8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. This bunny’s comfortable pose is the result of twenty-three years of love from Samantha, who recieved him as a gift when she was a newborn. He was given his ridiculously charming moniker “Asparagus” because it was California in the springtime, and that was reason enough. “Sam especially loved to run her fingers across the silky grain of the pink ribbon around bunny’s neck,” Sam’s mother Barbara wrote me. “This calming action always helped Samantha fall asleep with a sense of peace and security.” Asparagus remained by Sam’s side through college, and now has a place of honor on her bedroom bookshelf out of reach of a golden retriever puppy.