Coffee Creations art created using only espresso

I just returned from a whirlwind trip to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.  I was invited to the Middle East Coffee&Tea Convention, to share my art and paint some prizes for the barista championship. Here I am lugging my tradeshow booth stuff past the world’s tallest building.

Dubai is a city of skyscrapers, impossible but real islands shaped like palm trees, indoor ski resorts, deserts, horse and camel races, excellent food and more giant malls than any place needs. Here are some highlights: Continue reading…

Here’s the newest painting, soon to be viewable in one of those cool, speedy start-to-finish painting videos.  I bet you could guess that the original artist is Picasso!

Here’s a peek at that original, and the coffee twist…

Vintage Beer Poster

Beer Nouveau

San Diego Beer Fair, here I come!  On September 24th, I’ll be painting live on behalf of Arts ‘n Drafts, Continue reading…

Here is my latest coffee painting, “Destiny”, originally by Waterhouse.  I’ve also painted 2 others by him, “Ophelia’s Last Sip” and “Lady of Chocolat”.  “Destiny” is his title but doesn’t seem very coffee-art-ish.  Suggestions?

I often get asked to do portraits from photographs and never see the people in ‘real life’. Recently, I got to meet this couple in person when they picked up their completed portrait. It was fun to see how the kindness I saw in their eyes while painting them was truly present when we met.

Please email me at coffeepainter@gmail.com if you would like to commission something.  It’s not too early to plan for the holidays!

The Fort George Brewery in Astoria, OR  gave me the pleasure of painting a chalkboard in their tasting room last week.  Astoria is a town of hard-working guys, with lots of fishing and logging.  I worked from a historical photo of loggers in a huge tree (sniff sniff, goodbye lovely tree!) and here they are enjoying beer from the Fort George.

This was part of the Beer Art show on display during August, and here are some paintings I created using their Working Girl Porter and Cavatica Stout as my paint.  If you’re near Astoria on a weekend, stop by the Fort George for some tasty food, beverages, and art!

The Lager Loggers

Bieres de la George, scenes of Astoria and the Brewery inset

Beer Nouveau

Fort George Logo

If you would like an eyeful of puns, check out these articles.  I’m thankful for the publicity and amazed how quickly it can go around the world.

A full page in The Sun, UK!

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I’ve spent most of last year working in my studio instead of out and about in coffeeshops. Recently I discovered the charming shop called Coffee Girl. It’s on a pier overlooking the mighty Columbia River in Astoria. Here’s what I saw as I worked on some new paintings…

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If you will be visiting Astoria, Oregon the next few months, come visit me at one of the Sunday Markets!  I’ll have a Coffee Art booth featuring my usual work, as well as the newest paintings of Astoria town themes.  I’ll also be participating in the Cruise ship markets on May 4-5, 19-2o, and later in September.

What’s the draw to Astoria?  It’s the 200th anniversary of the oldest permanent U.S. settlement west of the Mississippi, and lots of festivities are planned to celebrate it, including Tall Ships sailing.  I love the hilly fishing town at the mouth of the huge Columbia river.  It’s got lots of historical and seaside charm, and beautiful scenery surrounds.  Come see for yourself!

Here’s what Guinness looks like on paper, along with some interesting facts I discovered about one of the world’s most famous brews:

Arthur Guinness first brewed beer in 1759, and there was almost no advertising until the 1930′s.  Despite that, the company had become one of Great Britain’s top three breweries.  But finally the ads did come, and among the most familiar is:

Dorothy L. Sayers, mystery writer and friend of C.S. Lewis, actually sketched the Toucan and worked on the ad campaigns.  I like her books and had no idea she was connected to Guinness!