I learned long ago that if no gallery will show an artist, there’s likely a café that will.
When Café de Leche opened in Altadena, they began showcasing local artists. I was one of them. About a dozen of my watercolors depicting local scenes hung on their walls for several months, for which I’m appreciative.
The Café became a popular hangout for people in the community, especially after owners Anya and Matthew Schodorf expanded the seating to a beautifully designed back patio.
Anya, a gifted designer, transformed the space with planters that created semi-private nooks. Long runs of golden yellow fabric was suspended overhead. They would ripple with a soft breeze casting living-like shadows on us coffee enthusiasts. The walls were decorated with diagonal wood planks and climbing vines.
I completed a painting almost every time my wife and I had a date at Café de Leche. She jokingly said that she was my cheap date. Then I would reminded her of the price of coffee. My paintings usually centered on the patrons, but now, looking back, I realize how often the café’s distinctive backdrop slipped into my compositions from every angle.
Going back to paint what little the Eaton Fire left behind sent a flood of memories back to me. The many paintings, conversations I had with my wife, ol’ friends I met with there and new friends one made there, baristas I came to know there.
I attended and painted a memorial service in the parking lot of Grocery Outlet for the victims who lost their lives in the Eaton Fire. Matthew and Anya were there also. We talked briefly. I asked if they planned to rebuild. I was happy to hear that they had plans to.
I learned long ago that when galleries won’t show an artist’s work, cafés often will.