stories Archives - Great Rescues Day Book Great Rescues Day Book

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.

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.

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.

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

“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.

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.

: 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

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

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

CAN THE SUBJECT of a painting communicate through his image? One of the dearest stories from any of my portraits is the one of Cooper, a “first cat” who turned his people into rescuers but who left far too young though he was never far from the memories of his people and the other rescued felines in the house. When his best buddy Patches was ready to transition herself, she stepped up and touched Cooper’s face in the portrait as if to say, “I’ll be seeing you.” But first, he had some humans’ lives to change.

Cooper had literally been born in a barn but was adopted to a friend of the farm owner who cared deeply for his barn cats including the occasional drop-offs and strays. Cooper lived happily with his mom for three years as she moved from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia and became engaged to a man who was dangerously allergic to cats. Though they tried treatments his reaction was life-threatening and she carefully began the process of finding a home for her precious Cooper. The same farmer put her in contact with Cooper’s eventual mom, who had recently divorced and bought a house but resisted the idea of a pet. On a trip to Philly for a conference she met Cooper, enjoyed the visit, but said no. After a week alone in her house, she called the woman back and said she needed Cooper’s company. Cooper was chauffeured back across the state to his new forever home.

. . . . . . .

I usually keep in touch with the family for whom I’ve created a portrait. We’ve often done quite a bit of work determining the exact posture and scene for a portrait, gathering images and sometimes I paint purely from visualizing what my customer is describing. Also, nearly half my portraits have been memorials, created either after the animal has passed or around the time of its passing, and working out the details of the portrait include working through a certain portion of the family’s grief. And we share a lot of stories.

Besides that, we came together to do their portrait because we love animals, and that’s a natural friendship. I often hear news of the household, the arrivals of new animal companions and the passing of others, and stories of the household in general.

In the months after I finished Cooper’s portrait, I received a call from his family to tell me the sad news that they had lost Patches to complications from polyps she had developed in one ear. She had been adopted a year or so after Cooper had joined the woman in her home, another adult rescue kitty.

Patches and Cooper had been best buddies. When Cooper’s portrait was finished and we hung it over the couch, I met Patches and the other kitties they had rescued and adopted, inspired by their love of Cooper. Soon after, Patches showed signs of illness, but it took a number of tests to find the polyps. They were inoperable, and while her family eagerly tried a number of standard medical treatments as well as naturopathic treatments, all too soon she was losing her battle.

They told me that just days before Patches died, even though she was weak and declining quickly, one evening she climbed up on the back of the couch, sat up and gently touched the glass over Cooper’s face in the portrait, looked at him for a short while, then carefully got down.

“Was she saying, ‘There you are,’ or ‘I’m coming, I’ll see you soon,’ we don’t know,” they commented. “After that, she seemed to accept what was happening to her.”

Detail of Cooper’s face.

Animals communicate, pretty clearly too

Anyone who has lived with animals knows that they communicate with us as well as with each other, and that they experience the same range of emotions as we do, including love and grief.

When I create a piece of artwork, any subject, I not only work with the images I have and the medium I’ve chosen, but I also instill what I would be sensing if I was standing in that spot, and what I’m feeling about the subject, all as if I was experiencing it in that moment. When the subject is one of my animal portraits I also consider the relationship between the animal or animals and their family while I’m working, either through observation or from what they’ve related to me. In the end, I put away all the photos and put my heart into the finishing details, simply from intuition. Often I feel those final details come to me from the subject; in several cases they’ve been things there was no way I could have known.

The magic of Cooper’s portrait

In the case of Cooper’s portrait, I had received a call from someone saying he had one photo of his girlfriend’s cat who had passed the previous year and he’d like to give her a portrait of him for the anniversary of his passing and her birthday, which were close—and also a little over a month away. It was possible to paint and finish, mat and frame a portrait in that time, but as I still worked a day job with a lot of variables. I usually wouldn’t risk it, except that he had given the same photo to another artist who had not gotten the portrait done and still felt strongly that the portrait was what she needed to have.

This could be tricky—not only would I not be able to meet Cooper, nor would I be able to meet his person or see the household or have any other connection with my subject other than this one photo, and the portrait was fairly large, 22″ x 17″. But though he only had the one photo, he was generous with stories about Cooper and the household, and was very much emotionally invested in the project himself.

We did meet the deadline, and in that concentrated period I spent a good bit of time considering what he’d told me about Cooper and the household and made sure I painted it into the portrait.

Detail of paws and fur.

Cooper is sitting on the railing on a second-story screened porch and you can see the back yard acreage, nice and simple, but for the fuchsia plant. I actually love to paint plants and flowers, and this painting would not be the same if it was only Cooper on the railing. The colors, the random shapes and placement and colors of the fuchsia flowers and just its simple beauty all add to Cooper’s gentle personality.

Detail of flowers.

I know that spiritual depth was invested in the portrait itself, showing in a physical manner—I always say that I paint until my subjects look back at me—and perhaps in a spiritual manner as well, recognizable by both humans and animals. My families will tell me that is true, though I’ve often thought it was the confused musings of someone who stayed up too late and spent too much time alone with my painting. But this time, possibly communicating with another kitty, that feels magic to me.

. . . . . . .

Here is Cooper’s page in Great Rescues Day Book

Cooper’s page in Great Rescues

. . . . . . .

And here is the quote for July:

As anyone who has ever been around a cat for any length of time well knows cats have enormous patience with the limitations of the human kind. ~ Cleveland Amory

. . . . . . .

Simon Says…

Each family for whom I have created a portrait also has a continuing story and so much to tell, like this story of Patches and Cooper. This family has continued to rescue other cats, including Simon, and feeds a colony of community cats on their porch.

I had kept in touch with this couple for several years after the portrait was done, visiting their house on holidays and exchanging cards. In the years of taking care of my mother and brother I lost touch with many people, and these two were in that group, but losing touch doesn’t mean friends are gone forever. I began the original Great Rescues Calendar and Gift Book in the spring of 2011, just after my mother died; it was a project I’d originally envisioned in the late 90s and planned to begin when I began working at home in 2000, but that was when my brother had a traumatic brain injury and my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer and family needs took precedence over my free time creative projects. But that spring when I had some of that time back, when I planned which portraits I wanted to use, Cooper was undoubtedly among them. Knowing I’d have to rephotograph the portrait as well as simply say hello to the family, I dug out my box of old, old paperwork and called the number and heard the still-familiar voice of the man who had initially called me for Cooper’s portrait. We were immediately visiting once again. I always say this is one of the best gifts of my love of painting portraits of animals—meeting the animals and sharing their lives, and finding new friends I otherwise would never have known.

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?

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

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?

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

Felix, pastel, 2004, 16″ x 23″ © B.E. Kazmarski

This magnificent cat was rescued and originally placed with someone who unfortunately not only let him out, but literally kicked him out, causing a permanent injury. Felix found himself back with his original rescuers who kept a registered rescue for cats in their home.

His forever family had recently lost one of their three Persian cats, long-haired of course, and with tabby markings. Waiting a respectful time after the loss, a friend at work told the story of Felix, the big, gentle long-haired tabby who truly resembled a Maine Coon cat; one day soon after there was a photo of him left on the desk. The gentle hints were well-timed and effective and soon they traveled to meet him, won over the skeptical rescuer, and brought him home.

This is Felix’s story in Great Rescues Calendar and Gift Book

About Felix’s mom and dad, serial adopters and rescuers

Flint, pastel © B.E. Kazmarski

Both Felix’s mom and dad had grown up with pets but those animals had always gone outdoors and as a young married couple living in an apartment they were sure a pet wouldn’t be happy. A friend had Persian cats and in visits they were so impressed with the cats’ looks and personality that they adopted, over time, three of them.

Cameo, pastel, © B.E. Kazmarski

I first met them years later after they had lost that first Persian kitty, Flint, and he became one of the first portraits I painted the year I began this business in 1993. I also met Scout and Cameo and painted their portraits in time as well; Scout is the tabby Persian kitty mentioned in Felix’s story, above.

Scout, pastel © B. E. Kazmarski

Felix was their first mixed-breed rescue cat. They had been so impressed by the Persian cats they met and lived with, and while they moved from an apartment to a home and didn’t need to be concerned about space, they also each worked long hours and traveled frequently. The Persian cats they adopted from their breeder fit well into their lifestyle and they weren’t sure about taking on a shelter or rescued cat whose needs they might not be able to meet. Until Felix, that is.

Liam, Ceili, Julia and Amy

Since Felix they’ve adopted several rescued cats in about the same way as Felix—photos passed around the office, or a flyer, or an e-mail with a story. In addition, they’ve rescued a few of their own from the outdoors, taking them in, getting veterinary care and finding homes for them, and also feeding, spaying and neutering a parade of outdoor cats.

When I visited there were two rescues lounging indoors and four cats who they fed outside the door on the patio who had been spayed and neutered through the Homeless Cat Management Team, a TNR program based in Pittsburgh. I was not surprised to see there was even a water bowl that could be heated for winter use. After a recent visit to them I wrote about their little outdoor family.

Felix, detail of his face.

About Felix

Felix was a natural model, a big, confident cat who knew just how to pose. I took a number of reference photos when I visited to be used for details, but this portrait was modeled after one shot I particularly liked for the lighting and the minimal details in the background.

It is not unheard of to find a breed cat living on the streets, but most often the ones who appear to be a breed simply have a majority of breed traits pulled up from their genetic history. Maine Coon cats are very popular for their mellow personality, and aside from being very large they don’t look exotic as many other breed cats do. I’ve seen people call nearly any long-haired tabby cat, or just a big tabby cat, a Maine Coon cat. Yet he did have many features and the demeanor of a Maine Coon cat, and I believe a friend of his peoples’ who was a breeder looked him over and said he certainly looked like one. There’s no way to tell without genetics, but when I met him, I certainly sensed the traits I associated with Maine Coon cats—not just a big cat, but a big presence, and even with the gentle demeanor, a sense of the wild in them. I loved watching Felix walk on those huge feet padded with so much fur.

Unfortunately, Felix didn’t live too long past the portrait, and they only had six years to enjoy his company, but after his horrible beginnings—no one knew how such a nice and handsome cat ended up on the streets—at least he spent his last few years with two of the best people any cat could hope to find.

Here is Felix’s page in Great Rescues:

page in great rescues calendar and gift book

Read other stories about cats and their rescuers from Great Rescues.

There Was Just No Other Kitty After Samantha

The Cat of a Lifetime

A Bridge Between the Ages

I’ll Be Seeing You

Simon Says…

Irina and Isis, Saved from the Flood

Four Ferals

Riley

Milan and Felix

Learn more about Great Rescues Calendar and Gift Book

Visit the Great Rescues website

There has not been another kitty since Samantha. Sometimes a memory is too dear, and time must pass before the heart is ready for another love.

The Story

In Samantha’s mom’s case a dramatic change in schedule just didn’t allow for another adoption for quite a few years after she lost Samantha. Her employer began reorganizing the company nationwide, and she was given an opportunity that required her to travel frequently and for several days, even weeks, at a time. In a way, it was an antidote to the suddenly empty home.

But the heart is sensitive in other ways after caring for a loved one through a sustained or chronic illness as well, less likely to take risks in many ways.

While many kitties were presented and could have done well with her travel schedule, the memory of Samantha’s long decline into kidney failure and the final months of administering subcutaneous fluids herself at home made her consider what she would do if a feline illness presented itself while she was traveling. Risky; best not take the chance, at least until the traveling is over. Sometimes that is the best decision, especially as the months turned into years.

Another portrait at the same time

Though there has not been another kitty since Samantha, there were several kitties before. In fact, when I painted Samantha’s portrait, I also painted another of three cats she had known before and who were, in part, the ones who led her to Samantha.

Honey, Tommy and Andy were mom, son and daughter and while Honey had other kittens this little family of three was a perfect combination: Honey, though petite, was decidedly the boss; Tommy, big and rangy was as sweet as candy; and Andy playful and affectionate.

Honey, in the front, was the mother, and Tommy on the left and Andy on the right were two of her kittens. “Honey was tiny, but she was the boss, definitely the leader,” Samantha’s mom said, remembering the three cats. “Tommy was big but as gentle as a kitten—Honey used to boss him around—and Andy was sweet and playful. We were definitely a family,” she continued. Honey lived into her late teens, outliving both her children, and after that the home was without cats for a while, and then…

Samantha’s Rescue Story

During a visit to a friend who had cats, Samantha’s mom realized she needed the love and affection a cat provides. At a local Humane Society she saw this tiny kitten alone in a cage. Her large yellow eyes begged her mom to save her. The kitten was very small and delicate, her coloring totally black with very fine silky fur; asking the attendant, she learned the kitten was a Burmese and was the runt of a litter. She picked up the kitten who immediately cuddled on her shoulder and she was in love! Then she thought it would be nice for the kitten to have a playmate and selected another kitten, holding both in her arms. The Burmese would have none of this and hissed at the other kitten, possibly due to her bad experiences being bullied by her litter mates. Deciding the kitten needed her as much as she needed the kitten, she took the kitten home, named her Samantha, and had 19 wonderful years with her. (From Great Rescues Calendar and Gift Book)

Planning the portraits

When we planned the two portraits, Honey, Tommy and Andy would be “in heaven”, so they look as if they are in the clouds.

When we ultimately chose Samantha’s pose, that one perfect photo of her awakening from a nap on her little wicker chair, nestled among pillows in the sun, she was looking upward at just the right angle that when we hung the portraits on the landing in her home she was indeed looking up at them, and thanking them for leading the way for her mom to find her.

And Samantha’s mom remembers taking the photo, just capturing that moment when Samantha awoke and gazed around sleepily, relaxed and content.

I can attest that it’s difficult to photograph black cats and used my own black cat, Kublai, as a model for the highlights on her face, paw and body. I remember, initially thinking Samantha was a fairly large kitty, comparing her to the chair and thinking it was a papasan-style or one of those grand wicker chairs I used to see at Pier One and other places, with a deep seat so the pillows were off in the background, but it turned out to be a petite little chair, just right for a petite little kitty.

And not only does the heart hold the memory dear, but also the things attached to the memories. Samantha’s mom still has the little wicker chair, knowing it’s just an object, just a part of all the things Samantha touched in her home, she’ll always keep it as part of the memory of Samantha.

Creating the portrait

I never met Samantha for all the times I visited this person’s home, though she was still around but in her late teens when I painted the portrait, and not feeling well. After the portrait was completed her mom told me that Samantha had developed renal failure, and she was giving her subcutaneous fluids on a regular basis.

I’ve done this plenty of times since then, but at that time I had not and was greatly intimidated when my black cat, Kublai, needed them a few years later. I remembered Samantha and her mom, and that gave me the reassurance if they could get through it, I could do it too. I’ve learned so much from both the cats I’ve known and the persons who’ve loved them.

Closeup of Samantha's face

This portrait was a turning point for me. With each portrait I’d done I had experimented with colors and techniques and been able to start visualizing the way I’d work certain areas as I studied my reference photos, determining the colors, the way I’d apply and blend them so the decisions didn’t even seem conscious.

I remember finishing work on Samantha’s eyes, leaving to take a break, and looking later to see things I didn’t even remember doing, colors applied, blends and clarified edges I hadn’t consciously decided to create, the clarity of her eye in front of her pupil and the shadows and highlights within her eye, highlights on her face and paw, I didn’t know how I’d done this. I knew I’d reached a new level of skill and observation, and with it the confidence that I was on the right path. For many years, Samantha was the signature of my my business, on my business card and brochure until the portrait of Stanley, which is my signature portrait now.

Choosing Samantha as the cover kitty

Samantha as the cover kitty.

I had visualized this project, cover and all, for over a decade, and in a corner of my mind I had always pictured Samantha on the cover, possibly because she had also been on my brochure and her portrait meant so much to me as an artist. I knew I wanted to use a warm, rich color for the cover, dark enough to support the foil stamped text I had in mind. I had initially used the portrait of Bandit because of the red in his portrait and how I love that portrait as well, but my heart went for the little black kitty and the portrait that had changed my outlook on my career as an artist.

Samantha’s mom agreed for Samantha to be on the cover; it’s one thing to be in the book, quite another to be on the cover and therefore see your kitty’s portrait all over the place as I promote the book. I knew how she felt about Samantha still, after all these years, and that might be painful. In the end, it’s a joy for her to have a copy forever on her coffee table so she can not only look at her portraits on the wall, but her copy of the calendar in her living room.

Here is Samantha’s page in Great Rescues:

Read other stories about cats and their rescuers from Great Rescues.

The Cat of a Lifetime

A Bridge Between the Ages

I’ll Be Seeing You

And on The Creative Cat

Simon Says…

Irina and Isis, Saved from the Flood

Four Ferals

Riley

Milan and Felix

Sherman's Portrait No. 1

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.

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.

Sherman is one of the rescued cats featured in my Great Rescues Calendar and Gift Book. The opening paragraph is his “rescue story” from the book, and here is more about him and his people.

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.

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.

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 him, 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.

Rose recalled that when someone come 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.

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.

“He knew when the kids would be coming home from school, and would sit at the top of the steps 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.

Creating the portrait

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.

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.

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.