Artist recreates masterpieces with coffee
An artist who recreates masterpieces like the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper by painting with espresso coffee is creating a whole latte buzz.
Karen Eland hit upon the idea to switch her watercolours for a cup of espresso about ten years ago as she was sat in a coffee shop.
She noticed how similar the java looked to some of the shades she was using and thought that if coffee can stain your clothes, why not try painting with it.
She gave it a go and loved how it looked, and smelt.
Since then she has used the strong dark coffee to recreate countless classics - always slipping an image of coffee into the painting, like the cup the Mona Lisa is holding.
The coffee images can take a week to paint on watercolour paper and sell for prices up to £12,000 each.
The 36-year-old from Oregon, who has been painting since she was 13, says she finds it intriguing and amusing to recreate the old masters as coffee painting.
"It's fun to see which ones work in just shades of brown, and how I can add a coffee cup to them," she said.
"I also enjoy the challenge of imitating the different artistic styles of each painting.
"When I'm not painting an old masterpiece, I like doing scenes from my travels, or directly related coffee subjects like latte art or scenes from coffee farms."
Karen added that one of here favourite things about painting with coffee was the smell unfortunately she says has to ruin that by spraying a sealer over the finished painting.
LINKS
Coffee Art
Karen Eland hit upon the idea to switch her watercolours for a cup of espresso about ten years ago as she was sat in a coffee shop.
She noticed how similar the java looked to some of the shades she was using and thought that if coffee can stain your clothes, why not try painting with it.
She gave it a go and loved how it looked, and smelt.
Since then she has used the strong dark coffee to recreate countless classics - always slipping an image of coffee into the painting, like the cup the Mona Lisa is holding.
The coffee images can take a week to paint on watercolour paper and sell for prices up to £12,000 each.
The 36-year-old from Oregon, who has been painting since she was 13, says she finds it intriguing and amusing to recreate the old masters as coffee painting.
"It's fun to see which ones work in just shades of brown, and how I can add a coffee cup to them," she said. "I also enjoy the challenge of imitating the different artistic styles of each painting.
"When I'm not painting an old masterpiece, I like doing scenes from my travels, or directly related coffee subjects like latte art or scenes from coffee farms."
Karen added that one of here favourite things about painting with coffee was the smell unfortunately she says has to ruin that by spraying a sealer over the finished painting.
LINKSCoffee Art
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