Animal Sympathy Cards

I simply have the observation that every time I’ve lost a cat, I’ve gained something in my life. I’ve made decisions about my career, began working in a new medium and found new friends, all around the time of a loss. And I’ve created new art.

Perhaps the trauma of the loss caused me to see things from a new perspective, or to break an old habit and begin reorganizing my life, or just gave me a new perspective on myself so my same old life felt new again. I really think it was a gift from them so I might be distracted from my grief.

It began with love

A few years out of college, at night after work, I chose to pick up a pencil and paper and put them together because I felt the need to start expressing myself in images.

Images of my cats kept appearing in my thoughts as pencil drawings and paintings and I decided to draw what I was envisioning. And while they may have looked like common garden variety cats to everyone else, I thought they were the most beautiful beings to ever walk the earth. I worked faithfully on learning my technique and sharpening my inner vision as I spent years painting my cats. Learning each new medium, technique or style has been based on a vision of one of my household residents before I moved off to another subject, flowers or landscapes, usually. With their guidance, I’ve mastered pencil, ink, chalk pastel, oil pastel, watercolor, acrylic, oil, collage, mixed media and photography.

It continued with loss

I realized with my first loss after beginning to sketch and paint the power of a portrait, and while they had started out as expressions of love, they became also expressions of remembrance, and as I lost that original family of muses that this was the greatest gift of all, giving them a sort of immortality.

Now Stanley watches over my studio in “After Dinner Nap,” Kublai forever rolls on the floor like a goof in “Are You Looking at Me?”, Fawn peeks out from under the dust ruffle waiting for me to walk by in “Waiting for Mom,” and there is also Moses and Sally and Sophie and Namir whose portraits I can smile and look at.

The animal sympathy cards

But there was one other project that had been waiting in the wings all these years, and with the loss of Namir I felt as if I had finally, somehow, come full circle and arrived at the point where I could put my grief in images and design the animal sympathy cards I had always planned to do, but kept putting off until the time was right. I think I wanted to make sure that I had enough experience and perspective so I wouldn’t design something I’d turn my back on later, thinking it was incomplete or immature. You can read more about the design of my set of sympathy cards in Perhaps the Storm is Finally Over.

Of all cats, Namir himself doesn’t appear here except for his pawprints in “I Will Always Walk With You”, based on an actual photo I took of our wet prints on my stone path not long before he died. And I wanted to make sure I memorialized Lucy, the little black kitty you see above and twice below, who I lost at 15 months to FIP, right after I had lost my four oldest friends.

I am so pleased that six veterinarians or veterinary hospitals now order their own personal mix of sympathy cards from me. Certain cards can be custom printed with a logo or custom sentiment on the inside as well. Information on wholesale ordering is at the end of this post.

---

---

While I am a fine artist, I have actually earned my living as a graphic designer for most of my career. Designing everything from letterhead to websites every day, the task of designing these cards was second nature to me. I was glad, for once, to use my commercial art skills to create something for my offering of animal art, especially since my poor neglected cats could just expire all over my desk before I took my eyes off the computer.

---

They find a comfortable spot in your heart to live in forever and ever.

---

I’ve found, to my surprise, that these cards are sometimes purchased for the loss of a human, or even a “thinking of you” card for persons who like animals—I never considered this. Using the images of my own cats for these cards, especially ones who had passed, was a little frightening; if one of the designs was not at all popular it could feel like a rejection of that kitty, who I loved so much, but this has not come to be so. I am so glad I waited until my sentiments and designs were more universal, not so personal, to create these cards. Some are more popular than others, but I have reprinted all of them so no one has been left behind.

---

I will always walk with you.

---

I intentionally chose to use photos rather than paintings for most of the designs. I like the softness and little bit of fiction I can work into a painting, but somehow I felt the realism of a photo was needed when expressing deep and sincere emotions of these cards.

---

---

Each of the cats depicted here was or is one of mine and the dog is Tika, a therapy dog whose guardian, Karen Litzinger, I’d worked with on her pet loss CD and who I’d gotten to know well enough to feel comfortable at using her photo. I live with cats and have lots of material, but more than that I am careful with the images I use, not only that they are easily recognized and representative of our animal companions, but that I know the animal well enough to use its image for this purpose. They are conveying a heavy thought, and I don’t take the relationship with my subject matter lightly.

You can read about each of the designs in my Marketplace under Animal Sympathy Cards and you can also purchase them there, individually or in sets, including your own selection of cards in a set of a half dozen or dozen. You can also find them as a set in my Etsy shop as well as the new card for Lakota, and you can read more about this card here.

. . . . . . . .

Other images used for sympathy

And in addition to the intentionally-designed sympathy cards are the blank greeting and note cards I designed portraying a special moment of one of my cats I’ll always remember. Not only do individual customers purchase these for sympathy as well as greeting cards, but the veterinarians who purchase from me do as well. Sometimes the photograph is appropriate, and the sentiment is welcome, but sometimes just the soft image of a painting is best for a message. Even sometimes the smaller card is more appropriate, and even the pencil or ink images convey the feeling you have for the animal and the human recipient.

---

Feline Greetings Feline Art Cards

I’ve made cards from over a dozen of my paintings through the years and add to the options all the time. The cards have only an image on the front and are blank inside so you can add whatever sentiment you’d like. Below are three of the most popular images used for animal sympathy, but nearly all of them have at one time been used for this.

You can read about each of these cards as well as order them individually in the Marketplace on my website under Feline Greetings Art Cards, and you can find the set in my Etsy shop.

---

My Cats in the Sun

This was my first full-color set of cards, made from those first four paintings of Stanley, Moses, Sally and Cookie that changed the course of my art career.

“Bright sunshine on anything will inspire me, especially when it’s illuminating one of my cats…and so I’d like to share that inspiration with other feline fans. These four designs are printed from my original artwork, each of them cats who’ve shared my life past and present.”

These cards are 4.5″ x 6.25″ printed in full color on matte-finish cream stock with matching cream satin envelopes. They also have only the art on the front and are blank inside. You can find these cards in my Marketplace, and also as a set in my Etsy shop.

---

Feline Sketches

I also have a set of cards made of my “original” feline pencil sketches, my experiments and more finished sketches from years ago.

These are smaller than the other cards at 4.25″ x 5.5″, printed in gray ink on cream cotton cover stock. These also feature the art on the outside and are blank inside, and convey a simple quiet message. I have a dozen designs in this set, and below are the three most often used for animal sympathy.

You can find Feline Sketches on my website.

---

Victoriana Cats

Though these photos may look antique and sepia-toned, they are neither. My cats are perfect models and knew to pose in the bright yellow morning sun in front of my round antique mirror and the narrow casement window with the lace curtain.

I have many images of cats in deep contemplation, and that quiet contemplation is one of my favorite scenes. I designed these cards, manipulating and filtering each of the photos to be consistent, to convey a sense of peace and quiet reverie.

You can find Victoriana Cats in my Etsy shop.

---

And a few other possibilities

Sophie Keeps an Eye on Things

This card was used as a sympathy card long before I had designed the first set. Forget-me-nots convey the idea of remembrance and the soft light and just the bit of Sophie’s face peeking from between the lace panels conveys a gentle thought.

You can find this card in my Marketplace or in my Etsy Shop.

---

Two Yellow Cats, without the heart

This card was designed from one of my daily sketches and just lends itself to a variety of themes. I offer it as a Valentine or a “relationship” card, but I’d also designed a card without the heart for friendship, thinking of you and sympathy.

The message inside is simply “…purrrr….purrrrr…purrrrr…” in my own handwriting in an attempt to simulate the kitty purring on my lap at the time.

You can find this card in my Etsy Shop.

---

We have each other to thank

I may have rescued my cats, but the story doesn’t end there. Animals give us so much in everyday life, but my cats have given me my career.

. . . . . . .

Ordering Information

Ordering Single Cards

Often we don’t even think to have sympathy cards ahead of time, and usually we’ll purchase them when the need arises. You can purchase individual cards from any of my shops, and I will generally mail them them out singles the same day in first-class mail, unless I receive the order too late in the day to get to the post office, in a manila envelope so it’s easy to find in your mailbox. Bear in mind that some days I’m out on errands and may not be home if you order later in the afternoon.

Custom Sets

Right now custom ordering is done by contacting me directly, but all 5″ x 7″ cards can be mixed and matched for your own custom set. If you’d like a few regular sympathy cards and a few other cards to make your dozen, you can simply list them and send me an email, I’ll return a PayPal invoice. You can choose cards from anywhere on my website or in my Etsy shop.

Wholesale for Animal Professionals

All cards are available for wholesale prices and quantities to animal professionals. Please contact me for details.

---

Take a look at other new merchandise and featured artwork.

Once a week on Thursday I feature something new in my “shop”, whether that’s here on The Creative Cat, in my Etsy shop, on my main website or even at one of the bricks and mortar shops that carry my work.

 

Read about creating custom items

Find out more about creating custom items for your own home using the images you see here. Visit the “Ordering Custom Art” page to see samples and read bout how to order.

 

It’s all done under the close and careful supervision of my studio cats!

---

 

---

Browse some rescued cats and kittens!

---

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.

---

© 2013 | www.TheCreativeCat.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski

FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN | ETSY SHOP | PINTEREST

---

HOME