3rd 2011
September’s Art Exhibitions
In Park Slope: Photographs by Mari Lowery.
“My work spans many different subjects, but the one camera that I use most is a plastic camera called a Holga. When I first started using this camera, years ago, I was instantly taken with the soft focus, vignetting and vintage-like, dreamy colors that you can produce with it. It seemed to express what I was trying to convey previously by using photoshop. This collection includes mostly film, but some digital images as well.
Many of the the photos shown here were taken with a set up called a Holgaroid, which is a Holga camera, but instead of using 120 film, I’m using Polaroid, peel apart film. I also use two macro lens attachments, which allow me to shoot very small dolls and figures from as little as an inch away.
Photography is something that is very special in my life, and has inspired, kept me interested, and allowed me to channel my creativity for the last several years. It’s an honor to share my work with others, and I hope you enjoy looking at my images as much as I enjoy making them. This collection focuses predominately on my work with dolls, but also includes a few images from the work that I have done with masks.”
In Chelsea: “Market, Voyeurism, and Spaces” – Paintings by Tyrus Lytton.
“Born, in 1978, Tyrus Lytton won his first drawing award in 1984, receiving an honorable mention for his crayon on newsprint piece entitled “Helicopter.” Since that time, Ty has graduated from The University of Georgia with a degree in Fine Arts, and continues to win accolades as an artist. As the recipient of scholarships, fellowships, grants and residencies, his work is taken seriously and critically.”
In Greenpoint: “Line-up” – Drawings by Stephanie Ng
“This is a unique series of portraits and studies of the human form. Each piece captures the essence of its subject in an unexpected manner, transforming each image into a concentrated array of contours. The meandering lines appear to drift on a whim yet ultimately compose a deliberate shape. The lines flow freely and often frivolously, just as these subjects weave in and out of our lives.”
6th 2011
Painting Exhibition by Steven Weinberg (Park Slope)
Artist Steven Weinberg just returned from Colombia where he had the great opportunity to stay with some of the farmers in Gigante who produce the coffees we buy and you drink. During his stay, he painted landscapes of the places he visited and portraits of the people he met.
We are really excited to be able to share this work with you. Come in for a coffee and check out paintings of where the coffee you are drinking came from!
Steven and his traveling/writing partner Casey currently reside in Park Slope. They are the co-founders of Local Language Literacy and have worked on numerous publications together. For more information, please visit their website here.
Join us for an artist’s reception on Thursday, August 11th at 6:30pm. The show runs throughout August.
13th 2011
July’s Art Exhibitions
This month, we have three new exhibitions on display for you to view during your coffee breaks.
In Greenpoint: Jody Erickson’s paintings are a haunting series of work; featuring spellbound figures, dreamy landscapes, candles in the night, leopards, historical figures like Evelyn Nesbit and more. Jody specializes in oil paint on wood and canvas. She lives in Greenpoint, Brooklyn (via the southern art collective and community of Winston-Salem, NC) where she painted for many years. Jody strives for tranquillity and sincerity in her work and a sense of mystery in the simple beauty of nature. For more information, visit her website here.
In Park Slope: New photographs by Aken Wahl entitled “Karkaaminen” (Finnish for “jailbreak”).
In Chelsea: WC (William Cody) Bevan was born in north east Ohio. He started drawing at a young age and after graduating from high school, he moved to Memphis Tennessee. He left Memphis after a seven year music binge to pursue working on his art in New York City where he currently resides. WC is a self-taught artist who enjoys collecting prints of Malcolm X and Dr Martin Luther King. View some of William’s work here.
4th 2011
Café Grumpy Bakery
We recently opened the Café Grumpy Bakery next to our Lower East Side coffee shop where we have been baking the pastries that you can now find at all of our locations. When we first opened our Greenpoint store in 2005, we baked in house – some of our oldest customers probably remember the mascarpone brownies that Chris used to make. We decided that it was time to get back to work to create tasty items that pair well with our coffee and tea selections.
We are lucky to be in NYC and have access to great seasonal ingredients from local purveyors. Danielle has also set up a small herb garden in the bakery window for us to utilize. Every morning, we start with a cup of coffee and go from there.
As a special for the Lower East Side location only, we will now be baking bread on the weekends including Felice’s ciabatta. Fresh roasted coffee and fresh baked bread are a pretty tasty pair that we are excited to be able to share with you.
Please stop by and visit us for a coffee at our newest location and take a peek inside the store next door to see what is baking.
15th 2011
Seventh Heaven Street Fair
Join us in Park Slope this Sunday from 12-6pm for the Seventh Heaven Street Fair.
Take your dad for a stroll along Seventh Avenue and support the local businesses in the neighborhood. We’ll have a stand set up outside the shop and will be serving iced-coffee, raspberry lemonade and these treats from our bakery: chocolate sandwich cookie (with raspberry pink-peppercorn filling) & hazelnut shortbread (with rosemary & apricot).
You can also join the Scavenger Hunt and win some great prizes from local businesses. Check out the details here.
4th 2011
June Art Exhibitions
We have some great artists showing work at the cafes throughout the month of June:
In Greenpoint, “See Saw”, by Sarah Lutkenhaus and Christine Garvey, is a set of collaborative drawings, where one artist begins a drawing and gives it to another to finish. The activity is an exercise in call and response; of creating a beginning and allowing another to find the end. The result is a new drawing that captures the tension between what we see and what was seen.
Sarah Lutkenhaus is a designer and illustrator currently residing in Brooklyn (via Kansas). She is interested in telling stories and visualizing ideas, no matter what the form may be: posters, books, installation, t-shirts.
Christine Garvey is an artist and printmaker also residing in Brooklyn. She teaches DIY Printmaking at Brooklyn’s The 3rd Ward and enjoys sharpened pencils, doughnuts, and collaborations of all kind.
In Chelsea, “Alteration” is a colorful series of portraits of people and their individual styles by Akane Ogura. Akane Ogura is originally from Japan where she studied Dressmaking and Fashion Design in Tokyo. After graduation, she worked as a Theatrical Costume Designer then moved to California. She found herself creating her world by using not only fabric and thread on a figure, but also with line, shape, value and color on a surface more freely. She received her BFA in Illustration at Academy of Art University in San Francisco in 2010. She currently lives in New York, and works as a Fine Artist and Illustrator.
In Park Slope, photographs of Diana Schoenbrun‘s “Beasties” are on display. Diana Schoenbrun is an illustrator, author, and crafter living in Park Slope, Brooklyn. She wrote Beasties: How to Make 22 Mischievous Monsters That Go Bump in the Night and Puppet Play: 20 Puppet Projects Made with Recycled Mittens, Towels, Socks, and More. She has worked in publishing, taught creative writing and puppetry workshops for children, and works as a freelance illustrator. She currently works as a puppet builder at Puppet Heap Studio. She received her BFA in illustration from the RISD.
