James Chester Sends a Terrific Boekie of his Hometown Coffee House Experience

[Thom Courcelle]

I LOVE THIS!!

James made a miniature sketch journal documenting several different days and times and people AND THEIR DRINKS at the local independent Coffee House in his local mid-central-eastern California small town! These sketches are AMAZING and DETAILED and depict a whole host of coffeeshop patrons. I love their unique characters and I love how James used spot color-wash in his pen-ink illustrations.

Below are some detailed pages:

FAB-U-LOUS!!! I'm super impressed by this handiwork, James, and feel grateful to be a lucky recipient of your talent. 

Small-town venues like James's local coffeehouse are what's known as "third places." They aren't home, and they aren't religious or spiritual venues,...but are recognized as places where locals can gather and interact and meet and socialize. Small towns need these kinds of places because—especially in our zombifying electronic device-era, and post-COVID lockdown-era, it's easy to forget how important this social interaction is for us. My small town sometimes struggles to maintain these sorts of places, but fortunately—like James—we seem to have at least one coffeehouse that stays in business and is fairly community-invested. 

Thanks for this little peek into your community "third-place," James. Happy art-making!