Kittens and Oil Paint Don't Mix Well

Betty is very curious, as most kittens are. She gets into anything and everything. So why did I think my oil painting would be any different? I painted it as a gift for my mom the other day, and I monitored Betty the whole time I was doing it. She didn't seem to interested in it and I was happy about that.

First, let me say that our apartment is the worse place for painting. There is no room to spread out all my supplies, not a lot of light, and there is no room to put the painting once it is finished (which is bad since oils take a minimum of a week to dry, unlike most other paints). Since Betty didn't seem to interested in it I left it out to dry.

Last night was Clarke's office Christmas party. We had a great time, ate great food, drank great wine and chatted with great people. When we came home we were in a great mood, that quickly changed. I noticed blue paint on the carpet, blue paint on the table, blue paint on the chair, blue paint on a pillow! NO! I was sooo upset. I picked up Betty and saw two of her paws were blue.

Clarke said we could clean it up, but I told him this is oil paint, its not like acrylic, its not water based, it's impossible to get out. He googled it and found that the solvent I use to clean my brushes could be used to clean the carpet. Makes sense, I am so lucky to have a husband who is calm in these situations, unlike me. Since the table and chairs are hard surfaces I could wipe the paint off. So we cleaned up the carpet, wiped off the tables and chairs, and cleaned off a relentless kitty's paws. The pillow is the only thing that was ruined. Since the painting was still wet I blended it back to its original status.

I ended up storing my painting in the back of my CRV, that is the only place it will be safe, that I can think of for now. I guess I need to find somewhere better to paint, and remember that Betty is still a kitten in the future. Sigh.