Just Coffee Art | Announcements

Deember 17, 2005
The holidays are just coming up way too fast, and it is that time of year again for our annual Christmas card design. Angel and I have been designing our own cards since we have been together. Since we are both artistic, this is a fun project that we look forward to, and share with people. Here is a look at this years card:

This card celebrates our gnome carving, starálfur.

The Christmas Card 2004 card celebrates the construction of our new sauna.

Our Christmas Card 2003 is the first Christmas together as a married couple. We thought it would be fun to be penguins.

This is our Christmas Card 2003. This is the year we brought Gidget into our lives, and she was the focus of card.

The Christmas Card 2001 is still our favorite. It is a great image and is very special as our first card together.

December 12, 2005
Today we went for a hike in the woods near my folk's place. It has become a tradition to find our tree from this special place. After some searching, we found our tree. We brought it home, and as we were decorating it, we felt a little sad. It was such a nice little tree, and we took it down. Angel and I are going to start a new tradition this Spring. We are going to plant trees to replace the ones that we have harvested for our use.

December 7, 2005
Now that it is winter, I am really starting to miss my summer mode of transportation. I have driven my scooter to work every day in the summer for the three years that I have had it. Angel has a matching one that she rides to work as well. They are so much fun to ride, parking was never a problem, and could fit in tight spaces in traffic. Now that we have to drive our car because of the snow and cold, I really appreciate my scooter. Here is a quick study of my scooter:

December 6, 2005
Angel just finished this fun painting. Angel captures the moment when we come home and our little Gidget is so excited to see us, she runs to us, stands on her hind legs, and waves her front paws back and forth! She is so excited to see us and this is how she greets us every time, she is the sweetest.

December 5, 2005
Today we were featured on the Dunkin‘ Donuts website, talking about our coffee art:

Yes, coffee is a workable, wonderful medium to create art that has the patina of fine sepia prints and the nuances of fine watercolor. It is great for portraits, still lifes, and landscapes. Minnesota artists Andrew Saur and Angel Sarkela-Saur have refined the medium to, well, an art!

Click here to read the full article.

December 2, 2005
We just got back from our family Thanksgiving vacation in Paris. It was a wonderful time. Here are some highlights from our holiday:

Saturday
We arrive at Charles de Gaulle mid morning, and it was quite chilly, 35 degrees and heavy fog. Our transport has arrived to take us to our resort. We are staying at the Marriott Village d'Ile-de-France, not too far away from Disneyland Paris. The family settles in an scopes out the place. After a while, we go over to a nearby mall to check things out and for a bite to eat. We return early and plan out our week in Paris.

Sunday
We slept in for a little bit to try to acclimate to the time zone difference. We then took the train to Paris. It is quite the long haul, about forty five minutes one way. Our first stop of the day was the Centre Pompidou. The architecture was really unique and the artwork inside was even more impressive. One of the collections currently on show were works from the Dada period. Being a graphic designer, it was really interesting to see the genesis of graphic design. Other works we took notice were Picasso’s and Warhol’s.

Then we headed out on the streets of Paris, making our way towards Notre Dame. Along the way, we stopped for a bite to eat at one of the thousands of cafes in Paris. It was our first family meal in Paris, and it was quite nice to experience the café atmosphere.

After our late lunch, we arrive at Notre Dame. We tour though the inside and marvel at the stained glass and the scale of the whole cathedral. It cost 7 € to climb hundreds of stairs to the top of Notre Dame, but it was worth the view. Just the 7 € was worth to see the gargoyles!

As evening drew near, my mother and sister wanted to have dinner at their favorite Paris restaurant, les fêtes galantes. It was a fantastic meal, truly an authentic French cuisine. Angel and I tried escargot for the first time. We were curious about it, and we were delighted with the taste. My sister on the other hand, did not care for the texture. I had delicious breaded veal for the main course and a sorbet for dessert.

Monday
Angel, my brother and I headed to the Louvre this morning. Going in, we knew that we only wanted to see the highlights, and didn’t want to get overwhelmed with the massiveness of it all. But, before we entered the Louvre, we saw two maintenance workers come out of a manhole. They start pushing each other, and then start punching each other in a full out rage. They fall to the ground, while still beating each other senseless. We were in shock, and a couple of men run across the street to break it up and cars are stopping, honking their horns to call attention to the fracas. It is broken up. But when we were inside the Louvre an hour later, we came to a window looking across where the brawl took place. We saw one worker come out of the manhole, and place the cover on hole. We sure hope that his coworker wasn’t still down there.,,,

The Louvre is just huge. We checked out the Winged Victory, the Venus de Milo, and finally the Mona Lisa. There sure is a lot of hype over this little painting. Photos were not allowed of her, and security guards made sure that no one took photos. I had my sister’s digital camcorder with because she wanted a shot of the Mona Lisa for the French class she teaches. Angel and I make our way to the head of the crowd and I take the lens cap off the camcorder. Meanwhile security guards are eying up my brother because he was reviewing his shots of previous artwork on his camera. So, I held her camera near my waist and I take my shot, getting several seconds of the painting. No one knew, including Angel!

After the Louvre, we had a nice little lunch at a café across the street. We explored the side streets and checked out the quaint boutiques along the way. We meet up with the folks and call it a day.

Tuesday
Today, the family is going to Versailles. My parents have checked it out a couple of times, and were more content to checking out other sites in town. We took a guided tour through the palace and was very informative. It was very interesting to see all the details of the rooms, secret passages, and the history of the kings. Part of the tour included a view of the opera house. It was spectacular with ornate decorations and the ability to transform the stage and seating into a majestic ballroom.
The biggest disappointment of Versailles was that the Hall of Mirrors was under restoration and everything was covered with scaffolding. We could only see just a small section that was not covered by the scaffolding.

After the tour, we met up with the folks and we went to a little café as my sister and mother looked at a wedding dress store nearby. The café was also a bakery and it was a feast for the eyes as well. All the baked goods in the display cases were works of art in themselves. It was a difficult decision to make on which ones we wanted to try!

It was a long haul to get there, two hours each way from our resort. It was a long, but enjoyable day.

Wednesday
Our first stop of the day was Sacre Coeur. It very beautiful and very large. While we were there, a service was just beginning and the nuns were singing. It was lovely.

After we spent some time there, we explored Montmatre and the artist’s quarter. Being artists ourselves, we were really excited to see what local artists were up to. We saw some really nice works.

Since we were in the neighborhood, we had lunch at the Cafes des Deux Moulins where the movie ‘Amelie’ was filmed. It was charming and was recognizable that it was indeed the café from the movie, with some slight alterations.

After lunch, we headed down and Angel had her photo taken in front of the Moulin Rouge. We continued to explore the area, and headed out to the large shopping area and to the Primtemps where my sister was looking for her wedding dress. While at Versailles yesterday, she saw the wedding she wanted. Here at Primtemps, she saw the same dress and decided it was the one for her. She looked lovely and made a great choice.

Outside Primtemps, the window displays were just spectacular! Each window was a scene that included music, a setting, and moving puppets. Each window drew large crowds and they were so fun to watch. Special platforms were specifically built for children so they could view it easily and enjoy the window scenes.

Thursday
Today is Thanksgiving and our first stop of the day was the Arc de Triomphe. For 8€, we hiked to the top of the Arc for views around Paris. It was quite the haul to get up there! The views were fantastic and could see for miles. It was really fun to see all the cars circle the Arc and how all the cars meandered their way around without causing an accident. It was particularly fun to watch the little SMART cars drive around. They really looked like toys on the streets. I want one!

After the Arc, we headed down the Champs Elysées to find a good place for lunch. We walk all over the place and our feet were quite tired. We ended up going to the Charlie Birdy. It was really good. I had the salmon for the entrée and a mango puree for dessert.

Then we explored the Champs Elysées for a while; stopping in stores to warm up. We meet up at McDonald’s and make our way over to the Eiffel Tower. We take the metro over and soon we were there. My goal for this trip was to get our family photo taken in front of the Eiffel Tower, or at least have it in the background. Everyone had their own idea of what the composition of the photo would be, and it was frustrating. I was running out of daylight, and the shots I had in mind weren’t working out. I just had to remember that we were all together on Thanksgiving. After we took the photo, we headed up to the top of the Eiffel. It was near sunset and soon the City of Light was shining. It was wonderful. We had our dessert of crèpes and hot chocolate. It was a memorable Thanksgiving.

Friday
Today, we went to the Musee d’Orsay. Angel and I were really looking forward to this museum. We were anticipating seeing the great Impressionist works, and we were not disappointed. It was incredible to see the Monet’s, Manet’s, Van Gogh’s and Degas’ in front of us. It was magnificent to see these works up close.

After the museum, we headed back up to Montmatre to see if we could snap some more reference photos for future coffee art subjects. We think we have a nice collection, and be sure to check back with our ‘Paris Café Collection.’

Saturday
It is the day we are returning home, but the snow is really starting to fall! We arrive at Charles de Gaulle early because of the bad weather. We do some last minute shopping at the Duty Free shop and board the plane. We wait and wait, but we are not backing out of the terminal. The pilot announces that we are waiting in line for deicing, so it might be a while. Over an hour later, the pilot come back near the wing, and opens the door to inspect the wing, there was no ice. So, we depart after a lengthy delay. We arrive into Detroit just as our connecting flight home was leaving. The ticket agents were scrambling to make arrangements to get everyone to their destinations. The line was pitifully slow, and then a dead halt. Then people back in line would go up to the ticket counter and start complaining, and they would get service. While those of us patient enough waiting in line, we were left behind. This was not good. We were the last ones to be helped, and we had to spend the night in Detroit. After being on the plane for ten hours, we just wanted to be home, and staying in Detroit did not sound appealing. But what can you do?

Sunday
We were placed in a hotel five minutes away from the airport and we arrive back to the airport first thing in the morning. We catch a flight to Minneapolis and then we were supposed to connect a flight to Duluth. At Minneapolis, it is really foggy, but airplanes were able to land. The layover was only an hour, and we board our last flight home. But déja vu, we are waiting on the plane, but we’re not going anywhere. The airport in Duluth is fogged in, and we learn that all flights were cancelled for the day. To add more misery, we had to rent a car and drive our exhausted selves two and a half hours north in hazardous conditions. At one point, the fog was so bad, we could see only 5-7 feet in front of us. Talk about scary! We just wanted to be home, and finally after much delay, we in the comforts of our home. Now, I just need a vacation from this vacation.