I see things others might recycle or throw away as creative possibilities. I save jars and use a fair number around the house for storage and for projects in my studio and recycle the rest. For years I’ve considered ways to make votives with my artwork just like the ones I’ve received as gifts and began saving the more interesting small jars I had for a someday project, including jars from relish and mustard, jelly and preserves, olives, jalapeños and other pickled items, salsa and other sauces, and more. Each one has its own unique quality and inspiration for me.

When summer came along and I set up my deck with all my varied votives I knew I’d found the project for those jars. I knew I wanted to both etch the glass and paint a design on it somehow, and found alcohol inks, which adhere to glass. On some jars I etched the entire outside of the jar to better diffuse the light from the candle, painted the inside of the jar with the color patterned background, then painted a figure or design on the outside. On others I etched the inside and painted my design on the outside, and on some I’ve done a combination of both.

Peaceful Nap Feline Votive

This glass votive is etched, embellished and painted by hand and patterned after one of my daily cat sketches, “Peaceful Nap”. It’s made from a repurposed jalapeño jar 3” round and 4″ tall.

On this jar I etched the entire outside of the jar to better diffuse the light from the candle, spattered the inside of the jar for the color patterned background, then painted the cat figure on the outside.

I used alcohol ink on the inside and I’ve found it can be easily wiped but not scrubbed, and I’m not sure how it would react to an actual flame. For this reason I recommend not using a real candle. I am selling these with an LED tea light so you won’t need to worry about scrubbing off wax or blackening from the candle.

Each votive comes with an LED tea light. Price includes shipping.

This votive is sold out! I will make a similar votive soon.

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

I had this sketch idea in mind for some time, but this drawing was encouraged by art exhibits I saw at several galleries. What I had in mind was just a faintly colored backdrop with a fair amount of neutral, and a small black cat in the lower right corner doing something catlike. In my visualization, the cat was bathing. Here, she is curled to sleep but alert. It is actually Mimi on my lap.

Some of the alcohol inks would not mute down to pastel so I couldn’t quite use all the colors and ended up with just blue and green.

OTHER VOTIVES

Find other votives featuring cats, butterflies, flowers, nature and wildlife in my Handmade Gifts Gallery on the page for Votives.

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.

Don’t miss any new items or opportunities!

“Follow” the Portraits of Animals blog with the link in the upper left. Sign up to receive posts in email, or in your favorite reader using the links in the right-hand column.

Sign up for e-newsletters

You can also sign up for my monthly e-newsletters to receive special discounts and find out where I’ll be with my artwork.

Click here for the Creative Cat Preview E-newsletter, for feline and animal-specific products and information.

Click here for the Art & Merchandise E-newsletter, for landscapes, nature, urban scenes and more.

For art, photos and writing as I develop it, visit my blogs.

See feline art and photos as they happen on The Creative Cat, along with feline news, health, welfare, rescue stories and more.

See daily photos as I post them on Today.

Read poetry, short stories, essays and more on Paths I Have Walked.

. . . . . . .

© 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.