Painting wildlife in the brown hues of coffee

Jane Noronha's coffee painting exhibition, at Prasad Art Gallery in Mangalore. DH Photo / Irshad Mahammad

Jane Noronha's coffee painting exhibition, at Prasad Art Gallery in Mangalore. DH Photo / Irshad Mahammad

Jane Noronha's coffee painting exhibition, at Prasad Art Gallery in Mangalore. DH Photo / Irshad Mahammad

Jane Noronha's coffee painting exhibition, at Prasad Art Gallery in Mangalore. DH Photo / Irshad Mahammad

Jane Noronha's coffee painting exhibition, at Prasad Art Gallery in Mangalore. DH Photo / Irshad Mahammad

Jane Noronha's coffee painting exhibition, at Prasad Art Gallery in Mangalore. DH Photo / Irshad Mahammad

Jane Noronha's coffee painting exhibition, at Prasad Art Gallery in Mangalore. DH Photo / Irshad Mahammad

Jane Noronha's coffee painting exhibition, at Prasad Art Gallery in Mangalore. DH Photo / Irshad Mahammad

Jane Noronha's coffee painting exhibition, at Prasad Art Gallery in Mangalore. DH Photo / Irshad Mahammad

Heard about coffee painting? Meet artist Jane Noronha from Mangaluru, who specialises in painting with the beverage.

The paintings, composed of different hues of brown ranging from shades of light sepia to dark brown, attract the attention of the onlookers at an art exhibit titled ‘Green waves’. The collection featured 22 coffee paintings on wildlife and aquatic animals.

Artist Noronha explains that the collection is an effort to convey her feelings on conservation and nurturing the environment. “After working with acrylic, oil painting mediums and charcoal, I moved on by creating coffee paintings for the first time,” she says.

“As the exhibition was held on world environment day, I wanted to use organic material as some paints have chemicals. So, I decided to try it with coffee powder,” she explains.

Though coffee is of only one colour and the paintings can only be brown, each layer presents different possibilities. A wide range of rich brown hues enhance textures and shadows in the artwork.

Though the artwork looks simple, each layer takes a long time to dry. The technique used is similar to that of watercolour painting.

The self-taught artist and mother of two says, “The shades of brown are created using different quantities of water. I used both instant and filter coffee powder for the artwork. The instant coffee powder gives a silky smooth texture while the ground coffee powder gives a matte finish.”

It took Jane four months to work on the 22 pieces on display in the exhibition. She has captured animals in various moods and has focused on the conservation of sea turtles as they play a crucial role in maintaining the balance of marine ecology.

For a cause

The amount collected from the sale of these paintings will go to Sahyadri Sanchaya Sanchaya, an organisation that conducts environment-related activities. The organisation’s Vanachethana programme is dedicated to supporting the formal education of the children from Siddi, Halakki, Kunubi, and Gauli communities who live in the forests of Yellapur, Joida and Ankola taluks of Uttara Kannada.

Under the programme, schoolbags, raincoats, umbrellas, storybooks, notebooks, compass boxes and other learning materials will be distributed to the children of 24 schools.

“I do not use the paintings for commercial purposes. I want to use it for a cause. The proceedings will go for the education of children from deprived tribal communities. After all, it is these communities that are protecting forests. While many children could continue their education through the Covid-19 pandemic through online education, children of tribal communities were among those worst-affected,” she says. Jane, who has been painting since her childhood, started professional journey in painting eight years ago.

Artist Dinesh Holla who is a convener of Sahyadri Sanchaya says there was a uniqueness to her exhibition. Her approach to selecting subjects complemented the occasion of world environment day.

“Helping children from tribal communities also amounts to contributing back to society. Through her painting, she has tried to create awareness as well,” he said.