Meet my lifetime family of cats through my art and gifts!
Above you see my “shop”, the display I keep set up in my office of my handmade goods, representing about one quarter of what I have on hand. I offer a large variety of original art and prints and photography, and more created nearly every day. I also offer greeting and note cards and gift items made by me incorporating those images, some of which are one of a kind, some made with upcycled materials. In addition, I have been painting custom portraits of pets for decades. I’d like to show you around to introduce you to my site.
First, a little about my inspirations
“Three Warm Cats on a Cool Ground”, pastel, 7″ x 10″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski
I have my cats to thank for being an artist. When, as an adult, I chose to pick up a pencil and paper and put them together, it was because images of my cats kept appearing in my thoughts as pencil drawings and paintings and I decided to draw what I was envisioning. While I render many other subjects now it all began with my cats and the hopeless affection I felt for each of them and all their moods and quirks and manners of affection toward me. This is the gift they gave to me, and I will be forever in their debt, spending a lifetime to pay it off by sharing them with others.
“Waiting for Mom”, pastel, 16″ x 23″, 1988 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski
Those cats were among my first rescues, beginning about 40 years ago. Growing up in an era when no one spayed or neutered their cats there was no shortage of kittens and nice cats around the neighborhood. My parents would not permit me to bring any animals home, but they did give me a cat for Christmas when I was nine years old. Later, in college, I could do as I pleased and began to take in strays, even if all I could do for them was to feed and house them and hope to find someone to adopt them. I rescued my first black cat Kublai while in college, as a tiny blue-eyed kitten who was threatened to be drowned. Through the years I learned more with each cat I rescued and rehomed, and yet more from the ones who weren’t adopted and stayed with me.
“Stripes”, pencil, 8″ x 5″, 2002 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski
These are the cats you’ll meet in my artwork. None of the cats you see here were from clip art or stock photos. They are cats I knew and loved from their rescue to their adoption or beyond, or for their lives long if they were never adopted. They gave me their gift, and I share it with you.
Galleries and Pages
In the menu you’ll find these basic product categories, each of which has a number of drop-downs under it to categorize what’s offered in that area. You’ll also find non-feline images and products.
Pet Remembrance and Sympathy Gifts
Below are a few popular items and a few new items to get you started.
Custom Commissioned Portraits
If you’re visiting from The Conscious Cat, you may recognize this portrait. It’s a painting of all five of Ingrid’s cats at the best window in the best season, when the red maple bursts into color in autumn, commissioned as a gift from a friend. You can read about it here on The Conscious Cat for what Ingrid said about it, and here on my feline-centric site, The Creative Cat for background on how I created the painting.
A portrait of your animal companion is different from a photograph; I create a composite portrait from many photos and perhaps a meeting. In doing so, I can remove a background from a scene and add another, include toys or even group animals together in a way they’d never pose. More than a few of the portraits I have created have been memorials to pets who are gone but will never be forgotten. Many have also been portraits of a friend’s or family member’s pet given as a special personalized gift.
And in the end, you have a piece of original artwork.
I made the video below as a sort of video brochure—the text is all from my brochure.
Visit this page to read more about my commissioned portraits and follow the links to my portfolio and other information.
Greeting and Note Cards
I began producing greeting and note cards with my images 30 years ago. As a graphic designer and print buyer, it’s second nature, and a great way to both distribute my art and photography and give others a way to send a message to another that they can share.
Compositions in Black and Green
Victoriana Cats, set.
I offer Feline Fine Art Cards, Animal Sympathy Cards, Feline Photos Cards, Feline-themed note cards and sets, and Feline holiday and greeting cards. I add new images to the selections all the time.
Feline-themed holiday cards from Portraits of Animals.
“Star of Wonder”, a popular design as a card and more
I had created the six-pointed star as part of an invitation I designed for a non-denominational holiday musical celebration a few years ago. It could have been that, while I worked on that design on my computer, one or more young black cats found it intensely interesting against the black background of the design and an idea was born, a universal message for the season, with cats. I found customers were using it for other reasons than holiday greetings, for sympathy and remembrance. I offer this design on:
Handmade Garden Flags
Years ago I had my garden flags printed, but now I can make them myself which allows me to offer far more designs for a lower cost. I print these on cotton muslin, and the design and the materials stand up well to weather. You can find the whole selection on my garden flags page.
Upcycled Jar Feline Votive Lamps
Votive lamps on two different jar styles.
Wildflowers and sleepy cats on sunny windowsills, holidays and memorials, I’ve designed a collection of handmade votives featuring my artwork using both new and recycled glass containers.
The idea came to me years ago to create votives with my artwork using glass jars from sauces, condiments and pickles, some handpainted, some using other means like labels or cut vinyl.
I worked my way through materials and techniques to what I use today, and all but a few designs include a battery-operated light string that has a timer feature so you can set it to come on when you want, and it will automatically turn off six hours later.
Some designs work best on purchased glass votives or vases but they are finished in the same way as the upcycled jars.
Each one is unique and I enjoy fitting the art or image to the shape and size of the jar. Visit my Votives page to see them all.
A Three Gift Book Set
Set of three gift books.
Purchase Great Rescues Day Book, Feline Style Sampler and The Creative Cat Coloring Book as a set for yourself or as a gift to a cat-loving friend.
Great Rescues Day Book, Feline Style Sampler and The Creative Cat Coloring Book are fun for your own use, and they are also great small gifts as thank yous, thinking of yous and all occasion gifts for cat lovers, for people studying art, for children to color and make notes.
The regular price for all three is $40.00. Through December 31, 2020 you can purchase the trio for only $25.00, including shipping and handling (US only, please ask for a quote for international shipping). Read more here.
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!
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Click here for the Creative Cat Preview E-newsletter, for feline and animal-specific products and information.
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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.
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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.