When I began doing my ink gesture drawings, there was no Internet to look up the breed of the animal nor emails for clients to send photo attachments of their pets that you could enlarge, darken or whatever you needed to do to get all of the details.
Back then it was snail mail with their precious photos inside, photos that I promised to guard with my life and to return upon completion of the work. This was especially important when they sent me photos of their pets that were no longer with them.
Scooter in the laundry basket
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Scooter in the laundry basket
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I found this out then, when I asked a client for a better photo of his dark dog taken at night on a dark sofa. He told me he had no more, as his pet had sadly died shortly after he got him, but had been with him long enough to be loved.
I never get as many commissions for cats as I do dogs. Not sure why. But this commission was of two unusual cats, and came with at least 20 glossy photos of each cat. The owner, Dan, described the breed as "Singaporean Cat, many of which have no tails."
Original photo and notes
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Scooter
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Dan wanted to be sure that I realized these particular Singaporean cats were unique to the breed as Scooter had a little short stump of a tail and MoonPie had a long "crank-shaft-like" one.
I always draw at least six drawings of each pet. After Dan chose his favorite, I put a disclaimer on the leftover drawings that I sold in the gallery, fearing that people would think that I forgot to draw Scooter's tail or had made MoonPie's too crooked.
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Studio / Gallery Visits
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Britt Zaist was born and raised on Long Island, N.Y. Her grandparents were successful Italian and Spanish immigrants. After living on a sailboat for three years, cruising the Inland Waterway, making crossings to the Bahamas with her first husband, they hit dry land and moved to New York City. There she studied at the Art Students' League Of New York and became a Life Member. That marriage took her to Raleigh, NC, where she was active in several art groups.
In 1992, Britt and her second husband, Henry Vermillion moved to San Miguel. They and friends established Galeria Izamal, the fourth gallery in town. Britt managed the gallery for 29 years until it closed in 2021.
Britt is well known for her gestural ink drawings and sumptuous abstractions in colored permanent ink.
Britt and Henry now open their home gallery and studios to the public.
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