Bid on This Print and Start Celebrating Peaches’ 100th Birthday

Peaches and Peonies, pastel © B.E. Kazmarsi

Bidding is closed on this print, but you can still purchase one on my website.

Peaches is 20 this year, and though it doesn’t really work out this way, she is nominally 100 years in human years. Now that’s reason for a celebration!

I’ve written about Peaches several times since I’ve been blogging (and even before that), probably more often than any other cat in my household. She came to me five years ago with her sister for me to foster after their owner died and they were almost euthanized because the woman’s son thought it would be cruel for them to spend their last days in a shelter. We lost Peaches’ sister Cream to renal failure about ten months after they arrived, but Peaches quietly integrated her little self into the household without incident and even increased her health while here.

I’ll be writing more about Peaches in the next two weeks leading up to May 1, the day we’ll be celebrating. In addition, other bloggers will be sharing stories and tips and poems and art around all of our blogs about living with and caring for older cats and other animals.

Let’s Get Started

I am offering to the highest bidder a signed 10″ x 16″ giclee* print of “Peaches and Peonies”, the proceeds of which auction will be donated to FosterCat.

How to Bid

1. Bidding begins April 18, 2010 and continues through midnight on May 1, 2010.
2. The opening bid is $25.00
3. In the “comments” section of this blog, please enter your bid amount and any message you’d like to include. If by any chance you cannot enter a comment, please e-mail your bid to me and I will enter it into the comments section according to its time stamp so that all bids will remain in order; please only do this if there is no other way to enter your bid.
4. At midnight on May 1, I will review the comments for the highest bid and inform the winner the next day via e-mail. For this reason, please use your own account to bid so I know who it’s from.
5. The highest bid is the winner, not the final bid.
6. Bids entered on other blog posts or on Facebook, Twitter or any other means except commenting to this post and direct e-mail to me are not valid; believe it or not, everyone is not on Facebook or Twitter or even other social networks, but everyone who can read this message can reach the internet and can send an e-mail, so that makes the bidding fair.
7. The winner will make their payment directly to FosterCat. When FosterCat has received payment, I will ship the print to the winner.

About the Painting

Peaches and Peonies

MEDIUM: Pastel; SIZE: 16″ x 23″; 2008, $1,500 (note that the print for auction is about half this size). There it is, that moment that turns on all the lights for me…one of my cats in the sun, the conditions that have inspired most of my portraits. Cats are creatures of habit, and Peaches chose this spot to have her after-dinner bath every day for a few weeks when the sun was right; I knew it was a keeper whether a photo or a painting, so I photographed it several times over a period of several days, knowing I’d use at least one photo or all the photos as reference to create one painted image. A painting this size and level of details is a significant investment of time, so I had to wait until my schedule allowed the night-after-night sessions with tiny sections of detail. You can also see it and read more about it on my website.

About the Print I’m Offering

I am offering a 10″ x 16″ print of this work rather than a full-size print because, first, not everyone has tons of wall space, and, second, framing would be less expensive—in fact, this print will fit into a pre-made 16″ x 20″ frame that includes a mat so you can save on custom framing.

About Giclee and Why It’s Valuable

Giclee printing uses special light-fast archival inks and is printed directly from a digital file, which is the most direct and accurate method of reproducing artwork. Prints can be made on many different papers—I use a matte-finish acid-free archival paper—and at just about any size, and when kept out of direct sunlight will keep their original color for at least 100 years. It’s decidedly a limited edition because I’m getting only one print at a time. This print is worth $75.00.

About FosterCat

Foster Cat, Inc. is an all-volunteer non-profit organization providing temporary foster homes for cats and kittens until they can be placed for adoption. The organization provides training and support, medications, food and litter as needed, and absorbs all veterinary expenses associated with the care of their kitties. They’ve rescued, fostered and found homes for many, many older and senior cats and I’d like to help them in their mission.

In Conclusion

Good luck! Peaches and I would like to know we can give FosterCat a pile of money to help them help other cats like Peaches.

Other articles celebrating Peaches’ 100th Birthday

Bid on this Print and Start Celebration Peaches’ 100th Birthday

How Peaches Stole My Heart

Old is Awesome!

Loving Care for Your Senior Cat, Part 1

Beyond Food and Water, Loving Care for Your Senior Cat, part 2

My Feline Garden Sprites

Eva Offers a Donation in Honor of Peaches’ 100th

A Poem Dedicated to an Old Cat

Help FosterCat Even More Through My Three Cats

Cookie Reminisces

On The Conscious Cat

How to Care for Your Older Cat

On Catnip Chronicles

Peaches and Peonies

Donate to FosterCat Through Other Blogs and Websites

Eva Offers a Donation in Honor of Peaches’ 100th

Help FosterCat Even More Through My Three Cats

Other articles about Peaches

Peaches Applies for a Job

Get Well Wishes for Peaches

Peaches Says, “Thanks for All the Get Well Wishes, They Worked”

This is a short list—Peaches appears in many articles I’ve written on my household, on pet loss, and even some silly things I’ve written on my website before I had a blog! Search “peaches” in the search box for more articles.