Coffee art part 2 - Girl with a pearl earring and a cup of joe

August 16, 6:51 AMLA Coffee ExaminerKim Winklhofer

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Related Articles

• Coffee art part 1 - Recreating the Mona Lisa one cup of coffee at a time 
• Coffee art part 3 - Newport Beach man creates art with illegal materials
• Coffee 101: What is latte art? 

In 1919, Duchamp put a moustache on the Mona Lisa. Kermit and Miss Piggy appeared in a Muppet version of American Gothic by Grant Wood, and Bart's buttcrack appears in a Simpson's version of Edward Hopper's Nighthawks.

People have been spoofing iconic works of art for decades as a form of creative, or re-creative, expression. Following this time-honored tradition is Tulsa, Oklahoma artist Karen Eland. Her versions of classic masterpieces include works by Matisse and Picasso, Whistler’s Arrangement in Grey and Black: The Artist's Mother, more commonly known as “Whistler’s Mother,” and the Sistine Chapel scene with God and Adam by Michelangelo.

However, Eland uses only espresso as paint. That's right. She doesn't just drink her coffee--she paints with it. Preferring espresso "straight from the machine," she sometimes lets it sit out for several days to get the darker tones she sometimes needs. Her coffee of choice? Caffe Vita from Seattle.

As if painting with coffee weren't different enough, she takes the coffee theme one step further by depicting one or more cups of coffee in each of the spoofs.

So far, her most impressive feat is a more serious pair of murals displayed in two of Seattle's Espresso Vivace coffee houses (see photo of Eland kneeling.) These works measure 3' x 24' and took six months each to paint.

Having always been enamored of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling, I asked, "When you painted 'Creation of Coffee,' did you dither about who should be pouring the coffee for whom?" She replied,

Yes, it was tricky. The way their hands were in the original made it seem that Adam could be holding the french press easier, so I came up with the idea that God created the coffee bean, then created man to have creativity, then man applied that and offers it back to God."

So, God said, "Let there be coffee." And it was good, very, very good.

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View Karen Eland's gallery or get yourself some of her art for your own walls at home.

Here are links to the rest of the Coffee Art Series:
? Coffee art part 1: Recreating the Mona Lisa one cup of coffee at a time
? Coffee art part 3 – Newport Beach man creates art out of illegal materials