October is the time of year when American children - and some young at heart adults - wander the neighborhood as ghouls, monsters, fairies and ballerinas. It's the only time when a knock on the door and enthusiastic cries of "Trick or Treat!" are rewarded with bags filled with candy corn, chocolates, apples and other sugary treats. That's right, it's Halloween!

I wanted to have a Trick or Treat theme this month. A great plan until I realized how difficult it would be. So instead of the usual Animals and Bears column we have a treat for our readers and have turned a trick or two on our CDHM artisans by shining the spotlight on each artisan and their animal companions instead of their creations.

It's no surprise that all of our animal artists have at least one current animal companion, and all have a history that's filled with animals big and small. My conversations with each artist focused on tricks, treats and inspiration. So let's meet, in no particular order, our CDHM Gallery artisans and the pets that own them. Oh, pardon me, I mean the pets that they own!