Awakening, matted and framed, linoleum block print © B.E. Kazmarski

Quote reads: “‘Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.’–Anatole France. Dedicated to my prince and princess and all those since who’ve awakened their part of my soul.

Because they opened my heart and awakened my soul, I have a special piece of artwork on Valentine’s Day.

“Awakening” is a linoleum block print, 16″ in diameter, printed in water-based ink on handmade white rice paper. For Valentine’s Day I’m offering a print matted with a rich red mat to encircle your feline loves.

Mat and frame for print.

Mat is an acid-free rich red, my favorite shade to coordinate with plain black and white block prints; not too bright, not too dull. I cut the circular mat myself in my studio; the narrowest portion of the mat is 1.5″. The frame is a 1″ wide plain black matte-finish wood. The final framed size is 21″ x 21″.

ABOUT THE PRINT

“Awakening” was inspired by my close companions Kublai and Sally who ran the household together for about 12 years and who actually slept curled like this. I enjoyed following the inspiration to combine the image of the two cats with the decorative border simply made of shapes and patterns that were both attractive and easy to cut in a block print.

Detail of Kublai

I had seen the quote in a number of different places, and of all the quotes about how animals fill our souls this one, the concept of awakening, I found most moving. These two cats, especially Kublai, the black one, were a major part of my awakening not only to animals but to love in general.

Aside from the fact that they were both loving, friendly and social, they were complete opposites in the way they expressed this love and were as different in temperament as they were in color and texture as the loose reference to yin and yang illustrates.

In their own ways they nurtured about 30 foster cats of widely differing ages and social abilities, just as they nurtured me in the years they shared my life.

Detail of Sally

“Kublai” is somehow derived from the word for “prince” in Sanskrit, and “Sally” is derived from the word for “princess”—Sarah—in Hebrew.

Block printing is a technique wherein the artist carves the surface of a piece of linoleum, leaving raised areas which will become the image. Ink is rolled onto these raised areas, then a piece of paper is pressed against the block and when it’s lifted away the ink remains, leaving the image on the paper.

I also print this image on textiles, such as t-shirts, curtains, tablecloths, shawls and tote bags! Please check my apparel and housewares categories to see what’s currently available.

Because of the nature of the medium, each print is unique and ink coverage is not always perfect. Most artists consider this random activity to be part of the process of creating an individualized print, and along with the hand-painting makes a unique work of art. “

I have two matted and framed prints available in my Etsy shop.

Purple Cats, Red Blanket, ink and watercolor © B.E. Kazmarski

I’ve added two more daily sketches to my Etsy shop. The choices are based on feedback and I got quite a lot last week, so if there’s a sketch you’d like to see in my Etsy shop, please speak up!

Above is Purple Cats, Red Blanket, felt-tip ink technical drawing pen with watercolor washes, signed and dated 1/6/12.

Black cats, like white cats, have all sorts of colors in their fur, and in the day’s filtered sunlight their fur glistened with all sorts of highlights and shadows. The randomly shaped and wrinkled red blanket heightened the range of colors in their fur and even the neutral wood floor held random combinations in its old unfinished grain. Mostly, the composition was what attracted me in the first place: two similar heavy rounded shapes, the random soft shape and the smooth shape brought elements together in a very pleasing way.

This sketch is larger than usual, 12″ wide x 8″ high, and is actually a little more than a sketch as well. I’ve called it a painting because I began with an ink drawing and ended up adding watercolor washes. It’s painted on acid-free textured 90 lb. watercolor paper, matted with 3″ warm tan black core matboard (the color exactly matches one of the warm tans in the floor) and framed in a 1″ matte black 14″ x 18″ wood frame. The backing is acid-free foam core and the glass is premium clear glass. See it here on Etsy.

Sleeping and Bathing, vine charcoal © B.E. Kazmarski

Sleeping and Bathing

This is Sleeping and Bathing, done in vine charcoal on drawing paper, signed and dated 1/10/12. Mewsette and Jelly Bean demonstrate two of the most important activities in a cat’s life.

I tried a few new/old charcoal techniques here, mainly using a kneaded eraser to remove most of the charcoal in an area—removing all of it is never possible—then sketching on top of that area to add an extra level of dimension. Mewsette’s back, side and forehead were done this way. In addition, I used the kneaded eraser create highlighted fur by shaping the eraser in a thin shape and sketching with it.

This sketch is 8″ wide x 8″ high, paper is not acid-free and may yellow. It is matted with 1-3/4″ acid-free white top mat and 1/4″ acid-free black bottom mat, and framed in a 1″ matte black 12″ x 12″ wood frame. The backing is acid-free foam core and the glass is premium clear glass. See it here on Etsy.

Other sketches available

All the sketches in this post are currently available on Etsy, though you can request any I’ve done by browsing them here in the menu by choosing “Daily Images>Daily Sketches“.

Three Cats, pencil © B.E. Kazmarski

This was the first in my postings of daily sketches of my cats, done in pencil on drawing paper entitled Three Cats, signed and dated 12/3/11 of Jelly Bean, Mewsette and Giuseppe curled together on the bed. I could picture this one as soon as I saw them, and it was all I could to to sneak soundlessly away so I didn’t wake them to get my drawing pencil and pad.

Reticulated Kitties

This is called “Reticulated Kitties“, done in pencil on drawing paper, signed and dated 12/1/11 of four of my kitties piled up on my desk while I’m trying to work. On top is Mimi, on the bottom from the left is Jelly Bean, Mewsette and Mr. Sunshine.

This is drawn in a style I learned as “reticulation” where the entire drawing is done in one line, sometimes retracing a path to get to another point, using loops to make their toes, for instance, and zig zags to create detail and texture, but never lifting the pencil from the paper until the drawing was done. I was inspired to this by the cats themselves and their seemingly endless flowing selves as they piled on each other, though I did cheat a little and do a light sketch underneath as a basis for my one big line.

Read more about Daily Sketches

Read my initial post about creating and posting my daily sketches.

See other Daily Sketches

I post my sketches here, and you can also browse them here in the menu by choosing “Daily Images>Daily Sketches“. You can find the ones available for sale by visiting my Etsy shop in Daily Sketches, Cats etc.

The Artist’s Life Series

Click here for more articles in “The Artist’s Life” series featuring my influences, inspirations, new work and new products.

________________________

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.

Sample Feline Greeting Card.

I’m so excited Penny was adopted from WPHS, and the whole story of her rescue and the people who adopted her just warms my heart.

Here's Penny.

I used to be angry with people who “dumped” pets at shelters, but you can’t generalize reasons why pets end up there nor the people who surrender them, and you do much more good helping the shelter that has taken them in. Instead of getting angry I put my energy into helping people keep their pets, helping people adopt pets and creating things that help people love animals all the more, helping shelters find good and loving permanent homes for the animals in their care.

Feline Art Cards set of 12

Please make a donation to the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society to help support what they do for other cats and dogs all year round. I’ll give you a gift if you do: Visit my Friendraiser page for WPHS and order a dozen Feline Greetings cards in honor of Penny, and $10 of every purchase will be donated to WPHS. Use the link on the Friendraiser page to go to my Etsy shop, and make sure you enter the code WPHSPENNY in the notes section when you order!

You can read about the inspiration for the cards here.

WPHS logo

About the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society

While Penny was at WPHS, they spayed her and treated her for an upper respiratory infection, and of course they fed her and supplied litter for her personal use. This is not free, and the medical care can get expensive. WPHS is an open-door shelter, charged with accepting any animal brought to their door—a little over 14,000 cats and dogs last year.

The WPHS is an “open-door” shelter helping animals in need in Pittsburgh and Allegheny county since 1874.

I prefer the term “open door” for a shelter which will take in any animal in need at any time because I know the alternative to a shelter is a drop off in a park or isolated woods or some lonely back road for a cat or dog or rabbit—I’ve rescued plenty of them. I have also seen WPHS through the years find every new and ingenious way of getting their animals out in front of the public and into a permanent home, and I know the costs of running a shelter that serves over 13,000 animals per year is huge, only accomplished with the help of donations large and small. And they are apparently wise with their money; Charity Navigator has designated the Western PA Humane Society as a Four-Star charity, its highest ranking for efficient use of donations, five years in a row!

If not WPHS, please support your local shelter in any way you can. And if you are looking for an angel kitty, there are many more kitties who have stories as well. Adopt if you can, foster if not, or donate to your local shelter in time, goods or money this coming year.

________________________

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.

I’ve had several requests about my tortie girls t-shirts lately, so I thought I’d add the ones I have back to my Etsy site. While I am low on sizes I had put them all aside until I could print more and have all sizes available. But considering I print these in oil-based ink and clean up with turpentine I usually wait until I can have the windows open or I can print outdoors, which is March at the earliest. So for now, they are either very large or very small.

As you know, I am unendingly inspired by my houseful of felines, especially my Tortie Girls. I initially designed these in 2001 because I wanted something I could print myself on a variety of things to offer inexpensively for sale and for donation; at the time high quality home printers and inexpensive digital printing were a few years in the future and all I had to offer was original art and expensive giclees.

How the designs came to be

I looked at Cookie on the kitchen floor, on her back with her toes curled, a defiant look on her face, and it happened—that moment of visualization. I could see a linoleum block print in black ink on white rice paper, hand-tinted with oranges and yellows for the patches in Cookie’s tortoiseshell fur and green for her eyes and pink for her nose. I would call the print “The Goddess” for the many women depicted with generous figures in sculpture and painting through the millennia.

With an inspiration that strong, I probably would have done it anyway. I’d worked with small linoleum block prints for years and always enjoyed the medium, but this time I decided I wanted something larger and I might actually create a series—which led to “The Roundest Eyes” depicting my other tortie, Kelly, a few months later.

Capturing all Cookie’s freckles and spots and stripes was indeed a challenge, especially when I went to actually cut them out of the surface of the linoleum block. Below, compare the reference photo and the print.

Reference photo for "The Goddess"

Cookie, "The Goddess" block print © B.E. Kazmarski

“The Goddess”
Well, everyone knows a fat cat who knows she’s beautiful, and Cookie would tell you that a woman with a round shape was once most desirable and an object of worship. That’s why I call her “The Goddess”.

From the time I first described it to someone, who chuckled at the idea of the image, I knew Cookie was a winner. And through the years she has continued to bring people and stories to my display no matter where I am—everyone knows a cat who looks like Cookie!

The Roundest Eyes, linoleum block print © B.E. Kazmarski

“The Roundest Eyes”
Sometimes when I look at Kelly the only feature I can distinguish in all those tortie markings is her extremely round eyes.

Detail of "The Roundest Eyes"

In designing the set, I didn’t have a signature photo of Kelly as I did Cookie lying on the floor, but I did know how I thought of Kelly—sitting at attention, paws and tail neatly placed, a little uncertain and with very round eyes. When I pictured her, this was what I saw.

I began with a few photos of Kelly sitting in this position—in the days before digitals so I had to wait for film to be developed—sketched it out, then filled in the details by observation. It was a real trick since Kelly never sits still for too long. And I actually wanted two different orientations so Cookie was the horizontal image and Kelly the vertical one.

The design of “The Roundest Eyes” doesn’t have a long and detailed story as does “The Goddess”, but between the two, while Cookie gets more notice and stories, Kelly sells more t-shirts and prints…we just don’t let Cookie know that.

Where to find the tees

I have all the tees available in my Etsy shop under T-shirts and Apparel.

About Block Printing

I really enjoy working in this medium and I can free myself from the traditional media and a greater realism in rendering. Linoleum block printing is a technique wherein the artist carves the surface of a piece of artist’s linoleum, leaving raised areas which will become the image. Ink is rolled onto these raised areas, then a piece of paper is pressed against the block and when it’s lifted away the ink remains, leaving the image on the paper.

The resulting work isn’t a one-time thing, but meant to be printed multiple times–and I do, on just about anything I can think of. They all start out on paper, but they’ve been printed on t-shirts and dresses and aprons and curtains, to name a few things. I nearly always add color to The Tortie Girls with watercolor or dyes since that was part of the original design, and I’ll often add color to other designs to give them extra interest. I do like the look of The Tortie Girls just in black on white paper, though, and I’ll be printing up a few of those soon. The resulting work, even though they are all printed from the same block, is a unique print, still handmade by the artist.

Because of the nature of the medium, each print is unique and ink coverage is not always perfect. Most artists consider this random activity to be part of the process of creating an individualized print, and along with the hand-painting makes a unique work of art.

The designs without color

See what you think about what these designs look like without the color added. I love the simplicity of black on white, it’s what I love about a block print. I have a few shirts without the color as well, and they look really sharp matted and framed with a rich red mat (sorry for the wrinkles in the wrap, below) and a black frame.

The Goddess, linoleum block print © B.E. Kazmarski

The Roundest Eyes, linoleum block print without color © B.E. Kazmarski

Matted and framed

The Goddess

The Roundest Eyes

Each image is 8″ x 12″, with mat and frame outside dimensions 14″ x 18″, horizontal or vertical as shown in the photo.

They are double matted with a warm cream on top and 1/4″ pumpkin orange as a liner.

The frame is 1″ wide, solid matte black; these vary as the moulding is available, but it is always wood and always has a matte black finish.

Find the girls in my Etsy shop under “Prints”.

Trzy Koty, conté crayon © B.E. Kazmarski

I’ve added three more daily sketches to my Etsy shop. The choices are based on feedback and I got quite a lot last week, so if there’s a sketch you’d like to see in my Etsy shop, please speak up!

Above is Trzy Koty, done in conte crayon on drawing paper, signed and dated 12/24/11. Cookie, Giuseppe and Mr. Sunshine watch the evening fall on Christmas Eve. Sketched in red conté for the holiday. “Trzy koty” is Polish for “three cats”. Conté is a very special drawing medium, thinking of the sketches of da Vinci and Michelangelo. Not that I’m at that level, but sometimes I feel the connection as I move the conte over the paper and see what appears.

Cookie Has a Drink, graphite pencil and colored pencil © B.E. Kazmarski

Cookie Has a Drink

This is Cookie Has a Drink, done in graphite drawing pencil and wax colored pencil on drawing paper, signed and dated 12/20/11.

Cookie has a nice long drink many times a day, and her little shape over the water bowl is so very familiar. Because she approaches the water bowl in my studio from the same angle and even holds her tail the same way, I could do this sketch in shifts, first her outline, then her dark areas, then to reinforce the fact that she is a tortoiseshell calico I added orange and yellow colored pencil to fill the color and blue in the bowl.

And I’m so glad I have readers like you to share it with; it’s one of the problems with working at home with cats, the simply roll their eyes and go back to sleep when I ask them what they think of what I’ve done.

The Little Panther

The Little Panther

This is The Little Panther, done in felt-tip ink drawing pen on drawing paper, signed and dated 12/17/11.

Mimi has a good stretch on the bathroom windowsill. She is only 6.5 pounds, just a petite little girl, compared to her children and even the tortie girls, but she is sleek and black and graceful, just like a real panther.

I love the varied line quality this pen offers. It’s one of many with a brush-style tip actually shaped like a thin round paintbrush. I tend to press too hard and wear these down so I don’t get fine lines anymore, and I’m looking forward to seeing how well these pens hold up. I have them in several brands, and an illustrator friend recommended another to me. When I’m looking for this line quality in an illustration I typically use a metal crow-quill nib in an old wooden handle, much like the ones map makers used to use, and dip it into the ink of my choice to draw. I’ve always felt I had more control that way, but for quick sketches I don’t want to mess with a bottle of ink! Often I’m standing in the middle of a room and have nowhere to put anything down so I’m holding my sketchpad and all the materials I want to have at hand. I’d be wearing the ink, and so would my house.

Grape Jelly Bean, the most popular sketch yet, needs a unique frame which I have planned, and perhaps I’ll post next week.

Other sketches available

All the sketches in this post are currently available on Etsy, though you can request any I’ve done by browsing them here in the menu by choosing “Daily Images>Daily Sketches“.

Three Cats, pencil © B.E. Kazmarski

This was the first in my postings of daily sketches of my cats, done in pencil on drawing paper entitled Three Cats, signed and dated 12/3/11 of Jelly Bean, Mewsette and Giuseppe curled together on the bed. I could picture this one as soon as I saw them, and it was all I could to to sneak soundlessly away so I didn’t wake them to get my drawing pencil and pad.

Reticulated Kitties

This is called “Reticulated Kitties“, done in pencil on drawing paper, signed and dated 12/1/11 of four of my kitties piled up on my desk while I’m trying to work. On top is Mimi, on the bottom from the left is Jelly Bean, Mewsette and Mr. Sunshine.

This is drawn in a style I learned as “reticulation” where the entire drawing is done in one line, sometimes retracing a path to get to another point, using loops to make their toes, for instance, and zig zags to create detail and texture, but never lifting the pencil from the paper until the drawing was done. I was inspired to this by the cats themselves and their seemingly endless flowing selves as they piled on each other, though I did cheat a little and do a light sketch underneath as a basis for my one big line.

Read more about Daily Sketches

Read my initial post about creating and posting my daily sketches.

See other Daily Sketches

I post my sketches here, and you can also browse them here in the menu by choosing “Daily Images>Daily Sketches“. You can find the ones available for sale by visiting my Etsy shop in Daily Sketches, Cats etc.

The Artist’s Life Series

Click here for more articles in “The Artist’s Life” series featuring my influences, inspirations, new work and new products.

________________________

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.

Solstice, pastel © B.E. Kazmarski

The above painting is indeed from the Winter Solstice about a decade ago. As the sun began to set on a zero-degree day with a foot or more of snow the light was so beautiful that I took off in my car with my camera and art supplies. At the top of the hill the gentle pink and coral tones of the sunset melded with the blue of dusk on the field of unbroken snow at the old Christmas tree farm, one of my favorite spots.

It was too cold to draw outside since I can’t wear gloves and would soon be dropping my pastels in the snow, so I positioned my car on a convenient side road and sketched this in my front seat. As it does sometimes, the sun seemed to hang in the trees just before it disappeared: solstice, “sun-stand-still”. It’s just a little thing, 6″ x 6″, one of my favorites, especially now that the place is gone to development. It became the inspiration for an exhibit I hosted in 2004, “Winter White”.

Winter

I love winter, and I don’t care who thinks I’m crazy.

I love the light, so much more of it with the leaves down from the trees and with the sun’s angle so much lower, more of it in the house and in the woods.

I love the colors, from the subtle pastels of a snowy morning to the bold jewel tones and earth tones of brambles, branches, stems and tree trunks and leaves left behind in contrast to the snow on a bright afternoon.

And I love the minimal, stark beauty of branches etched against snow and sky during a snowfall. I got out and play in it, and paint and photograph.

Winter White

Panhandle Outbound, pastel © B.E. Kazmarski

Several years ago I collected all my winter sketches and hosted an exhibit entitled “Winter White”, and my guests and I enjoyed the art so much that I set it up on my website, each painting with the information about where it came from.

These are all small sketches, none larger than 12″ x 12″, in pastel, watercolor, pencil and pen and ink nearly all done en plein air, sometimes on the trails, sometimes in my backyard, often standing on my deck or sitting in the front seat of the car when the temperature was near zero.

In many cases they are my experiments with materials and styles, preparing my own drawing surfaces and using papers I’d never used before, breaking my own boundaries of studio work to refresh my palette and visualization.

I did my best to capture the essence of winter, and you’ll even see a few winter cats in here too.

I was greatly inspired by the book for an exhibit organized and shown in New York and San Francisco in 1999 entitled “Impressionists in Winter: Effets de Neige”. You can read about it on Artnet.com, or check your local library for the book from the exhibit.

In the meantime, enjoy my views of winter! Visit Winter White.

Three Cats, pencil © B.E. Kazmarski

You’ve all seen my finished artwork, now here is a chance to see the underpinnings of that—the humble, simple sketch.

This is one of my daily sketches of my cats, done in pencil on drawing paper entitled Three Cats, signed and dated 12/3/11 of three of my kitties curled together on the bed. From the left is Jelly Bean, Mewsette and Giuseppe. I could picture this one as soon as I saw them, and it was all I could to to sneak soundlessly away so I didn’t wake them to get my drawing pencil and pad.

I endeavor to do at least a small sketch each day as a warm-up to my aesthetic senses. I’d fallen away from this for a while just in the busy-ness of every day, but I’ve been happily at it again consistently enough that I can post one nearly every day as well as my daily photos. Both of these activities give me the incentive to do more and different work, to experiment, to be inventive and “in the moment” with the subject and also with my ideas, something that’s rare in my daily tasks of commercial art. In addition, I can share it instead of finding these things years later in old sketch books.

Steinlen Cats

And I was also inspired to keep sketching cats and to share them by my copy of Steinlein Cats, a Dover large-size paperback including just pages from Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen’s sketchbooks featuring his sketches of his own cats. A few of his poster designs from before the turn of the last century are iconic, as I mentioned in a post about a photo of mine that reminded me of one of his compositions.

And rather than keep them all to myself, I’ll be selling a few of them as well. What we hang on our walls is extremely personal, but I’m a big proponent of having at least one piece of original art that was created by hand, and sketches in their simplicity offer such an intimate relationship with the artist, sharing a moment and something touched by another human. I offer the signed sketch alone for $25.00 for you to frame, and all will be fairly small and fit into a pre-made frame. I will also offer to sell it matted and also matted and framed. For examples, visit my new gallery in my Etsy shop entitled Daily Sketches, Cats etc.

And before I go on, let me explain that pencil is phenomenally difficult to photograph or scan; you may see shadings on the paper, but just the drawn lines are there. I may have to invest in a better scanner again.

Reticulated Kitties

This is called “Reticulated Kitties“, done in pencil on drawing paper, signed and dated 12/1/11 of four of my kitties piled up on my desk while I’m trying to work. On top is Mimi, on the bottom from the left is Jelly Bean, Mewsette and Mr. Sunshine.

This is drawn in a style I learned as “reticulation” where the entire drawing is done in one line, sometimes retracing a path to get to another point, using loops to make their toes, for instance, and zig zags to create detail and texture, but never lifting the pencil from the paper until the drawing was done. I was inspired to this by the cats themselves and their seemingly endless flowing selves as they piled on each other, though I did cheat a little and do a light sketch underneath as a basis for my one big line.

I had also intended to use a colored pencil, or even layers or shadings of colored pencil, but grabbed the old Ebony drawing pencil instead. That’s okay, there will be time for the other technique I’m visualizing.

I have a small pouch of art materials and a few various sized sketchbooks available in the house and out. Usually, these sketches are done in pencil, my first and favorite medium, though sometimes it’s charcoal, ink, colored pencil, ink and brush, whatever strikes my fancy at the moment, the greatest challenge to keep it quick and not get caught up in details, let the idea flow onto the paper.

Most often, the subjects are my cats because they are such willing models (if they like to eat they’d better be), though sometimes I’ll also wander afield, literally, and sketch in my yard or anywhere I go for errands.

Dinnertime!, pencil © B.E. Kazmarski

It’s Kelly, Mimi and Cookie enjoying dinner. No time for a sketch this morning, the usual time for sketches as warm-ups, but I knew I’d be gone all day, hoping I could get one later.

I knew I wanted to get this one, but also knew I’d have a limited time since they get their bowls before the young animals do and the three girls don’t waste any time once they get to it. I had my sketchbook and pencil on the sink and as soon as I set down the bowls for the kids I got right to the sketch.

This sketch is available for sale in my Etsy shop. Why this one and a few others, but not all of them? See below.

Cat At Window

This one from December 4 isn’t offered yet, partly because I’m not sure what to do with it and this is sometimes the quandary of the daily sketches. There were three cats looking out the window when I began, two left and Mewsette, who is here, moved, so I had a pile of guidelines, then went in another direction, adding in the patterned rug I have on the tabletop just as an experiment, and then also the branches outside the window. But it’s 11″ x 14″ (minus the tabbed edges on top where I pulled it from the tablet), and I just feel that’s too big. I’ve often cropped an original drawing down to the part of it I like, and in this case I like just this so it may be what I offer:

Cat at Window, cropped, pencil © B.E. Kazmarski

Every once in a while, they are meant for framing, and I’ve designed a series of notecards, notepaper and notepads using other feline daily sketches and also scenes from nature. Often I use them as illustrations for graphics projects I’m designing. I can easily create a digital file to keep if I want to use them for production, and still sell the original for someone else to enjoy.

They are all on Etsy

You can be certain I’ll be posting my sketches here with a link to the specifi art on my Etsy site, but you can also browse them here in the menu by choosing “Daily Images>Daily Sketches” or by visiting my Etsy shop in Daily Sketches, Cats etc.

________________________

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.

Library Avenue, print from an original ink sketch © B.E. Kazmarski

As I’ve watched this brilliant winter sunlight fill the day, the angled light reminds me of this ink sketch of Library Avenue in Carnegie, done about this time of year in 2007.

I carry with me a little pouch of art materials including pencils, gel pens, fountain pens, markers, charcoal and Conte crayons so I’m always ready to capture an image. As a contrast to working in pastel, I love drawing in ink because of the patterns I can make with lines to create shadows and textures, and it’s just right for capturing that beautiful stark winter sunlight on a cloudless day that shines nearly horizontally in early December, highlighting distinct edges and shadows.

This is larger than the usual 5″ x 8″ sketchbook, however, as I had started carrying a larger sketchbook when I was on my bicycle. This one was intended to be done on site, but to be honest the angle of the houses nearly defeated me. I had to start the drawing three times before I finally captured the acute angle and could start working on details. By then the sun had moved so far that shadows were very deep and I’d lost much of the fine detail in the facades of the houses. I had taken photos and ended up finishing it up at home.

“Library Avenue” is a quality digital print of an original ink sketch, image size 12″ x 16″, framed size 18″ x 24″. The print is 12″ wide x 16″ high, matted with a 2.75″ white acid-free top mat and a 1/4″ black bottom mat, framed with a 1″ wide matte black wood frame. The backing is acid-free foam core and the glass is premium clear glass.

I have this in smaller print sizes and as a notecard, but at smaller sizes even the best printing technique fills in the tightly-detailed areas.

You can find this print in my Etsy shop.

"Star of Wonder" and "Can We Get That Thing?"

For every purchase of one dozen “Star of Wonder” or “Can We Get That Thing?” holiday cards for $20, I will donate $10 to the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society so that the dogs, cats, bunnies, ferrets, birds and any other animal can have a brighter holiday season with your help!

For details, visit my Friendraising page for WPHS.

And read about the inspiration for the cards here.

I used to be hard on people who “dumped” pets at shelters, but you can’t generalize reasons why pets end up there nor the people who surrender them, so now instead of getting angry I put my energy into creating things that help people love animals all the more, helping shelters find good and loving permanent homes for the animals in their care.

WPHS logo

About the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society

The WPHS is an “open-door” shelter helping animals in need in Pittsburgh and Allegheny county since 1874.

I prefer the term “open door” for a shelter which will take in any animal in need at any time because I know the alternative to a shelter is a drop off in a park or isolated woods or some lonely back road for a cat or dog or rabbit—I’ve rescued plenty of them. I have also seen WPHS through the years find every new and ingenious way of getting their animals out in front of the public and into a permanent home, and I know the costs of running a shelter that serves over 13,000 animals per year is huge, only accomplished with the help of donations large and small. And they are apparently wise with their money; Charity Navigator has designated the Western PA Humane Society as a Four-Star charity, its highest ranking for efficient use of donations, five years in a row!

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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.

Peaches and Peonies, pastel © B.E. Kazmarski

I pledge to support senior adoption programs at shelters by making a donation from the sale of every full-size or half-size gicleé print of “Peaches and Peonies.”

I’ve told many stories about Peaches on this site so you know her story of losing her person and entering my life when she was fifteen as a foster, and that we shared a very fulfilling five years before she passed though others were afraid to adopt her for fear she’d die soon. That was not in Peaches’ plan, and not in the plan for most older pets who need homes!

For Adopt a Senior Pet Month I’m featuring this donation offer involving prints of the portrait I painted of her. She’d like the idea that she’s still helping people adopt senior pets and helping shelters help senior pets, and I like the idea that I help to spread her memory through my artwork.

I actually began this program in 2008, when I finished this painting and had it professionally reproduced to make the highest-quality gicleé prints in addition to lower-cost digital prints. The idea flourished as I worked on the painting and I couldn’t wait to get the word out—wouldn’t everyone want to adopt a senior kitty if they saw one as beautiful as my Peaches?

Read on for Peaches’ story and the details of the program.

detail of painting

About Peaches

Peaches came to my home at age 15, and despite my efforts to place her in a new home, she ended up staying with me. Most prospective adopters were concerned that Peaches was older and might not live long, but my point was that Peaches needed a home no matter what age she was. At the time this painting was done, she’d been with me three years, her petite prettiness, pleasant personality and simple friendliness providing much joy for me, and she was a big favorite of most visitors to my home. And then, she’s also the subject of not only this painting, but several other paintings and sketches as well as photographs, so in three years she provided a good bit of inspiration, not to mention wake-up duties and not-so-gentle reminders about it being dinnertime.

Peaches came to be homeless because her owner died; she was nearly euthanized because no one could figure out what to do with her, not wanting to take her to a shelter. Often, older pets come from situations like this, or where the owner has to enter the hospital or a care home, and no one can take the animal left behind. They are euthanized by the family or end up in shelters and are most often passed by, even though a “seasoned” pet usually makes the best companion.

Three years or three decades or three weeks, every adoptable animal like Peaches deserves a good and loving home. Especially now, during Adopt a Senior Pet Month, consider helping those who are most vulnerable.

detail of painting

Purchase a print and choose your senior pet adoption program

Giclée prints are printed on heavyweight acid-free archival paper using light-fast archival inks using a direct liquid printing process so fine that my prints are often indistinguishable from my originals. Each print is signed by me, the artist. I prefer this process not only because of its clarity and precision but also because I can order only one print at a time instead of ordering dozens or hundreds, and it costs the same per print no matter how many I get. For that reason, I order them from my printer as I receive orders

• Full-size, 23″ x 16″, $150.00
• Half-size, 13″ x 9″, $75.00 (see “framing” below)

You pay for the print and give me the name of the senior pet adoption program of your choice. I process your order and send a donation to the program in your name or the name of your choosing, and either ask them to send you an acknowledgement or send you one myself. I usually make the donations through PayPal since most shelters use it now, and I can send you a acknowledgement through PayPal.

detail of painting

Shipping

I can ship the smaller prints flat for $10.95, but need to ship the full-size prints rolled for economy at $15.95 since the package is slightly oversized when shipping flat. However, I can ship flat for $25.95, or a surcharge of $10.00. I’m not fond of rolled prints, but I don’t like bent ones either.

Framing

Framing is often more expensive than the art itself. Custom framing is available for an estimate; I custom frame all my own things. To save a little bit on framing, I chose 13″ x 9″ for the the smaller print so that it would fit into a pre-made 16″ x 20″ frame that comes with an 11″ x 14″ mat leaving white space around the print, which is typical in framing a high-quality print. The larger will fit into a pre-made 24″ x 30″ frame, though you may need to purchase a mat since most larger frames don’t come with a mat.

Detail of painting

Ordering

Visit the Portraits of Animals Marketplace on my website, choose “Cats” under “Original Art and Prints”, or click here to go directly to “Peaches and Peonies” in my Marketplace. In your PayPal shopping cart you’ll be able to give special instructions, and you can add that you’d like to donate through the program and give me the contact information for the shelter of your choice.

You can also visit my Etsy shop, and when you order through PayPal you’ll be able to enter instructions about your chosen donation program.