Pablo Francis
“In London, Amsterdam and Paris, coffee is more than a daily habit. For many people it is as essential as breathing. I first visited those grand European cities in 1987 and have been sketching remembered glimpses ever since.
Like many Melbournians, I have also embraced the coffee ritual and always take a plunger when I go to work in my studio. I started looking at coffee as more than a stimulant when I ran out of paint one day in 1998. I threw the grounds from the plunger onto a canvas, and surprisingly, the result was a beautifully delicate orchid pattern – I was hooked. It was then that I became a coffee painter.
Now I sit in my studio, quietly sharing my macchiato with my canvas. I have modified my technique over the years and perfected a way of fixing the coffee to canvas. I like the flow, immediacy and unpredictability of the medium. The colour and texture of coffee has always appealed to me, and I love the way it works with ink and drawing.”
Pablo works with coffee and ink on canvas. His current series focuses on Rome, Paris and Melbourne, all famous for their love of coffee. The streetscapes have both loose and tight elements, with coffee providing an earthy, tonal feel.
The figure...
Who is that figure walking the streets of Paris in his paintings, with only a stray cat to bear witness? Perhaps it is Brett Whitely, who spoke of that great city as a kind of mistress, weaving its seductive powers on every street corner.
The Cat...The cat is ever present, watching the comings and goings of the streets with wise eyes and waiting to befriend all who pass him by.
The clothes line...The streets of Europe are not only filled with the aroma of coffee but also the faint scent of washing powder from the lines of clothes strung up high above the busy streets. The washing represents all that is revealed or unraveled, the public see what they want to see, but at some point the puzzle is solved, even if it comes to the viewer only in fragments.
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