COFFEE ART

I’ve never been a fan of coffee. Frankly, regardless of the brand or bean I always find the taste too bitter and the experience poor. For some, coffee serves as a friendly reminder of cherished memories sitting in a cozy café, sharing a laugh with friends. But for me, coffee has always been an upsetting reminder of the intimate bond I’ve shared with many a café restroom. And believe me, there’s nothing to cherish in that.

However, despite my ill associations and general distaste for the drink, I’ve come to appreciate it in an entirely new way, one that allows me to view it associated with my two loves: art and community. My mom has a dear friend Kim who recently started a wonderful project combining her love for coffee, friends, and photogr

aphy into one beautiful blog called “coffee | served daily.” This blog initially evolved out of Kim’s first love of photography which she channeled to create what she called “Project 365: a photo a day with a blog called life: served daily.” But she came up with version 2.0 when she was sitting, drinking coffee with friends and they all hysterically pulled out their cameras at the same moment to document their lattes before drinking. She decided that her new vision would be a team effort to begin a conversation about caffeinated inspiration via group blogging with the moto: 1000 cups of coffee, one photo at a time. Wh

at started out as a blog with mainly close friends has now spread and expanded into a national to international conversation between coffee loving bloggers.

Kims Blog: http://coffeeserveddaily.com/about/

As another photographer, my mom is a usual contributor. I never felt connected to this conversation since I do not share the same artistry for photography or appreciation for the drink but this past summer I began working a

s a barista at a French bakery and found an outlet to transfer my love for painting to a love of latte art. Understandably, working as a barista granted me with more knowledge about the variety and style that goes into each hot caffeinated drink. I learned to manipulate foam with a steam wand to create different designs ranging from wildflowers to feathers.

My mom even took a photo of one of my latte designs and submitted it as photo 598 on Kim’s coffee blog: http://coffeeserveddaily.com/2011/08/27/598-made-by-emma/

Truly, creating coffee art was one of the highlights of my summer. The more friendly I found a customer, the more effort I put into making their drink as artistic and aesthetically pleasing as possible. I began to associate coffee with a means to create friendship and creativity, just as Kim has envisioned for her blog. Just goes to show, that playing with your food, or in this case drink, may not be such a bad idea after all.