Desktop calendar, 1280 x 1024 for square and laptop monitors.

February Nature Desktop Calendar: Sparkling Gems

Sparkling Gems, pastel on Strathmore charcoal. pastel paper, 12 x 16 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

Sparkling Gems, pastel on Strathmore charcoal. pastel paper, 12 x 16 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

The reference photo for this painting was taken on a bright January day with lots of snow cover, and waited about five years to be painted. The mallards were floating on Chartiers Creek where it flows under Main Street on my walk to the bank and post office. The water is shallow there, and with the noonday sun shining right down on it with no shade from trees, the water is filled with light as well as the sky reflecting down onto the surface and light reflecting in various shapes and colors onto every little ripple. It was beautiful to look at, but darned complicated to piece together the interaction of light in the water and on the water and reflections on the surface. I was determined to keep it loose because I didn’t want to contain the movement of the water with unmoving edges.

I named it “Sparkling Gems” because the water is so sparkling and clear like aquamarine, emerald, jade, peridot, tourmaline, malachite, turquoise, while the mallards are like the deeper gems, ruby, garnet, sapphire, lapis, adventurine, agate, and all so beautiful after a few days of cold and snow.

I was participating in Leslie Saeta’s annual “30 in 30” painting challenge in January 2017. This was my painting for day 12.

Read my wrap-up of all my paintings from this painting challenge.

See all the art from this and other painting challenges on Creative Challenges.

Get a print of this photo

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The featured artwork also becomes one of the New Member Gifts for the month it’s featured as well, so if you’ve been waiting to register for an account, here’s another good reason. Your 8″ x 11″ print is made in archival inks on Epson Fine Art Paper and is matted with a pure white mat to fit an 11″ x 14″ frame, just for registering for an account.

Or purchase a print of your choice on paper or canvas

[ss_product id=’65ca841e-d9fc-11e6-a7f5-002590787d08′ ]Waterscape, “Sparkling Gems”[/ss_product]


This month’s desktop calendar

Wallpaper calendars are free to download. You’ll find them below along with instructions.

If these sizes don’t work for your device, or if you have problems, please let me know. Often I can troubleshoot the reason an image won’t download or won’t load on your device, but if I just can’t figure it out I can just email it to you and hope that works.

How to download and use your desktop calendar

  1. Click on one of the images below that matches the dimensions of your monitor to open the image in a new page.
  2. For desktop computers and laptops, 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. You may also simply save it to your hard drive and set it as your background from there.
  3. For mobile devices, press on the image to bring up a menu and choose “open in new window”. Go to that window and press until a menu appears and choose as “set as wallpaper” or “set as lock screen” or whatever you’d like—this is slightly different on all devices.

Horizontal and HD monitors and screens

Desktop calendar 2560 x 1440 for HD and wide screens.

Desktop calendar 2560 x 1440 for HD and wide screens.

. . .

Square monitors and screens

Desktop calendar, 1280 x 1024 for square and laptop monitors.

Desktop calendar, 1280 x 1024 for square and laptop monitors.

. . .

Small Mobile Devices and Tablets

Desktop calendar, 600 x 800 for iPad, Kindle and other readers.

Desktop calendar, 600 x 800 for iPad, Kindle and other readers.

. . .

Cell Phones and Smartphones

Desktop calendar, for 400 x 712 for mobile phones.

Desktop calendar, for 400 x 712 for mobile phones.


Take a look at other featured artwork and desktop calendar posts.

Each month I feature a piece of artwork or a photo from the archives to the present day, tell its story, and set it up as a free downloadable desktop calendar for just about every electronic device available.

Other items with the same art or design To find all items on this site with the same art or design, use the search box for the name of the artwork and you'll find all that's available.

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. . . . . . .

© 2022 | www.PortraitsOfAnimals.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski

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 to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms.

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