Did drawing cartoons inspire Bernadette Noll to wait tables, or did waiting tables inspire her to draw cartoons?
Her one-panel cartoon “Just Wait” is one of those life-imitates-art-imitates-life things. “Nothing can inspire you to wait tables,” says the four-year veteran of Austin’s Magnolia Cafe South. Originally from New Jersey, Noll now leads an idyllic artist’s life. She waits tables three days a week and spends time creating beautiful frames (works of art in and of themselves), painting, and drawing. She lives in a simple cottage in South Austin with artist/husband Kenny Anderson and helped build a stunning artist’s studio in the backyard out of recycled house parts. Oddly, Noll’s life in the panels began while she was serving as a baker’s apprentice. The baker’s wife saw her work and encouraged her to try The Daily Texan. “Just Wait” began running in 1993. The strip was picked up by the nationally distributed Funny Times and sometimes in XL ent. Using a cigarette box to trace the perfect size border for her one-panel toon, Noll turns some fairly crude drawings into some forehead-smacking in
