Coffee Painting

You can have coffee in your cake, coffee in your gelato, and coffee in your wonderfully art deco Miam Miam Mug, but have you ever thought about coffee on your wall? Artists world wide have begun dipping their brushes in coffee and covering their canvases with intricate masterpieces. Coffee painting is not a new art form by any means, but recently it has been sweeping the globe and increasing in popularity. Not only is it appealing to the eye and smells great, it is a great medium for any artist who is looking to try new things.
The art of painting with coffee is known as arfé, which is a combination of the words art and café; but don’t let the cheesy name fool you. Coffee artist from all around are being featured in galleries and on TV, making appearances on shows like Martha stewart, and even sponsored by big names like Nescafe. Paintings by these artists go for hundreds of dollars and are the focus of a lot of international attention. Though there are many people who encounter coffee painting and think that it is nice but dismiss it as a passing fad, painting with coffee is more than just a novelty, to many people it is a genuine art form. Well known coffee artist Amita Chudasama has said, “if some one likes coffee painting only because it is made with coffee …. It would be a great misunderstanding.
So if you are intrigued by this branch of coffee culture and are aching to give it a try, it is simple and easy to do at home. Coffee paint is created simply by adding coffee (usually instant) to water and varying the strength to get different tones. Some even boil the coffee to get the darkest colors possible. From that point all you need is a bit of talent and some watercolor paper to create your own aromatic works of art.

-Aubrey Davis