Jarrett Rutland, 25, of Lake Junaluska illustrated a recently published children’s book about a dog named Spatz called The Scratching Sound. The author of the book, Sherry Fair, is also from Lake Junaluska.

Rutland is a free-lance artist who specializes in commissioned work, from family portraits to art work for businesses’ advertisements. He has also done Christmas Cards and murals. Rutland went to school at the Maryland Institute College of Art.

Two more Spatz books will be coming out soon. The Scratching Sound is an early reader, while the next two will be more advanced children’s books. One features Spatz, a Shetland Sheepdog, going through a July 4th parade in a mountain town.

“It’s got landmarks that people from Lake Junaluska would recognize but I generalized it enough so that people from California would appreciate it, too,” Rutland said of the illustrations.

Rutland is originally from Alabama. After graduating from art college three years ago, he moved to Lake Junaluska to live in his family’s vacation home where he had spent his summers growing up. Fair, who also spent the summer at Lake Junaluska, had known Rutland since he was a child and asked him to illustrate her book.

Rutland can be reached at 828.400.4661 or jarrettatthelake@juno.com or workbook.com/portfolios/rutland.

— By Becky Johnson