About: “COFFEE DRINKERS” is a series of linocuts depicting scenes of everyday life in a random cafe. 

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The inspiration for the series came indirectly from paintings by world famous artists depicting Absinthe drinkers by a range of artists from Degas, Manet, Picasso and Toulouse Lautrec. 

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Absinthe wasn’t the most cheerful or kind of drinks and the pictures reflect that, However Absinthe was a drink of its time as critical then as coffee is now. 

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The difference between Coffee and Absinthe and café life was as clear as the Hogarth prints of Beer Street and Gin Alley. The idea of a positive Café life excited me.

 

With this series of linocuts “COFFEE DRINKERS” I am depicting a drink of today and its drinkers. 

 

And my choice was a coffee because it is a universal beverage which retains an infinite uniqueness. Unlike a Cola, or a famous beer, no two coffees are ever the same. Coffee is an antidote not only to ennui, sleepiness but also to the mono-cultural norm that can make life mundane.

 

So instead of vacant, dizzy or blank impression on the face of the Absinthe drinker, I record the smiling, alert and engaged faces of people enjoying their cup of coffee. 

 

Where ever I am, be it Paris, Monaco, London, Newport Beach or Tokyo I enjoy my morning coffees in a local cafe drinking and sketching. These linocuts are the result.

 

 The COFFEE DRINKERS are the portraits of friends, family, fellow-artists and random people and their animals I meet around the world.