144. The SneakyArt of Cafes
private lives in public spaces.
Dear reader,
I was in Chicago the first time I saw someone working at a cafe. I thought it was ridiculous. It was later only when I started to make SneakyArt, when I spent time actually looking at the people around me, that I understood the role that cafes played in their lives.
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☕️ Cafe Society
Day 18 of 30 Days of Vancouver was a rainy day. I walked to a Starbucks in Cambie Village and drew all the other people that walked in after me.
30 Days of Vancouver was a daily drawing project to draw tiny people all over the city. During this period I made drawings of more than 2000 unique people of Vancouver!
In the comments of this week’s SneakyArt Drop, a reader spoke about the cafe as a place for creative work. And I could not agree more. SneakyArt began in the cafes of America!
In the early days of walking about with a sketchbook, I felt uncomfortable and under-confident about drawing in public. Cafes became a safe space where a corner table would let me observe everyone while remaining inconspicuous.
As I began to frequent cafes, I learned that I did not even need to have a plan about what to draw. SneakyArt was being created all around me, thrown up by the flux of everyday life. All I had to do was notice.
But cafes were not just about sparking creativity.
When I paid for coffee at a cafe, I was also implicitly claiming my right to occupy that space.
As an immigrant in the country, as an outsider to the environment, I needed this permission to spend time around the people of my strange new world.
Learn more about SneakyArt of Eau Claire, my award-winning, self-published coffee-table book about the time I spent in Wisconsin.
Barry Jung points to the importance of cafes as a third space - a neutral location that can become private. Also, decadent pastries!
Speaking of dessert, I raise my cup to Breka Bakery downtown, which was close to our apartment when we moved to Vancouver. While I could not always grab a table to work there, I was once able to use one for a sketch!
Dear reader, is there a sweet (or savoury) indulgence for which you visit your local cafe?
Another reader brings up how cafes can serve as backdrops for ordinary and extraordinary moments of our lives.
The societal good that cafes provide and their social function within the context of a city are seamlessly woven into the fabric of urban life.
We live in cafes.
🎙 Podcast Update
We are now only one week away from Episode 50 of the SneakyArt Podcast!
Barring a few weeks - when we moved from Chicago to Vancouver, and when I visited India and got COVID - the show has been running constantly since September 2020. So as I edit this episode, I am also cognizant of the incredible mental toll of running a podcast all by myself.
Listeners, I need a break.
Next month’s trip to Europe will be time away from my podcast schedule. I will use it to refresh my ideas and motivations and build a fresh list of guests.
I am discussing this, and other release plans (like remixing past episodes to connect across themes), with Insiders this Sunday. If you are a super-listener of the SneakyArt Podcast, I would love to have you in the discussion.
To share your thoughts about the future of the podcast, simply support my work as a SneakyArt Insider!
Thank you for your time and attention. I am glad to have a space in your inbox. See you next week!
This is so weird, I'm trolling around for an idea, I have some posts I started but only a paragraph or two in each. All of the comments point to the same thing - using 3rd spaces to foster creativity. My post featuring my visit to The Huntington Library was a perfect example.
I sit here this morning, my Friday post due, and not totally committed to making that happen. Under the guise of "research", I click on your Substack, hoping a fully-formed post will just fall out of my head.
Then you said you need a break. Thank you. So do I. As you said, doing this alone is a mental grind. One we seem to love, but grind nonetheless. Sometimes we need to "get permission" to take some time off. Thanks for approving my vacation request! Yours is approved as well. Safe Travels and hope it fills your head with ideas and your heart with inspiration.
Ric
I used to go to cafes not to work but either to read or write letters. The latest bit should tell you how long ago that was. I used to write letters every day. The email and the internet are fast and convenient but I feel something got lost in the process.
Now I go to parks. Unless it's scorching hot outside, like now.