Cattle drive Sisters wasted little time pitching their ideas Series: HOOFIN' IT

It's hard to be a visionary.

Maryanne Warton and her sister Virginia Sweeney heard about the"Cows on Parade" program in Zurich, and its looming presence inChicago.

They wanted to get their art firm in on the ground floor of cowdesign. So they quickly began a cattle marketing drive for theirgraphic design company, Sisters Too.

"(Virginia) pitched it to all of the sponsors that she could thinkof, and went to corporate heads," said Maryanne Warton, who does thepainting. "But they all said, `What are we going to do with a cow onthe street?' "

Eyes were rolling in boardrooms all over town, except for those ofRick VanHorne, head of Corrugated Supplies Corp. According to Warton,VanHorne simply said, "Here's the check; get me a cow."

This cow - which is part of this week's North Michigan Avenue zone- plays up VanHorne's love of exotic birds. Painted upon "Rick'sJoy" are macaws and flamingoes, with binoculars colored in around thecow's neck to identify him as a bird watcher.

Part of what made this cow difficult to execute was that Wartonreceived commissions for two other cows, and all had to be completedin the same period.

"It was literally eat, sleep fast, and get back to the art," saidWarton, who was using the family room of her home as a cow zone.

Most impressive about the Warton cows is their elaborateness andexplosive depth of color. Warton achieves this through the use ofregular old craft paints that are layered for effect.

She also has painted "Inspired by Bertha Palmer's Closet," "PalmerHouse Aristocow" and "Cowmoonicate."

The sisters also function as an unofficial cow cleanup crew,trekking into the city once or twice weekly to touch up, re-glaze andwash their cows.

Coming next week: Michigan Avenue and environs north of the river.