S: Hello, Kalee. Could you tell us a little bit about where you’re from and how you ended up in San Diego?
K: I’m originally from Rhode Island. I moved to Seattle at 23 and was there for about a year. I then left Seattle to go backpacking for a year and went back to Seattle to try and make money again. And then when Covid happened, I was like, fuck this, I’m moving into my car, like I can’t afford rent. And so my friend was like, “Oh, I wanna move in my car with you”. So we spent the summer building our cars out.
We traveled together for a while, and it was the most incredible experience to feel so free with someone you care about so much. After we parted ways, I lived out of the desert in Phoenix for a while and remember missing the process of painting my big pieces (most of them are 48”x60”) and realizing I could fit one in the trunk of my Highlander — which led me to work on this painting for 2 months in the desert. It completely changed my path. I realized there was nothing else I would rather do with my time than being in nature, traveling, and painting—so I became determined to make it my life. I feel like my art style changes as I become even more aligned with my soul’s purpose. My art keeps growing to be an even truer reflection of how I’m feeling.
Since then, I’ve lived on the road for almost four years now — one in a car and three in a van. For me, it started out of necessity at the beginning of Covid. I had been planning to move into a car to travel, share my art, and paint murals. And then, once the Covid happened, I saw it as the final push to actually do it. Once I started, I realized it would be a long while until I was ready to settle back down in one space. It’s definitely not for everyone and takes quite a bit of grit. You have to be ready to roll with the punches. As an artist, I’ve sold my prints on many boardwalks, live-painted in parks across the country, and done weird and random side jobs. It’s shown me that nothing is ever certain, and in many ways, I’ve been flying by the seat of my pants for years now. But I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I would live like this forever if it meant that my life would consist mainly of art and connecting with other artists, nature, travel, and new experiences. My advice would be, if you really want to do it, you will always find a way to make it work, even when the going gets tough—you have to trust the process every step of the way and lead with passion. If you’re a person who finds joy in taking life and its challenges as it comes, it will all be an adventure.
S: Switching gears here, could you tell us about the work you’ve created for your upcoming show Seeing Double?
K: Seeing Double is an ongoing vision that I’ve tended to over the last five years, where my whimsical illustrative style started to blend with a more psychedelic feel. I’ve always tended to use bright, contrasting colors, but Seeing Double has an additional dimension through the use of patterns. I see this body of work as individual portals that lead you (the viewer) back to yourself. In this series, I also focus more on my characters with double eyes. For me, the double eyes symbolizes the first time you see something or a situation, and the second time you look at it with a new perspective, or a “new set of eyes”. It’s my own reminder that life becomes more expansive the more we allow ourselves to be wrong, be open, or be changed. This has been the most fun series I’ve ever done, and the ideas keep coming. I could be working on this series for years to come.
S: So is this a body of work in continuum, or would you say that it's self-contained?
K: Yeah, this has been a continuing body of work for the past three years. I started doing this super drippy flower line work, and for me, seeing double is looking at a situation and then having the awareness when you look at it again with a new perspective. And so I feel all my pieces have this fluidity of allowing yourself to be changed by different perspectives.
S: Can you describe your artistic style and how it has evolved over time?
K: I would say my artistic style is ‘psychedelic’ for lack of a better word. I love making really big art that tells its own story, based on the onlooker’s perspective. When I first started more “seriously” painting about eight years ago, it was still sort of psychedelic but very illustrative, and very weird, like ladies with cactus armpits and a distressed person falling off of a camel. I originally wanted to paint murals but had no idea where to start, so I decided I would make as big of paintings that I could that fit in my car. I’ve slowly built this ‘language’ or style of art. It uses less illustration nowadays, but the characters I use are staple symbols of my art, like my sun and moon with double eyes. They all have a special meaning to me, and I love to hear other people’s interpretations. The one constant is that I have always used really bright colors, sometimes contrasting with a dark background, to make the image ‘pop’ a little bit more. Each piece is an opportunity to be absorbed into a portal of color that viscerally stimulates a hug for your brain.
S: Which artists or creative movements have had the most significant impact on shaping your practice?
K: One of my favorite artists is Hilma af. Klint, a Swedish painter who was really active in the late 1800’s, early 1900’s. I actually didn’t know about her until a few years into me painting when a friend showed me her work. All of her work is around 10 feet tall, filled with bright colors and symbolism, and inspired by complex spiritual ideas. I feel like her and I would be really good friends if she was still alive. I’m also really inspired by Christina Bothwell, a mixed media sculpture artist who makes really interesting pieces that always make me feel like I’m deep inside of a dream. Also Robert Williams, an oil painter and cartoonist, his pieces are so insane with detail. He uses the smallest brush for the biggest canvas. There’s not really a particular movement that I’m really inspired by as much as I am by the people around me, currently. Some of my best friends are the most incredible artists, and I truly feel they are making and shaping history: John Behr, Daniela Blanco, Maurice LaFlemme, just to name a few out of so, so many.
S: Thank you for your time Kalee.
Purchase the exclusive Artist Release Coffee Here
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For the coffee, we sourced an incredible Natural Anaerobic Process Mexico from our friends at InterAmerican. This coffee is special given that it is the very first anaerobic process we have carried at Coffee and Tea Collective. On the cupping table we were immediately blown away by its sweetness and complexity. We feel it mirrors the vibrancy of Itzel's work wonderfully. In the cup we're noting rich fruits, a winey acidity, and a decadent mouthfeel.
Come by the shop to view the incredible mural she painted in the cafe and enjoy a cup of this wonderful coffee. If you can't make it in, snag a box here.
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We are thrilled to introduce our latest Artist Feature, San Diego based textile+fiber artist, Denja Harris @browanacidgoods. Finding inspiration in the nuance of everyday life, Harris’s work is both compelling and fun. She speaks of utilizing sensory input to guide her during the artistic process; everything from combinations of color seen on a walk, to the texture of vintage clothing, to condiments squirting on a plate.
We believe these pieces are made to be experienced in person and send you a warm invitation to visit our North Park cafe and see her incredible work now and through the end of the year. Starting tonight, Thursday, September 22nd, from 6pm - 9pm, cruise out to enjoy a cup of the collaboration coffee and admire Denja’s incredible work. Exclusive first access to retail boxes will also be available. See you there!
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Our last show of 2021 features the work of Laurie Nasica, a painter and educator based in San Diego. We asked Laurie to tell us more about her paintings, her thoughts and inspirations behind the work.
"This body of work is about reaching. Over the past year, these paintings were created as a reflection on our need for connectivity and touch. They were inspired by our collective isolation, and deprivation from human contact while relying on digital tools as our main avenue of interaction. I felt a shift in consciousness and it became apparent to me how much we were all in need of more substantial and genuine forms of connection in a time when the ways we used to connect were no longer deemed safe."
"Aesthetically, I was drawn to clean line work and stripping my imagery down to basics with mostly primaries. I started painting hands reaching to touch, but never fully touching. Going through twist and turns, trying hard to connect which reflects the sentiment many of us have felt during this global human experience."
- Laurie Nasica
We asked Laurie to participate in our Artist Series in conjunction with the show. The piece that is featured on the box is small, but prominently displayed near the retail shelf in our North Park cafe. Laurie painted a companion mural to tie the show and our whole space together, in a way that we could have only imagined. Stop by the shop to check out her paintings and mural. Laurie's show opened November 27, 2021 at 2911 El Cajon Blvd and will be on display through the new year.
Many thanks to Laurie for all of the work that she put in to the space and a special thank you to Darwin Avalos for the pictures below, capturing a glimpse of the installation.
Images above by Darwin Avalos
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This year San Diego put on its first ever Design Week - an annual series of events celebrating interdisciplinary design throughout the region. We were lucky enough to host two super genuine and talented artists- Nick Pourford of Prisma Guitars and Ryan Shoemaker of Maek Ceramics. Due to COVID most of Design Week was pushed to virtual interactions and tours, but we found a bit of a loop hole by displaying their work in our shop On the Boulevard.
Left to Right: Bloops: Hand-blown glass seated on powder coated steel, By Nick Pourfard, Walnut Chair: By Nick Pourfard, Welcome: Chandelier By Ryan Shoemaker.
Oaxaca, Mexico
This year marks the beginning of an exciting new relationship with two producers from the Santa Maria Yucuhiti community located in the south-western state of Oaxaca, Mexico. We were invited, along with 5 other fantastic roasters from the U.S., to participate in this year’s Brigada—a competition set up by Red Fox Coffee Merchants and held in their gorgeous year-round lab in the city of Oaxaca. The Brigada competition showcased over 30 top-scoring producers of the Santa Maria Yucuhiti municipality, rewarding quality production by paying high premiums to the top ten.
Prior to even tasting a drop of coffee, the recent resurgence of interest for coffee out of Mexico as a whole set expectations high (and excitement even higher). Cupping through the coffees, even within neighboring crops, there were tons of fresh fruit, dry fruit, floral qualities, spices, you name it, really—these coffees were just so incredibly dynamic.
The diversity of profiles from producer to producer seems to echo the long standing diversity of people found within the state of Oaxaca. In the state of Oaxaca alone, there exist 16 indigenous groups, many of which grow coffee. Santa Maria Yucuhiti is a part of the Mixteca zone of Oaxaca corresponding to both the name of the primary indigineous group and the language spoken by them. Each producer averages about 1-2 coffee growing hectares and their method of organization is rather unique as compared to many other coffee growing regions. In an effort to gain autonomy from larger organizations, several families and individuals group together as one community rather than joining larger associations or cooperatives.
We were able to purchase a total of 3 lots, each distinct in profile in hopes to showcase just how incredibly dynamic coffee from Oaxaca, Mexico can be. Martin Pablo Ortiz Perez, winner of the 2020 Oaxaca Brigada, has produced a coffee that is like no other coffee. His handiwork has resulted in an explosion of rich, yet vibrant fruit qualities and is amplified by its remarkable sweetness. Our second purchase comes from Eleucardio Romero Zamora’s high scoring lot, El Amante. His coffee is packed with honey-like sweetness and is dominated by a clean and lingering fresh fruit acidity. The final lot, San Agustin Loxicha is a combined lot from producers Alejandrino Luna Felipe and Ines Jose Suarez. Their coffee is the definition of a cozy, smile-evoking cup due to its drinking chocolate qualities and brown sugar sweetness. We’re genuinely ecstatic and have been anxiously waiting to share these coffees with you. Now that they’re here, we hope you like them too!
Martin Pablo Ortiz Perez participated in and won the 2020 Brigada using coffee from his farm, El Carnero, located within the Guadalupe Miramar district of Santa Maria Yucuhiti. There, he grows Bourbon, Typica, Mundo Novo, and Caturra between 1450-1850 meters above sea level. Martin fermented his coffee dry for 24-36 hours and allowed it to dry for 10-20 days on a combination of petate mats, patios, and raised beds. He is a part of Grupo Cecilio, an informal group of 15 family members and neighbors led by Cecilio Perez Vasquez.
We were lucky enough to secure Martin’s entire 300lb lot and couldn’t be happier. His coffee is gleaming with a bright pomegranate acidity and is packed to the brim with a sugar cane-like sweetness.
Eleucardio’s coffee was an immediate attention-grabber—drawing us in with its persuasive jammy fruit qualities. He is a member of the informal group, Grupo Yosutato, who represents a total of 40 family members and neighbors, led by Madelina Lopez Lopez.
We purchased his entire 455lb production of Bourbon & the unique Pluma variety grown at his farm, El Amante. Eleucardio’s farm is located 1700-1900 meters above sea level in the community of San Pedro Yosotatu where the high altitude in combination with careful processing and drying allow for the coffee produced to be both dense and complex. He allowed this coffee to ferment dry for 18-24 hours and dried it for 8-10 days on petate mats after washing. With extremely clean characteristics that remind us of raspberry jam and crisp fuji apples…don’t be surprised when this coffee seems to disappear from your cup.
San Agustin Loxicha
The San Agustin Loxicha lot is made up of coffee from two producers, Alejandrino Luna Felipe and Ines Jose Suarez. The San Agustin Loxicha community is located within the historically renown Pluma subregion of Oaxaca where coffee grows at elevation as high as 2200 masl. The subregion boasts the singular Pluma Hidalgo variety, an offshoot of Typica that when grown at high altitude is recognized by its saturated brown sugar sweetness, cozy drinking chocolate richness, and dynamic apple-like acidity. This combined lot has been fermented dry for 18-24 hours, washed, and dried for 10-20 days on petate mats. The resulting cup is representative of the classic Pluma profile allowing for a cozy, easy-sipping experience.
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