Coffee Refills

March 18, 2015 by

There seems to be a momentum occurring and I want to align myself to it while it’s moving in such a positive direction. This Coffee-Thing is taking on a life of it’s own. The Art of Coffee at the Coffee Roasters in San Anselmo will end April 8th and on April 10th there will be a new coffee art show at ArtWorksDowntown in San Rafael.

Poster for Gang of Four

Poster for Gang of Four

This show has been arranged by Loring and includes four of the artists from the Abracadabra show—that’s the show that kicked this whole thing off. He’s calling it The Gang of Four and I must admit it is bringing up new thoughts for me. It certainly involves the part of me that is realizing the importance of being involved with other people but the flip side of that visibility is that I might not agree with how I am being represented. The name of the show and the poster created for the show don’t “feel-like-me.” Yet, it is an opportunity that has just landed in front of me to allow a continuing place for my coffee art. I have not reached a personal place where I am driven to hit the street looking for places to show my art. So far that has not been necessary because things just keep coming to me from all kinds of unexpected places. Refills seem to be free. So, for now, I will just sit back and wait for what unfolds next. I do have some fun ideas to experiment with for the next show.

Filed Under: coffee painting, Lingering Logs, San Anselmo

Enough was already Enough!

March 11, 2015 by

I sort of feel like I’m being followed by a flashlight. Every time I pause in gratitude thinking the whole thing has run it’s course the article is exposed in a new place to shock me – yet another Wake-Up. I had no idea this Video attached to he Coffee Painting article.
Even my Horoscope for the day wouldn’t let me hide.
GEMINI. (May 21 – June 20): Your ears must be buzzing. You’re everyone’s favorite topic of conversation and the press is good. It’s a sorely needed vote of confidence.

Do I really look like I'm

It’s Showtime!

As I begin to collect my thoughts with a great desire to just get this over with and go forward I begin to see some of the deeper messages—like the universe is telling me I can no longer hide in my comfort zone of privacy. The origin of Stage Fright must have come from a place like this. I do know that lately I have been experiencing a desire to Join-In more or “Put myself out there”and now it is being forced on me. But it is coming in a way that I have no choice but to enjoy it and grow with it. Glow with it. I feel fortunate for such a lucky break and don’t want it to feel like it’s a bad or scary thing. I need to get comfortable with people looking at me and seeing what I am up to. Someone in my yoga class even posted the article on the main bulletin board in the gym. I was quickly embarrassed and my first reaction was to rip it off the wall. I didn’t. I’m learning.

Filed Under: coffee painting, Lingering Logs, San Anselmo, Video

My 15 Minutes

March 8, 2015 by
The original coffee painting sold a the Abracadabra show and next it because a feature painting for the IJ article.

The original coffee painting sold a the Abracadabra show and next it because a feature painting for the IJ article.

The interview about painting with coffee in the Marin Independent Journal is a Wake-Up call that I could have never imagined. It’s something that would not been in my wildest imagination in the first place. Everything seemed to fall into place out of the blue.  It was all such unfamiliar territory for me  — I didn’t even know how to get nervous about it. The I.J. Lifestyle editor was looking for something interesting to write about and happened to see there was a show of coffee paintings in San Anselmo. She sent an email and asked if “I’d like to chat about it?” The next thing I knew was she wanted to meet me in person at my studio. That alone triggered a major “home-staging” for me. It became an intense organization and inventory of everything I have created a some point in my life and still have on hand. I didn’t know if she would want to see anything aside from Coffee Art. I brought all the coffee to the front-line and the rest of my artwork became classified as my Decaf Art. She arrived and only wanted to see coffee art. She interviewed me for nearly an hour and then took a one minute video of me. I was pleased that her focus was mostly on the painting process and why I like painting with coffee. Two days later a photographer came for photos of me painting and close-ups of my “palette”

Painting with coffee over a pencil drawing. Photo Robert Tong

Painting with coffee over a pencil drawing. Photo Robert Tong

Now it’s all in hindsight but the response has been very positive and I am happy the article was so well written. The big plus is the excitement and interest is seems to be generating for Coffee Painting Workshops. I love how it has inspired some people to be creative.

Filed Under: coffee painting, Lingering Logs, San Anselmo

Victor Hugo and Coffee

March 2, 2015 by

Hugo produced more than 4000 drawings. Originally pursued as a casual hobby, drawing became more important to Hugo shortly before his exile, when he made the decision to stop writing in order to devote himself to politics. Drawing became his exclusive creative outlet during the period 1848–1851.

Victor Hugo used Coffee

Town with tumbledown bridge, 1847

Hugo worked only on paper, and on a small scale; usually in dark brown or black pen-and-ink wash, sometimes with touches of white, and rarely with color. The surviving drawings are surprisingly accomplished and “modern” in their style and execution, foreshadowing the experimental techniques of Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism.
He would not hesitate to use his children’s stencils, ink blots, puddles and stains, lace impressions, “pliage” or folding (i.e. Rorschach blots), “grattage” or rubbing, often using the charcoal from match sticks or his fingers instead of pen or brush. Sometimes he would even toss in coffee or soot to get the effects he wanted. It is reported that Hugo often drew with his left hand or without looking at the page, or during Spiritualist séances, in order to access his unconscious mind, a concept only later popularized by Sigmund Freud.
Hugo kept his artwork out of the public eye, fearing it would overshadow his literary work. However, he enjoyed sharing his drawings with his family and friends, often in the form of ornately handmade calling cards, many of which were given as gifts to visitors when he was in political exile. Some of his work was shown to, and appreciated by, contemporary artists such as Van Gogh and Delacroix; the latter expressed the opinion that if Hugo had decided to become a painter instead of a writer, he would have outshone the artists of their century.

Filed Under: coffee painting

Drawing on Coffee

March 2, 2015 by

I am in the wake of thanking myself for pulling my second Art Show off with acceptable personal success. Whew!  Now I’m waiting for my next Wake-Up call and further direction. I continue to allow coffee to be my guide. Unexpected perks have come with this show. Publicity possibilities are in the air and even a “person of interest”. Now I’m looking for a new more positive definition for Person of Interest because I love the phrase and clearly use it here in a positive context.

Overall the best thing that came from the show was my continuing realization of how fascinated people seem to be with the idea of painting with coffee. They often reach an Aha moment, look at me, and say “Oh, you use real coffee to paint with.” I also continue to clarify the misunderstanding that painting with coffee it is my original idea. I did not dream this up on my own — artists have been painting with coffee for years. My favorite reply is “Victor Hugo painted with coffee” See it for yourself  Victor Hugo Link
The coffee painting excitement that both artists and not-yet-artists are feeling is forcing me to follow up on my thoughts of teaching workshops. I find that a lot of people are afraid of their own creativity and for some reason seeing the possibility of painting with coffee brings a certain creative safety. Coffee is something that is familiar in their lives and somehow that makes it more “user friendly” and they actually want to try it. Their curiosity begins to invite the possibility of experimenting with their own creativity.

Coffee Bean Labyrinth

Coffee Bean Labyrinth

The reception provided a perfect opportunity for me to show my recently completed Coffee Bean Labyrinth. I was a little uncomfortable about showing it because the coffee bean burlap bag I used for the background was given to me from the “other” coffee shop in town. No one noticed and that was just another reminder to me to just leave it alone.

Filed Under: Blog, coffee painting, Lingering Logs

The Art of Coffee

February 25, 2015 by

Show is Still On — The Reception is over. File it | Forget it.

NN Photo

… and she lived happily ever after.

I thought I would write more about the reception because it was such a big deal for me to have it in the first place. It was actually a pretty daring request for me to push because the The Roasters had not had one for any of the previous artists. As the time drew near my boldness came back to bite me and I was a lot more anxious than I was excited. Feelings of regret, worst case scenarios and other uncertainties were allowed to have there way in my head most of the time. What was I thinking?

In hindsight it is now just another reminder for me to try to just let things be and to Trust the process. The reception was fun, well attended and really turned out the way I had hoped it would. The work will be up for another month and a half and I’m anxious to see what new developments arise. If I can just stay out of my own way.

Filed Under: coffee painting, Lingering Logs, San Anselmo, WordPress
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