Off the Wall

I have a soft spot in my heart for coffee. According to some doctors that may be quite true, although they may think the soft spot is in my head. I started drinking coffee when I was thirteen and started working for my dad. He owned a taxicab company in Minot, N.D. and in the summer of 1949 found himself desperately in need of a dispatcher from 1 a.m. to 7 a.m. He called, got me out of bed, and told me he would pick me up in ten minutes.

Fifteen minutes later, barely awake, I stumbled down the stairs of the cab office for my first night of work. I was to earn fifty cents an hour. Wow! Being the sensitive guy he was, my dad shoved a thermos of black coffee, which I'd never tasted, at me and said, "Here. This will help keep you awake." I've been hooked on the stuff ever since. I have enjoyed the taste many ways - hot, iced, lattes, flavored candy, and even Moo-Lattes at the Dairy Queen.

But I never appreciated it hanging on the wall before.

In August, Mary and I took a trip to the north shore to spend a couple days with a friend. We stopped for coffee at The Vanilla Bean, a picturesque little coffee shop in Two Harbors. That's another thing I like: the quaint atmosphere found in many of today's coffee shops. The walls in this particular shop were adorned with over a dozen paintings, all in sepia tones of some tint. Many paintings were wonderfully whimsical and capricious. Others had an appealing spiritual quality. Some even reminded me of Norman Rockwell's Saturday Evening Post covers. Each, in its own way, was wonderful.

We sipped our coffee, charmed by each of these paintings. Finally one of us observed, "You know, they kind of look like they were painted with coffee." Looking more closely and discovering some promotional literature on a counter confirmed that suspicion. We were accidentally attending an informal exhibit by the Coffee Artists.

Andrew Saur and Angel Sarkela-Saur have been painting with coffee for years. And they do it excellently. They "take pride in creating fine art that reflects their interests and ideas," according to the promo bookmark. That same bookmark reminded everyone that "coffee isn't just for sipping anymore."

Angel and Andrew are 28-year-old graduates of the University of Minnesota, Duluth. The specific formula is a professional secret but they mix coffee grounds with various amounts of water to create different shades - brown, tan, amber, beige, or whatever the painting calls for. They paint any color, as long as it's brown.

The artists embrace a broad range of subjects which should appeal to any taste. There are wildlife subjects such as a wolf, an eagle, a bear, a moose, and a chimp. My favorites are their conceptual themes. I bought a ten dollar print called "Enlighten," a flame symbolic of lucidity and hope. There was also one called "Proclamation" which cleverly depicted a man holding his heart in his hands. By cupping his hands and curling his index fingers to represent the arcs at the top, the shape of a heart could be clearly seen in those hands.

I also like their many portraits. Gandalf, the wizard from the Lord of the Rings, really caught my attention, as did an old fisherman and a fiddler. It was in some of the portraits I saw work that reminded me of Rockwell.

Coffee itself, of course, is a major theme in their work. You can even find Santa warming up with coffee before setting out on his night's journey. Scandinavian themes like Viking ships and saunas are an interest of Andrew's. Finally there is a large selection of nature pictures.

All of these can be viewed on line at http://www.www.justcoffeeart.com/. There you will find media clips from around the world as well as a gallery of all their work. There are various newspaper articles from the United States and some from Taiwan, India, Australia, Belgium, and Finland. There's a video clip from Andy and Angel's interview on the Food Network and another from Jason Davis' "On the Road Again" series at KSTP in Minneapolis. Their reputation is already international and, hopefully, growing.

Look them up. You'll like what you see. As for me, I'm kind of a klutz so I'm going to start carrying around a paint brush so next time I spill coffee I'll be ready to see what I can create. Do you think pizza sauce would work?