These stunning paintings smell great! American artist Michael Aaron Williams brews coffee strong to paint this series of portraits. Coffee is a great medium for him because of its natural organic colors that fit perfectly to the natural colors of antique paper. He also uses ink for the darker areas. The artist found the vintage papers in an old abandoned Appalachian store that was owned by his great and great, great grandparents. These pages date back to the 1920s and 30s. “Time has added years and years of character to the paper, so when I paint on them, it enhances the character of the artwork itself,” he says. Michael also makes cardboard cut-outs of kids placing them in outdoor locations for tourists and citizens to see. He also adds some props like arrows, flowers and different objects to give a touch of realism and storytelling to his paper children. The artist recently lived in an orphanage in Thailand for two months and was able to get to know the children there. He was inspired by their stories that he used as subject matter. His main goal is to show their fragility and beauty, and never let the viewer forget them.

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