Portland, OR -- How do you encourage a cat to paint? Slop a mixture of tuna juice, milk, cornstarch and food coloring on its paws and let it walk all over some canvas.

That's the technique employed by the folks at the Oregon Humane Society Cattery in Portland, who have their homeless kitties produce paintings for an annual art auction that's known as "Pawspectives: Feline Artists Express Themselves."

More than 70 cat-created paintings and 70 clay tiles will be on sale at this year's event June 3, which is also meant to encourage art lovers to adopt one of the furry "artists in residence" at the shelter.

Event organizer Kathy Covey says the artworks are definitely in the "expressionist" school and include movements like the paw-based "Pitter Pat" and "Swish and Swat," which uses the tail as a paint brush too.

It all sounds pretty silly, but the art is serious for some collectors. Paintings can sell for as much as $500.

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