Coffee. Most people know it as a drink. One can find it in many forms: cappuccino, latte, mocha.
However, Amy Whitaker is redefining the way people use coffee in a unique way – through art.
As a child, Whitaker traveled around the world for her father’s job. She was born in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania and lived there for the first six years of her life. Whitaker later attended the University of Kansas, receiving a degree in journalism with a concentration in business communications. After settling in Oklahoma for a while, Whitaker moved to Plano six years ago for a business opportunity for her husband.
Though she was a lifelong art lover, she never formally studied the subject before.
Whitaker began with pencil sketches. Finding a natural talent in the medium, Whitaker began a program called Works of HeART where she would draw images of American soldiers for their families. While living in Oklahoma, she also sketched portraits of her oldest children’s graduating classes, sketching every student and spending time with them in the studio. Whitaker eventually began incorporating acrylics into her work, creating her “Baby Brights” which combined pencil sketches and acrylic paintings to paint animals found in Africa.
“One night I had gotten the kids to bed, and I decided [to] just try to draw,” Whitaker says. “I hadn’t drawn in a long time and I got some pencils out and had a glass of wine. And I’m sitting there at the kitchen table just drawing and all of a sudden, I was like, ‘Wow, this actually kind of looks like the person I’m trying to draw. This is fantastic.’ So I really enjoyed pencil drawing and I liked just the simplicity of it. I didn’t know anything about color and mixing and all of that. So, I just stuck with pencils for a while.”
But the question still stands: how did Whitaker find coffee as an art medium?
“My daughter came home from school one day, and she had had a visiting artist that actually was doing pen drawings, which then he would splatter with coffee,” Whitaker says. “She said ‘you can paint with coffee, too.’ And I said, ‘I don’t think you can.’ She showed us so I said, ‘Well, let’s get some watercolor paper and just try it.’ We got all the supplies we needed. I had a fresh batch of coffee in the kitchen, and we sat down, and the kids stayed with me for probably like 30 minutes, but four hours later, I’m still at the table painting and saying, ‘This is amazing.’”
Whitaker uses instant coffee with water to paint her creations. Occasionally, when people travel, they bring Whitaker coffee from other countries which she utilizes to paint. By combining more water with coffee or layering the coffee, Whitaker is able to add dimension to her pieces. As she explores this new medium, she keeps learning more about coffee art.
“I had someone walk by and just say, ‘well, that’s a lot of brown paint,’” Whitaker says. “I’m always fascinated by people that are drawn in by the African animals that I paint because I feel like even if they’ve never been to Africa or don’t really have a story to go with it, there’s something really unique and special about these wild creatures. I have had people say, ‘Well, can I smell?’ I think people are just kind of intrigued by it.”
Whitaker has a large social media presence, with almost 24,000 followers on Instagram. Whitaker’s art is available for purchase at Lekka Retail Concepts, a shop that supports local artists. As a member of the Plano Arts Association, Whitaker also attends various art shows and also does commissioned works through Instagram or her website, Art by Amy. Prices range depending on design and size.
With all her different art ventures, Whitaker is still learning and growing along with her art.
“It’s really meaningful,” Whitaker says. “I love people, but I am kind of an introvert and enjoy just kind of being behind the scenes. I’m kind of uncomfortable with a lot of praise for that kind of thing. But, I’m getting better and learning to kind of just embrace it and enjoy it.”
Whitaker’s upcoming event is an Arts Festival on Sept. 28 at The Shops of Willow Bend from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Whitaker is also gearing up to host coffee painting classes at Local Good Coffee in Central Plano.
