January Featured Artwork and Desktop Calendar: “First Light”
Mimi on the bathroom windowsill, watching the birds and the branches in the first light of dawn.
I have a real softness for watching Mimi looking out on a life she used to live in inhospitable weather, on mornings frosty, icy, rainy, hot and humid when she ran the streets and fed her kittens. I’ve sketched her and written poems about her in this, and another part of it came together in this sketch.
And beyond Mimi, I also remember seeing many other rescues looking out the window at a life they once lived. It’s one of my favorite subjects for art and photography, and one of the things that makes all the time and trouble of rescuing worth it.
Here’s what I said about creating this sketch in November 2012:
This is a little more than a sketch, but I wanted to pursue the idea I saw as I finished my shower. Mimi moved around as I quickly snapped a photo, grabbed a robe, dried my hands and got my watercolor pad and brush pen from my studio right next door for the sketch I had so completely visualized.
She had moved to follow me but complied by settling back on the windowsill when I came back in the room. I quickly sketched her as I remembered her, using her details in the crouching position she had taken. She was bored with me and long gone when I finished the window. I turned my back and added the branches as I visualized, concerned if I continued looking at the real ones outside the window I’d draw them all in and I didn’t want that. I ended up waiting until evening, just a little while ago, to add the watercolor washes.
So there’s the whole story, born over a few weeks of watching Mimi on the windowsill.
And years of memories of watching other cats enjoy the morning here.
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Where to find “First Light”
You can find “First Light” in my Etsy shop as a print in various forms:
- framed original
- framed print
- canvas prints in various sizes
- giclee prints in various sizes
- digital prints in various sizes
- wood-mounted print
To find all the items available with “First Light” search “first light” in the search bar in my shop.
This month’s desktop calendar
I’ve worked this image into a desktop calendar for you to enjoy and use for the entire month. Looking at the downloads from previous months and averaging out which dimensions fit which devices, I have reduced the number of variations from 12 to four. 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
- Click on one of the images below that matches the dimensions of your monitor to open the image in a new page.
- 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.
- For mobile devices, download the image to your gallery then choose it as your wallpaper—this is slightly different on all devices.
Horizontal and HD monitors and screens
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Square monitors and screens
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Small Mobile Devices and Tablets
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Cell Phones and Smartphones
Take a look at other featured artwork and desktop calendar posts.
Each month I feature a piece of feline artwork from the archives to the present day, discuss its history and process, and set it up as a free downloadable desktop calendar for just about every electronic device available.
Click here to see daily sketches, click here to see daily photographs
click here to see other artwork featured on The Creative Cat
or visit Fine Art and Portraiture on my main website.
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.
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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.
© 2016 | www.TheCreativeCat.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski
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Weekly schedule of features:
Sunday: Essays, Pet Loss, Poetry, The Artist’s Life
Monday: Adoptable Cats, TNR & Shelters
Tuesday: Rescue Stories
Wednesday: Commissioned Portrait or Featured Artwork
Thursday: New Merchandise
Friday: Book Review, Health and Welfare, Advocacy
Saturday: Your Backyard Wildlife Habitat, Living Green With Pets, Creating With Cats
And sometimes, I just throw my hands in the air and have fun!
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This is Pawsome ! Thank you
and Happy New Year !!!
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Well, Simon was into his numbers just now :), that’s what he had to say!
And thank you from me! Happy New Year!