Mona Lisa created with coffee
Modern art is famous for experimenting with different forms and materials and one of the latest tools of the artist’s box may surprise you. Karen Eland, an American with an eye for innovative processes, has taken to painting with a rather unusual substance. Not oils, not watercolours… but espresso coffee! Eland waters down her coffee to create paintings with a difference.
After honing her skills in the art of painting with coffee for around ten years, this artist from Oregon has quite a batch of coffee-art to her name. Her recent work relates to that famous masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci – the Mona Lisa. Eland has copied the work and painted the charismatic lady with espresso.
The painting has certainly attracted much attention over the years – you may recall that the Dada artist, Marcel Duchamp, also created a picture of the lady with a cheeky moustache. The Eland version includes Mona holding a cup of coffee, with which she has been carefully recreated.
Eland has other projects in her coffee portfolio too. In fact, rumour has it that this is rather a lucrative business for her and her unusual artworks fetch up to £9,000. Tipping her hat to modern events, Eland has created a coffee recreation of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s engagement photo. She also spent seven months creating a 20 foot mural.
So the big question is: does Eland enjoy drinking coffee as well as painting with it? Apparently so, although the artist has been quoted as saying that she has to limit her intake, or she gets the shakes.