Cooper, pastel, 22” x 17”, 1996 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

And the story continues…

‘Of course, these stories don’t stop with the rescues. These cats were lucky enough to live out their lives with their people, and in 2011, the year I created, designed and published Great Rescues, several were still very much with us.

I found that many of the photos I’d taken of the portraits through the years weren’t good enough for printing. Photographing artwork on film was a challenge because you never know if the photo is good until it’s been developed and printed and back in your hands, but my customers often needed their portrait before I got the photos back to check—many were gifts, especially surprise gifts, others the animal companion in question was in ill health and the caretakers wanted their portrait with them before they lost their animal companion.

I used a tripod and lots of extra lighting, but even then things could go wrong. Some photos were a little blurry and when enlarged were even blurrier, more were not accurate for colors, and some portraits were large and even if fairly sharp scanning a 4″ x 6″ print really didn’t enlarge well. I have been a graphic designer for 40 years, 25 at the time I designed this book, and I knew the standards, and also had all the professional graphic and photo software I needed to work with them and sometimes still couldn’t make the photos work.

I pulled out my old paperwork, from as much as 20 years earlier, and reconnected with these people to ask their permission to have their story in my book; I own copyright to the portrait, but they own their story. I also asked them if I could rephotograph their portrait with my DSLR where I’d have a larger lens area and I could see the image immediately. I’d be photographing through the glass and I have a technique to avoid glare on the glass, but the glass would also give the portraits a greenish cast which I could filter that out.

What a joy that was to reconnect with them, and some I’m still in touch with as friends 15 years later.

This section includes notes about the subjects and their people and what they were doing when I published the book. When I called to get their stories and visited to photograph the portrait for a newer digital image I was somehow not surprised to see a fair number of the people still rescuing cats.

I have also included notes on the design and completion of their portraits—I specialize in creating a custom piece of artwork and I love to discuss how it comes together, so those are often interesting stories as well.

I hope you enjoy reading even more about the cat subjects and the people who rescued them, and about the artwork’s creation as well.

©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

“Sooty”, 1997, pastel, 11″ x 7″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

SOMETIMES IT DOESN’T MATTER how much sentiment is attached to adopting a cat, how much people pay for a cat, or how beautiful or sweet it is, that cat is out the door when they no longer want it; sometimes, like Sooty, it is actually headed for its loving forever home and the people who will truly cherish it forever.

. . . . . . .

Sooty was a full-bred Chinchilla-point Persian but didn’t come to his forever home directly from his breeder.

Adopted by a newly-engaged couple as a wedding gift to the bride-to-be, the couple subsequently broke up and Sooty was homeless. Passed along from one unloving home to another, finally housed in a detached garage with the door left open in the hope that he would run into the street…a neighbor kept watch, talked to the family, and finally convinced them to give Sooty to her. She asked her sister-in-law to foster him.

Though her sister-in-law had no pets then, she had always had a cat and a dog growing up. When her mother passed away her father came to live with her along with his dog and cat. They lost the pets and her father passed away soon after and she vowed “no more pets.” She made it clear that she would have Sooty neutered, given all his shots and shaved because he was filthy and had such large hair balls under each limb, but he was a foster, not an adoption.

He arrived in a cage, “frightened to death” and would not come out; she and her husband left the room and pretty soon Sooty came out of his cage and disappeared. Looking everywhere, she finally found him in her father’s old room, all curled up like he belonged there. “That did it,” and he stayed.

. . . . . . .

About Sooty

Animals always know, whether it’s Oscar, the prognosticating cat in the nursing home, or a cat who walked into your home and seemed to have been acquainted with it already, where they are needed most.

I’ve known people who would have taken in Sooty, even as a foster, and rejected him for his distant personality, not understanding that he’d never had a real home, not given him the space to learn to trust. But it’s also a truly wonderful thing to know that a cat came along at just the right time for people who needed him as much as he needed them, as Sooty immediately recognized the place of loss and moved to fill it in the best way he could.

Sooty had been deeply hurt by his own experiences. It was months before he would even go upstairs to the bedrooms, let alone sleep on the bed, or even the couch; sadly it was clear he’d been taught those places were not for cats. But he never lost a drop of his natural quiet sweetness, and in time his forever family welcomed him to cuddle up next to them or sleep on their lap.

About Sooty’s portrait

Detail of portrait: Sooty’s face.

I’ve always loved the way Sooty’s portrait looked, the horizontal layout and simple composition, clear and contrasting colors. In my portfolio of portraits Sooty’s was admired by many, and when I had visualized the Great Rescues calendar and day book series over ten years ago, Sooty’s portrait was one of the first that came to mind.

When I met with the couple who owned him, we looked at a few photos, but this one of Sooty, both his posture and demeanor, was perfect and the three of us knew it, even as Sooty quietly observed our process in much the same position. He was so calm and relaxed I managed to get detail shots of his face, especially his blue-green eyes.

Sooty was in his teens when I met him in the 90s, and he’d been bred so long ago that his Persian face looks little like the Persian cats I meet today. His nose is shorter than the usual cat nose, but not as deep-set as that of modern Persians.

I love the hair between long-haired cats’ toes, but Sooty’s was exceptional—it was so long his paws looked like little dust mops and I remember us joking about it, but when I was painting the portrait I remember questioning myself even though I’d seen it right there on his paws and taken the photos. It wasn’t helped by the contrast between pale silver fur and deep charcoal gray fur that made it look as if it had been attached.

Detail of portrait: toes.

His fur itself was beautifully unique, each long guard hair ending in a short black tip which gave him the ashy sort of look that led to his name. He had wonderful eyeliner and even his nose was outlined, and most endearing of all his whiskers were black. But that field of fur along his sides and back had so much detail that I got all lost in drawing it.

The background in a portrait like this is a style I developed myself over the years for portraits where there was just a color and no particular object or surface. I base the predominant color on one that complements the subject well and is possibly a color in the subject itself; see Nick where I used the blue from his eyes. In Sooty’s case I looked around the room where the portrait would hang and at Sooty’s cool silver fur, and then at his terra cotta nose and knew that was the color. As you can see in front of him I’ve added a few “wrinkles” as if the background is a cloth, but you can see in the upper left that I’ve mimicked the entrance of a light source from the left and used an olive green shading lighter to a yellowish shade as if it’s sunlight on a wall.

Detail of background and fur.

I usually frame my portraits in custom mats and molding per my customer. To finish it off, I used white top and bottom mats that had a soft terra cotta core, and a simple wood frame with a brushed silver finish and charcoal edge that captured his fur. You can tell his portrait is still one of my favorites even 25 years later. Sooty is even included in the brochure I designed and still use today; click the link below.

Here is Sooty’s page in Great Rescues:

Great Rescues Day Book, January featured portrait and day book page.

. . . . . . .

And here is the quote for Sooty:

The problem with cats is that they get the same exact look whether they see a moth or an axe murderer. ~ Paula Poundstone

Read about other current Commissioned Portraits and Featured Artwork on The Creative Cat

I also feature artwork which has not been commissioned, especially my paintings of my own cats. If you’d like to read more about artwork as I develop it, about my current portraits and art assignments and even historic portraits and paintings, I feature commissioned portrait or other piece of artwork on Wednesday. Choose the categories featured artwork.

Take a look at other portraits and read other stories

Read articles on The Creative Cat featuring current and past commissioned portraits.

Read about how I create commissioned portraits.

Visit my website to see portraits of my cats, commissioned cats, commissioned dogs, people and a demonstration of how I put a portrait together from photos.

Download a Brochure

My brochure is an 8.5″ x 11″ two-page full-color PDF that half-folds when it’s all printed out, showing examples of portraits with an explanation of my process and basic costs.

Purchase a Gift Certificate

I offer gift certificates for portraits in any denomination beginning at $50.00, which is the basic cost of a small monochromatic portrait.

The certificate itself is 8.5″ x 11″ and features a collage of portrait images with the recipient’s and giver’s names, printed on parchment cover stock. The whole thing is packaged in a pocket folder and includes a brochure, a letter from me to the recipient and several business cards.The certificate package can be easily mailed or wrapped as a gift and shipped directly to your recipient.

I can also make it downloadable if you’re in a hurry.

Certificates are good for up to one year after issue.

You can purchase gift certificates from Portraits of Animals if you are also purchasing other animal-inspired merchandise.

I prefer to look over the work and price the portrait according to how much work will go into it, as described above, but you can either set a budget or get started by purchasing a certificate for yourself or as a gift.

Visit Portraits of Animals to purchase your certificate

©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

Great Rescues Day Book, cover and two-page spread.

It’s not a calendar for one year, it’s a calendar for all years—with months and dates but no year—so that you can keep all your birthdays and anniversaries and other events all in one book—and enjoy my portraits of rescued cats and their stories as you do.

I’ve used a day book for over 25 years and have all the arrivals and, sadly, departures of each of my cats along with my friends’ weddings, my nieces’ births and the births of their children, the day I first registered a business name, all that sort of stuff, conveniently included in one place.

If you enjoy my rescue stories and my artwork, Great Rescues Day Book includes over a year’s worth of my portraits and rescue stories. The book also includes basic information about caring for cats and interesting cat facts, background on each portrait and on my artwork, all handy in a book you can also use to keep track of annual events—birthdays, anniversaries, events with your cats and other pets, and personal memories.

It’s based on my original Great Rescues Calendar and Gift Book and features a commissioned portrait of a rescued cat or cats along with their story each month. The month isn’t dated for one year, but has all the dates in a month for you to fill in the birthdays, anniversaries, holidays and social and personal events in your life to track in perpetuity, or at least until you fill up all the spaces.

June in Great Rescues Day Book.

On the left is the featured portrait with the kitty’s story, below that the monthly quote of something feline. On the right is the month name with enough lines for all possible dates in that month, and each month is headed with a cat- or pet-related theme. The holidays that are celebrated on a certain date are marked on that date, but ones that float, especially those Monday holidays, are explained at the bottom just to remind you that they also happen in that month. If animal-themed holidays are celebrated on a certain date, like Spay Day USA, they will also be included, but just the same if they are ones that float like Pet Memorial Sunday they will be explained at the bottom. The book is 8″ x 10″ and spiral-bound on the left edge, small enough to be easily carried around, large enough to have space to record things you’d like.

In the center are two extra portraits just for your enjoyment.

Fawn, and Amaretto, Simon and Merlin’s stories.

I had long wanted to share those stories and the lovely kitties I’d painted. This book shares the stories and art, and can do that for years to come.

Great Rescues Day Book is an award winner

Although Great Rescues Day Book is a 12-month book I am still featuring all 15 portraits of rescued cats that were included in the original Great Rescues Calendar, plus the portrait of my own Fawn which I consider my first portrait, ever. All the portraits as a collection won a Certificate of Excellence and a Muse Medallion in the 2011 Cat Writers’ Association Annual Communication Contest.

©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

Christie, 2007, pastel, 14″ x 23″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

“YOU ARE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL, PRECIOUS GIRL…” to take a chance on a kitty known to have litterbox issues, well, that’s just love, something Christie likely hadn’t gotten before. She blossomed, and gave back as much as she got.

. . . . . . .

Christie was brought to a veterinarian for treatment, but her owners never returned; apparently Christie wasn’t using the litter pan and they didn’t want to take her back. The veterinarian obtained ownership and put her up for adoption, and as the news spread that a kitty needed a home the story eventually reached her adoptive people. They met the charming and quiet girl, impressed by her affectionate nature, and were willing to take a chance with the litter pan issues. Her forever family discovered that Christie needed to be told frequently, at least once each day, that she was the most beautiful and precious girl and to have her lovely long orange fur massaged or she would become visibly depressed. Apparently she is no longer wanting for praise and affection, and a neatly folded towel still warm from the dryer and carefully placed on the kitchen counter doesn’t hurt, either.

. . . . . . .

About Christie’s adoption

Apparently in Christie’s case, love was the solution, and her people apparently knew it the moment they saw her.

“We knew that was an issue when we met her,” Christie’s adopter said, “but we just liked her so much we thought we’d give her a chance.”

Scruffy and his scratching post by the door.

Living with breed Persians for many years this couple was smitten with a rescue cat, Felix, after they lost their tabby Persian, Scout. Now they find rescue cats, always adults, to fill their home, usually two at a time, and they also care for a number of outdoor cats in style. At right is Scruffy, Christie’s house mate, using the scratching post right next to the window so he can pretend he’s in the outdoors.

The idea that they would be willing to bring a cat who had known litter box issues into their rather new and elegant home, and to work with the cat until the issue was resolved by simply finding the cat’s own needs is a testament to their belief in rescue and their skill with and sensitivity to animals.

“She did have a few accidents at first,” Christie’s adopter continued. “We gave her lots of attention when she was new so she’d know we loved her and she belonged here and she’d get used to the place. After all, she’d been abandoned.” The occasional errant litterbox non-use disappeared.

Christie gets her love session.

“I just discovered that she needs to be held and petted and massaged and told every day, more than once if possible, that she is the most wonderful, beautiful, precious, lovely girl, and we love her very much,” she said as she demonstrated the process of love with Christie on her lap when I met with her for the portrait, massaging her fingers through Christie’s thick fur as Christie flexed her front toes and slowly blinked her eyes, knowing that this sort of treatment was her divine right.

Eventually, people have to go to work or away on a vacation or just out somewhere for long days, such as during the holidays. “When she doesn’t get her quota of love, she will ‘miss’ the box,” her adopter said, “so we give Christie her love every day, but we understand if she misses.” Even the pet sitter indulged Christie when they were away.

But solving Christie’s issues wasn’t the reason for lots of love, and trying to resolve her issues wasn’t a reason for adoption; rather, it was the other way around. They simply knew when they met her that they loved her and they felt Christie would love them too. Finding the solution—frequent demonstrative love sessions—was a happy by-product of how much they loved her, and she loved them.

About Christie’s portrait

Christie, detail.

I’ve done several portraits for this couple, as you can see in Felix’s article, Big Kitty Love, and Christie was the more recent. By this time I no longer needed to review with them the process of considering the scene and posture they’d like in order to remember their kitty forever on their wall. When they called me, they knew exactly what they wanted, because nearly every day, they warmed a towel in the dryer, folded it neatly and, while still warm, placed it on the counter dividing the kitchen and dining area where they frequently sat after dinner. They had taken a number of photos in preparation and I took a number of close-ups of Christie as well, and happily got to their portrait.

They lost Christie in 2013, a few years after I’d painted this portrait, but for all the years she was with them Christie was the quiet and gentle boss, only asking for as much love as she could take, and giving back as much as her humans could take.

Some people react to this portrait in an interesting way, saying she looks sad, but it’s only because she’s lying down and her expression is relaxed, her eyes aren’t as round and alert as usual—and that’s where the portrait posture is personal to the humans of the cat. Her people know she’s extremely happy and see nothing else.

~~~

They lost Christie to renal failure a couple of years ago. She was loved to the end.

Here is Christie’s page in Great Rescues:

. . . . . . .

And here is the quote for Christie:

What greater gift than the love of a cat? ~ Charles Dickens

Read about other current Commissioned Portraits and Featured Artwork

I also feature artwork which has not been commissioned, especially my paintings of my own cats. If you’d like to read more about artwork as I develop it, about my current portraits and art assignments and even historic portraits and paintings, I feature commissioned portrait or other piece of artwork on Wednesday. Choose the categories featured artwork.

Take a look at other portraits and read other stories

Read articles on The Creative Cat featuring current and past commissioned portraits.

Read about how I create commissioned portraits.

Visit my website to see portraits of my cats, commissioned cats, commissioned dogs, people and a demonstration of how I put a portrait together from photos.

Download a Brochure

My brochure is an 8.5″ x 11″ two-page full-color PDF that half-folds when it’s all printed out, showing examples of portraits with an explanation of my process and basic costs.

Purchase a Gift Certificate

I offer gift certificates for portraits in any denomination beginning at $50.00, which is the basic cost of a small monochromatic portrait.

The certificate itself is 8.5″ x 11″ and features a collage of portrait images with the recipient’s and giver’s names, printed on parchment cover stock. The whole thing is packaged in a pocket folder and includes a brochure, a letter from me to the recipient and several business cards.The certificate package can be easily mailed or wrapped as a gift and shipped directly to your recipient.

I can also make it downloadable if you’re in a hurry.

Certificates are good for up to one year after issue.

You can purchase gift certificates here or from Portraits of Animals if you are also purchasing other animal-inspired merchandise.

I prefer to look over the work and price the portrait according to how much work will go into it, as described above, but you can either set a budget or get started by purchasing a certificate for yourself or as a gift.

How to Order

• “Certificate A” is for a minimum-size 8 x 10 black and white or monochromatic portrait with one subject.
• “Certificate B” is for a minimum-size 8 x 10 color portrait with one subject.
• Choose “A” or “B” depending on whether your portrait is black and white or color.
• If your portrait will be larger or have more subjects, add $50 or $100 or more to your certificate value with the drop-down below.

CERTIFICATE A $50.00

• Size: 8 x 10
• Subjects: One
• Color: black and white media such as charcoal, pencil, ink, or monochromatic media such as one color of pastel, watercolor, colored pencil, etc.
• Background or objects: none but shading or colored paper

CERTIFICATE B $100.00

• Size: 8 x 10
• Subjects: One
• Color: full color media such as pastel, watercolor, colored pencil, etc.
• Background or objects: none but a color or colored paper

Add to your certificate purchase

You can use the second drop down to add $50.00 or $100.00. For amounts over this we’d probably have a conversation and I can set up a custom certificate for your purchase.

Visit Portraits of Animals to purchase your certificate

©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

Great Rescues Day Book, cover and two-page spread.

It’s not a calendar for one year, it’s a calendar for all years—with months and dates but no year—so that you can keep all your birthdays and anniversaries and other events all in one book—and enjoy my portraits of rescued cats and their stories as you do.

I’ve used a day book for over 25 years and have all the arrivals and, sadly, departures of each of my cats along with my friends’ weddings, my nieces’ births and the births of their children, the day I first registered a business name, all that sort of stuff, conveniently included in one place.

If you enjoy my rescue stories and my artwork, Great Rescues Day Book includes over a year’s worth of my portraits and rescue stories. The book also includes basic information about caring for cats and interesting cat facts, background on each portrait and on my artwork, all handy in a book you can also use to keep track of annual events—birthdays, anniversaries, events with your cats and other pets, and personal memories.

It’s based on my original Great Rescues Calendar and Gift Book and features a commissioned portrait of a rescued cat or cats along with their story each month. The month isn’t dated for one year, but has all the dates in a month for you to fill in the birthdays, anniversaries, holidays and social and personal events in your life to track in perpetuity, or at least until you fill up all the spaces.

June in Great Rescues Day Book.

On the left is the featured portrait with the kitty’s story, below that the monthly quote of something feline. On the right is the month name with enough lines for all possible dates in that month, and each month is headed with a cat- or pet-related theme. The holidays that are celebrated on a certain date are marked on that date, but ones that float, especially those Monday holidays, are explained at the bottom just to remind you that they also happen in that month. If animal-themed holidays are celebrated on a certain date, like Spay Day USA, they will also be included, but just the same if they are ones that float like Pet Memorial Sunday they will be explained at the bottom. The book is 8″ x 10″ and spiral-bound on the left edge, small enough to be easily carried around, large enough to have space to record things you’d like.

In the center are two extra portraits just for your enjoyment.

Fawn, and Amaretto, Simon and Merlin’s stories.

I had long wanted to share those stories and the lovely kitties I’d painted. This book shares the stories and art, and can do that for years to come.

Great Rescues Day Book is an award winner

Although Great Rescues Day Book is a 12-month book I am still featuring all 15 portraits of rescued cats that were included in the original Great Rescues Calendar, plus the portrait of my own Fawn which I consider my first portrait, ever. All the portraits as a collection won a Certificate of Excellence and a Muse Medallion in the 2011 Cat Writers’ Association Annual Communication Contest.

©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

“Trumpet and Jasper”, pastel, 24″ x 12″, 1993 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

CATS CAN COME FROM ANYWHERE and steal your heart and change your life. Trumpet and Jasper came from anonymous places but filled a woman’s heart, a woman who had never had a cat before and began rescuing because she loved them so much. And though she’d adopted these two in the mid 1970s and had lost them just before I did this portrait in 1993, when I saw her again in 2011 she still had a house full of rescued cats, wonderful, friendly, happy rescued cats, and a very happy human.

. . . . . . .

Jasper’s mom had grown up with a love of animals but had never had a pet of her own. When she moved to a pet-friendly apartment her secretary suggested she adopt a cat, advising that cats were low-maintenance. She visited the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society because in those days “that was where you went to get cats”, finding the tabby kitten with white paws.

Jasper, though a barn cat had apparently learned some manners and was “the perfect cat”, so perfect that two years later she decided to adopt another cat and give Jasper a companion. The little kitten she would name Trumpet, simply found on a roadside with his brother, was so affectionate, pure white with his little paws on the rim of the cage, and she found him irresistible. Jasper did not, but the three lived in harmony, both cats adoring their mom and being adored in return.

. . . . . . .

Yes, this portrait is from over 30 years ago! I can hardly believe it was that long ago, and I was so new to all this…And I was so happy to look up Trumpet and Jasper’s mom all these years later when I published my first Great Rescues book in 2011.

Trumpet and Jasper were but the first two cats this woman rescued. Volunteering for years at a shelter in Pittsburgh and living near a high-kill shelter in the next county, she continued to rescue cats and foster and adopt from shelters, also adopting a few rescued Pomeranians. When I visited her in 2011 there were beautiful cats everywhere, friendly and curious, leaving face rubs on my bags to take back to my cats, and stories of miraculous recoveries of ones brought in from the street; read Irina and Isis, Saved From the Flood.

Detail of Jasper’s face

This was one of the first portraits I painted when I was still using the paper color as the background of the portrait, a style I occasionally use today. But my pastels at the time didn’t always cover the paper as I had expected and I couldn’t layer the pastel as I do today, adding one color atop another and blending as needed with my fingers, then adding the final detail layer, that technique I’d developed that built dimension. Also because I couldn’t layer the pastel it would dust off the subject onto the paper outside the figures and needed to be repeatedly removed with a kneaded eraser or the paper just looked sloppy or dirty, depending on the color, and I lost the details I’d been working. Initially I began covering the background, then later discovered the more textured papers.

Knowing what I know now I am shocked I managed to get the soulful details in Jasper’s eyes and the detail and shadowing in Trumpet’s fur. This was in the days of 3.5″ x 5″ prints, so grasping the details could be tricky, though her photos were good. Jasper reminded me so much of my Stanley, still very much with me, and I used Stanley’s facial details, especially those eyes, for reference. It was especially important to get that one white mitten of a paw out in front while the other was folded in underneath because it was Jasper’s signature pose.

Detail of Trumpet’s face.

And of course I had my Sally, also still with me, to use as a guide for Trumpet’s white fur, even though she was long-haired and Trumpet short-haired. Still, the shadowing in the fur, the pink nose and ears and pea-green eyes, I was so glad they were willing models.

The two boys always slept on the braided rug shown in the portrait, but she didn’t have any images of them actually on it. I asked her to just give me a picture of it and I’d figure it out. The rug is fine, but I really don’t like the fuzzy sort of shading I did around it, just to keep them from looking as if they were floating in space, which is how it looked with just the oval rug, but that was all I could think of to do then. No one but me seems to notice that, but I smile at what I’ve learned from the experience of each and every portrait.

Trumpet and Jasper had passed before I did this portrait, but it was fairly recent, and when I showed her the finished portrait she burst into tears. That was the first time that had happened, but I understood completely; their similarities with Stanley and Sally made me think of their mortality as well the whole time I was working on it even though they each had many years left, and I was feeling pretty emotional too. I guessed the portrait was fairly accurate for that kind of a reaction. All these years and all these cats later, she still gets misty talking about Trumpet and Jasper.

“Trumpet and Jasper” is actually one of my very first portraits, from the first year I was in business painting portraits. From the portrait painting to the traveling around, the framing and realizing I’d be making a lot of friends through commissioned portraits, I had so much to learn. I treasure every lesson, every cat, and dog and bird, and human I’ve met along the way.

Here is Trumpet and Jasper’s page in Great Rescues:

Trumpet and Jasper’s page in “Great Rescues Day Book”

. . . . . . .

And here is the quote for Trumpet and Jasper:

Time spent with cats is never wasted. ~ May Sarton

Read about other current Commissioned Portraits and Featured Artwork

I also feature artwork which has not been commissioned, especially my paintings of my own cats. If you’d like to read more about artwork as I develop it, about my current portraits and art assignments and even historic portraits and paintings, I feature commissioned portrait or other piece of artwork on Wednesday. Choose the categories featured artwork.

Take a look at other portraits and read other stories

Read articles on The Creative Cat featuring current and past commissioned portraits.

Read about how I create commissioned portraits.

Visit my website to see portraits of my cats, commissioned cats, commissioned dogs, people and a demonstration of how I put a portrait together from photos.

Download a Brochure

My brochure is an 8.5″ x 11″ two-page full-color PDF that half-folds when it’s all printed out, showing examples of portraits with an explanation of my process and basic costs.

Purchase a Gift Certificate

I offer gift certificates for portraits in any denomination beginning at $50.00, which is the basic cost of a small monochromatic portrait.

The certificate itself is 8.5″ x 11″ and features a collage of portrait images with the recipient’s and giver’s names, printed on parchment cover stock. The whole thing is packaged in a pocket folder and includes a brochure, a letter from me to the recipient and several business cards.The certificate package can be easily mailed or wrapped as a gift and shipped directly to your recipient.

I can also make it downloadable if you’re in a hurry.

Certificates are good for up to one year after issue.

You can purchase gift certificates here or from Portraits of Animals if you are also purchasing other animal-inspired merchandise.

I prefer to look over the work and price the portrait according to how much work will go into it, as described above, but you can either set a budget or get started by purchasing a certificate for yourself or as a gift.

How to Order

• “Certificate A” is for a minimum-size 8 x 10 black and white or monochromatic portrait with one subject.
• “Certificate B” is for a minimum-size 8 x 10 color portrait with one subject.
• Choose “A” or “B” depending on whether your portrait is black and white or color.
• If your portrait will be larger or have more subjects, add $50 or $100 or more to your certificate value with the drop-down below.

CERTIFICATE A $50.00

• Size: 8 x 10
• Subjects: One
• Color: black and white media such as charcoal, pencil, ink, or monochromatic media such as one color of pastel, watercolor, colored pencil, etc.
• Background or objects: none but shading or colored paper

CERTIFICATE B $100.00

• Size: 8 x 10
• Subjects: One
• Color: full color media such as pastel, watercolor, colored pencil, etc.
• Background or objects: none but a color or colored paper

Add to your certificate purchase

You can use the second drop down to add $50.00 or $100.00. For amounts over this we’d probably have a conversation and I can set up a custom certificate for your purchase.

Visit Portraits of Animals to purchase your certificate

©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

Augie, the August kitten.

In the middle of the night during a July thunderstorm many years ago a couple awoke to hear what sounded like a baby crying outside, and noticed their two cats Percy and Ebi on the windowsill intently watching something. They knew it had to be a cat, but on investigation outdoors that night and the next morning, no cat was found.

A week later on August 1, the husband, working outside in the summer afternoon, suddenly ran inside yelling to his wife, “There’s a kitten out here!”

The kitten, frightened, had run up into a neighbor’s truck and they and the neighbor tried all they could think of to lure her out, and then to gently prod her from her hiding place. Eventually it took a golf club to push her out of her spot and she jumped out, to be caught by the husband and wife and quickly taken to their home.

“She was so thin, and tiny, very tiny,” the woman said, “I thought she was maybe six weeks old, and she was covered with fleas.” The new kitten was bathed and fed and coddled, but went into a kennel in a separate room until she had an appointment for the veterinarian. Magically, in that time, she went from being a fostered rescued kitten to a member of the household. Rescued kittens have a way of doing that.

“The vet asked me what I was going to do with her and I said, ‘I’m keeping her!’, like, are you kidding?” she said. “I just loved her from the beginning.”

After all, she already had a name, their little August 1 surprise, as her rescuers had begun to call her Augie.

Augie remained tiny but was a whirlwind of play and affection, and she got along fine with her calico feline sisters, the elegant Percy and exacting Ebi. And Augie not only loved her feline sisters and her humans, she loved everyone who visited, and they all loved her. She sat on everyone’s lap, and purred in complete happiness.

“She was feisty—the Christmas tree was apparently set up for her!” Augie’s mom said. “Needless to say, we left the decorations off that first year.” Nobody minded—the tree had a very special decoration.

But underlying Augie’s small size was a serious heart condition no one had suspected. “The only sign I saw, in hindsight, was that sometimes after running up the steps her breathing would be labored,” her rescuer said, “but then she would be okay. And she was so active all the time and otherwise showed no symptoms at all.”

When Augie had been with them for two years, while they were at work during the day, she tragically suffered a blood clot that paralyzed her hind legs and left her in horrible pain.

“We ran her to the vet, but there was nothing they could do and she was in such pain…” her person trailed off.

“We were due to leave for Mexico the next day,” she added, leaving unspoken the implications of what might have happened if they had been away with a pet sitter caring for the cats when it happened. They did leave for the vacation, with their sadness and tears. “And a bird at the resort was screaming, I still remember that,” she finished.

Augie was only about two years old, but she had fit all she could into her brief time. And she had certainly found the right truck to get stuck in.

Remembering Augie, and a portrait

Soon after they’d lost Augie they decided to have a portrait done of the two calico girls and Augie, in memory, and in 2002 when I met them I could still see the lingering sadness at their loss. We’ve remained friends through the years and I’ve painted a few other portraits for the couple, and in 2018 they adopted two kittens from a litter I trapped and TNRd their mom they named Tux and Willie.

We talked about how sometimes, cats who need to be rescued choose the right people to find them, and those who end up having a very short life seem to make the most of the brief time they have, and leave the biggest pawprints on your heart. Certainly Augie did.

. . . . . .

A Great Rescue and Commissioned Portrait: Percy, Augie and Ebi

“Percy, Ebi and Augie”, pastel, 18″ x 13″, 2002 © B.E. Kazmarski

SOMETIMES THE SHORTEST lives and the smallest cats leave the biggest pawprints on your heart, and the generosity of people who adopt from shelters and rescue cats off the street is a lifetime habit.

. . . . . . .

A couple headed for the Animal Rescue League in Pittsburgh intending to adopt at least one cat, the husband finding the elegant Percy and the wife, seeing that all Ebi’s siblings had been adopted but not her, decided to adopt her as well, and the two calicos and two people lived happily for several years. In the middle of the night during a July thunderstorm a few years later they awoke to hear what sounded like a baby crying outside, Percy and Ebi on the windowsill, but no cat was found. A week later the husband ran inside—“There’s a kitten out here!”—and together they ran to the neighbor’s truck, eventually using a golf club to get the tiny terrified kitten out from inside the chassis. They took her home, bathed her and cleaned up the fleas, simply becoming attached to their little August 1 surprise who they named Augie.

. . . . . . .

Yesterday I told the rescue story of little Augie, the kitty in the center of this portrait, and a little about her sisters, Percy and Ebi. Today I’ll tell you more about them, and about their portrait.

Percy and Ebi as models, reference photo from customer.

The initial reason for wanting a portrait was to remember Augie, her brief life and the impact on her household, and in this of course they wanted to include their original girls Percy and Ebi, unrelated but adopted together from the Animal Rescue League in Pittsburgh. While the three girls were friends, especially Percy and Ebi, there were no photos of them all together so—twist my arm—I had to visit and we had to look at cat pictures to find the ones we wanted to use, and then I could take others of Percy and Ebi for the details I’d need.

One of the challenges with creating a grouping of three or more, especially when they are calicoes or torties or spotted or some coat pattern that is not symmetrical, is to determine the features you most want to remember, like tails or unique markings, and make sure to include them in the painting. And you have to get all those spots in the right places!

But you also have to position the subjects logically—if two cats really didn’t like each other or didn’t cuddle, it might feel wrong that they were tucked up together in their portrait. Of course, their humans may also want to imagine the moment they might have cuddled, it’s really all up to the humans there. Balancing their physical appearance with their positioning, especially with more than two, can be like a virtual Rubik’s Cube of juggling cats and details that is also pleasing to look at. In the end, we find a composition.

Ebi’s alert expression, reference photo from customer.

In this case, I am eternally glad for Photoshop, where I can scan the images, trim them out, and even add tails that weren’t in the original photos, change out facial expressions, move paws around, all sorts of neat things, and often provide as many ideas for my customer as necessary.

But M. and S., the kitties’ humans, had a few lovely and clear photos of Percy and Ebi, especially one with the position we decided we wanted to use. The girls were young here, so they also provided a photo of Ebi closer the age we wanted to depict her; Percy I knew I could work out her age from the photo I was given. And because tails are often the casualty in photography, either out of the picture or just not in view, as here, I also took photos of the girls’ tails when I visited, because, you know, it was very important to get that unique little orange spot on the end of Ebi’s tail, and Percy’s tail was just glorious, as most long-haired cats’ tails are, adding the random multiple colors.

Two photos of Augie, reference photos from the customer.

That image also easily accommodated adding Augie. We couldn’t have her lying down because she was so small in comparison to the other girls, but there were two good photos of her sitting upright. We did like the left-hand one because it showed her stripy side and her tail with the little white spot on the end. However, it was the expression in the other photo that was the most important, so typical, but impossible to work into her posture in the side view. It meant not showing too much of her in the portrait but she was tucked between her sisters and her most important feature, that little face, would be prominent.

And I had to be sure to maintain Percy’s dreamy expression (“she’s the ‘Queen Bee’ and we kind of compare her to Cindy Crawford” her mom said), and Ebi’s extremely alert expression as the little clown. We didn’t want a scenic background, just the cats, so I chose a neutral tone to match the tones in her home, and added in a number of other muted colors to give it interest, especially shades of green to enhance the reds in their coat colors.

Below is a detail image of the three faces and some of the background.

Detail area of their faces and background.

And just for good measure, here are detail images of just their faces, Augie, Percy and Ebi.

Augie, the August kitten.

Percy, the “Queen Bee”.

Ebi, always alert.

I not only love to get to know the stories of my subjects, I need to in order to be able to create a portrait I feel is accurate. Even if I meet them in person and take my own reference photos, I need to hear their person describe them. I want to capture not only the image, but also the relationship between the two. How else could I paint those faces? And I meet some truly wonderful people.

I also painted another portrait for this couple in 2003 of a dog they had adopted, Nelli. They had initially wanted to adopt both a dog and a cat but with their schedules didn’t feel a dog would be happy and so adopted Percy and Ebi. After losing Augie they felt the need for another animal companion and decided they could probably work with a dog. A friend was a registered breeder of English Labradors, only breeding her females three times before retiring them, spaying them and offering them for adoption. Nelli had a perfect personality for living with two cats who ruled the house, and for hanging out with humans. Nelli will have her own article some time, but for now, here is her portrait.

“Nelli”, 13″ x 17″, pastel, 2003 © B.E. Kazmarski

Also, last year I painted a portrait to be given as a gift to the rescuer’s sister, “Paige”. Her portrait is below, and you can read more about Paige in this post.

“Paige”, 11″ x 14″, pastel © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

. . . . . . .

Here is Percy, Augie and Ebi’s page in Great Rescues Day Book

Great Rescues Day Book for August.

. . . . . . .

And here is the quote for August:

A home without a cat—and a well-fed, well-petted and properly revered cat—may be a perfect home, perhaps, but how can it prove title?
~ Mark Twain, The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson, chap. 1

Read other stories in my Rescue Stories series.

~~~

Read about other current Commissioned Portraits and Featured Artwork

I also feature artwork which has not been commissioned, especially my paintings of my own cats. If you’d like to read more about artwork as I develop it, about my current portraits and art assignments and even historic portraits and paintings, I feature commissioned portrait or other piece of artwork on Wednesday. Choose the categories featured artwork.

Take a look at other portraits and read other stories

Read articles on The Creative Cat featuring current and past commissioned portraits.

Read about how I create commissioned portraits.

Commissioned Cat Portraits Samantha, pastel, 1994 © B.E. Kazmarski

Commissioned Dog Portraits Sophie and Ellie, pastel, 2009 © B.E. Kazmarski

Portraits of My Cats After Dinner Nap, pastel, 1996 © B.E. Kazmarski

Visit my website to see portraits of my cats, commissioned cats, commissioned dogs, people and a demonstration of how I put a portrait together from photos.

Download a Brochure

My Portraits Brochure

My brochure is an 8.5″ x 11″ two-page full-color PDF that half-folds when it’s all printed out, showing examples of portraits with an explanation of my process and basic costs.

Purchase a Gift Certificate

Sample Commissioned Portrait Certificate

I offer gift certificates for portraits in any denomination beginning at $50.00, which is the basic cost of a small monochromatic portrait.

The certificate itself is 8.5″ x 11″ and features a collage of portrait images with the recipient’s and giver’s names, printed on parchment cover stock. The whole thing is packaged in a pocket folder and includes a brochure, a letter from me to the recipient and several business cards.The certificate package can be easily mailed or wrapped as a gift and shipped directly to your recipient.

I can also make it downloadable if you’re in a hurry.

Certificates are good for up to one year after issue.

You can purchase gift certificates here or from Portraits of Animals if you are also purchasing other animal-inspired merchandise.

I prefer to look over the work and price the portrait according to how much work will go into it, as described above, but you can either set a budget or get started by purchasing a certificate for yourself or as a gift.

How to Order

• “Certificate A” is for a minimum-size 8 x 10 black and white or monochromatic portrait with one subject.
• “Certificate B” is for a minimum-size 8 x 10 color portrait with one subject.
• Choose “A” or “B” depending on whether your portrait is black and white or color.
• If your portrait will be larger or have more subjects, add $50 or $100 or more to your certificate value with the drop-down below.

CERTIFICATE A $50.00

• Size: 8 x 10
• Subjects: One
• Color: black and white media such as charcoal, pencil, ink, or monochromatic media such as one color of pastel, watercolor, colored pencil, etc.
• Background or objects: none but shading or colored paper

CERTIFICATE B $100.00

• Size: 8 x 10
• Subjects: One
• Color: full color media such as pastel, watercolor, colored pencil, etc.
• Background or objects: none but a color or colored paper

Go to Portraits of Animals to read more and order.

You only need to enter an address if it is different from the address I’ll receive when you order. These are often surprise gifts and need to be shipped away from the home address to make sure they are a surprise.

Gifts featuring cats you know! Visit Portraits of Animals

Fine Art • Photography • Gifts • Greeting Cards • Books • Commissioned Portraits & Artwork

Great Rescues Day Book:
Portraits, Rescue Stories, Holidays and Events, Essential Feline Information, All in One Book

Great Rescues Day Book

Each month features one of my commissioned portraits of a feline or felines and their rescue story along with a kitty quote on the left page, and on the right page the month name with enough lines for all possible dates, with standard holidays and animal-themed observances and events. Great Rescues also includes a mini cat-care book illustrated with my drawings including information on finding strays or orphaned kittens, adopting for the first time or caring for a geriatric cat, a list of household toxins and toxic plants, or helping stray and feral cats and beginning with TNR.

Each book includes also 10 sheets of my “22 Cats” decorative notepaper with a collage of all the portraits in black and white so you can make your own notes or write special notes to friends.

The portraits in this book, collected as a series, won both a Certificate of Excellence and a Muse Medallion in the 2011 Cat Writers’ Association Annual Communication Contest, as well as the 22 Cats Notepaper mentioned below.

Read more and order.

[signoff]

“Waiting for Mom”, pastel, 16″ x 23″, 1988 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

Certainly, if you’ve been at all involved in animal rescue, you’ve heard and seen more bad than good. I’ve rescued and fostered since the mid-1980s and for all the cats I’ve taken in, and all the cats friends and associates have taken in, and shelters and private organizations, there are still too many more cats who need our help.

I first composed Great Rescues just before I began learning and practicing TNR, and just before I learned the behaviors that form cats’ decisions about their everyday lives and using that to trap and assess cats and foster and socialize dozens of litters of feral kittens who’d never had any experience with humans in their lives.

Sometimes we focus on the cats we can’t save, on bad things people do, and on what is wrong with the system. But creating portraits saved me from becoming jaded and surrendering under the weight of it all. Most of my portraits have been of rescued cats and dogs, commissioned by people who love them passionately and did and still do go out of their way to capture, house, heal, and love as many animals as they can. And as I learned more about feline behavior, and as more people joined in rescue, I learned more and more stories and my faith in people was sustained.

Take a little time to focus on what is right and what is good, on the things that make tears well in our eyes at the simple joy of a happy ending. Great Rescues features, in addition to my little Fawn, 15 commissioned portraits of cats along with the stories of their rescues which is as much about the people who did the good work as it is about the cats who ended up in loving forever homes. If the humans had not given their hearts I would never have met them or their cats, never would have heard the stories that held my faith in the love of humans for animals, and never had the pleasure of spending hours with their images, creating a lasting work.

And finally, I would never had the pleasure of sharing their images and stories with you.

©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

“22 Cats” Notepaper

This pattern is a collage of all 16 portraits—22 cats in all—included in Great Rescues Day Book.

Every calendar, daytimer, appointment book, and day book too has a section for notes, either blank pages or lined pages for lists or writing notes or whatever you might need paper for. I had been playing around with arranging the portraits in a collage on the back page of the book, but decided I wanted to keep each portrait separate for that presentation. But the idea of the collage stuck with me and I knew I’d end up using it somehow. Then I realized I could just add note paper to Great Rescues.

I decided on black and white for cost at the time, though full color printing is even less expensive today.

The popularity of the “22 Cats” design

I’ve used this collage in color on so many of the gift items I make, and naturally it’s one of the most popular designs especially among rescuers.

So when I design my reprint of Great Rescues Day Book I hope to do those pages in color.

About the gift items with “22 Cats”

You can find all the items I have with the “22 Cats” design on my ecommerce website, www.PortraitsOfAnimals.net. Scroll through “Handmade Gift Gallery.”

©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

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.

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