Keep up with the latest art and adventures from Rene Shoemaker Art!
I am so delighted to report I am exhibiting The Café Experience in Park Slope at my favorite Brooklyn coffeeshop - Café Grumpy! Please share this news with your NY friends - I'd love to meet anyone you know. I will be in NY Feb 14-20th. Happy Valentine's Day, y'all!
Today, a year after my last visit, I quietly returned to La Caféothèque de Paris. I didn't let anyone know I was coming. I wanted to see this magical place again by myself: explore the rooms, study the walls, feel the space, and find out whether the coffee really is as good as I remembered.
It is.
The espresso I had today was full of body and smooth as silk. No acid, no bitterness; just pure, gentle coffee flavor. It really is the best coffee I have ever had.
The space is also as wonderful as I remembered. It has four connected rooms for enjoying your beverage, each with its own personality. Today I sat in the "Green Room," a setting with rustic wooden tables and plants - including coffee - growing everywhere. The cafe was pleasantly busy; there was a buzz of soft conversation from some of the patrons, while others read or spent time with their work before them.
As I sipped my espresso, I watched the activity on the city streets through the large windows overlooking the Seine and Île Saint-Louis. I watched the cycles, the motos, the little Fiats and Peugeots go by, as well as the pedestrians: the office workers, students, and tourists. The streets were alive, and all who passed by looked as though they were enjoying the day as much as I was.
I've been trying to remain calm and stay focused on my work, but now that the time for departure is near (October 14th), I find myself dancing in my shoes without moving my feet. (Did I really just make up that saying? - But, it's the way I feel!)
There is a Facebook Page for the exhibit & reception created by the venue; the reception will be held November 12, 2014, at 6:30 p.m. Please share the news with your friends who might be able to attend; I'm sad that my U.S. friends won't be able to be there with me, but I am certainly intending to make new friends while I am in Paris. I love art receptions!
I've been working hard printing all new beautifully colored prints for this exhibit, and I'm very happy with the results. I will have all the new café prints uploaded to my website before I leave, so you can see the results of this labor of love.
The image, above, is of the café table at La Caféothèque in Paris. Their coffee is superb! You can see the bag of coffee beans I bought and the delicious latte I was drinking when I made this sketch. Très fantastique!
Un café, s'il vous plaît
Lino prints of the café experience by René Shoemaker La Caféothèque de Paris 52, Rue de l'Hotel de Ville Paris, France November 12, 2014 - January 7, 2015 Reception: Tuesday, Nov 12, 6:30 pm
This is Amy’s favorite print - Which is yours? In Athens, Ga you can now see this series at Jittery Joe’s downtown location. This scene is from the French Pyrenees, very close to Spain. You can see the Spanish influence in the tile work on wall beneath the bar. The cup and saucer were black with gold rims! I loved the white interior of the cup, with the green inlay on the exterior. Très chic!
