New Painting: “Colorful Autumn Trail”
“Colorful Autumn Trail”, pastel, 8″ x 10″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski
Here is one for the season upcoming. This painting doesn’t have as big of a story as others, but I will say it’s hard to paint along the trail in autumn—or anywhere else for that matter. The overwhelming colors, especially on a sunny day, have me running from place to place looking for the best spot to paint until the narrow window of good sunlight on an autumn day is past, so I end up working in my studio.
I like to capture the tree-covered hills and water and sky and just plain nature in most paintings because the trail itself isn’t a very interesting feature, being just a flat limestone chip path. But in this case, in autumn, it provides a break in the riot of color and also an area to feature those long blue shadows of the trees themselves. That’s really why I chose this scene when I came home with a head full of colors and shapes. But after organizing the art for this exhibit and realizing how few autumn sketches I have, I have given myself an assignment for this autumn.
You can see it along with others this Friday and Saturday during Rock the Quarry in my exhibit “Sun Shadow Ice & Snow: Seasons of the Panhandle Trail”.
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If you are interested in purchasing this painting or any other originals I have posted here on Today, please contact me. I will also have prints of this painting after the exhibit.
New Painting: “Snowfall”
“Snowfall”, pastel, 11″ x 7″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski
It isn’t always eternal summer on the trail, though memories might make us think so. Winter is my favorite season to paint. I love the subtleties of color and shape with snow in the air and on the ground, and on the trail I am often all alone with the quiet of a winter day, or a gentle snowfall.
In this case, I was glad for the time alone and quiet, and my art materials. This is from several years ago, one of the sketches I’d actually done in the front seat of my car during a late winter ice and snow storm, with a personal connection. I’d moved my mother to a personal care home in a neighborhood adjacent to the trail and often combined visits to the trail and visits to my mother. She didn’t care at all for trails, but she thought it was pretty cool when I would pull up in front of the home on my bicycle in shorts and a tank top to visit and cool off and eat my lunch on a summer afternoon when all the other daughters were in jogging suits driving minivans. Though my mother suffered from a number of heart and lung conditions she was overall well but weak, though she often suffered from mild dementia; visits could be troubling.
So it was this winter day when I had driven there. The roads were cleared but the trail was not, still, I wanted a dose of nature after my visit and knew of a spot close where I could pull up next to the trail. Not a mark was in the deeply fallen snow, and I decided I would not be the one to leave mine, it was just too perfect. The snow was falling too heavily to work outside my car, so I angled my car just right and sat in my font seat and began a sketch, then decided I should leave before the roads grew worse.
I’d always intended to finish this off, adding some bare trees fading into the distance in the heavy snowfall, but I think there was a reason I stopped at this point, and I think it captures this snowy afternoon and my conversations with my mother as it is.
You can see it along with others this Friday and Saturday during Rock the Quarry in my exhibit “Sun Shadow Ice & Snow: Seasons of the Panhandle Trail”.
There’s still some of summer left, so jump in and have a splash! And I hope to see you this Friday and Saturday during Rock the Quarry in my exhibit “Sun Shadow Ice & Snow: Seasons of the Panhandle Trail”.
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If you are interested in purchasing this painting or any other originals I have posted here on Today, please contact me. I will also have prints of this painting after the exhibit.
Surprise!
Late Snowfall
This wasn’t in the forecast! But it surely was pretty.
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms. For photos of lots of black cats and other cats—and even some birds as I first published this post there—visit The Creative Cat.
On the Way Home
On the Way Home
I like the gentle colors in the evening light on the snow, violet and pink and yellow and blue and green, all colors are in the snow, and in our footprints.
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms. For photos of lots of black cats and other cats—and even some birds as I first published this post there—visit The Creative Cat.
A Candle on Thin Ice
A Candle on Thin Ice
A votive candle in a drinking glass reflects on the ice and marks the edge of the safe area on a frozen pond.
When the winter is cold enough and the ice freezes thickly enough for safe skating, we gather at Wingfield Pines for a day and night of winter fun. The site is a conservation area that was once a golf course, and the ponds are shallow, part of the course, and usually freeze as smoothly as if a Zamboni had cleared them. Snow is swept, ice is tested by weight, and skates are pulled from closets, basements and attics. At night we light a bonfire, and to the right of the candle above you can see the orange bonfire and several lanterns in the trees. Of course it’s a Feast Day celebrate so warming libations are also in order. The ice is only solid enough to be safe by this time of the year, and even then it’s not safe enough every year. One memorable year we had had heavy rains and as this site is a flood plain it had flooded over a portion, then froze, and I remember skating under a full moon among the tall and silent pines that give the site its name.
February 2 is a significant day in the turn of the year. It is the halfway point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox, a cross-quarter day, the day the first stirrings of spring are felt in the Northern Hemisphere, the time when life really begins to return to the frozen earth. Difficult days are still ahead—the full moon in February isn’t called the “Hunger Moon” for nothing, as there is little nourishment in nature and winter stores may be depleted already—but the slow slid to spring and sprouting greens and longer, warmer days has truly begun.
It is also known as “Imbolc”, one of the eight sabats and four main festivals in Wiccan tradition, taken from the Welsh term for ewes beginning milk production, as apparently they do, as do other mammals who have gestated over the long winter months around this time. It is derived from “ewe’s-milk” in Welsh and variously from other Gaelic terms, but I haven’t ever found enough reliable information on others, such as “in the belly” from Old Irish, and it was often said that the weather for the remainder of winter until the equinox could be predicted by this day.
Also from Celtic traditions it is the celebration Brigid, or “Brigantia”, feast of the Celtic goddess of many things in in what I’ve found of her over the years, fields and fertility, and by extension human creativity, associated with Brigid, Ceres and Artemis, celebrated on this day as she enters the cycle of power as the season turns from fallow to early fruitfulness. It is the original festival of lights, for even though the solstice is six weeks past and the days are noticeably longer, those weeks were some of the most difficult to survive for early humans; at this point spring was inexorably beginning and they could celebrate the beginning of another season of fruitfulness.
And finally it is also “Candlemas”, the day for Mary’s ritual purification after the birth of her son, Jesus, and the day Jesus is presented at the temple, both in Jewish tradition, likely adopted from a myriad of pre-Christian customs on this date which involved carrying candles and celebrating the return of the light and so it is also the day that candles are blessed for the year, thus bringing together all the traditions of cleansing, reproduction and birth and the festival of lights after the most difficult part of winter.
I have more information about this significant day in “February 2: Not Just for Groundhogs, Well, Ever…”
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms. For photos of lots of black cats and other cats—and even some birds as I first published this post there—visit The Creative Cat.
Closed for the Season: Songbird Nest
Closed for the Season
All the summer birds have flown, leaving their homes behind. Next year the couple who built this nest will return and refresh the materials, but for now it stands open to the elements, collecting snow and rain, some animal fur and perhaps its own down loosened and waving in the wind.
In walking along Chartiers Creek this day, I found at least a half-dozen nests of this type, usually only one per tree, and the trees were most often seated in the crook of sapling branches about 5 to 10 feet above the ground, growing at the top of the creek’s banks.
I wouldn’t guess which species of nest this might be, but it would be a songbird because it is small, cup-shaped and placed in a tree, and likely the bird would be a insect-eating bird because this area, in summer and fall, would be full of mosquitoes, gnats, moths, butterflies and other types of flying insects, day and night.
If you have an idea what type of bird the nest might belong to, please leave a comment.
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms. For photos of lots of black cats and other cats—and even some birds as I first published this post there—visit The Creative Cat.
Entertained by Brussels Sprouts
Entertained by Brussels Sprouts
I have no idea why they made me laugh, but these Brussels sprouts really make a statement against the snow.
Some plants have to be different.
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms. For photos of lots of black cats and other cats—and even some birds as I first published this post there—visit The Creative Cat.
They Believe in Spring
They Believe in Spring
The lilacs that will bloom in a few short months wait patiently though the snow fills the air around them. Below, the lilac buds gently hold the snow.
Lilac Buds
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms. For photos of lots of black cats and other cats—and even some birds as I first published this post there—visit The Creative Cat.
Snowy Waiting Room
Snowy Waiting Room
All my wooden outdoor chairs on my deck got a little to a lot of snow cover, and just enough snow falling still. A little unusual on my deck.
Below, The Waiting Room.
Waiting For Summer
And one more, just a nice composition.
Snowy Arch
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms. For photos of lots of black cats and other cats—and even some birds as I first published this post there—visit The Creative Cat.
Sketch: Frosty Morning, Just Before Sunrise
“Frosty Morning, Just Before Sunrise”, 17.25″ x 9″, pastel © Bernadette E. Kazmarski
It looks like this out there this morning.
I’ve always liked this view out my back window, and this morning’s hazy frosty look with the valley in shadow but the bright sky was very inspiring. I decided to finally do this sketch that I’ve been visualizing for years.
The colors in this aren’t entirely accurate plus certain parts of it smeared when I put in into my scanner, so I may try photographing it tomorrow and replacing this image if the colors are more accurate. I began it first thing then put it aside as the light changed, later working from the photo I’d taken and just from my visualization. It’s 10″ tall x 18″ wide.
Not just the colors of a snowy, frigid morning, but the steam rising from all the chimneys were part of the inspiration as well, I’m not sure why, but when everyone’s furnace turned on at the same time is when I knew I had to paint this.
The four houses across from me I’ve sketched a number of times before, but in this case I’ve also included what is Main Street in Carnegie off to the left, the little collection of square-cornered things are the buildings there with steam rising just as well.
The one element I did leave out was the trees in my back yard which were just featured in a dawn photo the other day. They were just too chaotic and detailed, and when I visualized the scene I realized my visualization had left them out. There is plenty of interest here without them. You can also see a portion of this scene in a frosty photo from last year before the heavy snowfall and ice knocked down a number of trees on the left.
This painting is done in hues of only four colors, a Prussian blue which is a cool blue tending toward slate blue, haze blue that is a warmer color with a red tint and has elements of violet, and one shade each of yellow and pink.
This was one of those times when the photograph just wasn’t going to work.
Sketch: Snow at Night
“Snow at Night” pastel, 11.75″ x 8.25″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski
From the window at the back of my house I can see out over the valley and the hill beyond. When it snows at night the scene is transformed from black velvet punctuated by rooftops and streetlights and lit windows to a hazy wonderland of blue and creamy white, the familiar rooftops and trees given depth and dimension by the falling snow. Just like “Frosty Morning, Just Before Sunrise”, I’d been visualizing this little painting of the snow falling at night, the house with lit windows nestled into the snow-dusted branches and bramble and trees, silhouettes of rooftops beyond, the lights of Carnegie’s Main Street brightening the view behind them, then the haze of snowfall where normally I’d see only darkness. It looks quaint and kind of cliché, but it looks like home to me.
This painting is done in Sennelier pastels on Fabriano Pastello Tiziano paper, in the dark green hue. I knew that I could get the softness I wanted from the Sennelier pastels on this paper which has a nice soft surface to capture pastel, and though I wasn’t sure I wanted the texture of the laid finish it worked well to break up and soften the edges. I used three tones of Prussian blue which is a cool blue tending toward slate blue and tempered it with violet and gray in the shadows, then added pinks and yellows to the lighter areas. The windows, of course, are several shades of yellow.
If snow is what you’ve got, then snow is what you paint—I’m going to take advantage of it while it’s here. I’ve started another sketch from this morning when there was still snow in the air but the sun was shining.
See “Frosty Morning, Just Before Sunrise”, and also see other pastel paintings and original art.
This painting and others are for sale, please ask if you are interested.
A Straight Line
A Straight Line
From last year, but something I saw just today.
Possibly a good way to begin the year, but virtually impossible for most of us.
But train tracks always fascinate me in their absolute perfection of line in this part of the country. This line variously clings to the side of a hill before running along the edge of a hill and crossing a number of tunnels and trestles. The topography is everywhere here—hills come in every shape and size, creeks and streams run down every hill and along the bottoms of hills, little back roads wind back and forth with creeks and yet the railroad lines predictably go in a straight line off to the horizon, aside from ones that make lovely gentle curves like another local line I photographed last week.
This line actually does go gently around a curve where it disappears in the distance.
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms. For photos of lots of black cats and other cats—and even some birds as I first published this post there—visit The Creative Cat.
Christmas Day Trail Sketches
“Uphill Path”, charcoal pencils on 2-ply vellum bristol paper, 5″ x 7″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski
I like to capture whatever winter happens to be doing with a visit to the Panhandle Trail on Christmas Day, with photos of course, and also with sketches, and I captured three that I like.
Above is the first of a path I often walk up into the woods. It is steep, and actually continues up and up until it somewhat levels off, and in temperate times has a huge number of varied wildflowers, including the first trilliums of the year. We’d only had a dusting of snow but on this north facing side of the hill it was a little deeper and hadn’t melted. I like the look of rich black charcoal against pure white paper to capture a sense of the woods.
“Charcoal Dusk”, black and white charcoal on gray toned paper, 5.5″ x 8.5″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski
Above, the trail with a dusting of snow, the denseness of the trees along side and on a hill beyond, and the overcast sky. This is the first time I’ve used this toned paper while sketching, and it’s ideal for these winter types of sketches to start with a mid-tone.
The day began with a sunny morning but was so murky dark by the time I was ready to go in the early afternoon I held off until later. We did see some sun here and there, but I decided a late afternoon or even dusk visit would be good, and it was. It meant color was pretty much out of the question, not because there wasn’t any but because an overcast sky like that can really change the way my pastels look in the box and on paper. I did start one but decided to bring it home to finish, and will do others from photos—the clouds broke briefly just before sunset with lots of wispy color in the sky, awakening the cool blues and purples in the landscape, but the light changed so fast it was impossible to catch.
“Ravine”, black and white charcoal on tan toned paper, 5.5″ x 8.5″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski
Above, a ravine with varied textures, and there happened to be a good bit of tan longer grass bend over under the snow.
See other original art and also original trail sketches here and here, my Christmas sketch from 2011.
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If you’d be interested in purchasing any of these sketches, please contact me.
Solstice
“Solstice”, pastel, 6″ x 6″ © B.E. Kazmarski
This painting is indeed from the Winter Solstice about a decade ago. As the sun began to set on a zero-degree day with a foot or more of snow the light was so beautiful that I took off in my car with my camera and art supplies. At the top of the hill the gentle pink and coral tones of the sunset melded with the blue of dusk on the field of unbroken snow at the old Christmas tree farm, one of my favorite spots. It was too cold to draw outside since I can’t wear gloves and would soon be dropping my pastels in the snow, so I positioned my car on a convenient side road and sketched this in my front seat. As it does sometimes, the sun seemed to hang in the trees just before it disappeared: solstice, “sun-stand-still”. It’s just a little thing, 6″ x 6″, one of my favorites, especially now that the place is gone to development. It became the inspiration for an exhibit I hosted in 2004, “Winter White”.
And this painting, which I’ve always loved so much, has a wonderful home with a friend who also loves it very much.
If you are interested in a print of this painting, please contact me.
Two Textures
Two Textures
Uncertain clouds, uncertain snow.
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms. For photos of lots of black cats and other cats—and even some birds as I first published this post there—visit The Creative Cat.
A Shared Past
A Shared Past
Two ancient apple trees guard the entrance to a farm that no longer exists. What memories do those trees hold in all the years they’ve been welcoming visitors? And the land itself?
Another shot found in the moody light of a dark winter day after snowfall. Still glad I got lost chasing a tree on a hill.
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms. For photos of lots of black cats and other cats—and even some birds as I first published this post there—visit The Creative Cat.
What is the Goal?
What is the Goal?
Possibly just as much a question of my activities as my aesthetic intentions with my photographs of this one lone tree, at the top of a path at the top of a hill, clouds scudding across the sky on a dark winter afternoon, dark enough to dim the colors in the winter field. Something we should ask ourselves on a regular basis.
One conclusion was that I should get lost on country roads more often. I saw this from a distance, a ribbon of winding road before me and many hills and curves between me and the tree, and drove until I found it.
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms. For photos of lots of black cats and other cats—and even some birds as I first published this post there—visit The Creative Cat.
Crystallized Pattern
Crystallized Pattern
Snow on pussy willow branches, early. Black and white, above, color, below.
Crystallized Pattern
Snow on pussy willow branches, early.
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms. For photos of lots of black cats and other cats—and even some birds as I first published this post there—visit The Creative Cat.
Snow, Overexposed
Snow, Overexposed
Letting my camera have a little fun.
I had left my camera on manual settings for low light, and when I began photographing the snow yesterday I still had those settings. The photos were mostly white with some specks of this or that and I was about to toss them, then decided to take a look at them on my computer. I increased the contrast, and this is what I got. I couldn’t have done this if I’d tried.
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms. For photos of lots of black cats and other cats—and even some birds as I first published this post there—visit The Creative Cat.
Snowfall
Snowfall
This morning’s snowfall, heavy, deep skies, almost monochromatic, and absolutely silent but for the kiss of snowflakes.
Never hit the brakes on a slushy icy road unless there’s something like this to hop out of the car to photograph. I took three photos in succession and let Photoshop stitch them together. This is not a black and white photo, nor is the color retouched except for a bit of brightening as my camera always shoots a little dark. I love the subtle color in the trees, and the warm gray sky and cool white snow. It’s a golf course, but who would know?
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms. For photos of lots of black cats and other cats—and even some birds as I first published this post there—visit The Creative Cat.
The Last Leaf Standing
The Last Leaf Standing
Just one big yellow maple leaf still had its color in all the leaves on the ground this morning, caught in the fence.
Autumn Glow in Winter
Autumn Glow in Winter
The morning clouds began to break as the snow stopped in the morning and shone through the yellow leaves still left behind snow piled on branches and vines. I love this photo for the gentle colors and the contrasts it offers, warmly welcoming despite the cool violet snow, like a window in the night.
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms. For photos of lots of black cats and other cats—and even some birds as I first published this post there—visit The Creative Cat.
First Snow
First Snow
As soon as it was light enough outside I opened a window and photographed the snow on the pussy willow, surprised to see how high it was piled on the narrow branch.
This view is a convenient and favorite view to photograph—I can get a good closeup and the snow really piles on the branches easily in this protected spot.
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms. For photos of lots of black cats and other cats—and even some birds as I first published this post there—visit The Creative Cat.
Snow at Night
Snow at Night
I love to watch it snow at night; this is the view out of my back window that overlooks the few streets down to Main Street in Carnegie. My neighbor’s house with the light all ablaze makes it look like…it may be a painting someday.
I did paint this view on a very cold winter morning a couple of years ago…“Frosty Morning, Just Before Sunrise”
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For a print of any photo, visit “purchasing” for availability and terms. For photos of lots of black cats and other cats—and even some birds as I first published this post there—visit The Creative Cat.
Today 