Coffee has always been a big part of Melissa Bruglemans-LaBelle’s life — working in coffee shops as a teen and young woman, then going up and down the aircraft aisles with the brewed drink as a flight attendant.
“I was always in a job that was constantly serving it,” Bruglemans-LaBelle says.
But the Airdrie woman never drank coffee until she became a mother, finding she needed a boost to help with the hectic pace of life with her two young sons.
And that’s led to coffee playing a new role in her life, as the raw material for her paintings.
An artist for years, she’d usually worked with oil paint until a happy accident one day.
She went on to do a whole series of paintings with coffee, featuring subjects like wildlife, landscapes and Spiderman.
The pieces are part of an exhibit featuring five local painters.
Called Studio 52, it runs on Jan. 25 and 26 in Airdrie.
Bruglemans-LaBelle’s fellow artists are enjoying having her share the exhibit space with them.
“Just watching her, just whoosh, whoosh, whoosh with her coffee,” Sharon Shuttleworth says, “it’s amazing!”
“Very cool, very unique!” Verone Solilo says.
“I like to use different brands,” Bruglemans-LaBelle says. “Some are more brown, some are more golden. Instant is my favourite to use.”
Watch below: Some Global News videos to do with coffee.