Birches 1, Autumn Showers, oil pastel, 24.5 x 18, 1998 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski From the time I met the paper birch in our front yard I have always been fascinated by the delicately detailed white bark of birch trees etched with deep contrast gray and black seams and splits.

"Autumn Afternoon Bed", pastel on sanded paper, 5.5" x 7.5", 10/28/2013 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski From 2013: Mewsette has a quiet nap on my bed in the afternoon.

Oooooo! Potat-o-lantern is ready for #Halloween! Some garden art by Mother Nature. #potatoart #gardenart

The two feral cats who own this house are happy to stand/sit/crouch behind their protectors, two witches and two VERY large black cats. Happy National Cat Day (wait, isn't that every day?) including all the feral cats out there. #nationalcatday #feralcats

My haul of potatoes from the garden this morning. Don't be too impressed, it's a small basket. It's actually the first basket I made back in the '80s when I started learning basketry, because it looked like the basket in Van Gogh's painting The Potato Eaters.

Stronger Than Hate, 7th Anniversary Tree of Life Today is the seventh anniversary of the Tree of Life shooting and while we still have many "Stronger Than Hate" signs around, the world around us does not.

We had a nice little open house this weekend just as soon as Mariposa and Sienna inspected every display and enhanced it with just the right amount of cat hair.

Virtual Open House (If you look really closely you can find Sienna and Mariposa. They are not for sale.) As I've done in the past when I have a physical Open House I also invite followers who don't live near to shop online during the same time.

A relaxed Bella is draped over the bed, conforming to its shape. Look how sleek she is, and how dark her fur is, inset with those pale blue-green eyes. I just want to run my hand down that slope of sleek black fur.

"Rolling Around", black pastel pencil and white charcoal pencil on blue Canson paper, 10.5" x 7.5", 10/12/2013 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski Giuseppe was having a really good roll around on the floor for no apparent reason except that rolling around made him happy. I think we should do that each day!

“Rainy Night on Main Street”, acrylic, 24″ x 12″, 2007 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski The sun will come out tomorrow....it's been a dark and rainy week.

How Small Beneath the Sky, 16 x 20, pastel © Bernadette E. Kazmarski It's been so dark and rainy the past few days so how about some rainy autumn artwork? Tonight's sunset looked very much like this. The many-faceted history of "How Small Beneath the Sky"...

Fancy boys Basil and Hamlet on the cabinet in the kitchen. Hamlet always did like Basil, which he showed by sitting near Basil now and then. Hamlet is subtle, but I'm sure Basil noticed.

"Youthful Catnip Victims", ink technical pen, 10" x 7", 10/2/2014 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski From 2014 when Basil was still called Smokie and Bella was the trusted big sister, two full months older. Who remembers laughing along with *Reefer Madness*?

Sienna and Mariposa are making sure I stay on task. I'm finally doing an open house again, this weekend, and working on my setup. I stopped for three years during all my losses and some renovations but I always enjoyed them and they take place of some vendor show income.

Cold, rainy morning, nasturtiums are trying to get through the fence. They are just as vibrant as midsummer, enhanced by the morning’s shadows and cool damp light, enjoying the shower. www.bernadettestoday.com/through-the-... #nasturtiums #flowers #garden #autumngarden #raindrops #gardenintherain

Hamlet is happy my box arrived because now he has a new place to sit and have a proper bath including one of those only-cats-can-do-this licking the back of his heel postures (which is technically the sole of his foot, yeah, not even on my best yoga days).

"One L-o-o-o-ng Kitty", ink hybrid technical pen, 9" x 5.5", 10/6/2014 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski From 2014: Guess who this is?! Bella and Basil, respectively, are finally having some time on the first floor after thoroughly inspecting the second floor.

Rescue Story: A Tiny Frightened "Unadoptable" Kitten...Who Grew Up to be Basil This was my first photo of Basil, frozen with fear in the back of a tiny carrier, a position he held overnight to the next day even once he was in my foster room.

Does Basil think I can't see him? A photo from September 2024. Basil turns on the cuteness with a head tilt though he's supposed to be supurrvising my gardening and not distracting me from it! What a talented meowdel here, purrfectly positioned between the leaves for a flawless composition. /1

No Kings Pittsburgh! The October 18, 2025 rally and march at the City-County Building was peaceful, joyous, a huge crowd even up and down the streets. Lots of security, no counterprotesters. We started off with a sing-along: Mr. Rogers' "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" open.substack.com/pub/bernadet...

Imagine a sip of rainwater from a cantaloupe blossom goblet. #gardenfinds #gardenmagic #garden #backyardgarden

"Three Warm Cats on a Cool Ground", pastel, 7" x 10", 9/2/2013 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski Those warm sunny September mornings and these three together created one of my absolute favorite sketches. Here's what I had to say the day I painted it: Where do these visual inspirations come from? /1

From September 1, 2023, this is such a sweet memory, when the brothers decided they wanted to be adventure cats after a lifetime of no interest in the outdoors, or keeping with their mom, out there in the garden where all the memories are. So I suddenly had a couple new adventure cats. /1

Friday Four and More: Six in the Sun, 2017, and Six Weeks Old, 2007 These sunny September mornings remind me of so many others at the basement door where nearly every cat in the house gathered. And you'll see that September a decade before that, in 2007, they were six weeks old! wp.me/p2snop-nCY \1

IKEA has the towels back in stock that I've always used to print this set of dishtowels! So I printed up three sets of "Cats in the Dishtowels" dishtowels for the farmers market last weekend, and I'll get more so I have them on hand. thecreativecat.net/marketplace-... /1

Main Street, September Morning, pastel, 8 x 11, 2017 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski Every time I go back to one of my sketches or paintings of Main Street I find it’s changed again since then, lost a building or two, added some trees. The losses hurt a bit, taking away another bit of the older,... /1

Looking Out the Front Door, watercolor, 6 x 9, 9/6/2014 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski 2014: Giuseppe, Mimi and Mewsette spend some time watching out the front door. 2025: This afternoon I noticed the neighbor's dogwood is burnishing with the first reddish leaves—in this painting, that is the red.. /1

My dogwood demonstrates that life keeps moving however subtly and incrementally. www.bernadettestoday.com/dogwood-prep... /1

September 11, and September 12 The mornings this September have had that particular autumnal cool with a little mist and I thought the spell might have been broken. /1

Mr Max asking me why we didn't do this sooner. This week I'm working on knowing what day it is. Because last week, likely the week before, I lost all track of that. Even with the farmers market this weekend, which I know is Sunday, I thought it was Saturday. /1

One last sunny morning, find all the sunny spots and enjoy that feeling as long as you can. Mr. Max started his last walk yesterday, doing his best to do all the things he'd loved in life, inside and out. We finished it with a sunny morning outdoors. /1

I forgot to share this yesterday--Tuesday! Mr. Max discovers the joy of WARM CONCRETE!! Guessing from his reaction he has never experienced it before. Now it's all he wants to do when we go outside. He has done well over the weekend to now, and continues. I had mentioned a medication, ... /1

It's Rock The Quarry 2025! I'm here with all my artwork from the Panhandle Trail in Collier Township. We are hopping right now with lots of people, some live country music and people enjoying my artwork because they recognize the places I've painted. #rockthequarry #panhandletrail #artexhibit

Looks like there's some important messages in the Autumn Joy sedum. Mr Max is right on that. Doing okay today, spent the morning and early afternoon priming him up for me being away for the rest of the day. I think he'll be good. #mrmaxfostercat

Mr. Max discovered Mimi's bench and birdbath. In fact, I think she's having fun leading him around because he wants to get to the driveway from the front porch or garden and I finally let him walk up the other side of the house to the front, things Mimi did. I don't mind, I know what to expect! /1

"Not today!" says Mr. Max, "I have this back yard to explore." A little more information and a reprieve. He's not full of --it 😊 that's just what his intestines look like. Which is pretty scary, but he's not constipated. /1

Mr. Max in a hopeful sun salutation this morning! He's feeling good, another garden walk, no photos because he was moving too fast. Still no poop and just a few nibbles. Hard not to be really hopeful, though. We are leaving for our veterinary appointment. Be back later. #mrmaxfostercat

Mr. Max and I went on an adventure today! I stepped on the front porch to take a break from today's work. He just wants to be with me so he meowed and meowed to go outside. The second time I stepped outside, I let him come out with me. He has been feeling okay but not too energetic,... /1

Dawn, pastel, 5 x 8, 2000 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski Yesterday and last night’s rain produced a foggy morning today. When the sun finally began to shine through the mist it reminded me of this painting from 2000. portraitsofanimals.net/dawn-on-a-fo... /1

"Early Evening", pastel, 8.5" x 6.5", 8/3/2014 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski From 2014: I caught Mewsette having a meditative moment as the sun came around to the bedroom window, just catching her whiskers and filling the room with a warm glow. thecreativecat.net/featured-dai... /1

Sunset After the Storm I missed last night’s sunset after the storm we had, but here’s one from another stormy evening. Storms and the presence of moisture in the air make sunsets more colorful and interesting. www.bernadettestoday.com/sunset-after... #sunset #stormclouds

Basement Door Supurrvisor Thank goodness Mr. Max has taken up a shift as a basement door supurrvisor. I've gone completely unsupurrvised on many mornings! thecreativecat.net/daily-photo-... /1

Remembering Kennedy, 2014 Hospice Foster I originally posted this memory of my 2014 hospice foster in 2020, but the same memories return today, "when the light turns a certain way in the quiet of a summer morning on the floor in that room." thecreativecat.net/rescue-story... /1

Serenity, pastel, 5 x 20, 1998 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski The painting is almost twice as wide as what you see here. It worked well for the subject. portraitsofanimals.net/serenity-a-s... /1

"Four Cats A-Bathing", watercolor and pencil, 11.5" x 6", 8/12/2013 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski Hey, I could make them any color I wanted right? I never had four orange cats, but that would be interesting. Of course, the models were the four siblings. thecreativecat.net/featured-dai... /1

Summer green, dark and dappled. Bindweed vines grow dense and tangled, always interesting for photos with the twists and turns and details, though they annoy me by growing all over everything in my yard like kudzu if I turn my back. www.bernadettestoday.com/summer-green/ #bindweed #summergreen

"Nothing to see here," they seem to say. thecreativecat.net/daily-photo-... /1

Sunday, August 10 was the first anniversary of the day Mimi went to her next life. Mimi has been present so much over the past year, it's almost like she's still here. Find my post on The Creative Cat: thecreativecat.net/an-anniversa... /1

"Exhibit at the Feline Museum", ink technical pen, 10" x 7", 8/1/2014 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski 2014: Anyone who has visited here recently knows exactly what I mean. Stacks of boxes and bins, and a cat sleeping on the top of each one. /1