that will last as long as the shirt” and doesn’t need any special care after the portrait is applied. “I want my work to last a long time.”

She charges $23 for a T-shirt painting and $29 for a sweat shirt.

Derby’s early artistic experience was painting on canvas. But while her medium may have changed a bit, she regards herself as a serious painter. “I don’t think I could make as good a living painting in oil, but I still consider myself an accomplished artist.”

Has she painted her two cats and two parakeets on her own sweat shirts?

“One of these days I’ll get around to it,” she said.

John Saunders, 38, of Mission Viejo figures he may make a bundle of money selling Civil War bonds issued by the Confederate States of America army.

He and a Texas-based partner paid $633,000 at an auction in London for the estimated 75,000 bonds he hopes to sell for about $30 each. That would bring in $2,250,000.

Some of the rare ones, however, may bring as much as $1,000, he added, noting that the face value of all of the bonds, each hand signed, is $70,000.

He plans to select several thousand of the rarer notes and auction them in New York after they are ironed. “They’ve been rolled up for about 120 years,” he explained.

A coin dealer at London Coin Gallery in the Mission Viejo Mall, Saunders said the notes are genuine antiques “that have played a part in the history of this country.” He feels that they would be nice hanging on a wall in a home or office--”especially for anyone who has an interest in the South.”

Saunders is “Yankee born,” as he put it, but said he moved from Detroit to South Carolina when he was 7. “My heart is still in the South.”

An earthquake seminar was held at Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church in Los Alamitos, and about 125 people attended.

“This area is right on the San Andreas fault and people of all denominations came to find out how to be prepared,” said church spokeswoman Betty Morrill of Los Alamitos. “God is God and he helps everyone.”

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, the Villa Park Women’s League feels its “Loving Spoons of Villa Park Cookbook” is the ideal gift this Feb. 14.

“A loving spoon is given to sweethearts in Wales,” said league spokeswoman Karen Q. Christensen, “so this makes a special present to either a man or woman.” She points out the book was created from 300 league members and their husbands. It’s on sale for $17 at the Villa Park Library.