Austin’s Coffee (929 West Fairbanks Avenue) has become a spot where I can wind down after work. I often have an hour or two to kill before heading off to sketch an event and it would make no sense for me to drive all the way home. I usually order a Yak which is a cold coffee with caramel and chocolate. 0h, it is so good. That is my coffee with the plastic domed lid and a straw in the lower right corner. I like to sit up on the staging area in front of the front window. The wooden tables and chairs are fancifully painted. Then, as I sip my coffee, I start sketching fellow patrons.
This fellow was using Austin’s as his office. There is free Wi–Fi. He complained to a buddy about the job market and he refused to go back to an office where he was asked to work overtime with no extra pay. The odd painting behind him caught my eye. Larvae or grasshopper people were caught in a violent looking copulation embrace. The colors dripped and splashed with few features to define pleasure or pain. Each brick on the wall is individually painted in the entry area. The place is a constant visual feast.