BENGALURU: Coffee art has found a new patron in Deepthi Jiji Mathew, the talented artiste who is on a sketching spree of Indian Orthodox churches and its metropolitans.

With timely encouragement from her spiritual father, HG Dr Abraham Mar Seraphim, Deepthi has now completed a sketch of HG Dr Geevarghese Mar Yulios, Ahmedabad Diocese Metropolitan and Assistant Metropolitan for Kunnamkulam Diocese.
For this work, she has used coffee as the main source which took her near three days to complete.
She did her first coffee powder art for Rev Fr Koshy Thomas, Vicar, St Stephen’s Orthodox Church, Vijayanagar, Bengaluru. It is Fr Koshy who always encourages and supports the younger generation to come up in life and chase their dreams.
“After I came out with my sketch on my spiritual father in Dr Mar Seraphim Metropolitan all of them encouraged me. Then my first coffee powder art was completed with Fr Koshy. Later, seeing my art works, my church vicar requested me to draw the cheerful and smiling Yulios Bishop,” says Deepthi.

After hours of practice to get the perfect look the sketch of Metropolitan Mar Yulios was etched using coffee powder and finally she was excited to see the final product.
The coffee art work has been interspersed with the sermon which HG Mar Yulios delivered at St Thomas Orthodox Church, Lufkin, Texas, during the first Sunday after the feast of Pentecost.
She hopes to personally hand over her coffee art work to the Metropolitan whenever he visits Bengaluru. Metropolitan Yulios is presently visiting the US.

“Coffee art is simple in which one uses three sheets to draw with the help of glue and coffee powder. The sketch is created simply by adding coffee (usually instant) to water and varying the strength to get different tones. Some even boil the coffee to get the darkest colours possible,” she explains.
Deepthi now plans to take up painting the sketches of all the metropolitans and saints of Indian Orthodox Church.
The heartthrob of many, Deepthi future plan is to launch a startup if her art works becomes more popular and to make it as an income generating one.

Deepthi is the daughter of Sudha Susan and Jiji Mathew, both active members of the Malankara Orthodox Church in Vijaynagar,  Bengaluru.  ~ Liju Cherian