- Title: PHILIPPINES: Filipino painter uses coffee as palette
- Date: 30th August 2008
- Summary: PLATA AND BROTHER LOOKING AT COFFEE PAINTING IN PROGRESS COFFEE PAINTING OF FAIRY (SOUNDBITE) (English) SUNSHINE PLATA, COFFEE ARTIST, SAYING: "I started painting with coffee because I wanted a cheaper medium that was accessible to me."
- Embargoed: 14th September 2008 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Philippines
- Country: Philippines
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVAE69FC7E5IZHBDDD7AJD0N0E8Y
- Story Text: Filipino artist paints whimsical images using instant coffee.
There's something brewing in Sunshine Plata's paintings.
The Filipino artist uses coffee to paint whimsical scenes and rural landscapes on canvases that give off the bean's earthy aroma.
Plata maximises the monochrome medium by mixing different quantities of coffee powder with water to create contrasting shades of brown.
Initially working with oil as a medium, she switched to powdered coffee after seeing a painting with a signature signed in coffee.
"I started painting with coffee because I wanted a cheaper medium that was accessible to me," Plata said.
A tube of oil paint costs at least 500 pesos (11 USD), while a bottle of instant coffee is only around 150 pesos (3 USD).
The petite painter was a pre-school teacher with a psychology degree before she dabbled with the canvas in 2000. She likes to draw fairies, butterflies and fishes, which she says are inspired by her dreams.
Though she specializes in using coffee as paint, Plata admits she's not a fan of the drink.
"I'm a tea addict, as a matter of fact. I don't drink coffee, because I love to sleep. If I ever drank coffee, I wouldn't be able to sleep, and it's through my sleep wherein I get my ideas and my dreams and my paintings from. So you don't have to be a coffee drinker," said Plata.
Plata's paintings sell for at least USD400, and the pieces are expected to have a lifetime of 75 to 100 years. A coffee company has sponsored some of her solo exhibits.
Plata also conducts coffee painting workshops for schoolchildren and the general public. She says her work is a statement that anyone, no matter what age or social standing, can paint with anything.
"We're not a coffee drinker, so if he wants to paint, I would actually buy some coffee for him to paint with," said Terry Santos, whose son Gianluk was a participant in one of Plata's recent workshops.
Two of Plata's coffee paintings were featured in the Martha Stewart Show last April, as part of the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum collection.
Ripley's bought the works and exhibited them in the Times Square museum in New York City.
While the lack of colour variations in coffee painting might put off some art connoisseurs, the reception to Plata's paintings has been mainly positive.
"Even though it lacks colour, it's still beautiful in its monochromatic sense. Like, it's just beautiful as it is," said Richelle Ramirez, a coffee-loving university student who visited a mall exhibit featuring Plata's paintings.
In a time of rising prices, Plata demonstrates that one can at least find solace in artistic expression with an affordable wake-up drink. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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