Art decaf A Bangor cafe’s first-of-its-kind juried show exhibits locally produced artwork

BANGOR – There are plenty of tasty coffee combinations on the menu at JB Parker’s. In the mood for toasted marshmallow? How about gingerbread, or something more summery, such as a banana split?

Delicious to be sure, but the drinks aren’t the most creative use of coffee at the downtown cafe. That would be the coffee on the walls – an exhibit of paintings made using coffee as medium that is believed to be the first such open juried show in the state.

The coffee paintings went up earlier this month and will be on view until June 14. The artists were allowed to use only coffee and water.

Michael Vermette of Old Town, an artist and teacher, and Marsha Donahue, who owns North Light Gallery in Millinocket, judged the show’s entries.

Coffee has been used as a medium for painting for several decades, Vermette said recently, but the concept of featuring coffee art in a juried show is new. There are 16 artists in the show, including Vermette and Donahue, whose work was not judged.

“That’s what I was excited about and what I wanted to do – not just create my own show but to try to create a kind of potpourri of different styles,” Vermette said. “That whole idea was born of collaboration.”

That collaboration included JB Parker’s owners Brian Ross and Tim Kelly, who agreed to hang the art in their dining space.

Vermette started painting in coffee about three years ago, when he was looking for art for a coffee shop space in the Abundant Life Church in Bangor, where Vermette offers art classes. He found the coffee technique on the Internet – two Minnesota-based artists have registered the term “coffee art” – and tried to replicate it for his students.

Vermette’s version of coffee painting starts with an automatic drip, 12-cup machine carafe with the basket filled with about half a can of coffee. Vermette brews the coffee and then boils it down until it reaches a syrupy consistency, about one-quarter of a cup. That’s the base for the painting and is used for the very darkest tones. Water is added to achieve lighter washes.

Using the coffee is similar to working with watercolors, which is why Vermette believes the technique appealed to his students and others to whom he has taught the method.

“My wife, Elaine, said she couldn’t believe how quick the turnover was,” Vermette said. “When you teach something like this, sometimes it takes people a year to get a handle on it. But it didn’t take any time at all. They grasped it quickly. And their styles are here, and prevalent.”

Many of the artists in the show painted Maine themes of the coast or the mountains. Others went abstract or did portraits. Animals – there were horses and a lion – were also popular.

First prize of $500 went to Joslyn Ruff, a Hudson resident whose “Floral Cottage” was inspired by a building on Monhegan Island, where she had attended one of Vermette’s classes.

It was Ruff’s first time entering any painting competition, and certainly her first experiment with coffee as a medium. She got three gallons of coffee from Tim Hortons in Brewer, boiled it down and added a jar of instant espresso to get her darkest color.

“It’s hard [painting in brown], because I’m such a colorful person,” said Ruff, who was wearing a yellow shirt and purple coat at the opening in JB Parker’s. “I like a lot of color and I love flowers. … But [Vermette] taught me if you can get the monotone right, you can get color and you can get the color tones correct. This was a stretch for me.”

Vermette is hoping to expand interest in coffee painting to southern Maine, but for now was pleased with what local artists did with their first adventures in the art.

“The quality of the show is very high,” he said. “I mean, it’s just very exciting to be involved in this, painting yourself and teaching, and seeing what [the artists] do with it.”

JB Parker’s Caf? & Catering is located at 52-56 Main St. in Bangor. The cafe is open 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The juried art show will be on display through June 14.

jbloch@bangordailynews.net

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