He recalls the time vividly when, as a small boy, he’d sit on his mother’s lap in their home on Vashon Island. “She drew a picture of a little child’s wagon and then handed me the pencil and had me draw her picture,” said PERRY WOODFIN, a San de Fuca artist. His parents made a game of it, saying, “Oh, Perry, you’re so good!” He’d rush to do another and another, basking in their approval.

His father was a cattle rancher on Vashon Island and later in Ellensburg. Woodfin almost went into veterinary medicine, but his stepmother urged him to pursue his own dreams, not those of his father. Woodfin, now an artist for over 40 years, said that was the best advice he ever got.

His works capture the landmarks and lifestyles of Whidbey Island and its people. The images are comfortable and familiar, and we see ourselves looking back from his subjects. The façade of buildings such as Toby’s Tavern are painted with the precision of a historian, and we are transported to bygone days on Whidbey Island as we glimpse at old buildings in their silent decay.

“We have a lot of history here that people fail to appreciate,” Woodfin said. “I try in my own way to capture it for the future.”

He fondly regards his paintings to be like the children he never had, treasuring each one for its individuality. Creating can be long and arduous. The process becomes part of you.

Last year, Woodfin painted 41 smaller pieces and this year he produced 28 larger works for the show now under way at Penn Cove Pottery. The 2-foot by 3-foot acrylics and watercolors show fog rolling in on Sherman Road, the oldest building in Oak Harbor and sailboats racing in Penn Cove, to name a few. There is something reminiscent of Edward Hopper in his style, and the paintings will be equally at home in private collections as in professional spaces.

He is still learning and loves to get close enough to see the brushwork while studying a painting in a museum. The guards don’t know he’s an artist, and that’s what artists do.

Penn Cove Pottery is about a block south of San de Fuca Chapel on Highway 20. It’s a winding, busy corner. To enter the parking area safely, I recommend that you slow down in advance and use your turn signals. Call 678-6464. Woodfin’s show runs through Oct. 22.

They don’t ask for much …

The fact we are a community of animal lovers says a lot about us. BILL PARDY, one of us, paid a visit to Whidbey Press last week to introduce me to four beautiful collies, GRIFFIN, RUSTY, PENNY and LONNIE.

They are the only family this retired Navy man has and he takes them everywhere. I watched in amusement as four adult sized collies exited the cab of his small pick-up truck. Griffin came out first. No one dare cut in front of the big kahuna. The rest followed like a bunch of Keystone Cops.

These dogs are lucky to be alive. They were born into a puppy mill on Camano Island. There, they were herded, four into to a cage measuring 4-feet by 6-feet, in a cold, dark basement. Besides filthy conditions, their confinement was completely devoid of human contact and affection.

Whidbey Animals’ Improvement Foundation rescued 60 of them, placed them into local foster care with a number of volunteers and finally made them available to be adopted by folks like Pardy.

That was six years ago. “They have come a long way,” Pardy said. “When I got them, you couldn’t even get close to them. What you see today is all learned behavior.”

Animals touch us in ways we cannot explain. None of us wants to see them abused, and we make charitable contributions to their care, but there is a perpetual need we often forget about. Pardy, himself a volunteer dog walker, says dog walkers are needed at both WAIF shelters. They also need volunteers to clean the kennels and cages, and cat lovers to talk to and soothe anxious kitties. Call 678-5816 to help.

To laugh and honor …

BOB BIDDLE’s Navy paycheck may have been a mere $42.50 in 1943, but he knew he would outlast the war and live happily forever with his beloved LOU. He says the secrets to a 63-year marriage are long deployments, high Navy pay and a good sense of humor. It helps if your spouse is a little deaf, I’m told. And don’t forget that kiss as you go out the door. Happy anniversary, Biddles.

Come back next week for more news about our North Whidbey neighbors. Call 675-6611 or write to lifeonwhidbey@yahoo.com.