My Feline- and Nature-themed Stuff at “The Outlet Barn”

Display from the other side.

So who would think a drafty old unheated honest-to-God barn from a long-time farm would be a hot spot for unique art and decorative items?

The Outlet Barn Garden and Art Center has been in business in this very same old barn for the past 20 years, with a list of loyal customers and new people stopping every day. They close on Christmas Eve and reopen on April 1, weather permitting. I’ve had a display of greeting cards and art there since 2011 when the Agway closed, but at that time I was the only artist. This year they’ve set up an area for many artists to display in this open and rustic setting, so I have a nice space with an antique entryway piece and and wall space to hang things.

Display from one side.

Because the barn is just that—an old wooden and unheated barn—I have chosen things that can be easily dusted or cleaned, or are in packaging. That makes it perfect for my handmade keepsake boxes and wall art, trivets and garden flags as well as a selection of framed and packaged prints of feline, flowers and nature photos. I’m excited to be expanding my selection of floral and landscape gift items in addition to my feline gift items. I will have a small selection of note cards and greeting cards, but because the place is open I often have difficulty with the envelopes sealing shut, even in packaging.

Gift items.

I began visiting there because the place looked like the sort of place I’d like to check out, not carefully coiffed or neatly arranged, but artfully arranged and colorful outside, and inside just crowded enough in the semi-darkness of the old barn that I could take my time to peruse without feeling overwhelmed.

Garden flags.

I ended up moving things into there because the former manager of the Agway I had been selling at was friends with Kathy, The Outlet Barn’s owner, and simply went to her and said I’d be over with my things, she’d like them and me. Life should be filled with such friends. Kathy herself is the one who artfully arranges things in a way that makes people passing on the road find it hard to resist, and is also a master with ribbon and grapevines and such and creates all the wreaths and swags sold throughout the year, often custom-making them for long-time customers. She also makes beaded jewelry for sale in the shop.

Packaged, matted and framed prints.

She also holds events with local musicians playing jazz and folk and alternative in among the gargoyles and gazing globes, or out back in one of the sample gazebos or on the deck.

Canvas prints.

And I can’t forget the enthusiastic rescued chocolate lab named Irish Malarkey, named so because his eyes were green when he was a puppy, who rides in with his human every day. He carefully checked each of my boxes for treats, in between trotting around the place with that huge destructive lab tail without overturning as much as a small terra cotta flowerpot.

Irish Malarkey.

Supporting a local small business is important from both standpoints, from buying and selling, so in addition to placing my things there on consignment, I also promote the places where my things are consigned. I’ll share notices of events, which will be of greatest interest to local friends, and also of things I find there that you might enjoy—feline-themed of course But there plenty of animal-themed things about the place, plus really cool gargoyles.

Feline-themed planting pots.

I have a love-hate relationship with retail. I love to create my artwork and even to create the derivative items from it like cards and notepads and prints, and the best way to get my artwork known is to create and sell these things, but it takes time to drive around and visit shops, introduce myself, deliver the goods and maintain a display; if I seem to have disappeared now and then, this is why—calling and driving around, following up suggestions from friends to visit and introducing myself and showing a few representative pieces of what I have for sale. The actual sales from this might break even for expenses and time, but the real benefit is in finding new customers and making new friends, and just sharing my inspirations. Finding a shop where I also have other reasons to visit just makes it better.

And there’s another constant—animals and animal rescue. One door closes and another one opens as our friends share us with their friends. It is not a loss and a gain, but simply a change.

Where to find The Outlet Barn

The Outlet Barn

The Outlet Barn Garden Center

4577 Campbells Run Rd Pittsburgh, PA 15205

outletbarn@gmail.com – Phone: 412-494-5190

If you see merchandise pictured here, whether it’s mine or not, that you are interested in, please follow the link to The Outlet Barn website or let me know. The website is not an online store for things in the shop because there’s just too much, but Kathy will be glad to give you a few details and ship something to you if purchase it with the possible exception of a concrete gargoyle.

Handmade furniture and ceramic gift items.

Below is a gallery of things in the barn, and another slideshow of other artisans’ items.

The Outlet Barn

Vintage tools.

Ceramics and wood

All sizes of terra cotta pots

Lots of ceramic planters

Feline-themed planting pots.

Wire baskets with liners

Animal ceramics.

Handmade furniture and ceramic gift items.

Welcome

Here are a few of the artisans’ displays.

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Basil inspects all the new goods.

Marketplace

Mimi scolds me for not letting the blocks dry properly.

Take a look at other new merchandise and featured artwork.

Once a week on Thursday I feature something new in my “shop”, whether that’s here on The Creative Cat, in my Etsy shop, on my main website or even at one of the bricks and mortar shops that carry my work.

Read about creating custom items

Find out more about creating custom items for your own home using the images you see here. Visit the “Ordering Custom Art” page to see samples and read bout how to order.

Find out about events and festivals where you can find me and my work.

Sign up for my e-newsletter (below), check the widget on the sidebar on my home page, or sign up to receive posts on Portraits of Animals Marketplace. I plan on plenty of events this coming summer in the Pittsburgh area.

It’s all done under the close and careful supervision of my studio cats!

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Subscribe to My E-newsletter

Subscribe to The Creative Cat e-newsletter for specials on exclusively feline-themed art and merchandise.

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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 using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check my Etsy shop to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.

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Inspired by felines you know! Visit Portraits of Animals on Etsy.

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© 2015 | www.TheCreativeCat.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski

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Interior With Cat, Framed Original Watercolor or Prints

“Interior With Cat” framed.

“Interior With Cat”, watercolor, 8″ x 12″, 2000.

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Those calendulas, which had braved a pretty hard frost, opened fully when the sun shone in the windows the next day, and that was the first inspiration for this piece. I photographed the calendula, intending to paint only them, but when I looked over the photographs in preparation for painting, I noticed the cloth, the paperwhites in the pot, the light glare on the table, and of course, the cat. It developed into a much larger work than I had wanted, but it was a real challenge to create something from a different perspective than I usually have. And since I create so many other works involving my cats, I really tried hard to keep the cat out of it, but it just wasn’t complete until I painted her in.

Read what I offer below, or find this art in my Etsy shop.

SHIPPING

Shipping within the US is included in all the prices listed. All shipping is via Priority Mail. Prints are shipped flat in a rigid envelope. Canvases are shipped in a box to fit with padding. Since this original is small it is also shipped in a box with extra padding.

ORIGINAL PAINTING

This painting is 8″ wide x 12″ high on acid-free 90 lb. watercolor paper. It is matted with 2-5/8″ acid-free white mats with black core on top, then 1/8″ red mat with white core, then 1/4″ white with black core on the bottom. The frame is a 1″ decorative solid wood frame painted white. The backing is acid-free foam core and the glass is premium clear glass. All framing is done by me in my studio.

WHEN ORDERING PRINTS
Because this painting is 8″ x 12″, ordering an 8″ x 10″ will crop a portion from the top of the image so I’ve offered full-size prints in various types for the same price.

GICLEE PRINTS

The giclees are printed on acid-free hot press art paper for a smooth matte finish using archival inks. Giclee is the highest quality print available because the technique uses a dozen or more ink ports to capture all the nuances of the original painting, including details of the texture, far more sensitive than any other printing medium. Sometimes my giclees look so much like my originals that even I have a difficult time telling them apart when they are in frames.

I don’t keep giclee prints in stock for most of my works. Usually I have giclees printed as they are ordered unless I have an exhibit where I’ll be selling a particular print so there is a wait of up to two weeks before receipt of your print to allow for time to print and ship.

DIGITAL PRINTS

Digital prints are made on acid-free matte-finish natural white 100# cover using archival digital inks. While digital prints are not the quality of a giclee in capturing every nuance and detail of color, texture and shading, I am still very pleased with the outcome and usually only I as the artist, could tell where detail and color were not as sharp as the original.

The giclees have 2″ of white around the outside edges. The 5″ x 7″ and 8″ x 10″ digital prints are centered on 8.5″ x 11″ digital cover while the 11″ x 14″ has 1″ around the edges because the digital paper is 12″ wide. All are countersigned by me.

CANVAS PRINTS

I usually have at least one of the smaller sizes of canvases on hand, but order larger ones as they are ordered here because customers often want a custom size. Smaller canvases are a 3/4″ in depth, canvases 12 x 16 and larger are 1-1/2″ in depth. I set them up so the image runs from edge to edge, then the sides are black or white or sometimes I slip in a color that coordinates with the painting. This canvas is blue on the sides.

You can find this art in my Etsy shop.

---

Subscribe to My E-newsletter

Subscribe to The Creative Cat e-newsletter for specials on exclusively feline-themed art and merchandise.

---

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 using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check my Etsy shop to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.

---

Inspired by felines you know! Visit Portraits of Animals on Etsy.

---

© 2014 | www.TheCreativeCat.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski

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The Splendor of Autumn, Original Art and Prints

	The Studio of Bernadette E. Kazmarski The Splendor of Autumn Original Art and Prints
Autumn has arrived in the angle and color of sunlight, leaves beginning to change from green to their autumn brilliance, geese flying south and my bird feeders mobbed by birds on some days, and cooler days and nights. I’m offering a special discount until the last day of autumn, December 20, 2014, on all autumn-themed artwork in my Etsy shop: 25% off anything in my Landscapes and Still Lifes Gallery. Just use the code “AUTUMN25” for your special discount.Just as I have galleries of summer and winter artwork, so do I have a gallery of autumn artwork. Just a few are featured here but you can view and read about others in my Etsy gallery. As much of autumn artwork has to do with trees doing their autumn thing, and Western Pennsylvania is largely tree covered, I’ve had a lot of material to work with through the years. Some were painted en plein air, some were studio pieces.Click on any of the images in this newsletter, top, sidebar, text area or bottom, to find out more about it. This year I’m adding a new image to my autumn gallery, “Colorful Autumn Trail”, which I featured in my exhibit on the Panhandle Trail, “Sun Shadow Ice & Snow”. I am happy to say I sold the original during the event, but I have archival-quality digital prints of this piece, and can easily have gicleé prints and canvas prints made. As a new way to present prints of my artwork. you’ll find many are gallery-wrapped canvas prints, including “Main Street at Twilight”, at the top. That’s not the only photograph in this collection, as I’m also offering the ever-popular “Market Flowers” and “Fresh Peppers”. I’m also offering several popular paintings as canvas prints: “Birches 1: Autumn Showers” and  “Birches 2: Radiance”, and “Autumn in the Valley” and “Dusk in the Woods”. Each of these is 16″ x 20″ and would make wonderful sets of two or even four. They can hang unframed, just as they are, or they can easily slip into a standard frame size with no need for glass or mat. Please ask about framing options. I’m offering a special discount until the last day of autumn, December 20, 2014, on all autumn-themed artwork in my Etsy shop: 25% off anything in my Landscapes and Still Lifes Gallery. In fact, it’s actually good for any landscape at all in my Etsy shop! Just use the code “AUTUMN25” for your special discount. . . . . . . . I also have a selection of sets of holiday cards featuring scenes from nature in photos and art: “Backyard Bird Paintings” • “Cardinals on a Snowy Day” • “Unexpected Berries” • “Winter Walks” • “Winter Beauty Paintings” Browse my full selection of Holiday Cards. . . . . . . . Thank you for browsing my artwork in this e-newsletter. If you’d like to share this with a friend, please use the “Forward to a Fried” link below and this will ensure the e-mail and its contents compose correctly when forwarded, and if you’ve received this from a friend and want to receive my studio e-newsletters on a regular basis, use the “subscription preferences” below to sign up. As always, if you are no longer interested in receiving these e-mails, use the subscription preferences below to remove your e-mail from the list. Visit my shop on Etsy  »

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Autumn in the Valley

Autumn in the Valley, pastel painting, 31″ x 27″, 2009

Autumn in the Watershed

Sloping hills blaze with autumn color at a rocky, rippled bend in Chartiers Creek, yet on the horizon deep gray-purple clouds hover; although the day was sunny I remember it being distinctly chilly with a sharpness to the breeze, especially on the water in a canoe, and winter is literally on the horizon.

For two reasons the scene was reminiscent and inspiring: first, that I rounded the bend to see this natural splendor in all its detail, brilliant color, fluttering leaves, rippling water, changing clouds, happening all on its own with no help from me or any other human (read the poem, below) ; and, second, it was an example of that “change of season” with the gray-purple clouds of winter arriving on the horizon, two seasons blending into one another. I needed to share this image, and it was so moving that the inspiration also became a poem, and the title for my third annual poetry reading and art show at Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall, Change of Season.

Detail of upper clouds.

And again, no, I couldn’t paint while paddling, and my little digital photos didn’t do the scene justice, yet other than wading down the creek and setting up an easel in the middle of the water, there was no other way of painting this. To take the scene from the tiny digital image to the full-size painting took a good bit of memory and visualization; it’s a good thing I’m very familiar with scenes like this. I don’t often work at this level of detail, especially at this size, but in order to share what I took from this moment, I found myself worker ever deeper into the minutiae of the scene so that others, viewing it, could hear the light lapping of the water, watch the clouds move, feel the warm sun on your back but the chill wind on your face, and the glory of those tree-covered hills.

Detail of that moment of change.

You really have to get into “the zone”, though, while working at that level on the painting, letting go of your space, yourself, to get back to that moment and all your perceptions from that time. I still go there when I look at the original, which was purchased and made a gift to Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall and hangs in the Reception Hall.

In the mini-ecosystem in the valley along Chartiers Creek, the color show begins a little later and the trees keep their leaves a little longer, perhaps because of the extra humidity along the water through the dry heat of late summer. The diversity of species is generally much greater in both the trees and the understory brush and grasses, which encourages a greater diversity of foliage color and shape. When the show begins, it’s absolutely breathtaking and it gets more stunning every day until a November storm rips the last of the leaves away.

Detail of reflections on the water.

This area of the creek is approximately below Rosslyn Farms, between Carnegie and Crafton. In this area, the creek’s channel was widened and dredged deeper and the banks made more sloping through the Fulton Flood Control Project, allowing all the runoff from upstream communities to flow ever faster down the valley without overflowing the banks or backing up into Carnegie, as had happened prior to the Project. Also, many of the trees were removed from the banks up to a certain level. Still, even with that modification, the channel remains beautiful and inviting in this lovely and unseen area of Chartiers Creek.

You can find a full-size giclee plus various sizes of digital prints, framed and unframed in my Etsy shop.

A Poem Inspired by the Scene

I actually wrote a poem about the scene before I did the painting, so inspiring was that particular moment.

Effortless

I paddled the canoe around the bend,
And was faced with the effortless beauty of the panorama,
The trees in all their colors, the sky with changing clouds,
The water moving and reflecting simultaneously,
All perfectly arranged,
I realized that my creations are but raindrops in a puddle,
Wisps of cloud that change and dissipate
My solitary accomplishments borne of great effort
Would never equal this one solitary scene
Or the one I would have seen the day before or the day after
Evolved on its own, no one to frame it and display it and promote it
As it quietly exists through the day.
We humans sometimes get to think everything happens because of us
But these trees and grasses and hills arrange themselves
And create great beauty effortlessly
Simply in the process of their everyday existence.
So I did a painting that can never match the original
So that I may remember my place.

Read the rest of the poetry from my annual poetry reading and art show at Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall, in 2009 entitled Change of Season.

Art On Sale

All my autumn artwork is on sale until the Winter Solstice. Read this post to find out more and how to use your discount code.

About Art of the Watershed

A series of seasonal images of the Lower Chartiers Watershed

Dusk in the Woods, pastel © B.E.Kazmarski

“I have travelled a good deal in Concord,” said Henry David Thoreau in Walden, his paradox of exploring a small town and its surroundings teaching him as much about human life and the interactions of nature as if he had traveled rare and exotic places about the globe.

I’d love to paint faraway exotic places, but in the interests of time I stay close to home for my hiking, bicycling, canoeing, walking and painting excursions, that being the valley where the Lower Chartiers Creek flows.

I’ve seen some exquisite sights on my adventures, and committed them to various media. The most moving are the ones I’ve chosen to paint large and in detail so that I might convey at least a portion of the grandeur that moved me beyond awe to action, sharing the places right around us though most people would never see them. Thus was born the series offering an image indicative of the watershed in each season.

Visit my website to see the full set of paintings included in the “Art of the Watershed” series.

Autumn in the Valley availability

You can find a full-size giclee plus various sizes of digital prints, framed and unframed in my Etsy shop.

The Splendor of Autumn, Original Art and Prints

	The Studio of Bernadette E. Kazmarski The Splendor of Autumn Original Art and Prints
Autumn has arrived in the angle and color of sunlight, leaves beginning to change from green to their autumn brilliance, geese flying south and my bird feeders mobbed by birds on some days, and cooler days and nights. I’m offering a special discount until the last day of autumn, December 20, 2014, on all autumn-themed artwork in my Etsy shop: 25% off anything in my Landscapes and Still Lifes Gallery. Just use the code “AUTUMN25” for your special discount.Just as I have galleries of summer and winter artwork, so do I have a gallery of autumn artwork. Just a few are featured here but you can view and read about others in my Etsy gallery. As much of autumn artwork has to do with trees doing their autumn thing, and Western Pennsylvania is largely tree covered, I’ve had a lot of material to work with through the years. Some were painted en plein air, some were studio pieces. Click on any of the images in this newsletter, top, sidebar, text area or bottom, to find out more about it. This year I’m adding a new image to my autumn gallery, “Colorful Autumn Trail”, which I featured in my exhibit on the Panhandle Trail, “Sun Shadow Ice & Snow”. I am happy to say I sold the original during the event, but I have archival-quality digital prints of this piece, and can easily have gicleé prints and canvas prints made. As a new way to present prints of my artwork. you’ll find many are gallery-wrapped canvas prints, including “Main Street at Twilight”, at the top. That’s not the only photograph in this collection, as I’m also offering the ever-popular “Market Flowers” and “Fresh Peppers”. I’m also offering several popular paintings as canvas prints: “Birches 1: Autumn Showers” and  “Birches 2: Radiance”, and “Autumn in the Valley” and “Dusk in the Woods”. Each of these is 16″ x 20″ and would make wonderful sets of two or even four. They can hang unframed, just as they are, or they can easily slip into a standard frame size with no need for glass or mat. Please ask about framing options. I’m offering a special discount until the last day of autumn, December 20, 2014, on all autumn-themed artwork in my Etsy shop: 25% off anything in my Landscapes and Still Lifes Gallery. Just use the code “AUTUMN25” for your special discount. . . . . . . . I also have a selection of sets of holiday cards featuring scenes from nature in photos and art: “Backyard Bird Paintings” • “Cardinals on a Snowy Day” • “Unexpected Berries” • “Winter Walks” • “Winter Beauty Paintings” Browse my full selection of Holiday Cards. . . . . . . . Thank you for browsing my artwork in this e-newsletter. If you’d like to share this with a friend, please use the “Forward to a Fried” link below and this will ensure the e-mail and its contents compose correctly when forwarded, and if you’ve received this from a friend and want to receive my studio e-newsletters on a regular basis, use the “subscription preferences” below to sign up. As always, if you are no longer interested in receiving these e-mails, use the subscription preferences below to remove your e-mail from the list. Visit my shop on Etsy  »

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“Taking Flight”, Original Pastel and Prints

“Taking Flight”, pastel on Canson pastel paper, 18.25″ wide x 12.25″ high

Many years ago I saw two captive whooping cranes, likely visiting the Pittsburgh Zoo. I marveled at their size–they were nearly as tall as me! But it was when one of them spread its wings that I was truly enchanted by the pure white body, neat brown wing tips and tiny touches of yellow highlight here and there, and the grace of that huge bird.

Detail, cranes.

And I read about them and discovered their plight, having no idea they were so imperiled. Visiting what had once been their habitat on Assateague Island, Virginia, I imagined what they might have looked like in the whispering marshes.

Detail, marsh grasses.

What would their afternoon have been like? Using my photos of those marshes and many images of whooping cranes, I painted this in pastel, trying to capture the details that had stayed with me at seeing them, but also the feeling of movement in the marshes I had visited, the waving sedges, lapping water and constant breeze from the ocean.

Detail, water, “Taking Flight”.

And those late summer colors, blue sky reflected on the water, reflected on the cranes.

This painting is 18.25″ wide x 12.25″ high using Rembrandt pastels on Canson pastel paper because, again, I wanted to use the texture of the paper to break up the image, loosen up the edges to capture that feeling of constant movement on a breezy day in a marsh, the marsh grasses waving, the water lapping, the cranes splashing through the water. Though I wanted it loose it ended up being looser than I’d intended; I was still working in a fairly detailed style then and had pictured the birds with more detail, but I reached this point and stopped, then decided this was it.

This is an original pastel painting of two whooping cranes taking off in a marsh on a summer afternoon, 18.25″ wide x 12.25″ high using Rembrandt pastels on Canson pastel paper.

ORIGINAL PAINTING

The painting is 18.5″ wide x 13″ high, matted with a 4″ warm cream acid-free mat with 1/4″ burnished gold wood fillet edging and 1-1/4″ burnished gold frame. The backing is acid-free foam core and the glass is premium clear glass. You can find the original and prints made from it in my Etsy shop.

GICLEE PRINTS

The giclees are printed on acid-free hot press art paper for a smooth matte finish using archival inks. Giclee is the highest quality print available because the technique uses a dozen or more ink ports to capture all the nuances of the original painting, including details of the texture, far more sensitive than any other printing medium. Sometimes my giclees look so much like my originals that even I have a difficult time telling them apart when they are in frames.

I don’t keep giclee prints in stock for most of my works. Usually I have giclees printed as they are ordered unless I have an exhibit where I’ll be selling a particular print so there is a wait of up to two weeks before receipt of your print to allow for time to print and ship.

I offer giclees of this painting in two different sizes: the full size of 18.25″ wide x 12.25″ and a roughly half-size of 8″ x 12″.

DIGITAL PRINTS

Digital prints are made on acid-free matte-finish natural white 100# cover using archival digital inks. While digital prints are not the quality of a giclee in capturing every nuance and detail of color, texture and shading, I am still very pleased with the outcome and usually only I, as the artist, could tell where detail and color were not as sharp as the original. Digital prints are available up to full size of 18.25″ wide x 12.25″, which is printed on 13″ x 19″ paper and so has very little white border. Other sizes have at least a 1″ white border, 2″ if possible. All are countersigned by me.

CANVAS PRINTS

Because the standard size canvas prints are not proportional to the original painting, canvas prints of this painting will have a portion cropped off of each side.

I usually have at least one of the smaller sizes of canvases on hand, but order larger ones as they are ordered here because customers often want a custom size. Smaller canvases are a 3/4″ in depth, canvases 12 x 16 and larger are 1-1/2″ in depth. While I usually I set up canvases so the image runs from edge to edge, then the sides are black or white or a color that coordinates with the painting, these canvases actually wrap around using the area of the painting outside of the trim size.

SHIPPING

Prints up to 16″ x 20″ are shipped flat in a rigid envelope.

. . . . . . .

Other Wildlife Art

You can find other wildlife artwork in my Etsy shop.

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Subscribe to My E-newsletter

Subscribe to The Creative Cat e-newsletter for specials on exclusively feline-themed art and merchandise.

---

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 using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check my Etsy shop to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.

---

© 2014 | www.TheCreativeCat.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski

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“Interior With Cat”, Framed Original or Prints

“Interior With Cat”, watercolor, 8″ x 12″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

Reference photo for painting.

This is a painting I’ve been intending to introduce here for a while, though I painted it in 2000, right about this time of year. With its cheery reds, the bright sun coming in the door and the paperwhite narcissus sprouting out of the pot in the middle of the table, it’s always dated to February for me. It was also one of the first paintings I did after I’d left my day job and began working at home, and I remember the almost guilty feeling of taking a couple of hours in the afternoon to paint, which I’d dreamed of doing for years and hoped to make a part of my daily schedule.

Those calendula, which had braved a pretty hard frost, opened fully when the sun shone in the windows the next day, and that was the first inspiration for this piece. I photographed the calendula, intending to paint only them and have a number of closeups of the flowers. But when I looked over the photographs in preparation for painting, I noticed the cloth, the paperwhites in the pot, the light glare on the table, and of course, Sophie at the door, but I really intended to keep it as just a still life. It developed into a much larger work than I had intended, but it was a fun challenge to create something from a different perspective and in a different style than I had before, visualizing a bright, simplified watercolor. I pictured an “interior”, not just a still life of objects in an arrangement but a moment in time involving more of the space, and I really tried hard to keep Sophie out of it, but it just wasn’t complete until I painted her in, hence the title, “Interior With Cat”.

Being able to begin painting as soon I had the photos developed was another joy because many works had waited years to come to fruition as I worked a day job and had freelance assignments at night.

I enjoyed painting the flowers on that cloth, in part because those flowers were actually handpainted as well. The cloth was woven linen handpainted in Poland, one of the souvenirs of traditional work my mother’s sister had brought back in her travels to find family in Ukraine and Poland; I treasure those items. Though this is brightly colored and might work better for summer, I like it for winter because those bright colors enliven short winter days.

Detail of cloth, calendula and pots.

I managed to have fresh calendula flowers as described above, and I also remember that we had a mild winter that first winter I worked at home, and the calendula was growing in a sheltered spot near my chimney and continued producing flower buds. The other flowers are paperwhite narcissus, one of many flowering bulbs I had always forced in the house in spring to put around on all the windowsills and tables—by February I was ready for blooming flowers and bright colors—and also to place outdoors in my windowboxes (a little more on that, below).

I did enjoy painting those marbles too, in fact I could have done one painting of just those marbles. I found dozens in the yard in the house I had rented, so excited at possibly finding truly vintage marbles, but they were not vintage, actually quite recent. Still, I’ve always loved having them in the bottom of a vase or a jar of plant cuttings and still use them for that today.

Detail of glass vase with marbles.

And as I’d mentioned I had not intended to have a cat in this painting. As I worked my way around, though, and looked at the composition I realized I’d have a weak, rather blank spot in the upper left because just the door wasn’t strong enough to balance the patterns, shapes and colors at the bottom. So, in keeping with the loose style of this painting, and with the fact that Sophie and the door are both blurry, I added a loose rendition of Sophie looking out the door. I couldn’t picture it without her, and I’m glad I have her immortalized in another of my paintings.

Detail of Sophie looking out the door.

I was very pleased with the looser, more decorative quality of this painting. Up to then all my watercolors had been very tight, detailed, realistic images. Of course I had set goals for my art career when I’d started working at home, and this was one of them—loosen up!

One other thing to note with this painting—paperwhite narcissus and most other plants growing from bulbs can be very toxic to cats, causing renal failure in a matter of hours. I knew about lilies at the time, but not about other bulbs, and I force-bloomed daffodils, tulips, crocuses, hyacinth, snowdrops, squills, you name it. I know my cats had chewed on them through the years because they chewed on everything, and I never noticed any issues. A couple of years after this, however, I suddenly lost my dilute tortie Nikka in February to acute renal failure and I will always wonder if this was what caused it and I removed all of these materials from my home. If I force blooms for display now, it is done outside, in my cold frame, and they stay outside too.

I hope you enjoy your February image!

Original, prints, cards and merchandise

“Interior With Cat” framed.

“Interior with Cat” is available in my Etsy shop and the original is still available. I used two elements in the mat and frame that I liked in the cloth pattern: the red outline around the outside, and the outlines on the fruit, which were actually a deep olive green but I used black core mats for the outline effect, and finished it with a narrow white painted wood frame. Click here to see the framed original on Etsy.

I also have it available as a full-size 8 x 12 print or an 8 x 10 print that will fit in a premade frame by trimming a bit off the top of the image in a digital print, a giclee print and a canvas print. Visit this product in my Etsy shop to see all the possibilities.

“Interior With Cat” is also one of the images included in my  Feline Greetings Art Cards as a 5 x 7 image.

GICLEE PRINTS

The giclees are printed on acid-free hot press art paper for a smooth matte finish using archival inks. Giclee is the highest quality print available because the technique uses a dozen or more ink ports to capture all the nuances of the original painting, including details of the texture, far more sensitive than any other printing medium. Sometimes my giclees look so much like my originals that even I have a difficult time telling them apart when they are in frames.

I don’t keep giclee prints in stock for most of my works. Usually I have giclees printed as they are ordered unless I have an exhibit where I’ll be selling a particular print so there is a wait of up to two weeks before receipt of your print to allow for time to print and ship.

DIGITAL PRINTS

Digital prints are made on acid-free matte-finish natural white 100# cover using archival digital inks. While digital prints are not the quality of a giclee in capturing every nuance and detail of color, texture and shading, I am still very pleased with the outcome and usually only I as the artist, could tell where detail and color were not as sharp as the original.

The giclees have 2″ of white around the outside edges. The 5″ x 7″ and 8″ x 10″ digital prints are centered on 8.5″ x 11″ digital cover while the 11″ x 14″ has 1″ around the edges because the digital paper is 12″ wide. All are countersigned by me.

CANVAS PRINTS

I usually have at least one of the smaller sizes of canvases on hand, but order larger ones as they are ordered here because customers often want a custom size. Smaller canvases are a 3/4″ in depth, Canvases 12 x 16 and larger are 1-1/2″ in depth. I set them up so the image runs from edge to edge, then the sides are black or white or sometimes I slip in a color that coordinates with the painting. This canvas is white on the sides.

And I will soon have keepsake boxes and wall-mounted art in this design.

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Find out about events and festivals  where you can find me and my work.

Sign up for my e-newsletter (below), check the widget on the sidebar on my home page, or sign up to receive posts on Portraits of Animals Marketplace. I plan on plenty of events this coming summer in the Pittsburgh area.

Once a week on Thursday I feature something new in my “shop”, whether that’s here on The Creative Cat, in my Etsy shop, on my main website or even at one of the bricks and mortar shops that carry my work.

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Subscribe to The Creative Cat e-newsletter for specials on exclusively feline-themed art and merchandise

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Browse some rescued cats and kittens!

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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 using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check my Etsy shop or Fine Art America profile to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.

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Inspired by felines you know! Visit Portraits of Animals on Etsy.

Inspired by felines you know! Visit Portraits of Animals on Etsy!

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© 2014 | www.TheCreativeCat.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski

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Cat With Fruit, Framed Original or Prints

“Cat With Fruit”, 5″ x 7″ oil pastel on textured paper, © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

This art is “Cat With Fruit”, 5″ x 7″ oil pastel on textured paper, © Bernadette E. Kazmarski, signed and dated 1/10/14.

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

This is what is known as a “paintbomb”, kind of like a “photobomb”. When Jelly Bean decided to join the still life I was sketching, I decided to stop the other painting and sketch Bean. I was using oil pastels, so oil pastels it was. The paper was a little small for all the detail that’s in it, but that makes me keep it pretty simple. Lots of color in an overcast winter day, and lots of color in a black cat, and that’s what counts.

SHIPPING

Shipping within the US is included in all the prices listed. All shipping is via Priority Mail. Prints are shipped flat in a rigid envelope. Canvases are shipped in a box to fit with padding. Since this original is small it is also shipped in a box with extra padding.

“Cat with Fruit”, framed

ORIGINAL PAINTING

The painting is 6.75″ wide x 4.75″ high, matted with a 2″ white acid-free mat with 1″ flat matte white frame. The backing is acid-free foam core and the glass is premium clear glass.

GICLEE PRINTS

The giclees are printed on acid-free hot press art paper for a smooth matte finish using archival inks. Giclee is the highest quality print available because the technique uses a dozen or more ink ports to capture all the nuances of the original painting, including details of the texture, far more sensitive than any other printing medium. Sometimes my giclees look so much like my originals that even I have a difficult time telling them apart when they are in frames.

I don’t keep giclee prints in stock for most of my works. Usually I have giclees printed as they are ordered unless I have an exhibit where I’ll be selling a particular print so there is a wait of up to two weeks before receipt of your print to allow for time to print and ship.

DIGITAL PRINTS

Digital prints are made on acid-free matte-finish natural white 100# cover using archival digital inks. While digital prints are not the quality of a giclee in capturing every nuance and detail of color, texture and shading, I am still very pleased with the outcome and usually only I as the artist, could tell where detail and color were not as sharp as the original.

The giclees have 2″ of white around the outside edges. The 5″ x 7″ and 8″ x 10″ digital prints are centered on 8.5″ x 11″ digital cover while the 11″ x 14″ has 1″ around the edges because the digital paper is 12″ wide. All are countersigned by me.

“Cat with Fruit” 8 x 10 canvas print

CANVAS PRINTS

I usually have at least one of the smaller sizes of canvases on hand, but order larger ones as they are ordered here because customers often want a custom size. Smaller canvases are a 3/4″ in depth, Canvases 12 x 16 and larger are 1-1/2″ in depth. I set them up so the image runs from edge to edge, then the sides are black or white or sometimes I slip in a color that coordinates with the painting. This canvas is white on the sides.

“Cat with Fruit” mousepad

MOUSEPADS

Mousepads are 8″ x 7″, always horizontal, 1/4″ black foam rubber with the image printed on a flexible fabric on top.

Stay tuned for other items with this image, like keepsake boxes, wood-mounted prints and coasters!

DAILY SKETCHES

I endeavor to do at least a small sketch each day as a warm-up to my aesthetic senses, so I have a small pouch of art materials and a few various sized sketchbooks available in the house and out. Usually, these 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, though sometimes I’ll also wander afield, literally, and sketch in my yard or anywhere I go for errands. Medium and especially style vary just so I get a chance to do something new.

Every once in a while, they are meant for framing, and I’ve designed a series of notecards, notepaper and notepads using other daily sketches (see my notecards section). Often I use them as illustrations for graphics projects I’m designing.

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Find out about events and festivals  where you can find me and my work.

Sign up for my e-newsletter (below), check the widget on the sidebar on my home page, or sign up to receive posts on Portraits of Animals Marketplace. I plan on plenty of events this coming summer in the Pittsburgh area.

Once a week on Thursday I feature something new in my “shop”, whether that’s here on The Creative Cat, in my Etsy shop, on my main website or even at one of the bricks and mortar shops that carry my work.

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Subscribe to The Creative Cat e-newsletter for specials on exclusively feline-themed art and merchandise

---

Browse some rescued cats and kittens!

---

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 using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check my Etsy shop or Fine Art America profile to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.

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Inspired by felines you know! Visit Portraits of Animals on Etsy.

Inspired by felines you know! Visit Portraits of Animals on Etsy!

---

© 2014 | www.TheCreativeCat.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski

FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN | ETSY SHOP | PINTEREST | TUMBLR | STUMBLEUPON | GOOGLE+ | EMAIL

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“Taking Flight” and the Fall Migration Festival with Wildbird Recovery

“Taking Flight”, pastel, 12.25″ x 18.25″, 2002 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

I’ll be attending the Wildbird Recovery Fall Migration Festival Sunday, September 22, 2013, and a print of the work above is my donation. If you’re local, join us—the rain promises to clear up for a lovely autumn afternoon!

Back in May I found a bird that had obviously been injured on the street in front of my house and knew it needed medical assistance. I called around and eventually took this bird to Wildbird Recovery, and promised that for their kindness and all the work they do rehabilitating wild birds I’d donate a piece of artwork when I could, and this is my chance.

This is an archival-quality full-size giclee printed on acid-free hot press art paper from an original pastel painting of two whooping cranes taking off in a marsh on a summer afternoon.

Many years ago I saw two captive whooping cranes, likely at the Pittsburgh Zoo. I marveled at their size–they were nearly as tall as me! But it was when one of them spread its wings that I was truly enchanted by the pure white body, neat brown wing tips and tiny touches of yellow highlight here and there, and the grace of that huge bird.

And I read about them and discovered their plight, having no idea they were so imperiled. Visiting what had once been their habitat on Assateague Island, Virginia, I imagined what they might have looked like in the whispering marshes.

What would their afternoon have been like? Using my photos of those marshes and many images of whooping cranes, I painted this in pastel, trying to capture the details that had stayed with me at seeing them, but also the feeling of movement in the marshes I had visited, the waving sedges, lapping water and constant breeze from the ocean.

And those summer colors, blue sky reflected on the water, reflected on the cranes.

The print image is 24″ wide x 16″ high with 1/4″ of white around the outside edges, countersigned by the me. This print is a little larger than the original painting—the printer simply printed it the wrong size. I also have an actual size giclee of this painting, as well as a quarter-size giclee.

I also have the original painting, matted and framed and ready to hang.

If you’d like to be informed about new artwork plus sales and specials before everyone else, please sign up for my Art & Merchandise e-newsletter. In September I’m planning an autumn-themed artwork sale as well as a review of an exhibit from 2008 entitled “My Home Town”, with a few originals as well as many prints still available, and a special set of notecards. “Art & Merchandise” is a separate list from my Creative Cat e-newsletter if you’re already signed up for that one.

January Featured Artwork and Desktop Calendar: Darling Clementine

“Darling Clementine”, watercolor, 12″ x 9″ © B.E. Kazmarski

January light is so beautiful, the sun still at a low angle streaming into windows and doors, the days often overcast and the brilliant warm yellow sunlight a respite, and this is what has Namir transfixed in the stream of sun that washes in the back door in winter—and probably a few birds bobbing about on the deck chasing stray bird seed.

Reference photo for “Darling Clementine”.

The reference photo for this is at left, one of many I took over the course of nearly three months of occasionally sunny mornings January through March 2007 when Namir would finish breakfast then go bathe,  sit and nap in the sun. Namir’s posture and cattitude as well as items in the box and the box itself changed each day as it does in the course of my housekeeping; the angle of the sun changes as I took photos earlier and later and from different angles. I love them all and knew, as I had known with Peaches and Peonies, that I’d do a painting from this as well as having this series of photos.

But it wasn’t until the morning of Darling Clementines, as I call it in my own shorthand, with its mix of color, glass and Namir’s intent expression that my fingers got all twitchy as they do when they want to paint, and I immediately visualized a watercolor, clear and detailed, those clean edges and translucent colors carrying what I saw, better than my pastels. I pictured my palette, my fine liner brushes, applying the Prussian blue around the letters “D” and “A”, the clementine itself already painted in place, and then Namir’s profile, his rounded nose with its gray spots, his satellite-dish ears completely facing forward, the details of eyes and fur and whiskers I studied all the time. When I start watching myself paint something that’s not even begun, I know I have no choice but to paint the thing or it will be constantly in my vision like a song that won’t go away—but in this case, not an annoying one.

Detail, just Namir.

Still, I knew another image I liked even more might come up since the lovely mornings continued, and rather than confuse the issue with starting one and seeing another I wanted to paint even more, I waited. And I also added things intentionally after that, baskets, other jars, jars of beans, my gardening clogs, you name it—even other cats, including Namir’s biggest admirer, not Kelly, but Lucy.

And as a part of our daily lives then, Stanley was still with us, 25 years old, enjoying what he could of each day until January 25 when he finally decided he was ready to transition to the next existence. We all surrounded ourselves with beauty for that month and afterward and I have a truly lovely series of photos infused with memories which I will share here through the spring, but still, “Darling Clementines” won.

I did have the opportunity to paint it fairly soon after, which is really not typical in my usual schedule but probably saved my sanity once it got a start. I gave myself a very light pencil outline of the main objects, then some of the details like the lettering, applied a few light washes of color to give myself a sense of direction. I was really looking forward to the lettering on the containers, the patterns in the wood, Namir’s ears and that lovely white area with highlight and shadow. I had a good feel for how I’d paint everything but those canning jars and figured I’d work it out when I got there. After a lot of visual study of other artists, that’s generally how I learn, just get the brush to the paper.

Detail, bread crumbs and wood.

This type of a watercolor, for me, is very time-consuming, so I planned it smaller than many of my other extremely detailed works, only 12″ wide by 9″ high. After the initial sketch and washes I plan my work sessions for at least two hours, preferably four, and try to make them at the same time each day so that I am either working with daylight or my work lights and can keep my colors consistent. I also prefer to work on consecutive days until I’m done, but even every other day is okay; it’s difficult to stay consistent when too many days go by between sessions. Each session, I choose an area or an object to work on so that I keep the colors and style consistent, working on Namir’s face, for instance, then working my way back in successive sessions.

But how do you paint glass? You see through it, so…what do you paint? It’s one of the times when you apply the lesson of “painting what you see” instead of “painting what you know”. I know what glass looks like, what it feels like and other properties of it as an object, but I had to study the glass and “see” the effect of the jars on what was behind them in order to paint what was really there. That was easy once I grew accustomed to it, but the highlights on the glass really had me confused. With pastels I paint the area with a base color then work my highlights up to their relative brightness and apply the lightest highlights as one of the last things I paint. With watercolors, you usually leave your highlights open to show the color of the paper as the lightest area, and work down from that level to the relative colors around it. Many was the time I had to stop, study, visualize and then, finally, paint what I saw. I used this lesson again the next spring when I painted the vase in “Peaches and Peonies”.

Detail, canning jars and lettering.

I have often received gifts bearing cat art and kept them all, and as I moved through learning to draw and paint I studied everything that was available commercially, from calendars to coffee mugs to accent rugs for style and composition. I still have my day book featuring paintings of Lesley Anne Ivory with her lovely furballs on highly decorative and patterned backgrounds, which worked their way into portraits such as “Tibbie” with its Oriental rug and leather-bound books. When I began framing I discovered Charles Wysocki through framing limited-edition prints of “Ethel the Gourmet” and “Frederick the Literate”. And years ago I studied the art of a feline artist Wendy Christensen whose images on Christmas cards I kept through the years to study (and still have), only to find years later that she is a fellow Cat Writers’ Association member and who I’ve since had the chance to meet. What a thrill to meet one of my idols and have her compliment me!

And we are also thrilled that “Darling Clementine” is Cat of the Month in the January 2013 Catnip Chronicles!

You can read more about Namir in “Who Was That Namir, Anyway?”

Mr. Sunshine remembers Namir.

Where to find this painting

I donated this painting to the art exhibit at the first BlogPaws conference, so the original has been sold. I offer prints of this painting as a full-size highest quality giclee, and archival digital prints both full-size and 8×10, as an 8×10 wood-mounted print and a matted and framed 5×7  in my Etsy shop. Click here to see all the options listed here in a gallery on Etsy.

You can also find “Darling Clementine” as part of my “Feline Greetings” series of cat-themed art cards.

This month’s desktop calendar

I’ve also worked this image into a desktop calendar for you to enjoy during the month of January! Reading statistics and knowing that more than half of my readers view this site on a mobile device, I also offer the dimensions for desktop images for mobile devices.

1. Click on one of the links below that matches the dimensions of your monitor to open the image in a new page.
2. Right-click on that image and on a desktop computer choose “save as desktop wallpaper” or “save as background” or whichever option your operating system gives you to be able to do this. I’m not entirely sure how this is done on a mobile device, but I’ll bet it’s not too different.

Desktop and laptop computers

2560×1440 (16:9 for large monitors)
1920×1200 (16:10 and HD monitors)
1920×1080 (16:9 monitors)
1280×1024 (4:3 monitors)

Mobile Devices

240×320 (smartphones, texting phones)
480×320 (Blackberry, HTC)
640×960 (iPhones)
600×1024 (Nook Color, Blackberry Playbook)
768×1024 (iPad)
720×1280 (Android phones)
800×1280 (Samsung Galaxy, etc.)

“Darling Clementine” January Desktop Calendar.

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Take a look at other portraits and read other stories

Read articles here on The Creative Cat featuring current and past commissioned portraits.

Read about how I create commissioned portraits.

Commissioned Cat Portraits

Commissioned Dog Portraits

Visit my website to see portraits of my cats, commissioned cats, commissioned dogs, people and a demonstration of how I put a portrait together from photos.

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If you are interested in a print of this image, check my Etsy shop to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.

Subscribe to The Creative Cat e-newsletter for specials on exclusively feline-themed art and merchandise.

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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 using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check my Etsy shop or Fine Art America profile to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.