Category Archives: pet portrait

Commissioned Portrait Trio: Lucy, Ethel and Bubba

I just finished this trio of portraits of, Bubba, Lucy and Ethel, three rescued shelter cats adopted from the Petco adoption area where their human volunteered. Read more about these fine felines on The Creative Cat: Commissioned Portrait Trio: Lucy, Ethel and Bubba

My Award, Your Win, “Allegro Moderato”

Awards were announced in the Cat Writers’ Association 2018 Communications Contest on Saturday, May 18, during the three-day conference in St. Louis. I didn’t get to go to the conference and missed not only the awards banquet but also the speakers and seminars, networking, meeting with editors and seeing all the other cat writers and […]

Commissioned Portrait Finished: Stained Glass Feline Family ~ The Creative Cat

When I finished adding all the little black outlines and stood back to get a good look at the whole painting, my heart skipped a beat. Read more about this unique custom portrait on The Creative Cat: Commissioned Portrait Finished: Stained Glass Feline Family ~ The Creative Cat

Commissioned Portrait: Pita ~ The Creative Cat

Sweet Pita, in all her photos she looked like a real character, rolling on her back, with bows on her head, but in every one is that sly expression that she knows she owns her human. Read about Pita: Commissioned Portrait: Pita ~ The Creative Cat

Commissioned Portrait: Herbie ~ The Creative Cat

Herbie was a long-lived cat and we had a few decisions to make about his appearance, but overall I think we achieved an accurate portrait of not only him, but how his people felt about him at that time in their lives. Source: Commissioned Portrait: Herbie ~ The Creative Cat

October Featured Artwork and Desktop Calendar: “Allegro Moderato”

Some paintings wait decades to be painted, and when they have their chance they press on until they are fully realized. This was one of those paintings, one that monopolized the last four days of my life. I am not complaining in the least. My orange boy Allegro came to me in 1986 and left […]

A Great Rescue and Commissioned Portrait: I’ll Be Seeing You

"Cooper", 1996, pastel, 22” x 17” © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

CAN THE SUBJECT of a painting communicate through his image? One of the dearest stories from any of my portraits is the one of Cooper, a “first cat” who turned his people into rescuers but who left far too young though he was never far from the memories of his people and the other rescued […]

Peaches and Peonies, a Celebration of Spring Flowers and Sunlight, and a Certain Calico Cat

Peaches and Peonies, pastel, 23" x 16" © 2008 Bernadette E. Kazmarski

My old-fashioned pink peonies are fervently blooming this year, since we’ve lost a tree and they finally have enough light to really show off. Those aren’t the peonies in this painting, but any time I see peonies I think of Peaches and the moment I saw her bathing on the table in that sweet spring […]

A Great Rescue and Commissioned Portrait: “Sooty”

SOMETIMES IT DOESN’T MATTER how much sentiment is attached to adopting a cat, how much people pay for a cat, or how beautiful or sweet it is, that cat is out the door when they no longer want it; sometimes, like Sooty, it is actually headed for its loving forever home and the people who […]

Keep Track of Dates and Events With “Great Rescues Day Book”

I’ve used a day book for over 20 years and have all the arrivals and, sadly, departures of each of my cats along with my friends’ weddings, my nieces’ births and the births of their children, the day I first registered my business name, all that sort of stuff, conveniently included in one place. In […]