Le Chat Noir, Coaster Art, and Peter Max

While we were in the Seattle area, I went to Bellingham to visit my grandson, Firefly. They are in their first apartment and going to college at Western Washington University.

It is an amazing seaside college town. My daughter was there too, so we had a lovely day together.

We went to a place called Le Chat Noir (The Black Cat) for lunch. It was on the third floor and had an amazing view of Puget Sound. (I can’t believe I didn’t take any pictures!!)

While we were waiting to be seated, I saw some artwork on the wall. It was a collection of drink coasters, each with a different artist’s work. There must have been 50 of them.

Actually, I counted.

There were 77.

I was inspired.

Sometimes it doesn’t take much.

When I saw those little circles of art, my mind started swirling in all sorts of directions.

• I could sketch things we see on our adventures. Little art memories.

• While visiting Firefly, I noticed they had all sorts of bird feeders. How cool would it be to draw the birds we see along the way?

• Then I thought about Zentangles, an art form I used to be into. It’s meditative art made from small, repetitive patterns.

• I remembered making word-art posters in the ’70s that told a story in words. I loved doing that. It could be perfect for these tiny canvases.

• Or it could be a collection of all those things!

I went to Pinterest for inspiration. I knew Le Chat Noir couldn’t be the first place to do this. And, of course, there was tons of “coaster art.”

I checked Amazon, and sure enough, I could get blank cardboard coasters inexpensively and in large quantities.

Next, if I was going to do this, I had to decide what medium to use.

One of the things I liked about the artwork at the restaurant was that it was all done in black pen or ink on the cardboard background. Even though every piece of art was different, the black ink gave the collection a sense of consistency.

Meanwhile, while all of this was swirling around in my mind, I heard that Peter Max had passed away.

His art influenced me greatly in the ’60s and ’70s, and hearing the news left me feeling melancholy.

And then I had an idea.

What if this little art project became a tribute to him?

If I did that, forget the black ink.

These little pieces of art would need bright, bold colors!

My creative brain was spinning.

I think a stop at an art store may be necessary.

Meanwhile, I’m going to order some blank coasters and experiment. Art pens might be the right choice, but whatever I use, the colors will have to be vivid.

We might be on an RV road trip adventure, but apparently my creativity never takes a vacation!