Beginning of Coffee Art

This is the beginning, Andy wanted to impress his girlfriend, Angel. He took her out on a date to a local coffee shop. In turn, Angel wanted to impress Andy with her guitar and singing.  While they were enjoying the coffee shop atmosphere, they eyed the walls adorned with local art.  Andy suggested to Angel, “What would you think of doing an art show together?” Angel thought that it would be really fun, so they asked the owner of the coffee shop if they could exhibit their art. He said that he would have to review their works (to make sure that it wasn’t utter trash) but it would be several months until the next opening.

As long as it would be a while, they wanted to be original and thought about what they would like to create for this exhibition. Since their art would be exhibited in a coffee shop, they thought it would be appropriate for their art to be related to coffee. They thought about drawing with a sharpened coffee bean, but there was not enough ‘tooth’ to the bean and kind of scratched the paper more than leaving a mark. Back to the drawing board, they thought about making pastels and using ground up coffee as a substitute for the pigment. Alas, it was the same result; the pastels were rock hard and did not leave much of a mark on the paper.

Then there was the “Aha!” moment where they knew that coffee stained, and they thought that they could pursue that concept. Angel and Andy brewed up some thick, rich coffee. Andy took out a sheet of watercolor paper and Angel dipped her brush into the cup of dark coffee. She delicately glides the the first brush strokes on paper and it was amazing!

So, in a tiny apartment with a cup of coffee, brush & paper, and two creative minds – Coffee Art® was born!

Above are the photos of the first time Angel and Andy painted with coffee. Apologies for the jittery images, it was a blend of too much caffeine and excitement of what was yet to come.