In Good Company: Cat Writers’ Association Communication Contest Awards

I couldn’t be in White Plains, NY, with all my fellow members of the Cat Writers’ Association (CWA) this Friday and Saturday, but I was there as much as possible in spirit, obsessively checking e-mail and Facebook to read news of what was happening in the workshops and social gatherings, and at the awards banquet on Saturday night. Most of all I truly missed the opportunity to socialize face to face with all these e-friends!

I am also very proud to have won four Muse Medallions, the highest honor awarded by the Cat Writers’ Association, these chosen from the awarded Certificates of Excellence announced last month. When the awards list is published, I’ll post a link so you can explore all the winners.

You'll recognize this one.

Blog: Entertainment

The Muse Medallion goes to: Bernadette Kazmarski for “The Creative Cat.”

This very blog won a a Muse Medallion, and I’m a little surprised because there are so many other incredible sites out there in this category. Plus, I have plans for a makeover for The Creative Cat that I couldn’t complete before the contest deadline, so my entry was almost an afterthought because I wanted to wait until it was “there”. However, I know there truly is no “there” there with creative endeavors, each stop is just a pause before beginning the next step. I’ve enjoyed building this site into what it is and am gratified with each new subscriber and seeing my readership increase nearly every day. Thank you for reading, and giving me the feedback and confidence to continue creating this site.

Angel Daisies © © B.E. Kazmarski

Opinion Piece, Essay, or Editorial

The Muse Medallion goes to:  Bernadette Kazmarski for “On Dying and Death, and Remembrance” in MEOW.

I was so pleased to share this article in a slightly edited length in the CWA newsletter, MEOW; you need to be a member to read the actual article, but here is a link to the original article on The Creative Cat. I had recognized last fall my mother’s final time was at hand after watching Peaches through the previous year, and did my best with a difficult subject in the days after my mother’s death to show the similarities in the process of death, and how, in one more instance, my cats have been angels of sorts to teach me lessons I needed to know at just the right moment. Sometimes these things are written just as much for me to puzzle something out as they are for you to read…

Peaches

Illustration (single)

“The Muse Medallion goes to:  Bernadette Kazmarski for “A Wonderful Gift.”

I created this portrait last fall for fellow cat writer Ingrid King to give as a gift to a dear friend, and I was so pleased that the kitty’s person was more than agreeable that her Peaches’ portrait could be used as a greeting card in my Feline Art Card series. It’s the ongoing joy of creating these portraits, a joy which never ends with giving the portrait to my customer, but always goes on and on. (I was so taken by all the serendipitous twists and turns in Peaches’ rescue story that I also included her portrait and rescue story in Great Rescues.)

Samantha

Illustration (series)

The Muse Medallion goes to: Bernadette Kazmarski for “16 Portraits of Rescued Felines.”

And speaking of the joy of creating my portraits continuing through the years, the collection of portraits published in Great Rescues Calendar and Gift Book also won a Muse Medallion. I still love to look at all those wonderful faces and remember the stories, the cats themselves if I had the chance to meet them, and the people who rescued them. I intend to publish a themed Great Rescues each year after this one, but this first group will always be special to me, the ones who not only inspired me to begin creating the series, but who also in many ways inspired me to create the next portrait and to aspire to ever better art because several were pivotal in my lifelong career as an artist.

Congratulations to everyone who participated in the contest and won an award; and now, on to even greater things. Read more about the Cat Writers’ Association and their annual Communications Contest. If you are a writer, illustrator, videographer, artist or in any way create public communications about cats, please read up on the organization and consider becoming a member!

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All images and text used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used in any way without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in purchasing one as a print, or to use in a print or internet publication.

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