Hobby Hub Challenge Week #2 - My L.O.V.E. for Coffee Bean Art \(^_^)/

One of my favourite hobbies is to create coffee bean art in my spare time. First of all, I am a coffee lover who loves the taste and aroma of coffee. In fact, I used to have stack of different varieties of coffee beans sitting in airtight containers, neatly stored away from light, heat and moisture, in my pantry.

Sometimes, I would open up one container just to appreciate the aroma of coffee beans (LOL). Eventually, I started playing around with the beans and using them to create my coffee bean art on a regular basis.

Below are a few pieces of my coffee bean art that I would like to share with you:

Mind you, I love creating art (all kinds of arts) since I was a young kid. My sister and I were sent away to live with my aunt (my grandma’s sister) and uncle in Japan at a young age. They lived a very simple life, closed to nature. My uncle was an avid gardener who built his own Japanese zen garden. He would present natural objects such as stones, sticks or leaves for me to play with. He encouraged me to arrange these natural materials in various pattens and designs to my liking. Almost instantly, I fell in love with the idea of arranging objects and to create art! And, that’s how I started my journey of art making.

Art has played an important role in my life and has helped me to overcome adversity. For example, as a kid, I didn’t have parents to stay with and I was moved around a lot from country to country, living with different relatives whom I did not really know, the language barrier, once I started to understand the language then I had to move again to a different country learning a new language and the life of living out of little suitcases were extremely stressful. Luckily, I was always able to adopt and the only reason is because of art making.

To honour my belated uncle who loved nature, I particularly picked the following pieces in his honour. I am forever grateful that he introduced me to art in the first place and I hope that in the near future, I would be able to introduce art to my future child:

Art making is extremely healthy to our mental health. Scientifically, it has been proven that art could relieve stress. When you are doing any sort of art, it allows your mind to stay calm and collect itself. You aren’t thinking or worrying about your environment, instead you are focused on creating something that you love. It also supports personal meaning in life and discovering joy in one’s own self.

One thing for sure is that art helped me to develop mentally, socially and emotionally. It allowed me to be in the moment and express myself. It boosted my ability to analyze and problem solve. It helped me to build self-esteem, strengthens focus and increases attention. More importantly, it always made me feel good while I am creating art which ultimately helped to boost my self-confidence.

To me, making coffee bean art has always been about the process, not the outcome. I believe that you don’t need to create the most beautiful art that everyone loves. Instead, the art is for yourself to enjoy as it is a great way to express your feeling at that moment.

It is for all of the above reasons that I truly enjoy making coffee bean art as a hobby in my adult life.

Now, I know what some people may be thinking. We all had to take art classes in primary school, and you may remember feeling not artistically proficient as those around you. Or maybe you have been told that most people aren’t meant to be artists. Let me let you in on a secret - anyone and everyone can be an artist. There’s no such thing as “good” or “bad” art. There’s just art, and it’s supposed to make you and only you feel good.