Daily Photo: The Incriminating Pawprint

Mewsette supervises my every act on my work table, from close range. I typically shoo everyone off, to their amusement, but I really do let them have their way for a while and ignore them, they soon grow bored and leave, and if they don’t I give them their very own sleeping box or basket and they are generally happy with that. Then I can get out the paints or inks or adhesives or whatever I don’t want cat hair stuck to and get to work.

However, Mewsette feels she is an artist in training; witness her success with her recent cardboard project.

So when I was printing t-shirts and she would not leave, I decided to give her a chance. I like her quiet company, and she likes it when I talk to her as I work. The blocks and ink and papers and brayers and all were already set up and prepared and I had put the tees on hangers as part of my ignoring them and doing something else to distract them.

Mewsette watched carefully, drawing closer with each step. I stirred my ink, coated my platen and inked up my block, laid down a t-shirt face up, slipped a piece of fome-cor inside, placed the inked block on it face down, flipped the shirt and slide my hand inside to press the shirt against the block to print the ink onto the fabric. This process of printing the shirts is why I couldn’t stop in the middle and move a cat who’d decided they needed to sleep on the t-shirt.

Wonderful! I did several shirts to Mewsette’s purring and squinting approval.

But then I inked up the block and turned to get a tee, turned back around, and…

…apparently Mewsette thought she’d get a start on printing the shirt, even without the shirt on the block.

“Mewsette!” I cried. “Let me see your paw!” Ha! A lot of good that would do, black ink on a black paw! But she had taken several steps and apparently “walked it off”, though how she’d done this in the time it took me to turn around and get a shirt and turn back…well, she’s a cat, that’s how.

She certainly acted apologetic, rubbing her face along my boxes of cards like a good girl, and purring and squinting up a storm.

I had her sit farther back, however, and told her she could help in a different way and hold up my piece of fome-cor when it wasn’t in use.

I’m just glad she didn’t walk on anything else with inky paws!

One very good reason to ensure your materials are not toxic to your cats, or yourself.

All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check my Etsy shop or Fine Art America profile to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.