Espresso Buono Garden Cafe - Lynnwood, WA USA
Can one recreate on-line the ambiance and artistic attitude of a coffee shop in impressionist era Paris? Or the character of a little coffee shop I visited pre coffee franchise era in Port Angeles, Washington (now gone) that made me want to spend time there to develop plots and characters in writing? Or the shop in the movie Chocolat where arrogance, inhibitions and intolerance gradually melted away to create a new flavor of community? I am hopeful that this on-line blog site can take on an adventurous, creative, respectful, inspiring and comforting life of its own with wide and varied accounts and examples of personal journeys and achievements.
Can one also “virtually” pursue and promote art on-line as well as in an inspired setting with creative energy and leadership? At my age and as a small business owner in today’s economy, I may not earn enough soon enough to participate in the more extravagant artistic adventures I dream of. For example, while designing the layout and decorating my real life Espresso Buono Garden Cafe in Lynnwood, Washington USA, I decided one of the walls in the cozy back room really required I take an intensive nine-month Tromp L’oeil class in Florence, Italy! I have experienced the breathtaking art in Florence as well as other awe inspiring museums and venues in Europe and the United States. Lacking the funds for a return trip to Florence for the tromp L’oeil class, I found a wonderful wall-paper mural to precisely fit the wall. The wall receives many compliments…but I still yearn to learn the real art! Fortunately, I’ve discovered one can widely broaden artistic horizons on-line as well as through the arts and artists I support at my little garden cafe!
Thus, I hope to share my pursuit and support of art and ambiance here with you, though you may be half way around the world from my cafe. So, get your favorite Coffee, put your feet up under your computer desk and enjoy my blog! Don’t forget to tell me about your own coffee, art and ambiance favorites, dreams, and personal achievements!
Penny
Penny Wight
Anneli Korteniemi said,
February 17, 2009 at 1:45 am
Hi Penny,
I shall visit your cafe one day. It looks gorgeous.
Meanwhile I enjoy my own Nespresso machine at home, and the coffee latte automate at office and my parents’ coffee which is the typical “Finnish” coffee.
Penny Wight said,
February 17, 2009 at 2:49 am
Hi Anneli,
You posted the first comment to my blog! Thanks! I was thinking of your Mom’s typical “Finnish” coffee and the time my Mom was helping to make it!
It was SO GOOD! Also, Coffee at another home in Pello was served so beautifully with pretty napkins through the cup handles. What nice memories!
Have a wonderful day!
Penny
Mary said,
February 17, 2009 at 10:20 am
Hey Penny,
the web site is lovely and I have been meaning to check out your expresso place. I am glad that you are actively seeking us out. Many of us artists can be quite the hermits but when we get around people we just go on and on. What a wonderful place to gather. I will come around soon.
Mary
Penny Wight said,
February 17, 2009 at 10:47 am
Hi Mary!
Thanks for commenting! Some writers are meeting at Espresso Buono on a fairly regular basis now and also some business networkings groups. It would be great fun to get some visual artists together for networking! How can we make it happen? Also, once I learn how to post sample works of art on my blog – this site – that would be a fun way to share. Hmmm…. Hope to see you soon!
Penny
Kenyon Curtiss said,
February 17, 2009 at 10:56 am
Hello Penny,
I look forward to visiting Espresso Buono and taking in the ambience…
I may forget I’m in Lynnwood! I’d like to help add to the ambience at Espresso
Buono by performing actual Impressionist period music by DeBussy, Ravel, Satie, and Rebikov there, on guitar. We can imagine that these composers would gather to chat, and bounce ideas off one another at similar places in Paris. I’ll have an espresso, and pass on the absinthe!
Ken
Penny Wight said,
February 17, 2009 at 11:11 am
Dear Ken,
Oh my goodness! How wonderful it would be to hear Debussy, Ravel, Satie and Rebikov at Espresso Buono! I, for one, would be rapturous! We would need to promote your performance so many folks could appreciate it…. When you play, it would be grand to create a video &/or audio so that the beauty of it can resound even when you are not there……most excellent for creating the ambiance we desire!!! Wonder if one can add sound to one’s on-line ambiance?!
Penny
Joe McCarthy said,
March 18, 2009 at 9:51 pm
Hi Penny,
I discovered this post through your Biznik feed.
We’ve developed an application that is designed to bring some of the richness of the online world [back] into the physical places we share with others. The Strands Community Collage (CoCollage) promotes awareness, interactions and community in places where people seek conversation and connection (such as [artists'] coffee houses). The system consists of a large display that shows a dynamic collage of images and quotes uploaded to a special web site by patrons and staff in a café or other community-oriented place.
More information about the system – including a short video and a map of our current venue partners (mostly other coffee houses in the Seattle area) – can be found on the project web page, http://cocollage.com. Some of the motivations behind this work can be found in a blog post I wrote last summer, http://gumption.typepad.com/blog/2008/08/the-community-collage-at-trabant-a-proactive-display-in-a-cafe.html
Please let me know if you would be interested in meeting to discuss whether / how this might be of value to you and the members of the Espresso Buono Garden Cafe!
Joe.