Smiling Goat

For years now as part of my business I have been painting winter and holiday murals on the windows of local businesses. During the last couple of years with all of the change & construction that's been happening downtown and the strategy of my business I haven't been focusing on this aspect of things much at all. But this year when approached by a friend, I decided that for the love of said friend, the love of my work, and my attempt to love the season once again that I would perpetuate a masterpiece for a local organic coffee shop called The Smiling Goat. The story behind their logo is the story of the discovery of one of our favourite caffeinated beverages . A shepherd was wondering why his goats were dancing and smiling, then he noticed that they were eating the red berries from a plant he had not seen before. This was the discovery of coffee, and a discovery for myself as I had not realized that coffee beans are actually the pits of these red berries. After meticulously studying the leaf patterns of the coffee plant, I set these in a hexagonal snowflake wreath pattern accented with the red coffee berries on their various locations. I highlighted some of the line work in a reflective gold & mixed a non toxic metallic element to my greens to further catch & play with the reflections. In the past I had never much considered the medium of the window; the challenges & strengths involved with surface representations, how they are perceptual portals, and how the perceived image changes depending on from which side it is viewed and the lighting at the time, ending up in an ever-changing piece of work that I was happy to provide. Also being in love with their goat logo I made sure that there were some smiling, happy goats dancing about at their main location at Bishops Landing. Please "like" & share with anyone you know who loves coffee, art, the holidays, or all of the above!