Monday, March 18, 2024
animal artworkcat artworkcat paintingcookiekellymosesmy household of felinesnamiroil pasteloriginal artworkpastelpastel paintingstanley

Winter Cats

pastel painting of cat on bed
“Sunday Morning”, pastel on canson paper, 19″ x 26″, 1989 © B.E. Kazmarski

A Formerly Feral Kitty Finds Her Place: Sunday Morning

Moses made it back upstairs after breakfast before I had a chance to make the bed, and I didn’t have the heart to move her. So I got a sheet of drawing paper and my pastels and did a quick sketch of the scene, finishing it later from a photograph.

It was a pleasure to work in a looser style and just to catch the mood and all that wonderful winter light filling the ruffled batiste curtains through the east and south facing windows, sweet Moses being bold out in the open on the bed.

Look at the date: 1989, very early on in my career. I knew of one kind of pastel drawing paper and had cheap pastels and colored chalk, not sure whether I should make the investment in “real” pastels, and I had my cats. I guess that was all I needed. Now, years later, it’s a marvel to look at what I did with so little experience—if I did this as a daily sketch today I’d be glowing with pride and thrilled to share it. I also have this memory of a house I moved from long ago, and a happy scene with gentle little Moses that conveys more than the photograph ever could. Though no one but me would recognize her, I know this signifies a new confidence Moses had grown to feel that year, two years after she’d come to me, and that would grow slowly, slowly over the next 17 years.

Moses watches over my easel in the corner of my studio, and I continue to draw inspiration from her, the moment and the style with all the work I do.

I love snow light, inside or out, and with the bare trees and recent snowfall I’m reminded of other snowy Sundays and the cats who enjoyed them with me. Today I’m featuring five paintings of my cats done in winter light, each rescued from a life outdoors in the cold, ice and snow, and glad I could provide a loving home from where they could simply enjoy a snowy Sunday morning from the inside. At the end I have information about where you can find each of these images.


My Little Sunflower: The Little Sunflower

pastel painting of cat looking out door
“The Little Sunflower”, pastel on velour paper, 11″ x 16″, 1997 © B.E. Kazmarski

Real sun worshippers, all of my cats wait for the sun to enter the house in the morning and take their appointed spots. The brilliance of that first light and its reflections around the room, plus the contrast of all the exaggerated straight-line shapes with the organic shape of little Cookie and her shadow inspired this one.

This is the same kitchen door and floor from photos today, and while I painted this one in 1997, Cookie began the process of this sunbath back in her second year here, after I’d replaced the awful doors I had with the full-view storm door and 15-lite wooden door so we could all look out and enjoy the winter sunshine. One morning very early on when I looked at her with her nose raised to the sun I visualized the painting and immediately named it “The Little Sunflower”, even before I had painted a stroke, and thereafter called Cookie “my little sunflower”. You’ve seen her in the sun at this back door, and you’ve also seen me call her this and probably had no idea why, but it began with the inspiration for this painting and so aptly described her personality that I called her that all her life, and still do.

This one I painted entirely from a photo I’d taken, not having the opportunity to capture Cookie in her natural state but wanting to capture the moment nonetheless. I used a drawing paper entirely new to me at the time, a velour finish, heavy paper covered with a flocked surface like velvet that held the pastel, could build up layers and layers of color and achieve a blend and soft edge as you’d expect on such a soft surface, yet also capture detail, though not extremely fine detail. Though the shadows are hard shadows with direct winter sunlight, there is also much reflection within the shadows and dark areas and this paper carried that as well as I had wanted. This image is scanned from a photo I took of the painting before I framed it, and one of these days I’ll have to get to taking this painting out of its frame and either scanning or photographing it for a better image, and at that time I’ll have closeups and write more about the actual painting of it.

This painting of Cookie hangs at the foot of my stairs where I look at her every time I go up or down.


Little Kelly: Winter Window

pastel painting of cat looking out window
Winter Window, pastel, 8″ x 8″, 2002 © B.E. Kazmarski

Kelly pauses in the stark pastel light of a winter afternoon through the big north window in my studio, absolutely still in contemplation as she watches birds flit about at the feeders or Buddy the squirrel making a fool of himself. Kelly is petite for an adult cat, making the window seem vast, and the light is so diffuse that nothing has a hard edge. It is a scene I remember even in the heat of summer.

“Winter Window” is an original pastel on drawing paper I prepared myself, image size 8″ x 8″ painted in 2002 right in my office while Kelly looked out the window, and as often happens capturing that moment of inspiration also catches something essential that more planned paintings don’t. Though only I would recognize this as Kelly and she is facing away I will always feel I captured something very deep about her personality and about our relationship with this simple image.

In 2002 I was casting about for a holiday card image, saw little Kelly quietly looking out the window as she often did; silently so not to startle her I grabbed my pastels and a piece of my “experimental” drawing paper and got to work, standing right in the middle of the room to quickly capture the essence of the scene I visualized in that instant: the pastel winter light different in each pane of the window, the view softened by falling snow, the muted shadows inside, the softness of the bright overcast snow light. But it was all inspired by Kelly’s particular quiet and contemplative nature, I just loved her little shape, her petite figure in the midst of that vast light, and even then I remembered her early history living outdoors with a stray/feral colony; I had always wondered, in these moments, if she thought about those experiences that had so marked her cheerful and affectionate nature with timidity. For me, this has always been a portrait of the Kelly I knew who lived in her happy world with me and her feline siblings, but with part of her still in that other life, and separate from me. Who would know that in one quick visual and a 15-minute sketch I would be able to capture all that? But as always, I’m glad I took the time, and now I have this wonderful memory.

“Winter Window” was purchased by a Creative Cat reader who knew Kelly through my articles, and understood how I might feel about letting go of this painting at just this time. Read more about her here.


A Portrait of an Old Cat: Afternoon Nap

pastel painting of cat on bed
“Afternoon Nap”, pastel on hand-finished paper, 7.5″ x 7.5″, 2004 © B.E. Kazmarski

An old cat, a gentleman,
he has found a quiet spot, upstairs in the afternoon,
and has so perfectly placed himself a little off-center
on the expanse of white bedspread,
illuminated by stark winter light through the window.
(Stanley finds all the best places.)

You know those moments where you walk upon a scene of your cats doing something that you always want to remember, whether it’s a regular habit or a one-time thing? This scene was one of Stanley’s regular habits during his last few years; every afternoon he’d head upstairs with intent and I’d find him curled in the same spot on the bed.

All of my art begins with a moment, be the subject my cats or nature or even a more abstract visual theme. It’s where I go from that moment of inspiration that differs from one work to the next. Sometimes I’ll decide on a more formal portrait, more detailed, more planned, to capture a moment. I’ll take photos and write a few notes and keep it in my files for the day when I have time to follow up, and often this is determined by how often and how clearly my original image appears in my conscious mind—sometimes a painting really wants to be done and I find myself visualizing it all the time, other times it leaves and comes back at a moment that is meaningful. But sometimes I’ll do a quick sketch and leave it at that. The image is simple, it works best small, I only want to capture the mood, and there isn’t enough essential detail to warrant a larger, more detailed piece.

With “Afternoon Nap” I decided I wanted that moment. I’d already taken a few photos of him just to preserve the moment and was considering this sort of a scene as a more formal portrait. At his age he slept pretty soundly but I still tiptoed out of the room and ran down the stairs for my stuff. I grabbed my small box of pastels and a piece of my “experimental” drawing paper, choosing a heavy drawing paper to which I’d applied marble dust mixed with gesso and just a little bit of fine fine grit pastel medium, applying it with a brush to have just a bit of texture. I got to work, standing at the foot of the bed to quickly capture the essence of the scene I visualized in that instant: all the shades of shadow and highlight in the white bedspread, the fold under the pillows and the curve of the mahogany headboard just giving enough detail to know it was a bed, and the pastel winter light full of sun and just a bit of green reflected from the ivy on the tree outside the window. Instead of drawing with the ends of the pastels I dragged them over the surface in layers to get the depth of color and shadows, Stanley himself just in simple tonal colors, the only solid detail in his white paw.

It was all over in about ten minutes, and though I’d taken the reference photo I never made any changes from that initial inspired session. In its frame, I have allowed the edges to show, mounting it on deep burgundy mat board. I still have this painting, treasure it for its memory of Stanley as he watches over my office, and use it as inspiration for other similar sketches. You can read more about this painting in “A Portrait of an Old Cat”.


A Colorful Moment, a Colorful Cat: Warm Winter Sun

oil pastel painting of cat in sun
“Warm Winter Sun”, oil pastel, 8″ x 10″, 2000 © B.E. Kazmarski

Nothing is so clarifying as brilliant early morning sun, and nothing chases away the chill of a winter morning. Here, Namir was lulled to sleep by the natural warmth and comfort. While the main body of this work is lit by direct sunlight at that beautiful, long angle, the rest of the work is lit by reflected light.

Yes, this is the header image for The Creative Cat, a favorite painting of Namir from 2000 since he was the inspiration for me to begin blogging. He was a very creative cat, fully understanding the importance of lighting and color and composition as you may have seen in other photos and images of him I’ve share here.

The long strip of sun that comes in the back door early on a winter morning and reaches all the way to the far wall is a prized napping spot after breakfast. I love my chalk pastels but at that time I was exploring the colors and paint-like qualities of oil pastels, which had, up to that time, felt like crayons to me, stiff, unblending, building up in irritating blobs. But seeing this I wanted that impasto feel of paint, and the depth of  shadow to contrast with the brilliance of this medium to capture the covers of my gardening books on the shelf and the highlights and reflections from Namir. I know I began it on paper, right there, and finished it from a photo, but I’m not sure where I ended one and began the other. I was pleased and honored that this painting won an award in the 2001 South Hills Art League’s annual juried show. Namir still looks over the corner of my office downstairs where my working easel stood for year, and which now displays new work.


Where to find this artwork

Some of the originals are still available (yes, I am ready to give them up); if you are interested in the details, please ask.

“The Little Sunflower” is a part of the collection entitled “My Cats in the Sun” available in both my Marketplace and in my Etsy shop.

Sunday Morning, Winter Window, Afternoon Nap and Warm Winter Sun are available:

Nearly all are available as a full-size print in my Marketplace. You can also request a custom product with one of these images, and keep checking my Etsy shop or sign up for my e-newsletter below to find where else I apply these images.


Inspired by felines you know! Visit Portraits of Animals on Etsy this Holiday Season.

Inspired by felines you know! Visit Portraits of Animals on Etsy!

 

 


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.

Bernadette

From health and welfare to rescue and adoption stories, advocacy and art, factual articles and fictional stories, "The Creative Cat" offers both visual and verbal education and entertainment about cats for people who love cats, pets and animals of all species.

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