Meet Kat
Kathryn “Kat” Presnell is the student artist behind Kava Kats.
Her first Kava Kats piece began as a hand drawing for a school screen-printing assignment. The image—two expressive cats, a kava bowl, and “Boone, NC”—became a T-shirt made for Noble Kava before Kat ever worked there.
Then the story took an unexpected turn: a few weeks later, Kat got a job at Noble Kava.
What started as an assignment became a portfolio piece, a relationship, and the beginning of a larger project. Kava Kats now gives Kat a place to document the work she has made, show how it developed, and explore what can grow when creativity meets a real community.
Why “Kat”?
Kathryn goes by Kat, which made Kava Kats feel less like a manufactured brand name and more like a natural signature. The cats are playful, a little strange, and unmistakably hand-drawn. They belong to the same alternative, welcoming world that inspired the project.
What Kat is making
The portfolio begins with:
- The original Kava Kats drawing
- The screen-printing project
- The first T-shirts
- Process photographs and notes as they become available
- A companion dog collection, currently called Kava K9s or Kava Canines
- Future shirt and kava-shell concepts
Work that makes a connection
The story matters because the work did more than earn a grade. It introduced Kat to people, gave them something to respond to, and helped reveal a place where her creativity could be useful.
That is what Kava Kats hopes to keep doing: make something honest, put it into the world, and see what good relationship grows around it.
Contact Kat
Kat’s personal email is private. Use the site’s contact form for portfolio questions, collaboration ideas, corrections, or future merchandise interest.
Next: how Kava Kats started with a screen-printing assignment.