Expressionist Coffee
Expressionist Coffee is Doyle's blog about Art, Coffee and the important things in life. Here is the very first installment. Click on the link above to see the latest posts from Doyle.
Welcome to the latest incarnation of my blog. “Expressionist Coffee” combines two of my touchstones in life.
Coffee for me is a convoluted experience of communal and introversion, of nostalgia and immediacy. Coffee reminds me of my dad, who was known for the mug cybernetically grafted to his hand. For him, coffee was an excuse to hang out and talk with people. I am much more a devotee of coffee for its own sake. My favorite cup of coffee is the first one of the morning, before the noise and bustle of the day begins. Then I can enjoy the aroma, the rich flavor. It is a private and even a selfish moment. That being said, i enjoy coffee with others and will drink pretty much any coffee available but I really enjoy a hand roasted, quality cup. So like a lot of life coffee is for me a complicated and complex experience. I hope this blog can sometimes embody that complexity, and like a good cup shared with friends I hope that this can also be the inspiration of good conversation.
Expressionism is the school of thought that has inspired and guided specifically the kind of art I created, but I am now realizing that it has influenced the way I live, too. By definition, expressionism seeks to”express” an emotional experience rather than an impression of an external world. Whether it is from German Expressionism or its descendant Abstract Expressionism, I have been moved by the vivid imagery, the emotional quality of the color, the lines, and the content of works by such artists as Kirchner, Kollwits, Pollack and especially Rothko. There is something almost ritual about the calling up of feelings and emotions that transcends content and literal depiction that has always compelled me and motivated me. Again, I hope that this blog can be a place of expressionisms, drawing us all to see share the colors of our emotions in life, a gallery to share and inspire each other.
Having said all, I need to begin with a bit of confession. I am not sure that I have all that much to say about anything in life anymore. I am in the midst of an elongated period of stripping down in my life. I am not sure, if I ever was, that I have a clear voice on things that matter and writing this is more an exercise of squinting through the gloaming mist than actually illuminating any gift of wisdom. Life has been hard on the image I have held of myself and so I find that age 53 I have no idea who I really am and maybe writing out of my confusion will be an exercise of reassembly.
Citizen of the Forest, India Ink on paper, C. 2014 by DDB-WI do recognize this in one of my most recent series of artworks: the “Citizens of the Forest, a series of ink and wash drawing of what others have called “gnarly old trees.” The India ink and wash by their nature are grey and the leafless trees are wintery and barren. They reflect the months of this past year when I was very aware of those feelings. I was delighted to be reminded of the kinship these draws have with the woodcuts and drawings of some of the German Expressionists. It was like returning to a language I had forgotten I knew. I was attracted to these drawings not just because of the contorted trunks and branches, but the quality of the lines and the vibrancy of the shadows and washes that echoed those of these artists generations earlier than me. Yes they are dark, and so is much of life as I look at it. But there is beauty in that darkness, dignity in the shadows. It is not all of life, but inescapably it is life.
And so I hope you can share a cup of Expressionist Coffee with me. Where do you see beauty? What in the shadowy corners can move you, really touch you? Sit down and taste the joe and tell me about what you smell and see. There is always time for one more cup.
Coffee for me is a convoluted experience of communal and introversion, of nostalgia and immediacy. Coffee reminds me of my dad, who was known for the mug cybernetically grafted to his hand. For him, coffee was an excuse to hang out and talk with people. I am much more a devotee of coffee for its own sake. My favorite cup of coffee is the first one of the morning, before the noise and bustle of the day begins. Then I can enjoy the aroma, the rich flavor. It is a private and even a selfish moment. That being said, i enjoy coffee with others and will drink pretty much any coffee available but I really enjoy a hand roasted, quality cup. So like a lot of life coffee is for me a complicated and complex experience. I hope this blog can sometimes embody that complexity, and like a good cup shared with friends I hope that this can also be the inspiration of good conversation.
Expressionism is the school of thought that has inspired and guided specifically the kind of art I created, but I am now realizing that it has influenced the way I live, too. By definition, expressionism seeks to”express” an emotional experience rather than an impression of an external world. Whether it is from German Expressionism or its descendant Abstract Expressionism, I have been moved by the vivid imagery, the emotional quality of the color, the lines, and the content of works by such artists as Kirchner, Kollwits, Pollack and especially Rothko. There is something almost ritual about the calling up of feelings and emotions that transcends content and literal depiction that has always compelled me and motivated me. Again, I hope that this blog can be a place of expressionisms, drawing us all to see share the colors of our emotions in life, a gallery to share and inspire each other.
Having said all, I need to begin with a bit of confession. I am not sure that I have all that much to say about anything in life anymore. I am in the midst of an elongated period of stripping down in my life. I am not sure, if I ever was, that I have a clear voice on things that matter and writing this is more an exercise of squinting through the gloaming mist than actually illuminating any gift of wisdom. Life has been hard on the image I have held of myself and so I find that age 53 I have no idea who I really am and maybe writing out of my confusion will be an exercise of reassembly.
Citizen of the Forest, India Ink on paper, C. 2014 by DDB-WI do recognize this in one of my most recent series of artworks: the “Citizens of the Forest, a series of ink and wash drawing of what others have called “gnarly old trees.” The India ink and wash by their nature are grey and the leafless trees are wintery and barren. They reflect the months of this past year when I was very aware of those feelings. I was delighted to be reminded of the kinship these draws have with the woodcuts and drawings of some of the German Expressionists. It was like returning to a language I had forgotten I knew. I was attracted to these drawings not just because of the contorted trunks and branches, but the quality of the lines and the vibrancy of the shadows and washes that echoed those of these artists generations earlier than me. Yes they are dark, and so is much of life as I look at it. But there is beauty in that darkness, dignity in the shadows. It is not all of life, but inescapably it is life.
And so I hope you can share a cup of Expressionist Coffee with me. Where do you see beauty? What in the shadowy corners can move you, really touch you? Sit down and taste the joe and tell me about what you smell and see. There is always time for one more cup.