Croton Artist Brings Cardboard and Paper to Life

The brightly painted cardboards cutouts climbing the walls of the Black Cow Coffee Shop in Croton have become a staple, part of the scenery, unnoticed by regulars -- they simply are the wall, and a huge part of Croton scenery for that matter. The same artist graces the walls of the Black Cow’s newest incarnation in Pleasantville, and Rutheny’s Jewelry on Brook Street. The children’s book illustrator has spent most of his time over the last 20 years adorning the pages of dozens of books.

Rob Shepperson’s life-inspired, often situational, drawings echo the village. They regularly appear in the Croton Gazette, and on his “Thank God It’s Friday” email list, which includes an original cartoon every Friday. He makes his artwork “recognizable to the Croton viewer because he captures what’s going on around us,” said co-owner of the Black Cow Peggy Grant. “He picks up facial nuance, character nuance, body posture, that you look at it and it resonates with the observer.”

Shepperson moved to New York after graduating from the Kansas City Art Institute, to play as the drummer in a band called “Tirez Tirez,” and had some success in group gallery shows in the city, but says he got his start illustrating for the New York Times Book Review, in 1983. He moved to Croton 15 years ago to raise his two daughters, while illustrating full time.

The soft-spoken Louisiana transplant comes from two generations of preachers, and kept quiet and “out of trouble” in church by drawing. It seemed drawing was the lesser of evils since Shepperson’s other childhood past time included clandestinely sneaking his pet mouse into mass under his shirt collar.

Shepperson has illustrated over two dozen books, he modestly can’t remember all that he’s illustrated, and each book contains dozens of images. The most recent examples of his work include “The Memory Band,” (2010) by Shepperson and Carolyn Coman, and “Lilly and the Pirates,” (2010) by Phyllis Root. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal, as well as many entries in the New York Times Book Review.

For more information on the artwork of Rob Shepperson visit his website, and to become part of his “Thank God It’s Friday” email list, contact Rob Shepperson at robshepperson@earthlink.net

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