Exciting news from the
Coffee Artists! ™

August 21, 2005
This past weekend, we were visited by Erkki Määttänen. He is a documentary filmmaker from Finland, and he spent the weekend at our home filming and interviewing us for his current project. Erkki is creating a story about Finnish Americans and about interesting aspects of their lives. For our segment of his documentary, he has about a dozen or so characters that he has been filming, and he chose a still frame from his video. From that still frame, we are creating coffee paintings. The paintings will be an integral part of the documentary. During the interview of each Finnish American, the coffee painting of that character will be shown, and then be transitioned into the video. It will be a new way of our artwork to be shared, and is a great opportunity to be involved in creating this documentary. It is slated to air on YLE Finland television and the other Nordic countries sometime next year. Stay posted as we will add the paintings when they are completed.

August 19, 2005
I had just finished a really nice wood carving for one of my co-workers. He had found this large slab of wood when diving on the South Shore of Lake Superior. When he brought it to the surface, his wife asked 'What in the world are you going to do with that?" He said he didn't know, but thought it was a unique piece of wood. He found out that I did carving and painting as well and asked if I would carve a sign for his cabin out of the wood. I said it would be a fun project and it turned out great. It was quite a time intensive project with the scale of the wood. It measures over four and a half feet wide by almost a foot tall. It took many hours, but it was a lot of fun. Click here to see a larger version.

 

 

 

 

 

August 15, 2005
Today in our local newspaper, we were featured in a nice article talking about our artwork. Here is the article:

EXPRESSION OF ESPRESSO

COFFEE ART:A Duluth couple's paintings are displayed in coffee shops and art galleries around the world.

BY JAKE WEYER
NEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

Coffee.

For many, the word brings to mind the brew's strong aroma, distinct taste, warmth and energizing caffeine.

But coffee is much more than a drink to Angel Sarkela-Saur and Andy Saur. To them, coffee is a form of expression; it is a medium for art.

"You never know what that cup of coffee could turn into," Angel said.

During the past five years, the Duluth couple, both 28-year-old graduates of the University of Minnesota Duluth, have been painting with coffee.

Angel, who works in marketing for Alakef Coffee Roasters in Duluth and Andy, a graphic designer for DSGW Architects in Duluth, mix coffee grounds with various amounts of water to create different shades of brown.

The brewing and mixture process is a bit more complicated than that, the couple said, but they don't want to give away their recipe for painting. They use traditional paint brushes.

The couple's art has been growing in popularity and has been displayed at coffee shops and art galleries throughout the nation and world, including locations in California, Finland, Iceland and Africa. Angel and Andy have also been featured on the Food Network.

Their art will be on display at Vanilla Bean Bakery and Cafe in Two Harbors from Tuesday through Sept. 20.

Angel has a marketing degree and Andy has a degree in graphic design. Both have always been interested in drawing and painting. Andy also creates wood carvings.

In 2000, the couple decided to participate in an art showing at the Duluth coffee shop Beaner's Central, one of their hangouts.

"We wanted to do something different," Angel said.

So, they tried making art with coffee, first trying to draw with coffee grounds. When that didn't work, they mixed coffee with water and tried painting with it.

They brought 30 coffee paintings to the show at Beaner's. All of them sold.

"We had such great support, we thought, 'We've really got a good thing going here,' " Andy said.

The couple have created hundreds of paintings since their first show, usually using coffee from Alakef. There is no brand that is particularly difficult to paint with, they said.

Nature scenes, portraits, depictions of daily life and Scandinavian images are all splashed on canvasses with nostalgic-looking brown, amber and beige hues of coffee. Angel and Andy have strong Scandinavian backgrounds that they often incorporate into their art.

One of Andy's favorite paintings is called "Nordic Storm of Fury," which depicts a wind god blowing a Viking ship across the sea.

Their studio, which is also their guest bedroom, often has several paintings hanging from a line to dry. The studio itself is sponge-painted with espresso.

"The smell was pretty intense in there for the first couple days," Andy said.

Among the paintings hanging in the studio are portraits that people from around the world have requested. Angel and Andy have painted people's friends, relatives and pets.

Ray Mamrak of Clayton, N.J., saw Angel and Andy on the Food Network more than a year ago and requested that his Chihuahua, Rocky, be painted. The coffee colors looked like the colors of his dog, Mamrak said.

Rocky, who was found by Mamrak's son in a landfill five years ago, died shortly before he made the request.

Angel and Andy painted the dog perfectly, Mamrak said, and the painting hangs above his fireplace.

"It's probably the most cherished possession I have," Mamrak said. "You can tell that they really cared when they did this picture."

UMD Vice Chancellor Greg Fox owns four of the couple's paintings.

"To have that kind of talent in the community is just wonderful," Fox said.

Though some of the coffee is pretty thick in areas of pictures that require darker shades, Angel and Andy said they have never had a problem with mold or animals trying to eat their art.

Despite being constantly surrounded by coffee, the couple is not as jittery as might be expected. Andy doesn't even like coffee unless it's loaded with so many other ingredients that he can't taste it.

The couple's Boston terrier, Gidget, was purchased with the money earned at their first show and is quite frisky. One night, the couple dipped Gidget's paws in coffee and let her run around on some paper.

She was so wild afterward that Angel painted a picture of the dog's face to capture the moment.

"We think some of the caffeine soaked into her paws," Angel said.

Gidget has been the subject of several paintings.

Angel and Andy hope to turn their hobby into their full-time job.

"Our goal is to travel the world and paint from our experiences," Angel said.

But the couple said they will always have a home in Duluth.

They said many people have a real connection to coffee and that has helped increase the popularity of their art, but they hope people see more than java smeared on paper.

"We don't want people to think it's just a gimmick," Andy said. "We hope that people don't get too caught up in just the coffee."

And with coffee paintings everywhere, an espresso-painted room, various coffee mixtures on the counter and a rambunctious dog, Angel and Andy manage to maintain a beige carpet with no coffee stains.

August 13, 2005
It was an emotional week for Angel's family this week with the passing of her Grandmother, Virginia Salo. Angel wanted to do something special for the memorial service, and her father. She painted her grandmother's portrait, and it was the centerpiece of the service. We made prints and handed them out after the service and it is a nice way to look at her grandmother and remember her.

Virginia was a huge Minnesota Twins fan. She knew the line up, backwards and forwards. After everyone left the cemetery, we came back and turned on the radio. The Twins were playing and we thought we would spend some time listening to the game with her. It was a special moment.

 

August 8, 2005
This is the strangest incident that has ever happened to me. I have only a short lunch, 30 mins, in the summer. So I ride home on the scooter to let Gidget out and to play with her for a few moments. The wind was really gusty today and blowing with some fierce. I round the corner to the house, and I see shingles flying off my roof!! My jaw drops as I pull into the driveway and two men pop up from the back side roof, tearing it apart. I yell, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!" They told me to cool down and a guy jogs towards me from across the street. He sheepishly introduces himself and the mistake he has made; yes, he was roofing the wrong house!! As my blood pressure simmers down, he shows me the contract he had and it indeed said '2414' and he said that he would not think of charging me for his mistake. He was supposed to be doing 2421, right across the street. He said that even though he was doing this job for free, he is not going to be doing a shoddy job and would treat it like any other of his jobs. He was really embarrassed and he was definitely having a 'case of the Mondays.' Then I ride to Angel's work to tell her all about it. She couldn't believe it! What a strange line of coincidences to make this all happen. We still can't believe that we have a new roof, and the price is right. It is like we had our own Extreme Makeover: Roof Edition.

August 7, 2005
Today at church there was a special service, where our beloved Gidget was able to participate in. It was a 'Blessing of the Animals' service. She truly is a blessing to my family. Angel's grandmother was in the hospital for many weeks, and when we went to visit, we made sure to bring Gidget along. She was such a great comfort and instantly caused everyone in the room to smile when she arrived. Gidget was very good therapy and a good distraction from the seriousness of the illness. Before the service on Sunday, we made one last visit to the hospital, and Gidget curled up in the bed at Angel's grandmother's feet and snuggled in. She provided great love and was very caring. Late, on Sunday night, Angel's grandmother passed away. Her family told us how much Gidget meant to everyone and how she helped us through a difficult time. She definitely is a part of our family and is greatly appreciated.