For one blissful year, she and Coony went everywhere together. She would even take him to the beach. When she went for a swim, Coony would follow her out into the water, pumping his small legs.

"He would swim with me, with his little head over the waves," she said.

One day, Coony came home with a bloody lip and face. Apparently, a neighbor had attacked Coony with a broom because the raccoon had tried to harm her birds. Adams' parents promptly sent Coony away forever.

Not long ago, Adams, now grown up and living in Palm Harbor, thought she caught a glimpse of Coony in one of artist Claudia Nocke's drawings hanging in Decora Studios art gallery in Tarpon Springs.

"It had that sleepy look," Adams said of the raccoon in the picture.

Nocke, 31, a German-born University of London graduate and conservation biologist, specializes in capturing the look of pets and other animals. She rents a space in the gallery, where she held a reception Jan. 26.

Adams has commissioned Nocke to draw a portrait of her menagerie of seven Devon Rex cats, a breed that seldom sheds its hair and is quite dog-like. Some of Adams' cats can do tricks such as roll over and shake a paw, and when she walks through the door at the end of the day, they all come running.

The cats have individual personalities, and Adams said she chose Nocke to do the portrait because she brings out the identities of the animals she draws.

Nocke gained vast experience drawing cats -- mostly the wild, exotic kind including margays and ocelots -- while living in Costa Rica for three years and working for a wild cat rescue station and the International Foundation for Environmental Restoration, Education and Management.

Once, when she and her boyfriend were walking in the hills in the middle of the morning, a group of excited children ran up to them and told them their small dog had chased an ocelot up a tree.

"She was sitting there, looking down," Nocke said of the rare cat. "We had to leave her alone and give her space so she could come down."

Nocke and her fiance, Carlos de la Rosa, include anecdotes such as that one in a book they wrote about conservation of tropical carnivores called Carnivores of Central America. It contains 96 drawings of 26 species of animals, all done by Nocke.

A few years ago, she came to Florida with de la Rosa, an environmental education coordinator for the county, and became a research scholar at Brooker Creek Preserve, counting mid-size and large mammals such as deer, red foxes, coyotes, bobcats and river otters.

Now, instead of counting animals and hunting for their paw prints, Nocke has decided to devote all her energy to drawing them.

She shares the Decora Studios gallery with two other artists, gallery owner George Konstantinidis, who paints pictures with a Greek flavor, and Kaye Dunmire, who produces works with a tropical flair.

Nocke and Dunmire can be found most days working in a small, well-lit space in the back of the studio.

"What I'm working on right now is a bobcat," Nocke said, pointing to a half-finished drawing. "His name is Tasha. He died in his late teens."

Nocke was given several photos of Tasha, a beautiful, powerful cat with huge green eyes, to work from by its owners.

Some of Nocke's drawings hanging in the gallery are not for sale, including a favorite image of Lilu, one of three house cats Nocke adopted. In the picture, inspired by a photograph, the cat can be seen lying on its side with one leg over its head, a playful look on its face.

Every hair on Lilu's body -- every whisker, stripe, curl, paw pad, muscle and bone -- can be seen in such vivid detail, the drawing looks almost like a photograph.

Drawing spotted animals is more difficult.

"It's extremely important to have all the spots in the right place because it's like a fingerprint," Nocke said. "It distinguishes them. You can't put the spots anywhere. I do it as exact as possible."

Although Nocke clearly adores cats, she is quick to point out that she'll draw any kind of wild or domestic animal as long as the owner provides a photo or even permits her to meet with the subject and gain perspective on its personality.

It takes Nocke about a week to produce a detailed picture of an animal.

"She studies the subject," said Konstantinidis. "She captures their moods. She thinks like a cat."

If you go

Conservation biologist and wildlife artist Claudia Nocke displays her highly detailed animal portraits at Decora Studios art gallery, 13 N Pinellas Ave., Tarpon Springs. The gallery is open most days, but doesn't have set hours. Call (727) 942-8361 ahead of time.

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