Cat Gets a Feline Facelift

Josh Shalek, a college senior and self-proclaimed “fourth-year freshman” was recently given the opportunity to paint his drawings of cats on the previously bare walls of The Cat in the Cream coffeehouse. To find out a bit more about the man behind the new feline additions to the space, Lucy Roche sat down with Josh to talk about his project.

Lucy Roche: How did you come to paint the cats on The Cat in The Cream’s walls?

Josh Shalek: When I was a freshman, there was a painting of a somewhat demonic-looking cat behind the stage in the Cat in the Cream. It got painted over in the first few weeks of school. Thus began my four year odyssey…actually, I was sketching late one night this year and drew a cat that I liked. Soon afterwards, I was introduced to someone on the Cat in the Cream staff and I asked her, in passing, whether the Cat staff members wanted a picture there anymore. I submitted a bunch of cat pictures over last semester and then painted four of them during Winter Term.

LR: Is there a story or process which led to these particular cats? Do they have names?

JS: I didn’t name the cats because I wasn’t sure that they would be used. When I was painting them, their personalities came through their poses. I like the big one because he’s just dangling there above the stage. I also like the look on the face of the cat that is to the right of the front door.

LR: I really love the one above the fridge because of it’s bewildered look. It reminds me of my cats — they are often confused.

JS: Yeah, they all look fairly contented and I’m glad of that. I kind of went crazy with the tails — I liked having their long tails flowing all over the place.

LR: What was the process of painting them like? How did you do it?

JS: First I took the drawings I did — from my sketchbook — and copied them onto transparencies. It was great to do it over Winter Term because I borrowed a projector and traced them up on the walls in one day. I painted, loosely following my penciled lines. By that time, I really knew those cats because it was the third time I’d drawn them.

LR: Did you have help?

JS: No, I was a lone gunman. I was in the Cat in the Cream for hours at a time communing with the walls. I listened to 98.5, Cleveland’s classic rock station. It was very cool to be in there alone — it’s a place I’m so used to seeing packed with people.

LR: How do you feel your cats fit into the space?

JS: Well, I picked black and white for the cats so they wouldn’t distract too much from the performers on stage. One detail I like is how the cat in the far back corner is being stared at by the guitar player from the existing mural.

LR: What other outlets do you have for your drawing?

JS: I draw a comic for the Review. I guess with this interview this issue will be “Josh-heavy.” The comic is called “Atticus and Glen.” It’s got a wise squirrel, Atticus, who’s alternately helping and mocking a somewhat naïve boy, Glen.

LR: How long have you been doing that?

JS: I’ve been doing it since my freshman year and I got it in the paper my sophomore year.

LR: So this spring, graduation will mark the end of those characters living in the Review, will they continue on beyond your college years?

JS: Yeah, this will be my last with that strip. I probably won’t continue with those characters — they’re too rooted in Oberlin. As a kind of farewell to those characters, I’ve drawn a comic book with Atticus and Glen in it as my Winter Term project this year, in addition to the Cat in the Cream cats.

LR: How do you feel about leaving behind this bit of your creative self in the Cat in the Cream?

JS: I jokingly refer to it as my legacy. I’m just glad to have had the chance to leave something so tangible to the school. It’s also good proof that I did, in fact, attend a college.

LR: Do you like cats in general?

JS: Yes, I do. I’ve had three cats in my life; my current cat, Hobbes, is probably sleeping on my bed in Arizona as we speak. Cats are great.

LR: Yeah, much better than say, hamsters.

JS: Yes. Hamsters are the substitute pet. They’re just a last resort pet, if your mom won’t let you have a cat.

LR: Well, thanks for sitting down and talking to me.

JS: You’re welcome, and thank you for the free Juicy Juice.