Seasonal Coffee Artist Series: Winter with Cheri Robitaille

Cheri started oil painting in the early 2000s. It was only around 2016 when she discovered ink painting, a method of painting that allows the ink and alcohol to take control, freeing the artist of the constraints of realism. “I had learn to work with the ink as opposed to telling the oils what it was going to do.” A lot of her art has very specific brush work, an homage to her roots in oil painting.

We asked Cheri what inspires her. “Time is a huge thing for me and usually when I have space for time it’s like ‘I’m gonna do something’.”

“[Taking the] time to carve out moments over the years to choose the outlet that best expresses my thoughts and imagination has been challenging but rewarding as well.”

Cheri described the time she spent producing the artwork that would eventually be featured on the label of Equator’s Winter Blend. In 2018, as she was preparing artwork for Christmas shows, she decided it was important to break away from the traditional greens and reds, and work in her favourite colour: purple. The cool tones in this particular piece are reminiscent of stained glass and frosted window panes. “I was creating with Christmas in mind. Frost builds up and fireplaces come on. Instead of looking out and seeing cold and dead of winter, infusing winter with some colour to make warm peace in a cold climate.”

A perfect winter day for Cheri is spent inside, with nothing to do. Cheri dreams of finding herself curled up in front of the fireplace, feet up, reading a book. The air smells of coffee. This inspires her to give more time to painting in the winter months.

You can find Cheri’s art on Equator Winter Blend coffee - available at our cafés in Almonte, Westboro, and the NAC.

The Seasonal Coffee Artist Series invites local talent to be featured on bags of Equator Coffee. Changing with every season, each limited edition coffee blend label will feature the season-related art of one artist or designer selected by Equator from the diverse communities connected to our coffee. Inquiries regarding submissions can be sent to outreach@equator.ca