Coffee, tea or paint?

Deanne Hall-Habib, Bertha Truchek, and Gloria Meiloff (photo: Shannon Rose)

Shannon Rose

Most of us love chocolate and some of us are coffee addicts but what do we think of these delicacies as painting mediums?

“When they told me the paintings were made with a medium of coffee and tea, I thought ‘you can’t go wrong,’” said John Zampetoulakis, owner of the newly-opened Kokkino’s café where the paintings are being displayed. “I lucked out. I think it’s great. As we were putting them up, people were buying them.”

As I walked in and joined the crowd sipping free coffee and eating baklava, I saw dozens of beautiful paintings depicting landscapes, flowers and animals. The framed paintings were all over the cozy, warmly lit café. One of the paintings in particular caught my eye. It looked like it had been torn. “Her dog ate the painting and then she stuck it together again,” Zampetoulakis said. There’s a picture of the dog underneath the painting.

Gladia Jarka, a member and artist of the Women’s Art Studio of Montreal, explained that when instant coffee, tea or cocoa is mixed with water, it becomes similar to a sepia toned watercolour.

“It’s fun, it’s quite forgiving. But it has its own set of challenges,” said Pauline Shapiro, a member of the studio who originally brought this idea to the group. “I saw an exhibition of paintings in Bromont at the chocolate festival and I saw some people doing coffee work. I researched the Internet and I found out how to do it.” She demonstrated the technique to her fellow painters.

“I went to a gallery and it was all wine and cheese,” Zampetoulakis said. “Everybody was so into themselves. Here, everybody’s nice.” The paintings are reasonably priced and Zampetoulakis bought one for his daughter as a Christmas present.

The exhibition continues at Kokkino’s, 5673 Sherbrooke, corner Harvard, until December 14.