The Lettered Streets Coffeehouse will have the artwork of several artists from Sabbath Tattoo on display throughout February. The pieces will be on the walls by end of this week, according to coffeehouse co-owner, Anna Dean.
Dean, 26, said one of the coffeehouse’s primary goals is to provide a strong community space for local residents, and one way to create it is to exhibit artwork from Bellingham and Whatcom County artists.
“I think it’s the last missing piece of a local shop,” Dean said.
According to Dean, the coffeehouse changes exhibits once a month, and February’s exhibit will feature paintings from artists at Sabbath Tattoo, a tattoo parlor on Dupont Street not far from the coffeehouse.
Bob Yaple, 34, said he has worked at Sabbath for one and a half years and is contributing three pieces to the show. Yaple, who describes his art as “abstract surrealism,” said he thinks February’s display might not be as mellow as some of the coffeehouse’s previous exhibits.
“It pushes the boundaries a little bit more,” Yaple said.
Brion Tichelaar, 35, whose work will be part of the exhibit, said this month’s display may have some darker imagery compared to artwork the coffeehouse has displayed in the past.
Tichelaar, who has worked at Sabbath for 11 years, said he started drawing as soon as he could pick up a pencil. He said he often incorporates skulls, flowers, and esoteric symbolism into his acrylic paintings, and uses a mix of hot colors (reds, oranges, and yellows) and cold colors (blues, purples, and greens). Tichelaar said he has pieces on display at Dreamspace, Jinx Art Space, Congregation Gallery in Los Angeles, and other tattoo shops. This week marks his artwork’s debut at the coffeehouse.
“I think it’s pretty exciting,” Tichelaar said. “I’ve never had anything there before.”
For Yaple, the exhibit is the first time his paintings will be part of a public display. When creating his pieces, Yaple said he starts completely from scratch before throwing on a background color, covering most of the canvas with a shape, and morphing the shape into whatever creativity inspires. According to Yaple, tattoo art has rigid rules and painting allows him to rebel against those rules.
“When you paint you can let go of all of that stuff and let your mind play,” Yaple said.
According to Yaple, he was talking one day with Kjirstin Glessner, who co-owns the coffeehouse with Dean, when she suggested he and some of the other artists at Sabbath put their art up on the walls. Dean said coffeehouse curator, Jeff Stamey, made the idea a reality.
According to Dean, the exhibit will not cost the coffeehouse anything. She also said the coffeehouse does not take commission for any of the paintings for sale, because the point of the Lettered Streets Coffeehouse’s monthly exhibits is to support local artists.
“We just like to be a part of things,” Dean said.
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