Forget-me-nots, and a Spring-themed Greeting Card

Sophie Keeps an Eye on Things

The forget-me-nots are beginning to bloom as they grow taller more quickly, an inch or two each day, in the pots in the windowbox under my dining room window. Each year when I transplant them from the yard and put the pots in place  I remember Sophie and this particular beautiful moment. I’ll always be happy I managed to catch it in a quick little snap on my first tiny digital camera as I left the house one evening in spring several years ago.

Sophie was in one of the windows when I left and when I returned in all seasons, and she always managed to use the curtains to dramatic advantage. This is one of my fondest memories of her, nestled in the creamy lace, and now that she is gone the forget-me-nots have a special meaning for me.

I knew I had to share this image and a greeting card was the most natural way, and also gives others a chance to use the many meanings in the image to send a message to others, of sympathy, friendship, special thoughts, a quick hello.

“Sophie Keeps an Eye on Things” greeting cards are 5″ x 7″, printed on 12 pt. card stock and include an opaque natural white envelope, packaged in a half dozen or full dozen. I print them blank inside for you to add your own message.

CUSTOM PRINTING THE INSIDE

While they are blank inside, you can customize the inside with your own message for an extra $2.50 per dozen; in fact, you can do this with any 5″ x 7″ card on my website. The customization can include a greeting, your name or your company logo. Minimum order for customization is four dozen.

OTHER MERCHANDISE WITH THIS IMAGE

I also offer these image as a framed print and a tote bag. You can find these in my shop on Etsy.

Framed print, Sophie ...

"Sophie Keeps an Eye on Things"

 

Donated Art, and an Event

Christmas Day on the Trail, pastel © B.E. Kazmarski

I took a walk on the Panhandle Trail on Christmas Day 2011, a lovely sunny day and even fairly warm, no snow, but no rain either. Of course, there were many photo opportunities and one of my pleasures of being on the trail is also doing a sketch or two. Above is my sketch from that Christmas Day, just a nice spot on the trail where the sun angled across the hills, touching certain trees and not others, throwing sunny splashes across the limestone chip surface. I remember the sycamores were very, very white, even in the shadows, and the oak trees on the hill a warm bright bronze in the sunlight.

I most often bicycle Panhandle, and though I am also on other trails this is the most familiar to me for how often I am on it. I always have my camera equipment and art materials; sometimes I am less about bicycling for the day than I am about painting and have easels and drawing boards and then some, pulling my bike along like a two-wheeled pack horse. But whether I am set up for a day of en plein air (“in the open air”) painting right there on the trail or just a quick sketch before I pedal on, I’m glad the trails are there for me.

Small sketches, affordable art and donations

I have a house full of small sketches I’ve done of my cats, my garden, my neighborhood and especially local trails and conservation areas. Usually pastel but sometimes pencil or charcoal or pen and ink, I’ve organized the originals into exhibits such as Winter White and printed them as notecards like My Home Town, Feline Sketches and Eye on the Sparrow.

I try to frame the originals as soon as possible, cutting my own mats and framing them with repurposed frames which people have given me or I’ve found at thrift shops and yard sales and cleaned up and refinished. They always come together in a nice, neat and unique piece of artwork. Because they are small and quick and I recycle materials, I also keep their prices affordable for someone who wants a piece of original artwork. I sell them myself and in other places—for instance, a number of these are now at Distinctively Different Decor & More and in my Etsy shop—but I also donate a certain number of these auctions to benefit animal shelters and other organizations; I’m gratified to find that bidding is often higher than what I would charge, so I’ve been able to benefit an organization I support with something I’ve created.

The Montour Trail Council is hosting the Pittsburgh Cycling Expo on Sunday, March 25 to benefit the Montour Trail. I’ve donated prints for their events in the past, and this time I offered a selection of recent trail sketches I’ve done on the Panhandle Trail and they chose the sketch above, “Christmas Day on the Trail”. I originally wrote about it on Today the day after I visited the trail, and you’ll see I added to it after I finished it—in order to make it fit the frame that matched it perfectly out of my stock of extras! But I so appreciate the presence of these trails which I use as often as possible for exercise, for art, for inspiration that I’m glad I can offer this for their benefit.

I’m also donating a framed photo, below, which is not from the trail, but it includes a bicycle, “Commuter”, taken in Pittsburgh’s Strip District; I’ve always liked this photo and it’s sold well at outdoor events, so I hope this earns bids for them as well.

Visit the website to read about the event which is sponsored by AeroTech Designs, a local clothing manufacturer in Coraopolis, PA that makes cycling clothing. In a roundabout way, I’m glad to be supporting a local business and employer as well.

Commuter, photo © B.E. Kazmarski

Another Place for My Art: Distinctively Different Decor…

Sophie Keeps an Eye on Things, photo © B.E. Kazmarski

Interior designer—and fellow cat rescuer—Bonita Farinelli and I met yesterday to consign a number of pieces of my artwork and prints to her Boutique at Distinctively Different Decor & More in Carnegie.

Borzois, pastel © B.E. Kazmarski

And you can have the chance to see it at her March Open House on Sunday, March 25, 2012.

Biding Time, print © B.E. Kazmarski

I’m so glad when my artwork can be out in the public, and when I’m not there with it I especially appreciate when it’s in the hands of a person who understands and respects it. Bonita is a fellow business owner in Carnegie and has converted a solid but sad unused building into a lovely place to look at, and plied her many skills and inspirations with fabrics, patterns and colors into works from handmade pillows to entire houses of unique colors, furniture and draperies.

Taking Flight, print © B.E. Kazmarski

I learned she was a cat lover when in her display for an event at Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall last year she included a pair of breathtaking modern-styled feline-themed lamps. At that event and subsequent events and mixers we began trading cat stories and creative ideas and knew a partnership would work.

Are You Looking at Me? © B.E. Kazmarski

Got art? How much do you want? You have the space, I can fill it up with many different styles and sizes and subjects from abstract black and white photography to highly detailed realistic paintings to whimsical layered and textured “white collages”.

Gateway Center, Pittsburgh, white collage © B.E. Kazmarski

I have a number of cat and dog works there as well as landscapes and photography, a mix of originals and prints, small and large, all framed and ready to hang.

Sophie and Ellie Being Very Good, print © B.E. Kazmarski

I hope to see you there at some point on Saturday! And soon I will be writing about Bonita’s animal-inspired creations as well!

Burnished Waves, pastel © B. E. Kazmarski

Bonita also has need of a framer so we’ll be working together on a number of things.

Sunset on the Bay, watercolor © B. E. Kazmarski

See you there!

Sepia Miniatures, Feline Photos Set

Set of sepia miniature photos of Stanley, Sally and Cookie.

I’m sorting through merchandise as I bring it back from my shop and found these three photos. I don’t like to leave things packed away—I forget they are there, and I forget where they are, so as much as possible I hang things on the wall. These three will hang near the kitchen doorway again, but I’d love to find a home for them.

Speckle Sally Walking photo © B.E. Kazmarski

Cats love to hang out in the sun, and sometimes the combination of their markings and the light and shadow can create an abstract effect, especially in black and white. I love miniatures too, especially in sets, just little accents that make a statement all their own.

These are three of my favorite little black and white photos which I printed in sepia to match the walnut-stained frames, and hand-cut black core mats to match in tan and natural white.

Speckle Stanley Napping photo © B.E. Kazmarski

“Speckle Sally Walking” featuring my long-haired white cat and “Speckle Stanley Napping” featuring my tabby Stanley are vertical images matted with natural white on top with a black core.

“Sunny Cookie” featuring my tortie girl lying in a diagonal strip of sun is a horizontal image matted in ecru with a black core.

Frame size is 3.5″ x 5″, mat opening is 1.5″ x 3″.

Sunny Cookie photo © B.E. Kazmarski

Frames are solid wood, walnut stained but with no polyurethane so the texture of the wood shows in a matte finish.

You can find the listed in my Etsy shop under Sepia Miniatures, Feline Photos Set.

A Custom Daily Feline Photo

The Fantastic Four at Four, photo © B.E. Kazmarski

A friend enjoyed one of my daily photos so much he wanted a print for himself!

Of course, it’s less to do with me than it is with the “Fantastic Four at Four”, perfectly lined up and having their birthday breakfast on July 26, 2011, the day they turned four years old.

I actually included the photo (below) in the post about Mimi’s “birthday”, July 29,which is the day she arrived here with the “tiny four” and which has become her nominal birthday since I have no idea when it really is. And the Fantastic Four get enough attention, Mimi deserves her own day for lots of reasons.

Fantastic Four eating breakfast on the big day: Jelly Bean, Giuseppe, Mr. Sunshine and Mewsette.

This was kind of staged—they don’t normally eat up there, and they don’t normally eat dry food, but just to get a shot of them all lined up I used bowls of their favorite grain-free dry that I know they all like and, heavens, forced them to eat it! Right. They were lined up as soon as the bowls came out, and if I could only have recorded the purring along with the image…

On seeing the post, a friend said he’d like a print of that photo, and I was thrilled he was interested and also had a few ideas. I play around with these photos and others myself all the time, adjusting colors, adding filters, matting and framing and even printing them on canvas and tote bags and tees and lots of other things as I plan new merchandise and experiment with products and techniques.

I’d also seen this person’s home and remembered a lovely retro scheme of 1950s bold pastels like pink and yellow and sky blue and mint green along with brushed and bright chrome (especially that totally cool chrome chandelier with the pastel ceramic cups and saucers as the light fixtures), and along with asking what size he’d like it I offered to mat and frame it. I was picturing the photo in black and white instead of color, a bright or brushed chrome frame in a particular retro style, and a white mat with a colored liner, mint green—for the Four and their favorite sink— or pink since the color was often used in the room.

So that was the plan. He gave me the size for the area it would go, I planned out the size of the frame and mat and print and put it together. The frame size of the finished piece is 11.5″ x 24.5″, the image is 6.5″ x 19.5″.

The Fantastic Four, the final version of the photo.

When black and white photos are printed through a color printing machine, as most of us have our prints made now, you’ll see a slight color cast that varies for many reasons, from the content of your own file to the machine that prints them. It’s not always noticeable until you put it with another color, and in this case when I cut the mat and looked at the print next to the pink, it looked a less-than-attractive dull green. I filled the photo just 3% pink and readjusted the brightest highlights back to white and it worked perfectly with the mat.

I just love knowing that my cats are out there being enjoyed by other people. One of these days I hope to have an actual studio where shots like this will be even easier, especially if I use the right cat food, but for now the candid daily shots are also very much enjoyed.

And they serve their purpose for me as well as a daily creative exercise: take usable photos, choose only one, prepare it for view, give it a title and write something about it that others will enjoy—without taking all day! Much of what I do is commercial art, planned by myself and customers and I don’t get the chance to do much that’s extemporaneous, or find the need to come up with ideas, headlines text and images on the spot as I used to when working in advertising. It helps to keep my design senses sharp for everything I do during the day.

So if you see a daily photo—or sketch—that you particularly like, just ask and we’ll plan something special.

________________________________

Read about more of the things I create that are inspired by my cats in the category “Marketplace” on The Creative Cat.

To see more daily photos and sketches go to “Daily Images” in the menu and choose “All Photos” or “Daily Sketches” or choose from the categories below that to see photos and sketches of black cats or tortie cats.

All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in purchasing one as a print, or to use in a print or internet publication.

Valentine Cards Featuring the Fantastic Four

Nuzzles and Purrrrrs for Valentine's Day!

Here are four more designs to finish out my set of Valentine note cards and greeting cards, as always inspired by and based on images of my household of felines!

As an artist I turn to my surroundings for creative output, and what better to do with a family of five black cats during the festive Halloween season? I posted many of these photos on my blog, The Creative Cat, for my daily photos. Each of the cats depicted here is one of mine. My cats have no choice but to be models, especially “if they like to eat” as I always tell them when they roll their eyes.

Nuzzles and Purrrrrs

The operatically romantic Giuseppe and the French-Canadian belle femme Mlle. Daisy Emerald Marguerite have been carrying on a long-distance affaire since the summer of 2011; they always conclude their correspondence with “nuzzles and purrrrrs”.

I photographed Mewsette and Giuseppe cuddling on my desk while I worked at my computer and posted them as a daily photo on The Creative Cat. So many readers immediately said “Valentine” that I thought I’d oblige with a design! And even though it’s Mewsette and not Mlle. Daisy, Mewsette still knows when her brother needs a hug.

These greeting cards are 5″ x 7″ and are printed on 14 pt. matte-coated stock. The message inside is “NUZZLES AND PURRRRRS” in a really fun font. Each card comes with Autumn Red 70 lb. text weight acid-free envelopes which are inkjet/laser compatible. They are packed in a clear-top vinyl greeting card box. I sell them as a set of six in my shop on Etsy.

Heart Cats, featuring Mr. Sunshine and Mewsette.

Heart Cats

The siblings of the Fantastic Four often cuddle and hug, cheek to cheek, but this design adapted from the original heart-shaped cats photo of Mr. Sunshine and Mewsette is still my favorite; the background color of the card is adapted from the color of their eyes.

I photographed these two in the bathroom at night in poor light, but no matter, such a sweet photo I’d do my best. Since then I’ve adapted the two into many different designs and colors. Here, for Valentine’s day, they are solid black with the solid cerise of their eyes, and just one red heart as they hug.

These are note cards at 4-1/4″ x 5-1/2″ and are printed on matte-coated stock. The message inside is “YOU ARE MY HEART CAT” in a really fun font. Each card comes with Autumn Red 70 lb. text weight acid-free envelopes which are inkjet/laser compatible. They are packed in a clear-top vinyl greeting card box.

They are available as a set of 12 in my shop on Etsy.

Steal a Moment With a Kitty You Love

Steal a Moment

This photo was originally an unfocused mistake but I liked it better than the focused version, and so did many readers of The Creative Cat!

These greeting cards are 5″ x 7″ and are printed on 14 pt. matte-coated stock. The message inside is a simple “HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY”. Each card comes with Autumn Red 70 lb. text weight acid-free envelopes which are inkjet/laser compatible. They are packed in a clear-top vinyl greeting card box. I sell them as a set of six in my shop on Etsy.

Silhouettes for Valentine's Day.

Silhouettes for Valentine’s Day

I originated this design as a Halloween card using autumn shades in autumn 2011, but with a little color change it suits Valentine’s Day! It features my photograph of the Harvest Moon and the silhouettes of two of my five black cats.

These greeting cards are 5″ x 7″ and are printed on 14 pt. matte-coated stock.

This card is blank inside, ready for your message.

Each card comes with Autumn Red 70 lb. text weight acid-free envelopes which are inkjet/laser compatible. They are packed in a clear-top vinyl greeting card box.

They are all on Etsy

In addition to the four cards featured here you’ll find other designs on Etsy. Read about them here on Portraits of Animals Marketplace.

Purple Cats Valentine Note Cards

Block Print Valentine Note Cards

And a special issue of a block print matted and framed for Valentine’s Day:

Awakening, a Special for Valentine’s Day

_______________________

All images and text used in this article are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in purchasing one as a print, or to use in a print or internet publication.

Holiday Cards: Nature’s Peaceful Beauty

Little Apples, photo © B.E. Kazmarski

Walking in the quiet of a winter day I see some of the most beautiful scenes, from my own back yard, to my neighborhood, town, trails and woods. My joy is to bring not just the scene but the entire milieu back to my studio in an image—a tall order for a photograph or painting, but now and then I manage to capture the essence.

These two sets of four designs based on photography are more “seasonal” than “holiday”, and evoke the two concepts I pursue with my nature photography.

Unexpected Berries

“Unexpected Berries” is a careful study of surprising details others may not notice, the splash of color in the muted landscape of winter that holds my gaze for as long as my tired eyes will enjoy its gift as “nature provides a respite for the weary eye.

Above is “Little Apples”, small wild apples hang like brightly-colored ornaments on wild trees whipped bare from winter winds, decorating the gray branches on an overcast day.

Below is “Icy Berries” decorating one of the trees on Main Street in Carnegie, iced over by a winter storm, their brilliant, rich color preserved.

"Icy Berries", photo © B.E. Kazmarski

And one of my long-time favorites, “Crabapples” decorate bare branches in a cluster of trees growing by railroad tracks; who would think to look here for such beauty?

Crabapples, photo © B.E. Kazmarski

From my own backyard is “Unexpected Berries”, found on Christmas morning after a heavy snow, the bright red hulls clinging to my burning bush while the seeds withing long gone to my avian visitors.

Unexpected Berries, photo © B.E. Kazmarski

Outside they advise “nature provides a respite for the weary eye”. Inside the cards reads, “Wishing you color on the coldest day of winter, and an astonishingly beautiful new year.” All cards are 5″ x 7″ and come with a matching envelope, three each of the four designs in a clear-top stationery box. You can find this set in my Etsy shop.

Winter Walks

Homeward Bound, photo © B.E. Kazmarski

Of all the inspiring scenes I’ve found on my “Winter Walks”, these are the ones that stayed with me afterward as I remembered one of my favorite quotes from Henry David Thoreau: “Take long walks in stormy weather or through deep snows in the fields and woods, if you would keep your spirits up. ~Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author”.

Above is “Homeward Bound”, found after a major ice storm in Settler’s Cabin Park in Collier Township, PA.

Below is “Arching Branches”, a scene along Chartiers Creek near Bridgeville, PA.

Arching Branches, photo © B.E. Kazmarski

Walking through the local woods after a snow I found a wonderful “Snowy Abstract”.

Snowy Abstract, photo © B.E. Kazmarski

And visiting the Panhandle Trail near Oakdale, PA I found these delicate branches “Encased in Ice”.

Encased in Ice, photo © B.E. Kazmarski

And on the inside, “May your spirits be lifted by the beauty of nature this holiday season and in the new year.” You can find this set in my Etsy shop.

See also:
Holiday Cards: Greetings From Our Backyard Birds
Feline-themed Holiday Cards

Halloween Cards Featuring the Fantastic Four

Madame Mewsette will tell your For-tuna

As an artist I turn to my surroundings for creative output, and what better to do with a family of five black cats during the festive Halloween season? I posted many of these photos on my blog, The Creative Cat, for my daily photos during 2010. Each of the cats depicted here is one of this wonderful family except the calico who belongs to my neighbor–and I just had to use that photo! My cats have no choice, especially “if they like to eat” as I always tell them when they roll their eyes about being my models.

I will remark that I don’t like to associate black cats with Halloween for various reasons, but I didn’t pose a single one—when I got out the pumpkins they obligingly posed! But it’s never a bad thing to have cats of any color or pattern on a greeting card for any holiday!

I sell them as individuals and as a set of six.

Madame Mewsette Will Tell Your For-tuna

This card, “Madame Mewsette Will Tell Your For-tuna” features Miss Mewsette.

This is what Mewsette is dressed up as to celebrate this evening’s events. And she didn’t even have to put on one embarrassing garment or accessory.

When I attended Catholic grade school, we were to dress up as our patron saint for All Hallow’s Eve, and dressing up as St. Bernadette was pretty easy for me as I already tended to wear peasant-style clothing and St. Bernadette didn’t suffer any dire injuries or horrible torture like some of the other saints, she just lived to be very old, despite Lourdes.

Well, I think Mewsette is dressed up as one of her patron kitties—she is quiet and introspective, unlike her brothers, and I can just see her in the role of a familiar or a gypsy fortune-teller!

Enter: Three WITCHES

Enter: Three WITCHES

This card, “Enter: Three WITCHES” features Miss Mewsette, her mom Mimi and her brother Giuseppe.

Guess the kids have been getting into my literature textbooks again. I thought my Riverside Shakespeare was too heavy for them, but there is no getting in the way of a determined reader. Now that they’ve mastered Act 1, Scene 1 of MacBeth, I can’t wait to see how they interpret Scene 2.

Maybe reading to them as kittens really did work.

Actually, Mimi, Mewsette and Giuseppe were gathered around the lamp “to keep warm” as they said, because the temperature was all of about 65 degrees. Time to get out the cozy beds!

Boo!

Boo!

This card, “Boo!” features Lucy from a few years ago. Sadly, I lost Lucy to FIP when she was 15 months old so she never had the chance to develop her career as all my other cats have, so I love to use her image in a creative endeavor whenever possible.

I Dare You!

I Dare You

This card, “I Dare You” features my next-door neighbor’s calico cat, who could have a bit of an attitude as you can see by her expression, but I enjoyed her visits for the brief time they let her outside. She had unique markings—her face, legs and tail are calico including white paws, but her torso is tortoiseshell.

Silhouettes

Silhouettes

This card features the Harvest Moon just photographed in September 2011, and the silhouettes of two of my five black cats in a wordless design. I wanted to incorporate this year’s Harvest Moon in at least one design, and kept it simple with the solid black background and just the silhouettes of two of my black cats but in the pale orange of the moon, light against dark instead of dark against light.

We Three Pumpkins

We Three Pumpkins

This card, “We 3 Pumpkins” features my photos of jack-o-lanterns. The Rennerdale Youth Group carves more than 100 pumpkins donated by Beccaris Farm Market, and the Collier Girl Scouts set out and light the jack-o-lanterns along a half-mile stretch of the Panhandle Trail from the bridge near the Walkers Mill trailhead to the Sunnyside entrance.

I photograph the pumpkins every year, and enjoy seeking out the feline-themed pumpkins.

They are all on Etsy

These 5″ x 7″ cards are printed on 14 pt. gloss card stock and include a matching envelope, packed in a clear-top white cardboard greeting card box. Cards are blank inside but can be customized with your message (please convo on Etsy). I sell them as individuals and as a set of six.

Free Shipping In Honor of Black Cat Appreciation Day

God, I'm Cute

God, I’m cute!

That’s my Jelly Bean demonstrating his most absolute cuteness in the mirror.

Mirror, mirror on the sink

I’m the handsomest kitty, I think!

Perhaps instead he’s practicing his most seductive expression in the mirror.

Jelly Bean is about as cute as cute can be and he knows how to use it. Moreso than any of the other Big Four, Jelly Bean was always the cutest, it’s just part of his nature, and now that he’s maturing he’s also developing those feline-seductive “bedroom eyes”, the squinty, blinky look that makes them impossible to resist.

He loves the bathroom sink, and before I finished my bathroom remodel he spent time each day admiring himself in the little hand mirror. I carry a small digital camera, and sometimes the big one, around the house because I never know when a shot like this will come up. Catching the angle just right, with the light coming in the window—and not seeing either me or construction materials in the mirror—made it a rare opportunity.

I felt the need to share this photo and to do it in a way that others who love black cats could do as well.

Framed print of God, I'm Cute

FRAMED PHOTOS

It’s available as a 5″ x 7″ photo in an 8″ x 10″ frame, and as an 8″ x 10″ in an 11″ x 14″ frame.

All photos are luster finish and the frames are a matte-finish black frame with a double linen-finish mats, white with black liner.

They are easiest to order from my Etsy shop, or you can e-mail me with your request especially if you want to order a print only to frame yourself (on Esty, I need to list each size individually and it makes it easier if you simply request the size you want).

God, I'm Cute

GREETING CARDS

Now who do you know who would get a kick out of a kitty admiring himself? A “thinking of you”? A “thanks”? Even sympathy on the loss of a kitty? The 5″ x 7″ cards are blank inside so you can add you own message.

You can now purchase this card by the dozen or half dozen in my Etsy Shop.

CUSTOM PRINTING THE INSIDE

And don’t forget, while they are blank inside, you can customize the inside with your own message for an extra $2.50 per dozen in black or $4.00 per dozen in full color with a minimum order of four dozen; in fact, you can do this with any 5″ x 7″ card on my website. The customization can include a greeting, your name or your company logo. Minimum order for customization is four dozen per design. Details are listed with each card in my Marketplace or convo on Etsy.

God, I'm Cute

TOTE BAG

Yes, just one left of this guy from the bags I printed last year. I had purchased natural-colored bags and dyed half of them black for the photos of my black cats. The bags were a little small, 13″W x 14″H x 2″D, but sturdy 6-oz. cotton canvas with 12″ handles can be used to carry or loop over your shoulder.

I have new and different bags in mind to display my artwork, so what’s left of the initial run of bags is reduced to $5.00 per bag. Please visit my Etsy shop to see this bag and others.

 

My homage to all the black kitties I’ve loved, including the Big Four! A soft solid black pawprint, ready for shower, decoration, or gift.

And solid black works for many other animals too.

This paw is also part of a set including a black paw with white toes and a white paw with black toes in honor of Mister Mistoffelees and all the other jellicle cats in the world.

And although they are soft and absorbent, and I crocheted them so they’d dry quickly in your bathroom, you don’t have to use them as washcloths. I tried them out as dishcloths in the kitchen, hotpads on the table for small casseroles or even a small mat or coaster for a plate or mug. Heck, they even make cute doilies on a tabletop!

I’ve been working with a pawprint motif for a couple of years now, working out the pattern myself. The scarves, hats and neck wraps are a little time-consuming, but I’ve been wanting to offer something simple in this pawprint pattern.

Viola! a simple washcloth! I’ve worked out several color schemes right now, solids and pink toes, some are real cat or dog fur colors, others are not at all.

Each cloth is 7″ in diameter side to side, 9″ top to bottom, and is made of yarn-dyed cotton.

COUPON CODE BLACKCATDAY11 IN MY ETSY SHOP!

Today only,

August 17, 2011, FREE SHIPPING, on these black cat-inspired items in Portraits of Animals on Etsy!

Our Golden Gate, an Entrance to Pittsburgh

Entering Pittsburgh is lovely from any angle, especially at dusk when the buildings, bridges, rivers and sky hold so many colors. From almost any approach to Pittsburgh the city often seems to spring up out of nowhere, like magic, and I wanted to capture a bit of that magical feel in a photo of this entrance to the city, bridge, river and all.

This is the Fort Pitt Bridge catching the sunlight as the buildings are caught in shadow on a summer afternoon. I enhanced all the colors applied several different filters in PhotoShop until I had that magic combination of colors and patterns I desired.

I created this work for an exhibit I had in 2006 entitled “100 West Busway“, featuring 125 thumbnail photos of Pittsburgh taken through the bus window on the round-trip journey from Carnegie and back on the 100 West Busway route, running from the south hills into downtown Pittsburgh, through the east end and Oakland and all the colleges and research centers, back into downtown and back to the suburbs.

From the 125 thumbnails I created a dozen works, each in a different medium, all framed with black wood frames and white mats. This is one of those pieces, and is actually one of the originals from the show. I’ll be posting others, both originals and prints in the next month or so.

This 14″ x 10″ luster-finish photo is framed in a 14″ x 18″ narrow-profile matte-finish black frame with a 2″ white mat, ready for hanging, available in my shop on Etsy in my gallery for Pittsburgh Art and Photos