Life With Cats and Art January 2022

Published: Sun, 01/16/22

Life With Cats and Art January 2022

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Happy New Year to all. Glad to send good thoughts for a new beginning to you and your furry friends. Red and Bella send purrs and meows as well.

Here is my 2022 New Year's Card available on my main POD. (Just click on the image). The beautiful floral bouquet was from my son for my birthday. I love to take photos of floral arrangements, with the idea of painting them someday. I decided to use it for a New Year's Card and of course had to include the cats. It took some photoshop work to complete the picture. There is also a square version without text and one as a Valentines Card.

I've been promising to show the progression of a painting from beginning through the various stages. I take a photo after each painting session to evaluate and decide what the next steps will be.

I have my work in collections and have several subjects from animals to landscapes, seascapes, travel and more. My "Music" collection has only one image so I decided to do my next painting in a music theme. I think you will be surprised to see the progression since I began with no idea of what I wanted. Each photo was taken at the end of a painting session of 2 to four hours. There were more than the ones shown here but I've just included the more significant ones and skipped the ones that were just refining the technique.

I sat at the easel for a long time staring at the blank canvas. Then I decided to cover it with a light turquoise blue. I felt I wanted a swirly design, like a maze so I took a brush with white paint and concentrated on the flow of the design element.

I decided to lighten it with another layer of white and edge it in a dark color. Still thinking of a maze I got hung up on where the lines crossed and then dismissed the maze idea. Then I thought about a floating design almost like a rollercoaster.

All of a sudden the idea of a keyboard came to me and I roughed out the shape of piano keys with dark grey paint. I still had the thought of a roller coaster looping around and floating in the air and stayed with that idea.

Next I decided to add an instrument in a purple color and liked the shape of a sax or a horn. You can tell I couldn't commit to either one so it looks like a hybrid. I wasn't too concerned about reality here.

Now I needed to balance the composition so I added a bass fiddle concentrating on shapes and placement. I also worked on the shape of the horn to make it more sax like and in a better position. Then I added another layer of turquoise to even out the color.

I was happy with the composition and at this point just strengthened the color all over and worked on the piano keys, alternating the black and white paint. This took a few sessions because I waited for the paint to dry in between which makes correcting errant lines easier.

I decided to bring the horn over the keys at the top. I knew I wanted to have a feeling of music bursting out of the horn. I took the image into a program on my iPad and experimented. I was happy with the outcome but getting the idea on the canvas was a challenge.

Here is the final version of "Jazz Trio" after more tweaks and more paint. I added more colors and refined the music notes and the keyboard. I will be uploading it to my main POD (Print On Demand) site soon: www.karenzukrosenblatt.com. I am planning on more music themed paintings. Music was my first love before art and I was a concert pianist, teacher and performing ensemble director until an injury changed my life. It was then that I turned to art.

I did not exhibit at the Big Apple Show this weekend but am planning to be there February 19 and 20. Hope to see you there.

These are some of the large canvas prints (giclees) available. If you wish to order any of them just click on the picture to purchase. Any of the images shown in my newsletters can be purchased by clicking on the image. The square ones are 30" x 30". The rectangles are 22"x 30".

White cat looking through an antique bottle at ladybugs on leaf.

Calico cat and koi fish square canvas wall art.

Gray long haired cat looking into a fishbowl with colorful pebbles.

Cat, Champagne and Strawberries stretched canvas print. Long haired grey cat, champagne flutes.

New calendars are popular now. Cats, Dogs, Africa and Venice are available in 3 sizes. Click on the image to order.

Cat Life 2022 Wall Calendar. "Cats And Koi" cover image.

Dog Life 2022 Wall Calendar. A Collection of Dog Oil Paintings.

Cat Life 2022 Wall Calendar. "To Bee Or Not To Bee" cover.

Venice 2022 Wall Calendar. Photography by Karen Zuk Rosenblatt. Cover (St Marks Square).

Africa 2022 Wall Calendar. Photography by Karen Zuk Rosenblatt.

New ornaments are available now. Check them out in my Etsy shop. They are made of wood and have magnets on the back to put on a fridge.

Calico Cat and Koi Fish Holiday Tree Ornament.

Golden Retriever with Santa Hat at beach Hanging Tree Ornament.

Tuxedo Cat and Fun House Mirror Ornament.

These are two of my new small original oil paintings. They are 8" x 10" and 6" x 6".

Golden Retriever Portrait Original Oil Painting on stretched canvas.

My new shop on TeePublic is growing. Great prices on tees and many other products. My shop name is https://www.teepublic.com/user/karenzukart

Wishing You All A Happy Valentines day!!

If you would like to view previous newsletters click here

Art gifts are always popular:

Greeting cards, prints, photography and products with all my artwork are on my main POD (Print On Demand) site: www.karenzukrosenblatt.com
Gift cards are available as well. You will find the links at the top of the home page. Any image you see here or on any of my other POD sites can be produced on a product you see in my Etsy Shop. Just email me at karen@artbyzuk.com
Calendars and home decor items are available in my Zazzle Shop: www.zazzle.com/artbyzukcreations
Apparel, accessories and more are available in my Red Bubble Shop: KarenZuk.redbubble.com
Checks, address labels and checkbook covers with my artwork and photography are available on Check Advantage: www.checkadvantage.com/karen-zuk-rosenblatt
I am continually updating my Etsy shop to include other subject categories and original paintings: www.etsy.com/shop/karenzukrosenblatt
My website is a work in progress and includes links to my POD venues and other news. It's an independent site and I may add e-commerce eventually. Right now it links to my POD sites and coordinates all in one place: www.artbyzuk.com

If you have any questions or comments please email me via the link below. I will continue sharing "works in progress" as well as the history behind some of my paintings. I take photos of all my paintings as they progress. I may turn this into a blog. Will decide eventually.

Until next time...

Let us all stay well!