“Time Spent With Cats is Never Wasted”
Obviously, I’ve been busy overwhelmed with open house preparations, partly supply chain issues, partly foster cat and kitten issues, partly just coming upon the puzzling reality that I can really only be in one place at a time and only have two hands, not four or six. Oh, that I could be like Lakshmi at this time, well, for a lot more than just her four hands. I am far behind where I need to be. So before I start pummeling you with my newly-made wares, I thought I’d share an unintentional essay I shared on Instagram last weekend about how much my cats’ presence around me while I work has always been a comfort and elemental to my success.
I have to thank my cats for understanding and respecting my creative life, in fact, they are an important part of it.
In all the years and a lot of cats, including fosters, and all the things I do here all over this tiny house, decorative painting, screen printing, block printing, cutting vinyl with noisy machines, framing, sewing, making any number of other small and large gift items, laying things around to dry, setting things out to organize a project, as well as creating artwork, along with my crazy unpredictable hours, there is lots of room for disaster, but there has never been a single project ruined or ending up on the floor or any other unhappy ending.
I give them a space where they can observe me and feel part of what I’m doing but not be in the middle of what I’m making, and all is good. But they’ve also gone sauntering through things like these ornaments with wet paint, and not touched a single one. I am always careful to keep them safe.
I’ve always been aware that they enjoy being with me when I’m being creative. I go into my nonverbal visual space, I’m sure they know exactly what’s going on in my head, and they sense how happy I am with what I’m doing. I’m sure that’s how I managed to reach some of the hardest to socialize cats I fostered, communicating on that level.
Last summer I spent a whole night in my basement studio, the weather was so hot and I was using my heat press, but it cooled off overnight. We had the basement door open to let in the night air and sounds, they could watch whatever was going on in the dark back yard. I don’t know that I said very much at all through the night but all of them were there with me at one point or another, piles of them napping, or perched on high spots watching me, or prowling around. I will always remember those simple moments, while I’m creating, and my cats are with me.
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All images and text used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission, although links to your site are more than welcome and are shared. Please ask if you are interested in using and image or story in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of an image or a product including it, check my animal and nature website Portraits of Animals 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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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!
That’s one of my favorite sayings!
At 4 am and meowed out of dreamland…well, that’s not time wasted either.
At 4 am and I’m keeping my cats awake! I hope they don’t think it’s wasted time with me.