Latest / Coffee People Podcast / S5:E7 - Karen Eland, Coffee Painter

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S5:E7 - Karen Eland, Coffee Painter · Coffee People Podcast

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Hey, good morning everyone. Welcome to season 5 episode, 7
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of the roast West Coast coffee podcast.
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I'm Ryan Wilt. And this is the show where I
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bring you the stories of coffee professionals entrepreneurship
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and coffee education. Today we are moving into coffee
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industry adjacent. Jason territory.
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You are about to hear my interview with Karen
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zealand-based up in Bend Oregon. Karen is a painter, an artist
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who uses coffee more, specifically espresso, as her
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paint. She also paints with beer and
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sometimes I think even actual paint, if you want to check out
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some of her art while listening to the show, follow at Coffee
0:51
painter on Instagram, right away while you're there.
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You might as well follow at roast West Coast to After
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booking Karen do appear on this podcast, I realized that since I
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had never interviewed an artist on this show before I had no
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idea what I should ask her. I couldn't fall back onto some
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of the standard questions that I asked most of my guests.
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So I got a cup of coffee from Cafe latarian Solana Beach and
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scrolled, through galleries of Karen's artwork until I had made
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enough notes to follow through with this show.
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Once I realized that most of this podcast is talking to show
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guests about what inspires their passions.
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It was pretty easy. If you're out there thinking,
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dang, Ryan, just get to it. I've already filled my coffee
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mug to the top. You are in luck because it is
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time for this conversation with Karen.
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Eiland, the coffee painter. It's nice to meet you.
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Any questions from you before we get started?
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Now I just say Jump Right In. All right, we'll Jump Right In,
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welcome to the roast West Coast coffee podcast.
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I really appreciate you being here.
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If you wouldn't mind just saying kind of your name, what you do
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for a living, you know. And if you have a favorite cup
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of coffee, maybe what it is. My name is Karen Eland and I
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paint with coffee or beer as my paints and probably my favorite
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cup of coffee. Right now is for my good old
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Aeropress like to make a little arrow press every morning and
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you're up in Oregon I believe and right.
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Yeah. Do you have a favorite local
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coffee shop? Or a local coffee roaster up
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there. There's probably like 10
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favorite ones here with an amazing amount of really good
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coffee roasters. So I used to work at one called
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back porch. And I still love their coffee.
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Then there's spoken Moto, which is a motorcycle and coffee shop,
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and they have some good stuff and probably another one, I go
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to a lot as called Lone Pine. Wow, that's so funny.
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I have been to all three of those coffee shops.
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Oh, really? I have a, I have a, I have a
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spoken Moto and a Lone Pine sticker.
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I think on my car right now. Well, then, you know what I'm
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talking about? I'm really excited to chat with
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you. You about painting with coffee
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and beer. I came from a background so that
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was exciting to. But before I do that, I want to
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just ask you about your past experiences with coffee.
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Is it just a medium you use for our tour?
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I mean obviously, you drink coffee but kind of what got you
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started. You have a first memory of
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coffee that that stands out? Yeah, I my first memory is
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probably a smell of my grandparents making coffee.
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My parents never drank it for some reason.
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They stand like it, my mom's a tea lady.
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And then I didn't, I don't even think I had any coffee in my
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life until I moved to New Orleans when I was like 19 and
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the cheapest thing you could do to hang out in this one place
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with all the people I wanted to be with was get a dollar a cup
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of coffee. So I would dump nutmeg and sugar
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and cream in there until I got used to it and then I kind of
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gradually got more and more into like espresso and just liking
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the pure deal. I think in New Orleans, if I'm
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not mistaken chicory in coffee, is kind of a big thing.
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Yeah, yeah. I kind of developed a taste for
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that while I live there. Yeah, I'm gonna have to Google
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that and get a, little more background on it.
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You're in New Orleans and I be honest with the listener, I did
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a little bit of reading, a little back story, but I wonder
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if you could share with us kind of what inspired you to even
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consider using coffee or beer at some point to paint with in the
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first place. Well, I so I started drinking
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coffee in New Orleans and also a my painting.
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I start painting in a coffee house there.
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And at the time I was just doing watercolor.
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So I didn't think of the coffee thing until I actually moved
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back to Oklahoma Tulsa where I grew up and I was sitting there
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painting a watercolor at the Espresso Bar.
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My friend is working. I'm just chit-chatting watching
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the coffee pouring out of the machine and I was like, that's a
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pretty color brown, maybe you could paint with It stains
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things and my friends like, why don't you try it?
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And that's the simple. As it was, I just took some from
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him and started sticking my paintbrush in there and trying
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it out on my watercolor and it worked.
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And I kind of kept, I was like what?
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If it was the only paint, not just the watercolor.
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So I did want to just straight coffee and it's made me want to
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keep going. Did it?
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Click that quickly where you thought?
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This is kind of what I'm going to do that.
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I'm going to just be a coffee. Be painter or was it like?
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Oh this is an interesting thing. I'm going to put in my toolbox
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of artistic skills here and keep pursuing our as a general
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following, I would say it intrigued me enough right away
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to want to do. So I did just like a doodle of
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an eye kind of my go-to doodle painting, and I was like this
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looks pretty good. I mean, it can do the different
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levels of shading and the colors pretty brown.
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And so I decided, oh, I'm gonna do a real painting, which was
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Movies, that everybody knows the Mona Lisa.
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So and then it immediately struck me like well I could make
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her holding a cup of coffee and it'll be like this cheesy play
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on the Mona Lisa. And that was actually my first
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like full coffee painting to do. And it I did it mostly right
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there in the coffee shop. So people were watching
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occasionally and encouraging me and just being really into it.
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So I was like, maybe this could become a real thing and there's
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so many classic paintings that you could do with a coffee.
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Stand. So, I wasn't thinking of it in
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terms of financial career or anything.
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At the time, it was more, just like, I want to explore this
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further. That's another question.
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I guess, as an artist at that time, were you pursuing art as
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your career? Or is there like an alternate
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universe somewhere where Karen like Works in a bank?
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For example, or huh? No, good for anybody.
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But I worked at the time I was actually working as a banquet
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Ver down the street at the Marriott hotel and they had
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asked me to do somehow. It came out that I was an
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artist. Also, and I was painting some
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large backdrops for some of their, Banquets and starting to
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do more art stuff, but it was still like a, I'm doing a couple
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things at once and so I don't know if I had ever done art
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full-time at that point yet, but it was always something in the
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background for me, doing a lot of portraits that kind of thing,
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and you're still relatively young at this.
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Ain't ya to bring to New Orleans but I think early 20s, probably,
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yeah, yeah, this was an occluded, my age.
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This was in like 97 98 when I was exploring the coffee thing
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and starting to make prints eventually, starting to make
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prints and sell those. And sure, I think about it that
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way, just because when I was in my at that same roughly, the
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same period of time, I was working as a banquet server, had
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a Ramada, Inn And then and then actually at a Holiday Inn at one
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point it. But I was also trying to figure
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out my own path. I was finishing up school and
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doing all these other things and it always felt like, okay.
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There's the thing that I do, that's for me.
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And there's nothing that I do. That pays rent and those things,
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haven't overlapped yet. Yeah.
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As you are working and getting interested in coffee, you've
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completed your Mona Lisa which kind of feels like you've
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already. Hit the Pinnacle like
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everything. Clear on, right?
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Going to be easier, but you're learning how to use coffee.
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Like, there's a growing period of like, how does this work?
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So, I'm wondering a little bit about coffee as a medium.
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Like do some brands of coffee work better like instant versus
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in craft, you know, what are the challenges and disadvantages of
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using coffee? I definitely had a little bit of
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a learning curve. My friend, that was the Barista
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at that very first moment. I thought it was like, why don't
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you try the grounds? Why don't you try?
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You know, drip coffee, I want you to try this espresso and we
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were just like going for it right then and almost right
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away. I preferred the espresso itself
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because the density of the color and just maybe the oils that it
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brings through and I don't know. So I kind of quickly left the
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other stuff aside. I know there's a ton now of
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coffee artists that use instant coffee around the world.
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I've seen a lot of work. I've Not actually played with
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that. I've just preferred to use
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espresso that I would enjoy drinking.
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I mean, honestly, it's in a went in a way it's kind of sad.
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It's like, oh it's too good and no no one got to taste it, but
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the quality of it comes through. There has been some I've tried
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that Fades into a weird dull color.
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I don't know why I kind of avoid those one, you know, those shops
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are those ones. And so I found a few, some of
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the shops I named is where I and there's also one more name
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palette, which Is Kovac coffee and Cove is great for paint.
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So I use a lot of that in my current work.
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Yeah. I think if I remember eye
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palette is kind of like, in a purple house with a nice big.
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A deal out front. Yeah, I really like Bend.
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So I'm for my own the coffee shops there.
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Yeah. So does that mean you're pulling
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espresso every time you want to paint or you're going to a
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coffee shop? Only to paint.
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How does this work? I go.
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I'm at used to paint more, right in the shop.
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And then it and That's back when I lived in Oklahoma.
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And it was just that kind of a shop where it was like everyone
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hanging out. There's by a college, you know,
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it wasn't too weird to be doing that and taking up a table
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eventually, I find I like to do it at home.
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So I'll go to palette or to wherever and be like, I need 10
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shots and just take a couple of them home and sometimes if you
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go to a new shop and ask them that they're like, oh my gosh,
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what are you doing? But I take that home and then
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sometimes I'll boil it down a little so that it gets even
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thicker and I can do the dark. Parts faster.
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Sometimes I'll use just straight the way it comes.
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So as an artist, then you're thinking dark to light as far as
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how like the process of building your painting.
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Well, not necessarily it's more like a watercolor which you do
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like too dark traditionally. I've just gotten used to using
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it and I have certain things that I do dark to light.
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I don't know how to explain. It's just intuition.
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I'm going to do this part dark first and, or if I'm doing a
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portrait, or an animal or anything, I always start with
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the eyes because I like to just do them the best and see them
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looking back at me while I finish the rest of it.
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So that would be starting with the dark pupil and then doing
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around. So it's kind of depends on the
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painting. But generally I'm more of a
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light going toward the dark. How long from the time that you
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dip your, your paintbrush, say, into the espresso or into the
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coffee that you've done and you start working on the paper, I
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have Will experience in are not nothing.
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That would make me have any intelligence about it all, but
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I'm wondering once you start working, how long do you have to
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play with what you're doing? On the page before, coffee sets,
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or dries or like watercolor paint?
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You have some flexibility there. I'm wondering a coffee response
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the same way. It's fairly similar to a
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watercolor the way I use it. Anyway, water color will stay
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set and you can go back over it. And you don't have to worry.
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A about messing up the previous layers, whereas coffee, you can
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get it back off by pushing too hard on the subsequent layers.
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So you either can use that to your advantage or you have to be
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very careful because it will disturb the previous layers.
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So that's something that I've learned to deal with over time.
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It's different. What about are generally
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speaking? Like forgetting about coffee
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are, what kind of sucks you down this path as an artist and what
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kind of got you started in the first place or inspired?
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Pursue it and you know how did you end up to be that person who
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was like, oh I'm going to try this new coffee art concept.
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I wouldn't say I was a desperately.
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I've got to be an artist kind of a kid.
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I always liked drawing, but I like 15,000 other things and I
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remember we had dress up like what you want to be in third
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grade. And at the time, I was like, I
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have a little Beret and I have knickers, like those pants, you
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know, that went down to your knees and for some reason, I
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thought artists or those. So it's I guess we'll just dress
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up like an artist and that's what I ended up being.
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Which was funny to me later because, you know, I didn't
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really it sort of feels like, I accidentally became an artist
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because I really could have been so many other things due to my
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interests. But I'm glad I'm glad it worked
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out this way. It's more fun that that leads us
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back to that question of at what point did you see it?
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Say to yourself you know maybe I don't have to be the banquet sir
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Her anymore. Maybe this is a career and this
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people are willing to pay me for this coffee art.
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Yeah, it was a surprise too. At the people's response you
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know just oh my gosh you should make cards or mugs, or this, or
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that and if the time hadn't really thought about it and
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luckily my cousin is way more business-minded.
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And he at the time was like at the time it was used to go get
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lithographs made like it was not the print-on-demand world we
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have now. So it was kind of a big
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investment to take four of my top.
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We had a big party at the shop and coffee shop with our display
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and like everyone vote on the piece you want to.
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To see turned into a print. And so the top four ones we went
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to a big shop and had them do a print run of like I draw I
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forget even now how many each and then that was what we're
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going to start selling. So that kind of made it seem
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real to me like oh my gosh. Now we have to sell this stuff
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and my cousin's in on it with me.
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I'm not just alone painting and I don't know it.
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It was a rock Rocky start. I wouldn't say it was like oh,
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we sold him out the first day but it got me focused on I want
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to do this, this isn't done yet like this is more than just
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something to play with and it kind of gave me the impetus to
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really pursue whatever it took to make it make it more
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available to people. And I would say a big
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breakthrough. We would go to like the sca a
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trade show a couple years in a row and I made some good
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connections there and at wondering what your I could
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remember what it was. I don't know.
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Two thousand five or seven or Somewhere in there.
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We were at one of those and diagonal from us was David
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shomers Booth from espresso Vivace.
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And I was familiar with him from being a barista and watching his
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videos on how to do latte art and all that.
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And so I was like, oh my gosh, he's a superstar and he's like
15:59
right there. And meanwhile he's looking back
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at me and like what's this art thing and he comes over to talk
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to me and I'm just like, yeah. You know, we had no idea that I
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knew who he was, I guess, but he was just saying, We're building
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these new cafes and we'd love to have your work as a mural in he
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named a figure. And I about fell on the floor
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with like, okay, this is a valuable skill I have and he
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wants to purchase it. And so we made that happen and I
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went on to do like another whole shop for him and that was
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probably the real boost to my career in coffee art.
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I would say that's a miracle. I mean, you're scaling up from a
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Small Grant to say small. I mean, eight by ten, or even
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twenty by twenty four. So I think that how do you scale
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this up? I mean, you mentioned, you go to
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you, go to a shop and get like 10, espresso shots, I'm
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imagining like paint buckets, full of espresso shots for a
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miracle, but, you know, how did that process work with that
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first one had, did you have experienced painting murals
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before that? Because it's a different type of
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thinking. I'm just thinking about it
17:04
allowed. You know, like thinking on a
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grander scale than what's right in front of your, you're
17:10
visually. Yeah.
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It's In some ways, it's very, I had done your old before like
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for the Marriott hotel at these, they were on canvas.
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But they were like 10 feet tall, you know, big, big paintings and
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my tendency is to go super real and get involved in all the
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details and it's just sort of, okay?
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You have to turn that part down a little and focus on bigger
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brushes and bigger paint strokes and all that and it can still
17:36
look realistic without being like, super nit picky.
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So, I was a little bit used to doing that, and then with his
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particular design, Was actually done in panels so I didn't have
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to come up with one you know 24-foot scene.
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He had very specific ideas of like this piece and so I could
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do it on a maybe five foot wide piece of paper that was 34 feet
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tall and that was a little more manageable with the way I had to
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do it on paper and then mount it to the wall later.
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So it was a little different than a traditional mural in that
18:06
sense, but it was just large and a lot of panels that added up to
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a mural I mean it's just such a cool thing her your and I'm kind
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of just talking to the listener here for a second, but if you go
18:19
in like your Etsy page, which I'll link to in the show notes
18:22
and again on our newsletter that goes out, you have one for
18:25
coffee painter and one for beer, painter on Etsy, but the
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paintings are quite intricate. Some of them and you do a lot of
18:33
kind of your own variants on some famous paintings, or famous
18:36
scenes as well. And so to think about it on a
18:40
such a large me. Full-scale, I mean, when you say
18:43
five feet wasn't that big to me, that seems huge.
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You know, in the few painting classes that I've taken like
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eight-by-ten was like where my brain maxed out.
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So, yeah, this is just such a cool way of thinking.
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At some point you start working in beer.
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How did, where did that come from?
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Was it just kind of like the natural progression of like,
19:03
what other liquids can I paint with?
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Or was there a motivator for that?
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Yeah, it was just kind of thinking after Gosh had been
19:12
almost 10 years of painting with just coffee.
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And of course I'd hear, you know, various art shows or
19:17
thing, have you tried this? Have you tried that and and I
19:20
hadn't in. I didn't I was just kind of busy
19:23
with coffee thing. And then I moved to bend and
19:27
bend had at the time, I think the most per capita breweries of
19:31
any town in America. So there was breweries
19:33
everywhere. And bend is actually where I
19:37
first started to enjoy beer itself because in before I just,
19:41
I had like one If some normal beer and I just was like that, I
19:45
don't like it. And then I moved here and it was
19:47
like, oh, I hadn't tried really good, craft beer and of course,
19:50
wouldn't, you know, I have like craft expensive taste.
19:53
So as I tried beer, that was more of my radar and then I
19:58
started noticing they do Porters and Stouts are almost the exact
20:02
color of the espresso and they even mix espresso in him some
20:06
time. So I just tried it out and it
20:08
worked almost the same way as coffee.
20:10
It's Stickier, you know, more like when you dry it up.
20:15
It's more like a syrup and that can be annoying at times, but
20:18
it's also it, it still works as a paint.
20:22
So I started doing that and various breweries in town done
20:27
some work for them and got to go to England, one time for a beer
20:32
company like to do a live painting as kind of like an
20:35
interactive ad experience and it's yes just it's open some
20:39
really fun doors. How did these businesses find
20:43
you to do this commercial work? I mean, is it just Google
20:46
searching or are you actively going out saying?
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Hey, I do this, you know, check it out.
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I am not very ProActive at knocking on door, so I would say
20:57
I'm just grateful that people know how to search on Google and
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I happen to show up somehow and yeah, one of them was an ad
21:04
agency in London that was looked at did alternative types of ads.
21:09
And so people that painted with stuff, They found me and that's
21:13
how that kind of happened. And yeah, I think it's I've
21:18
asked a few places or mention like, hey, I do this if you need
21:22
anything. But honestly most of its come
21:24
through word of mouth or just through someone finding me,
21:27
somehow you mentioned kind of in the late 90s, kind of getting
21:32
into this in the very beginning somehow we are in the 2020s, it
21:40
happened really fast. Just yeah, I very clearly.
21:43
Remember the late 90s most of it.
21:47
Anyways, what have you kind of learned about the business side
21:50
of this? Because I feel like art artists
21:53
in general or writers or now podcasters or whatever you know
21:57
you and I should ask. Did you go to school for art?
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No, I actually didn't. So it's just I took a portrait
22:05
painting class when I was 15 at an art store and it was
22:08
phenomenal. It was really helpful.
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That was kind of all I've had a professional training or any of
22:14
that. Well then this this may not
22:17
directly apply but I felt like when I came out of out of school
22:21
high school or college for that matter I knew a bunch of things
22:24
but I didn't have practical. Yeah knowledge and how to make
22:28
those reality or how to make a career out of the things I
22:31
wanted to do. What have you kind of learned
22:33
about the business side of being an artist since you've been in
22:36
it now for for some time, I would say, I still have a lot to
22:40
learn what I've been very grateful.
22:45
I feel like sometimes when I look back at this so it has been
22:49
going on for that long. Like I've made ends meet and I'm
22:52
not I could never teach a course on how to be a business artist.
22:56
Like I'm just in awe. That one thing has led to
23:00
another to the such degree that I'm supporting myself.
23:03
Honestly, I have learned. It's one thing.
23:08
I wish all artists of every shape.
23:10
Would hear more is go. Get yourself an accountant or a
23:15
tax person and like, don't try to do all that yourself.
23:18
Like I was always trying to pinch pennies and like will have
23:21
to do my taxes all by myself and then I would have to file for an
23:24
extension every year because I'm hate that stuff and I don't do
23:28
it on time and bulb and so it was so much stress every year.
23:33
It's like, why did I not just spend a little bit of money for
23:38
Help in this area and save myself that much drama.
23:41
So, that kind of thing or it's more like you don't if you're
23:44
not gifted in business, like partner up with someone who is
23:48
and and don't try to do it all. And yeah, that would be one.
23:53
One thing other things. As I've, I've gotten to know
23:57
some other artists in town that are really successful in kind of
24:00
gleaned from them. Like, oh they, I'm trying to
24:04
think specific little details just in really sad.
24:08
It'll details like, beef up your Instagram, a little more or
24:11
don't be afraid to take an inspiration trip and and just do
24:16
that, you know, or Cashman hard time being specific.
24:21
No, that's right. I think that I think it is hard
24:23
because I think especially as an independent Creator.
24:27
So for me, I have this show and I also wrote a book and publish
24:31
it last year. Hmm.
24:33
I didn't know how to get that out in the world, you know?
24:36
I leaned on some of the Business experience that I've had to do
24:40
that, but in thinking about, like hiring an accountant or
24:43
whatever. Like, even though it might not
24:46
be a lot of money, I don't have any background to go.
24:49
Well, this is going to work, and each of those little things digs
24:53
into that little amount of money.
24:54
I have to push this, this thing out or vice versa.
24:58
So, I understand that you have a studio to believe is open, or
25:03
has a little shop in it, so, I'm not mistaken.
25:05
Yeah. I was, I'm part of this place
25:07
called the workhouse. House.
25:08
And so it's kind of an artist Collective.
25:11
There are eight little Studios within it of all different types
25:13
of Arts. We have a printing, press gal,
25:16
we have some seamstress. We have a stained glass window
25:19
guy and jewelry makers. And so, and then the center
25:23
portions of the, our shop items that we have made and then also
25:27
people from the local region have made and it's really
25:31
charming and people have come shop there.
25:33
So I don't actually have a working studio in there.
25:36
I still have my display and My art is there but I found like
25:40
during the pandemic and even before that I was doing more
25:43
mural jobs or not painting in the space as much and it was
25:46
becoming like a storage unit instead of my actual working
25:50
studio. So I just, you know, me and the
25:53
girl that owns the shop or like, you know, this isn't really
25:55
making sense for you. Why don't you give you this big
25:57
display and you do work wherever you work and so that's that's
26:01
the story that but it was a great experience to be part of a
26:05
group. We took turns running the shop
26:08
and you get your just getting part of a community that is
26:11
always good to be a part of a community whenever you can so
26:15
sure and you see other people going through similar challenges
26:18
and yeah, you know, you can collectively troubleshoot things
26:22
but also, what I've noticed from some photos I saw of your shop
26:25
and some YouTube videos where they were in your shop.
26:28
And just from looking at your ad, C is your, you do a great
26:30
job of meeting customers where they are.
26:33
There's an accessibility to both the But also the price point,
26:37
you know, I'm assuming there's a sliding scale based on the art
26:41
but I would, if I would feel comfortable as a non art person,
26:45
buying artwork, and I think there's something of value
26:48
there, you know, a craft coffee, certainly Prices range from.
26:53
Whether you're expecting a three dollar cup or two dollar Cup,
26:55
2007 Eight dollar cup and I think art could be similar.
26:58
There's a value on both sides of that coin.
27:03
You also offer classes. Yeah.
27:06
Bend. And so I'm kind of wondering how
27:09
those classes geared towards teaching people how to paint
27:12
with coffee, or beer, or do they have a different bent and kind
27:16
of, what have you learned from teaching the classes?
27:19
They currently are just a, it's like, a fun to our experience.
27:23
So, I've almost always had beginner artists and I provide
27:27
like a pre-drawn sketch of, you know, we might do a mountain
27:31
scene from around here and the people choose, do they want to
27:34
paint in coffee or beer and I just And of walk you through how
27:37
to do a painting, and by the end of the two hours you have your
27:40
scene. So it's sort of been more like a
27:42
like, those Paint Party class things you can go to its it has
27:47
more of that Vibe than okay, I really want to learn to paint
27:50
from here, you know, teach me everything, you know, it's not.
27:53
I haven't really taught at that level, so I really enjoy doing
27:57
it the way it is. Because you just see people that
28:00
are like, well I can't do anything, but a stick figure and
28:02
then by the end, they have this painting and they're really
28:04
proud of themselves, and it's like, I can Really do this, and
28:08
it was fun. And, you know, I just enjoy
28:10
seeing people realize like you don't have to be an artist to be
28:14
an artist, like you can just try it and that's kind of the whole
28:17
thing with the coffee and beers like, why don't you just try it
28:20
like that? Initial spark is kind of the
28:23
vibe I carry through with it. It's like, oh, don't worry about
28:26
how it's going to come out. Like, why don't we just try it?
28:28
Then it does come out. I'm thinking back to some of the
28:32
classes. I took in design school and
28:34
thinking, man, I spent all that money on fancy.
28:36
Fancy paint. Just to kind of just dipped into
28:40
some coffee or some beer. Yeah.
28:42
What is kind of on the horizon for you as an artist?
28:46
You know, is this just the path? You're going to continue down?
28:48
Is there a chance? You'll be painting with orange
28:50
juice at some point in the future?
28:51
I don't mean to make a joke, but, you know, do you see a
28:54
future where you're continually changing and adapting?
28:57
Yeah. And currently, I'm in a mural
29:00
phase with acrylics, my friend, and Co artist Katie Daisy.
29:05
Some of your audience might Her. She's got work everywhere with
29:09
like licensed products and all this floral stuff.
29:12
And so we have combined forces to do a bunch of murals
29:16
throughout the region and we find that we really like, like
29:19
I'll do the animals in the more realism side and she'll do the
29:22
flowers and it's just a vibrant fun partnership.
29:25
So that's been a joy to me to depart from just Brown for a
29:29
minute and do all these colorful things with her and then it's
29:33
kind of sparked me to like I want to learn to spray paint so
29:36
I can do. Spray paint mural.
29:37
I've never done that before. So that is the very I have not
29:40
done anything with it yet but it's I bought some spray paint.
29:43
I'll say I did that and I sprayed it on a panel.
29:46
It looked terrible. Have a new skill.
29:50
I'm gonna hopefully play around a little bit with and see if we
29:53
can go anywhere with that. But I still do love coffee and
29:56
beer. I still enjoy like I'll get a
30:00
lot of pet portrait requests lately, during the pandemic.
30:03
I have a super grateful that people reached out to me and
30:06
We're just, I was able to keep going because they wanted to
30:10
decorate their house while they're sitting around in their
30:11
house. And so Random projects
30:14
throughout that have kept me going with the coffee and beer
30:18
and I still enjoy brown paint and see, it's still a pretty
30:22
color to me. Well, and I want to mention the
30:25
name of that project. You have with your friend Daisy,
30:28
its flora and fauna I believe and on Instagram and find it as
30:31
well. And I have a friend named
30:33
Skywalker who is a brilliant spray paint.
30:36
Careless to I know where it's an Oregon.
30:38
A lot. So we're going to have to
30:39
connect the two of you up. Yes, I need to learn.
30:43
Is there anything that I haven't asked you?
30:45
That you think listeners might be interested to know either
30:47
about you or about your work or about alternative mediums of
30:52
artistry? I don't know, I think we've
30:56
covered most things, I guess just to encourage people that
31:03
Like sometimes you don't feel like a real artist or I don't
31:06
feel like, oh I have all these deep personal meaningful things
31:10
that I have to paint to get off my chest.
31:12
So I'm not a real artist and I've struggled with that just
31:15
that imposter syndrome of feeling like well I'm not going
31:18
to be in be creating anything that mind-blowing.
31:22
But on the other hand it's like just being open to curiosity and
31:25
just playfulness. It really did just pop into my
31:29
head. I can't take credit for like
31:31
trying hard to be a brilliant artist.
31:33
Think of something new. It just like that.
31:36
Keeping in touch with that playful and being willing to
31:38
experiment. Part of yourself that could
31:41
leave it. You anywhere.
31:42
You just don't know, you don't have to know ahead of time where
31:45
that could lead to just follow it.
31:46
You know, that's I guess what I'd want to say, sure.
31:50
And then actually leaves me. Just one other thought that I
31:52
had, which is there start the art that you are painting, the
31:56
coffee and beer art. That I've seen tends to lean
31:59
towards more realistic and you'd mentioned realism in your other
32:01
thing. And your Or comment.
32:04
But is that what you like to paint, like, I noticed or is
32:07
that what is selling? And so that's what I'm seeing on
32:09
Etsy where it's like Mona Lisa's or it's, you know, Parisian
32:12
scenes of the vice. Yeah.
32:14
Or what is it that you like to paint?
32:16
If you were to say I've got this is for no one.
32:18
But for me, what am I working on?
32:21
It will be like a realism of some sort, you know?
32:24
And I do enjoy. I think the part of my brain
32:27
that enjoys art. Is that like what am I seeing?
32:30
Okay. How do I do that?
32:31
What am I seeing? How do I do that?
32:33
Just, it's just stimulating to me or a soothing to recreate
32:38
what I'm seeing. So in that sense, the
32:39
masterpieces are something I like doing rather than like this
32:44
is this is a famous thing that would sell.
32:46
Well, it's more like, oh, that painting would translate well to
32:49
to just two tones. And how can I mentally switch
32:54
gears from this color to this brown?
32:56
And it's just, it's just the process of that I enjoy.
33:00
So it's not so much like, oh, I want this one particular
33:02
subject. But I guess recreating something
33:04
beautiful. Whether that be a nature scene
33:07
or a masterpiece that that someone else created in the
33:10
first place, saluting to them, I just enjoy that process a lot.
33:16
Sure, I noticed a record player. I think in the background.
33:19
Oh yeah. What are, what are you listening
33:21
to? When you're painting these days.
33:23
Oh gosh, I go all over the place.
33:25
I had a kick for vintage Hawaiian music and then some of
33:30
my parents are really old mellow.
33:34
The way I was raised a listen to nothing but like, super cheesy,
33:38
mellow, orchestral music. But instead of driving me nuts,
33:41
it kind of brings me Comfort. And I just put some of these
33:44
mantovani strings records on and then sometimes I'll put on the
33:50
newer stuff. I like, I don't have vinyls of
33:52
because I literally bought that record player.
33:54
Last week. I had one.
33:56
Yeah, how long ago and then it broke and I was like, why don't
34:00
I have a record player? I need to go get one right now.
34:03
And so yeah. I'm I need to update my
34:05
collection with the newer stuff I like.
34:08
Well, I like that. I'm a, I'm a record collection
34:10
but I am currently sounds record player as well.
34:13
Huh, oh yeah, I know and I love my records but I find that when
34:19
I'm listening to music especially like when I'm
34:22
writing, whether it's a script or a story or something, the
34:25
music Finds Its way into my what I'm doing, you know.
34:29
Yeah, just the tone or the vibe and I may not even realize it So
34:33
I would assume art are similar. Yeah, I do also listen to a lot
34:37
of audiobooks and podcasts sometimes that will keep my
34:40
attention on. I need to finish this painting
34:43
and I'll sit here because I'm interested in what they're
34:45
talking about more than with just music where I can kind of,
34:48
like, zone out. But when I look back at a
34:52
painting, I can hear what I was listening to, when I look at it,
34:55
sometimes not every single, but like it's weird how much that
34:59
cements in my own brain. Like that was going on when I
35:02
did that. And it's just Connected.
35:03
I don't know if anyone else would pick it up because it's
35:06
just in my own head. Well, I think whatever they're
35:10
listening to when they see your art for the first time or when
35:12
they have a connection to it for the first time.
35:15
Because I don't think that's always the first time you see a
35:17
piece of art. Yeah, sometimes I see something,
35:20
whether it's art or a film and I don't like it and later on
35:24
something compels me to go back and I might change my mind.
35:28
And I think that's the kind of the Not to get too, you know,
35:31
ethereal. But like the thing I love about
35:33
art of all forms, is that your experience into are interacting
35:39
with art can change as you change?
35:41
Yeah, even if the art itself has remained somewhat the same.
35:44
So, the last question that I asked, everyone nothing to do
35:49
with painting or art, but it's if you when you do, go to one of
35:52
those great coffee shops up and bend, what do you ordered a
35:55
drink? I am well known for getting a
35:58
cappuccino or a cortado. Rain or shine, cold or hot
36:02
outside. I love, I just love that little
36:05
cup and little so good. Karen, I really appreciate you
36:11
taking some time to be on the show.
36:13
We have never had a artists on the show.
36:15
It's always been other types of coffee professionals.
36:18
So I appreciate that. You've just really brought
36:20
something unique to show them. Thank you so much for having me.
36:30
To recap, some Bend coffee shops to check out the next time you
36:34
there include back porch, spoken, Modo Lone, Pine and
36:38
Pally coffee and I along with Karen would vouch for the
36:42
experience at all four of those cafes chicory chicory is
36:47
actually a plant. In the daisy family.
36:50
It often blooms with a beautiful blue purple flower, the roasted
36:54
root of The Chicory plant can be used as an additive to ground
36:57
coffee or even as a replacement for Coffee all together based on
37:02
the information that I found chicory was first roasted and
37:05
used in coffee in Holland in the mid-1700s, the practice quickly
37:10
spread across Europe and to the United States.
37:13
At one point in the early 1800s, Napoleon tried to establish it
37:17
as a complete replacement for coffee.
37:20
In an attempt to make France, completely self-sufficient.
37:24
I imagine there were some tough mornings during those years,
37:27
when the import of coffee was not allowed, despite the return
37:30
of coffee to France, the practice of adding Chikorita
37:33
coffee remained and it continued to be popular in communities,
37:36
like New Orleans that have a heavy French influence.
37:40
Coffee companies. Also, capitalized on The Craze
37:43
by cutting their coffee with chicory as a way of increasing
37:46
the margins, on their product, Karen touched on a lot of
37:49
entrepreneurial challenges that face people who create things I
37:53
really I appreciate the fact that there wasn't a commercial
37:55
motivator that began her painting with coffee.
37:58
It was an exploration of art brought on by circumstance and
38:01
the proximity to the espresso machine.
38:04
But by paying to have those very first prince created and then
38:07
putting them out into the world, Karen had a little skin in the
38:10
game. She was motivated to make a
38:12
decision on whether or not you keep pursuing.
38:14
Art coffee art, in particular and eventually came to the
38:18
conclusion that she wasn't done with this particular Pursuit.
38:21
Just yet. Karen has had a long career.
38:23
Career. As a painter with a focus on
38:25
coffee. But that doesn't mean there.
38:27
Haven't been moments where she fell victim to the dark shadow
38:30
that seemingly impacts, all of us at some point and I think
38:34
creators more than most imposter syndrome.
38:38
According to psychology today, 70% of adults struggle with
38:41
impostor syndrome at some point in their life.
38:43
And quote people who struggle with imposter syndrome, believe
38:47
they are undeserving of their achievements, and the high
38:50
esteem in, which they are. In fact, generally held They
38:54
will feel that they aren't as competent as others might think
38:57
and that soon enough people will discover the truth about them.
39:01
Those with impostor syndrome are often well accomplished and
39:05
quote Back to just my thoughts here, choosing to be an artist,
39:09
or a Creator means exposing your innermost self to the world.
39:13
It means working on something. Be it a painting or a story or a
39:17
paper mache hat, and then offering it up to the world to
39:20
be accepted or rejected to be noticed or not.
39:24
And to be judged by loved ones and strangers, alike often in.
39:28
But a few seconds regardless, as to whether the creation process
39:32
took an hour or even a year. It is a vulnerable place to be.
39:38
So what makes for a real artist after chatting?
39:42
With Karen? I think a big part of it is
39:44
being willing to experiment and explore your chosen, medium that
39:48
applies. Just as much to every coffee
39:50
roaster I've ever interviewed. As it does to those who paint I
39:54
was inspired by this conversation.
39:56
I went out and picked up a dozen cheap canvases and some acrylic
40:00
paint. Then I made my own poor attempt
40:02
at a few renderings, I'll share some photos of those on roast
40:05
westcoast.com and while I won't be giving up this This podcast
40:09
to become a professional artist anytime soon.
40:12
There were a few brush Strokes, a few color combinations.
40:15
A few ideas that I could see in my head even if I could
40:18
replicate them on canvas that felt true.
40:23
That feeling sticks with me, even now, and I think Karen for
40:25
the inspiration, if you want to check out more of her art, go to
40:29
beer, painter.com. I'm going to add the link to
40:32
that and her Etsy profiles. In this shows notes and the
40:35
newsletter, which you should be subscribed to by now, if you're
40:39
not go to roast westcoast.com and sign up.
40:43
And now for some roast West Coast News, this show has a new
40:46
coffee industry, partner Ascend Coffee Roasters is based in
40:50
Oceanside California and they are the featured.
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I'll see a told Cal Coffee in San Marcos.
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Ascends founder and head. Roaster are knee.
40:58
Now appeared as a guest on this show in season 4.
41:01
Aaron is still ethically sourcing her coffees
41:03
specializing in single Origins. And in a bit of a side step from
41:07
the industry at large is focused on offering traditional dark
41:11
roast coffee. One of the most common questions
41:14
I get from listeners of the show is when are the dark roasts
41:18
coming back to which I reply they are already back there.
41:22
And Coffee Roasters. You can shop for single bags of
41:25
coffee or sign up for a coffee subscription.
41:28
A descend Roasters.com Aaron has also developed a wholesale
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program for cafes looking to add a new craft coffee to their
41:36
lineup. Again Ascend Roasters.com this
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shows other industry partners are also leaders in their field
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and they've been curated into this roast industry, partner
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program for their efforts at offering, excellent coffees and
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an excellent coffee experience. They are Cafe litter.
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Ignite Coffee Company, most your coffee company steady-state
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coffee, roasting coffee cycle, roasting Camp, Coffee Company,
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Cape Horn, coffee, importers first like whiskey, zoom bar,
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coffee and tea, and Maria coffee.
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And for those of you who are subscribing, you're the best, I
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appreciate you. If you've been enjoying the
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version on Roast westcoast.com and I'll be back with the new
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42:29
recording like crazy with some awesome guests.
42:31
Your favorite coffee smarter experts and some new coffee
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experts, be sure to follow the show on Apple or Spotify or
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wherever you are listening today.
42:40
So you don't miss any of those upcoming episodes.
42:43
This episode of the roast West Coast coffee podcast is was has
42:47
been written produced and recorded by me Ryan Walt.
42:51
I hope this show is found you happy healthy.
42:52
Z and with at least enough sanity and coffee to make it
42:56
through the day. And for those of you headed out
42:59
to get a cup of coffee somewhere in the world this week, please
43:02
always tip your Baristas and be sure to drink good coffee.
43:33
I like beer, hey, everyone. If you like the roast West Coast
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coffee podcast, you might also appreciate the, I like beer the
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podcast. Listening to these guys is like
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being a fly on the wall of the pub with a few of your favorite
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mates. Having a pint these professional
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beer appreciators, have plenty of stories to share on
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everything from the mating habits of penguins to there
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Podcast.com. Podcast.com.