Bandit, pastel, 18” x 14”, 2004 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski
“Bandit’s dad arrived home early from vacation and decided to visit the gym. Exiting the building after his workout he saw in the parking lot two women trying to coax a small black and white cat, four to six months old, from under the front of a car with offerings of tuna. The famished kitten finished his second plate but went back up into the wheel well where he was seeking sanctuary. When they left, Bandit’s dad went around to the side of the car. Bandit came down from the engine compartment, covered in grease and oil, looked his future human companion in the eye and let the man pick him up, trembling in his hands. “He needed a friend and I gained one of my best.”
I began unintentionally collecting these stories at the very beginning of my career as an animal portrait artist, simply because the pets people chose to commission me for a portrait were often the ones with the most dramatic stories who they had worked so hard to catch and rehabilitate, creating a close bond. Through the years when I’ve shown my portraits or people have browsed through my portfolio, I’ve repeated these stories over and over and wanted some way to more broadly share the stories with others who would be just as moved as me.
Artwork and story, equally important
When I considered the idea for Great Rescues, a book featuring the portraits of the many rescued felines I’ve painted, rather than a picture book I decided on a calendar, a useful item where viewers could enjoy one portrait each month. But that left out the stories told to me by those who had rescued those cats and commissioned the portraits. I designed the entire idea of artwork and story together, equally important on one page, in a perpetual calendar day book/gift book. It’s the stories, and background information in other sections, that make the idea complete.
I chose the selection of portraits and designed each page to stand out individually as you look through the calendar. In addition, each of the stories tells of cats from shelters and cats abandoned and saved, cats found inside car engines and cats reluctantly surrendered by people who could no longer care for them, but each one has a happy ending as a cherished companion in a loving home.
The February spread of pages featuring Bandit.
Each page individually so you can open and read them at a larger size.
-
-
The left page featuring Bandit’s portrait and story.
-
-
The right page featuring each date with a blank line to fill in your plans and memories..
Documenting my artwork and the stories
I’d been a graphic designer for nearly 30 years and relished the idea of working on a project “for myself”. I had carried this idea for over ten years and the design was strong in my mind. The stories practically wrote themselves with each new commission, and I have photographed every piece of artwork I’ve done when I completed it, so I thought I had everything in hand. I pulled out old paperwork and looked up people I hadn’t spoken to in a decade or more, each one of whom unhesitatingly said “yes” when I called to ask if I could include their portrait in this idea and quickly confirmed their rescue stories.
When I looked at my first proofs, however, I was disappointed to see that some of my older photos just weren’t up to printing standards and Bandit’s portrait was among them. I called back about half of the rescue families to ask if I could visit them to rephotograph their portrait. Each of them made time in their schedules and we had wonderful reunions reminiscing about the creation of their portrait, the cats they and I had lived with when we worked together, and I was overjoyed to meet their new feline, and sometimes canine, families because most of them were still actively rescuing.
Bandit’s portrait was a gift from Bandit’s mom to his dad after Bandit had passed, but it was a joy to meet his people again and meet their two shelter kitties, Atticus and Boo.
Atticus and Boo
©2011-2025 Bernadette E. Kazmarski | All Rights Reserved.
No content may be used without WRITTEN PERMISSION from the author.
Great Rescues Calendar and Great Rescues Day Book
are published by Beauty of a Moment Publishing
Site designed by Bernadette E. Kazmarski
Like this:
Like Loading...
Great Rescues Day Book Fun Stuff
How’s this for fun?
TEN INTERESTING FACTS and there are so many more…
1. Your cat’s nose print is as unique as one of your fingerprints.
2. A cat can jump 5 to 7 times the height of its tail.
3. A group of cats is called a “clowder”, a group of kittens is called a “kindle” (but can we read on them?).
4. A cat’s eyes are always blue at birth and may not change to their final color for months.
5. An adult cat has four rows of whiskers on each side and 30 teeth.
6. Cats cannot taste sweets because of an incomplete gene.
7. People who would read this calendar are probably ailurophiles, or lovers of cats, but those who are afraid of cats are called ailurophobes and likely will not.
8. Cats can sprint at about 30 miles per hour, but aren’t meant for long-distance running.
9. Cats are capable of vocalizing about 100 different sounds, dogs about 10.
10. Coat patterns in big and small cats seem to be derived from an evolutionary response to habitat.
The “Resources” section in Great Rescues Day Book
These “Ten Interesting Facts” are included in the “Resources” section of Great Rescues Day Book.
Not just a calendar with cat artwork and stories, when I first redesigned Great Rescues I included the “Resources” section in the back with an eye to the next decade, not just the next year, useful over time to those who loved and lived with cats. That section includes information about cats, cat health, behavior and care, which I’d been writing about for at least 20 years, along with caring for my evolving family of felines and fosters with the guidance of amazing veterinarians who taught me so much.
That section is 12 pages long and most of the information is timeless. And some of it is fun, though most of it is serious and informative.
RESOURCES
Below is a table of contents for what’s in the “Resources” section
Basic Feline Wellness
Here’s a sample of what’s included in “Basic Feline Wellness”:
Really Basic Things Your Cat Needs
-
- Quality cat food with a high level of meat-based protein and fat, as few carbohydrates as possible; cats are “obligate carnivores” meaning they have to eat meat to obtain the nutrients their bodies need to grow and sustain.
- Feed your cat away from any high-traffic areas and in a separate room from the litterbox.
- Fresh, clean, cool water should be available at all times, possibly even in several places; changing once a day is best. Wash food and water bowls daily.
- Find a litter and a litterbox you and your cat can agree on. Place it away from a high-traffic area; use one litterbox per cat, plus one box. Scoop daily, wash and change litter weekly and wipe with a 1:10 bleach/water solution to kill any diseases or parasites that may be present, rinse and dry before refilling.
- Follow recommendations for veterinary care by getting your cat a wellness exam at least once a year, more often as kitten or as senior cat.
- Get to know your cat’s eating, sleeping and activity habits—cats hide illness very well and often a change in habits is the only way you know something is wrong.
- Play with your cat and take some time for affection every day. Often this is the best defense against behavior problems, besides, it’s fun.
- Keep your cat free of fleas and other parasites to maintain your cat’s health and your own.
- Spay or neuter your cat as soon as possible, 4 pounds or 4 months is a good rule to follow.
The “Basic Feline Wellness” section also has information on:
Kittens
Seniors
Here is the remainder of the table of contents:
Health Concerns
-
- When to take your cat to the veterinarian
- When to run with your cat to the emergency clinic including both physical symptoms and behavioral symptoms
When you cat needs to go to an emergency hospital.
Household Toxins and Poisonous Plants
-
- Toxic substances around the house
- Cleaning products
- Essential oils, potpourri and such
- Poisonous plants
- More information on plants with links
Life Stages of Cats and Human Equivalents
Spay and Neuter
-
- Pediatric spay and neuter
- Feline breast cancer
- My cat is already expecting
- Where to find information on low-cost spay and neuter
Strays and Ferals, TNR
Pet Loss
-
- Support groups
- Internet discussion groups
- Websites and hotlines
Just Some Fun Stuff
Organizations Referenced in the Calendar
Books
Other Ways You Can Help Cats and Other Animals
Another page in the “Resources” section.
Some fun stuff and some serious stuff so that you have information at your fingertips about what you cat needs—even in the middle of the night—and you can take the actions you need.
©2011-2025 Bernadette E. Kazmarski | All Rights Reserved.
No content may be used without WRITTEN PERMISSION from the author.
Great Rescues Calendar and Great Rescues Day Book
are published by Beauty of a Moment Publishing
Site designed by Bernadette E. Kazmarski
Like this:
Like Loading...
Two watercolor portraits of Sherman.
For this week’s rescue story I’m sharing my June portrait from Great Rescues Day Book along with a clearance, a reprint and possibly a new volume of “great rescues” at the bottom of the post.
. . . . . . .
IF YOU’LL ONLY BE ABLE to share your life with one cat, then finding a cat like Sherman is truly finding the cat of a lifetime. And their attachment was so profound they couldn’t decide on one final image of Sherman, but decided to go for two.
. . . . . . .
Sherman’s family had not lived with any cats prior to Sherman, and have adopted none since, in fact, they are allergic to cats. Yet when an animal-loving friend needed to move from Pennsylvania to Texas and wanted to place as many as possible of her cats and dogs in homes before she left (taking the “unadoptables” with her), they met Sherman and decided to take him home. He was a full-bred ruddy Abyssinian with the gregarious personality and intuitive nature of the breed and adapted immediately, managing their schedules and greeting the neighbors.
. . . . . . .
“Sherman on the Patio”, watercolor, 8″ x 8″, 1994 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski
Sherman is one of the rescued cats featured in my Great Rescues Day Book, and here is his story.
Sherman had it all planned
When their friends with four children and a house full of animals needed to move, they thought it would be best if they found homes for as many of their cats and dogs as possible rather than make them endure the long drive and resettle. They had a number of animals they considered “unadoptable” because of illness, age or temperament, and those would travel with them. They would try to find homes for as many of the others before they left, but take any who hadn’t been adopted.
“We went to visit them and we came home with a cat!” said Rose. “The last time we visited they told us they wanted us to take Sherman.”
Sherman apparently had an idea what was going on. “I didn’t really want to adopt a cat, but Sherman knew Lou would be easier to work on so he started rubbing around Lou’s legs,” Rose recalled. Then Sherman wrapped himself around Lou and wouldn’t let go. Of course she couldn’t say no, and of course she fell in love with him too.
“We were totally unprepared,” they said. “Of course we had nothing for a cat. We don’t remember what they gave us, a litterbox and some food maybe, I’m not even sure if we had a carrier.” They drove 40 miles with him sleeping in the back seat until he started wandering around the car, even trying to get under the gas pedal, but they were almost home.
Never had pets, but Sherman made up for that
Rose never had a pet of her own, though her sister had had a cat growing up, but Lou never had a dog or a cat ever in his life. What made Sherman’s owner approach these two as his adoptive family? Knowing them myself I would think it was something about their kind and gentle natures. Sherman probably knew he could easily manipulate them. It was meant to be.
Just Sherman, so you can see the details.
Sherman was eight years old then, but was so friendly and outgoing he sometimes seemed “like a puppy.” “He adapted right away,” Rose said. “It was as if he’d always been here.” He hadn’t been just manipulating Lou, though, Sherman just fell in love with Lou, and began the continuing habit of sleeping on Lou’s pillow.
This was when the allergies surfaced. Lou had always had some allergies and symptoms of asthma, but never having had a pet had no idea what the effect would be.
“The doctor said I had to get rid of the cat. I told the doctor, ‘No way, I’m not getting rid of the cat.’ The doctor said keep him out of the bedroom, I said ‘No way.’”
So Sherman always got his way. It was because they loved him so much.
They were amazed at some of his abilities. “He could read your mind, he knew how you felt and what you wanted to do,” said Rose.
Lou worked night turn, when Sherman decided Lou had slept enough he would pull Lou’s eyelids open.
“He loved everyone,” said Lou. “When we would take walks, no leash or anything, it wasn’t necessary, he would walk along with me, go up to greet people, and sometimes sit to wait for people to walk up to him,” he continued. “On a day when a lot of people were around or out in their yards the walk would take a long time, especially when there would be an open garage door and he would have to go and investigate until he was satisfied.” Of course, Lou would patiently wait on the sidewalk until Sherman was done with his investigation.
Detail of the hydrangeas on the patio.
Rose recalled that when someone came to do an energy audit of their house, after the tour they settled down at the dining room table to talk over the findings. The guy had a beard, and Sherman started grooming this guy’s beard.
“Lou has a beard, and Sherman groomed his beard too,” Rose said. “I think Sherman thought Lou was a big cat.”
And though most of the memories of Sherman involve his relationship with Lou, Rose had her time with Sherman as well. “He was very comforting because he was so soft to touch. Sherman had a silky coat, it looked soft and it was soft,” she remembered
Sherman lived to be 18, a good ten years with a very special cat.
After they lost Sherman, Lou “realized how much breathing he had been missing”, and they both decided another cat was probably not a good idea.
“We see cats and we talk about it, but he’s allergic. He’s not so allergic that he can’t visit someone with pets, some he’s more allergic to than others,” Rose explained.
Sherman is still a big influence, and they still use his name whenever possible.
Detail of leaf litter.
Sherman’s portrait set was one of the ones I needed to rephotograph in order to print the calendar. They are small, 8” x 8” each, and I had painted them in 1994 (the calendar says 1996, but I had the wrong date on my paperwork from way back then). The photos I took then were fine to trim down and add to my portfolio book, but enlarging them only lost detail and the colors were impossible to adjust. The lens I had then made focusing on something small very difficult; shortly after that I finally purchased a high-quality scanner and used that for anything small enough to fit in the scanner bed.
And even when I visited to pick up the portraits—I needed to bring them home to photograph them—the stories continued, and Lou was concerned about how long Sherman’s portraits would be away.
Creating the portraits, and why there were two
“Sherman at the Door”, watercolor, 8″ x 8″, 1994 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski
Rose and I worked together for several years in the 90s, and in addition to her day job Rose is herself a textile artist, so though we worked in different departments we would sometimes discuss local art events, like the Three Rivers Arts Festival, and what we’d seen there and were working on. Later, when I needed to learn about cold-set dyes and purchasing blank t-shirts for my Tortie Girls prints, she would also be the person to explain the different types of fabric dyes and guide me to Dharma Trading Company where I buy my blank shirts and dyes.
Remembering Lou’s relationship with Sherman, she decided a couple of years after they had lost Sherman she’d get Lou a portrait of him that he could keep forever. As we discussed Sherman’s portrait and looked at photos considering postures and settings, we initially decided on the image one of him outside on the patio since they had spent much time out there and it was simply a nice image, appealing to both of us. I was new to watercolor and couldn’t wait to start exploring the way fur worked in watercolor, though I knew it couldn’t be too detailed at that size. I was also excited about the plants, the leaf litter, even the concrete—I had painted very little besides cats to that point in any medium, especially watercolor, and I was studying the photo and planning my colors and brushes.
Yet she had mentioned more than once him sitting on the chair in front of the door, and knew that was a very special memory for Lou.
“He knew when the kids would be coming home from school, and would sit at the top of the steps (outdoors) to greet them,” both Rose and Lou agreed, “and then he’d be back in the house getting involved in whatever we were doing.” He also waited for Lou to come home from work, sitting on a chair which Rose had placed in front of the screen door.
Detail of Sherman on the chair.
Sherman at the door was a big, strong memory, but simply not as nice to look at as the one on the patio, yet the one on the patio wouldn’t serve all on its own, and I knew this from trying to choose images for portraits of my own cats.
I suggested two small portraits and she liked the idea so we didn’t have to choose one and eliminate the other, risking a regret later, and the possibilities of framing and hanging them appealed to her as well.
However, she didn’t have a photo of Sherman at the door. Well, I rarely work from one photo, and often add things that people have described to me, painted in backgrounds from photos I have, imagined what an animal looked like before the cataracts or the amputated leg, or tried to visualize an animal from the one and only photo available that shows the animal very small, blurry, and the flash washing out its face. If I have enough information, I can visualize the rest. It’s a different sort of a challenge to create a portrait from scratch.
We discussed the type of screen door and chairs they’d had, the house was pale yellow brick, and I took it from there.
Detail of the door, the grille, handle and bricks.
I thought of everything familiar about an old metal screen door, the grille, the door handle, the very bricks around the door. As much as I was excited about the foliage in the garden and my love of growing things, I also love architectural details, even simple, humble ones like the old screen door with its curling tendrils and spiral center. I put in all I had ever studied while sitting on the front or back porch of so many houses. While everyone else talked, I studied the details. And as I painted and used the natural texture of the watercolor paper to create the texture of the screen in the door, I also played around with adding—gasp—non-representational colors in the shadows to liven them up! I had read that somewhere, and seen that in some paintings I’d studied as well.
I love these little portraits. They still touch my heart, and I’m so glad that an artist friend honored me by asking for my interpretation of their beloved cat. A few years later her sister commissioned me for a portrait of another beloved cat, Herbie.
. . . . . . .
Here is Sherman’s page in Great Rescues Day Book
June in Great Rescues Day Book.
. . . . . . .
And the June quote:
You can’t help that. We’re all mad here. ~ The Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland
Read other stories in my Rescue Stories series on The Creative Cat, and other stories from Great Rescues Day Book here on Great Rescues Day Book.
I’m heading for a reprint of this book, so help me with a clearance of the remaining books.
I have a dozen books left that regularly sell for $20 including shipping, handling and taxes. I’ve cut that price in half so the clearance sales can help finance the reprint. I hope to have the reprint ready for September. This clearance is only available here, on my website dedicated to this book. You can order some at the clearance price right below.
And someday soon a new Great Rescues Day Book!
I designed and published the original calendar in 2011, including portraits of rescued cats I’d done up to that point. I have enough new portraits to be able to do at least one new volume. I don’t think I can have that ready this year, but I’m going to begin designing it, because, why not?
©2011-2025 Bernadette E. Kazmarski | All Rights Reserved.
No content may be used without WRITTEN PERMISSION from the author.
Great Rescues Calendar and Great Rescues Day Book
are published by Beauty of a Moment Publishing
Site designed by Bernadette E. Kazmarski
Like this:
Like Loading...
Great Rescues Day Book
When I first designed Great Rescues Calendar in 2011 I wanted the book to be beautiful and inspiring and useful as a calendar. I also wanted it to be useful to those who loved and lived with cats, and I maintained that section when I republished the next year as Great Rescues Day Book. Just over a decade ago clear and accurate information wasn’t always easy to find unless you knew where to look, and inaccurate or outdated information was still very present.
For that reason I decided to add an extra section to the back with information about cats, cat health, behavior and care, which I’d been writing about for at least 20 years, along with caring for my evolving family of felines and fosters with the guidance of amazing veterinarians who taught me so much. Here are the first two pages of 13 pages of resources.
Feline resources pages in Great Rescues Day Book.
Today information is constantly updated
But some sections have needed updates to the point they would have to be completely reworked because of the huge number of feline health and behavior studies, some begun as long as 25 years ago, completed in the last decade. That’s a good thing! I’ve been writing on them over on The Creative Cat and for the publications and websites who’ve published my articles—as well as putting the information into practice in my family of felines and in practicing TNR and helping others with cats. The studies given us results to use now, many are ongoing considering cats are living longer and longer.
I loved putting my “Feline Lifestages and Age Equivalents” chart together with my pencil sketch of Stanley who lived to be 25, and the section on the importance of spay and neuter and the practice of TNR because much of it was completely new to most people I talked to, and readers thanked me for it.
“Lifestages of Cats and Human Equivalents”
AND it’s everywhere!
Not only do we have that information, it’s actually highly accessible because the universities who have conducted the studies have websites devoted to the information, veterinary universities offer the information on their websites whether they did the studies or not, and organizations devoted to individual feline welfare issues or all of them have websites and outreach to be sure to reach everyone with cats, and our veterinarians have posters in their offices and brochures to give to us for topics that we need to know. You almost have to work hard to avoid it in order not to find it!
But now that information is constantly updated in trusted online resources as conditions and studies and practices change I want those who purchase Great Rescues Day Book, which is usable in perpetuity, to be able to use all of it for many years, and there’s no way I can predict the future for what we might need to know a decade from now.
Some changes with the next reprint…
So with the next reprint this year I’m going to edit that section to just the timeless informaton, and add something more. For one thing, readers have always enjoyed using the “22 Cats Note Paper” so I’ll be adding a few more pages of it.
“22 Cats” Notepaper
…and a clearance of the remaining books…
I have a dozen books left that regularly sell for $20 including shipping, handling and taxes. I’m going to cut that price in half so the clearance sales can help finance the reprint. I hope to have the reprint ready for September. This clearance is only available here, on my website dedicated to this book. You can order some at the clearance price right below.
And someday soon a new Great Rescues Day Book!
I designed and published the original calendar in 2011, including portraits of rescued cats I’d done up to that point. I have enough new portraits to be able to do at least one new volume. I don’t think I can have that ready this year, but I’m going to begin designing it, because, why not?
©2011-2025 Bernadette E. Kazmarski | All Rights Reserved.
No content may be used without WRITTEN PERMISSION from the author.
Great Rescues Calendar and Great Rescues Day Book
are published by Beauty of a Moment Publishing
Site designed by Bernadette E. Kazmarski
Like this:
Like Loading...
