susan randall

Susan Randall may have one of the most eccentric creative arts entries the State Fair has ever seen. It all started when she received the book “Crafting with Cat Hair” by Kaori Tsutaya for Christmas one year.

So she got to work on her newest hobby with her cats, Jimmie Violin and Pink Steve, as her material.

“I had to wait until the weather got warmer for my cats to start shedding,” Randall says, which is about the time she starts gearing up for the fair.

This year she created five finger puppets in a “cat diorama,” complete with grass and a white picket fence. Jimmie Violin is brown, and Pink Steve is white, so Randall could mix their hair to create marble patterns. She submitted the piece in the folk art category and took second place.

Randall entered several other — more traditional — creations in the State Fair contests: a knitted stuffed rabbit that placed fourth, 10 canned food items grown from her own backyard garden garnering both first- and third-place ribbons, and a variety of jams, jellies, butters, pickled vegetables, relish and chutney.

Randall says she wasn’t sure how the cat hair finger puppets were going to be received. “The whole idea was nutsy, but I took a gamble and I’m glad I did.” She says she’s been laughing ever since.