How do cartoon characters become the individuals we know and love?

It starts with a "character study" from the mind of the artist. Here are Terri's work-ups of the Laser Pals.

Laser Cat

Laser Cat is the "Big Cheese" of the Pals. If it wasn't for that smart aleck, who would do all the etching? The Magic Claw is her claim to fame. Laser Cat creates and dazzles the world with her artistry. She skates across the surface of stone like a star on "Ice Wars" leaving marks that would be the bane of any Zamboni driver's existence.

No cat is complete without a wicked sense of humor. If anyone is going to play a practical joke, it's Laser Cat. Her rapier wit matches the magic of her claw. With this comes the big ego of a master.

However, her pals are her best buds, and only they know how to pull one over on her. Bernie, the bird, keeps her in check. Bernie knows when the cat has gone too far... Laser Cat may be able to dupe the dog, but never the bird. "You can etch a dog, but you can’t etch a bird!" (Unless, it’s on granite)

Laser Cat comes from a long line of back-street alley cats. She was the first to show some promise in a creative field other than rat catchin'. It wasn't until she met up with Granite, the dog, did her fortune change. Granite gave her a purpose for her craft.

Granite Dog

Granite is the big ole Pal, a goof-ball at heart and a real cool dog through and through. He's loyal to his pals and loves them unconditionally as a good dog should.

He seems like he might be missing a few sandwiches from his picnic basket, but that gets debunked once he comes up with one of his genius brainstorms. He's the one who ties the organization together. He makes everyone feel good.

Granite Dog loves all the amazing stuff his buddy, Laser Cat, does. He’s the appreciator. He's also the sales dog, the one that shows the "Wow" of the bow-wow. He can be a klutz, but he's clutch.

Granite grew up a regular pound mutt. He made his mark in the ASPCA helping his dog buddies get adopted into the best homes. He even took it upon himself to find families for all the cats and rabbits who needed homes.

It was Granite who caught Laser Cat etching her graffiti on the building door. Granite knows talent when he sees it, and instigated the hiring of the amazing cat to the Laser Pals team. The rest is history.

Bernie Bird

Bernie represents the avian community. He is, as parrots go, of superior intelligence, well spoken and goofy as hell. He loves to do his "Laser Dance" when Laser Cat etches a particularly fine product. Bernie is quality control.

If the cat gets out of line, Bernie slots him back on track. Laser Cat takes his threats quite seriously. After all, who would challenge someone wearing a can-opener on his face? Bernie loves his buddies. He defends Granite from anyone who would take advantage of his kind nature.

Bernie sees what's really going on and will speak up or fix it. He's a bird of action. His humor is sarcasm at its best, though he gets a lot of mileage out of just acting silly.

He is proactive on proper parrot care. His parents were stolen from the jungle against their wills. Bernie is very sensitive to people adopting hand-raised birds, not wild ones. He likes to be informative to bird owners.

Granite came across Bernie while the bird was on a soap box preaching proper avian care. Granite figured a little wisdom would be a good addition to his buddy system. Bernie figured he could extol parrot-sense on the web site!

Sparky Horse

Alas, a thoroughbred, Sparky lets it go to his head. This guy thinks he's the fastest "Seabiscuit" on the block. When he crosses that finish line, he has no clue the rest of the horses are back at the stable already. Yet, he has just enough spark to get the job done and entertain everyone to boot.

Sparky entertains with stories of his great escapades. He's done it all - raced, show jumped, Olympic dressage, cross country, fox hunting, been to war, pony express, stage coach, raced across the desert... bartender. His pals humor him.

He gets put to work with the job he does best, pack mule. He totes the stone for the laser jobs while telling his tall "tails". Laser Cat humors him by playing jockey as they race around with Granite and Bernie cheering.

Sparky can trace his lineage back to the great Man O' War. Since he didn't get the better end of that gene pool, he was sold for a dollar in a claiming race. Granite bought him up knowing that he'd be an asset to the Laser Pals.