A Handful of Coffee marks the end of a ten month project, and the creation of my first dedicated series of studies. Started in February 2021, and completed in December, these six artworks have been constant companions through the last year, and within them hold so many memories of time and place.
Like so many of us, my morning coffee is an important part of my daily routine. It’s familiarity can lead to distance from it’s source, the great many steps that occur thousands of miles away to bring the aromatic delight to my Cornish home. Slowing down and really looking, studying, considering the individuals that create the path and their stories within that is an important thing to give time to. A Handful of Coffee helps me do just that, and in it’s own small way celebrates the gift of each bean and each hand that has helped them on their way to me.
A Handful of Coffee was the hardest of all the six studies to create. The great many coffee beans were baffling to the eye, I got lost in them more times than I care to remember, and each one had to be individually and personally crafted to both fit in and also stand alone. And these hands, well, they are so remarkably complex. The colours evaded me, the depth of my shading kept seeming insubstantial, and every time I thought I had finished a section I would return the next day and see all the ways that it was incomplete. This is the beauty of a great challenge though, it makes you query, stretch, work harder than before and grow beyond your preconceived limits. Although I will enjoy working on something quite different next, these hands and all those that went before have made me so very proud, and will remain as a landmark for me in my artistic career.
Now the full series of hands studies has been completed, I will be having limited edition prints and greetings cards of each artwork printed. I will announce on here as well as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter as soon as these are available
Pre-orders are being taken now for prints of A Handful of Chillies, A Handful of Salt, A Handful of Lotus Seeds, A Handful of Faith, A Handful of Love and A Handful of Coffee. Please get in touch to order yours.
Many thanks go to Réhahn Photography for his inspiring reference images.
