By Christopher Shiner

Her face is like
Melting pavement.

Pissed off hot
                       and
I’m afraid
if I attempt to touch it,
I would only succeed in
Smearing the asphalt.

Disfiguring her further.

This. Is. Insane.

So I love coffee. I love art. Naturally this gels into a profound love of coffee art (or really anything to do with coffee. You make incredible music off swirling your finger on glass cups filled with coffee and I’m gonna freak on that too.) So when I came across this site featuring the artist Hong Yi doing a coffee cup portrait of singer Jay Chou, inspired by his song “Secret”, my mind jumped up and down like a 6 year old hopped up on donuts and well, coffee.



 

As you can tell from the picture, it’s like the Pointillism painting style for the heavily caffeinated. Instead of dots unifying in the viewers mind to form the picture, such as Georges Seurat’s famous painting “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte”, it’s all done by careful placement of coffee rings.

Now I like to draw, but the patience and creativity it took to create this is beyond me. It took her 12 hours, using nothing but a cup, saucer and the precise allotment of coffee to make the cup ring. Too much or too little coffee and the ring formation doesn’t turn out correctly, and you have to be sure on your placement, because once laid, those rings are pretty much permanent.

Watch the video, and be mesmerized by her process.

Now, here is my question (hope really). Did Hong Yi create this in one 12 hour power session, or was this 12 hours spread over several days, done a few hours at a time? How many cups of coffee did it take, and was she continuously sipping from them as she painted?

My hope is that she did it in one 12 hour power block, her brain flying full tilt boogie, fueled by the very medium she’s using to paint with.

Now that’s a combo of vice and virtue I can get behind!

Here is a direct link to the article.

 http://www.ohiseered.com/2012/02/jay-chou-coffee-stain-portrait-sneak.html

It has some wonderful pictures of her as she goes through the process, and goes into more detail about her inspiration for the piece.

By Christopher Shiner

The uncertainty in my gut is always an unwelcome guest.
He struts around, clucking along to Richard Wagner’s
“Ride of the Valkyries”, which he
blares much too loud for my tastes.
Its bombastic vibrations crash against the
inner lining of my stomach
and ricochets out towards my fingertips
and that small section midway up my spine,
like a billion hairs standing on the ends of my insides.
I’ve had to soundproof my skin
to keep the neighbors from noticing,
but then the silence makes the effect that much more unnerving.

 He moves in about an hour before you come over,
and insists on staying the rest of the day after you’ve gone.
He never cleans up after himself,
just leaves his shit strewn over the bed of my dignity,
and along the floor of my self‑confidence.
And I’m left with only one certainty
That next time

I refuse to answer the fucking door.

By Christopher Shiner

I cried you into the sink today
my love
The tears broke against the residue
of Scope and toothpaste
Now instead of bitterness
you’re running down my drains
all full of minty freshness and fond memories.

Well not JUST words (cue the exhilarating drum buildup…)

It’s a blog! It’s got photos! Illustrations! Words! Other random shit I find in the couch cushions of my mind! And it’s chock full of extraneous exclamation points!!!!!

You’ll never know what you find in here. But I guarantee you it will be tangential, coffee fueled, (sometimes beer, sometimes BOTH!) and since the slant of my brain tilts about 45 degrees on any given night, a bit askew.

By Christopher Shiner

The minutes drip down
Off my clock
And collect under my bed
Like rain water

My eyes roll over
To scan again
Throwing their intangible
Ocular hands
Under the rivulets
Of the flowing temporal stream

Straining to collect the Uncontrollable
And hold it hostage
If only for an hour or two
Tossing
Turning
Fidgeting
Fighting
The river races towards 6:45 a.m.

My eyes try to shut in vain

4 a.m. plunges off the clock radio
Rushing to swim with his friends

Futility prances around me
Like a drunken court jester
Pointing
And laughing
Pointing
And laughing

But wait!
Oh yesssss…
Darkness begins to thicken
And cradle my bloodshot brain
Soothing
Sweetening
Calming
Consoling
Containing the remaining hours
In a dam built of slumbering bliss

BLARE BLARE BLARE BLARE
Feeling
Fumbling
Reaching
Raging
SMACK!

Snooze alarm.
Five more minutes…