Tim and I at the Green Holiday

Tim was an artist waiting to get into graduate school in Europe. He always carried with him his sketchbook. His father sent him to a summer church program overseas. That's where we met.

We both have difficulties paying attention for long periods of time. Tim is more than twenty years younger than me but that doesn't matter. We both love to get in trouble.

Cafe, kitchen, life-style shop

Lucky for us the perfect place to get in trouble was just across from the church camp. It was called, "Green Holiday" and had our name on it, "Cafe, kitchen, life-style shop".

Tim ordered affogato and I ordered a passion fruit tea. We had a long talk about life and the purpose of going to school. I looked through his drawings and sketches. I saw dark sketch after sketch of blood and death and one sketch opening up to the heavens. I asked him:

What is the main underlying theme of your art?

He said,

You tell me.

Tim was not trying to be a punk. He was sincere and really just drew what was in his heart. I was the trouble maker that opened my big mouth. I guess I was curious what Tim thought of his art. The theme was clear. He was expressing his deepest heart in these drawings and wanted something he couldn't find in this world.

This was something not on the menu. He was searching for answers to life's questions. He did not ignore human suffering but embrace it. He didn't turn away from the church but was burdened by superficial practices. His drawings cried out for a deeper spiritual relationship.

The affogato opened his heart.

The affogato opened his heart. He began to talk about what high school was like for him and then university. He talked about the relationships he had and how they all ended up sour. He talked about how drugs and girls in college didn't help but just complicated his quest to enjoy life.

We talked more about his life growing up and then both of our drinks were finished. The owner of the cafe came to our table and showed us there was a lot more to the place we did not know.

The Upper Room

She took us to that upper building on the right hand side of this picture. It was there the owner of the café began to tell us her life story of how she came to be the owner of the café. She had lived in Italy and was interested in baking. She ended up divorced and back in Korea. Her two kids went off to study in America. With the money she had she bought the land and wanted to build an Italian kitchen. Every day she still uses the oven to bake bread and make make Italian pizza.

There were some people working there in the bakery and they looked at us strange wondering what we were doing back there. The owner ignored them and took us to an upper room. There she kept all her family stuff she had gotten from around the world. Some f it from Italy and others from Turkey and from Africa.

Around the whole café were paintings of random things from paintings of Jesus to paintings of gondolas and paintings of mountains. I asked her where she got all the paintings and she said from her paintbrush. It turns out that painting with acrylic was her hobby.

An open sketchbook opens doors

She asked to look at Tim's sketchbook. He showed her some of his sketches and she was amazed. She asked him if he was interested in going into art. He said he had applied to graduate schools in Europe. She asked him about which he schools he applied to and she gave him the name of an art school in Europe he knew about.

It turns out that later Tim applied there and was accepted to the graphic arts program. He has now since graduated and is working as a graphic artist in Europe.

Today Tim is the character of my coffee shop story submitted to #cinnamoncupcoffee. I miss that rascal. Here is one of the paintings the cafe owner had around. Sorry I don't have Tim's sketchbook with me but that's what got him into graduate school.

I like to think that our heart to heart talk that day helped him to have confidence to speak with the admissions board. Maybe even this discussion with the cafe owner helped him realize he was talented. Art shouldn't be hidden away forever in a sketch book but should be shared with others.
_{Even if they are just a couple of punks in a gondola with a cup of coffee.}