“Coffee Painters from Around the Globe” features local artist

Photo courtesy of Modesto Aceves.

At this year’s State Fair of Texas international coffee art exhibit will include an Oak Cliff native as the feature artist.

Modesto Aceves has been painting, inking and etching with coffee since 2012 and has become a world traveled artist for his accidental discovery.

“I drink a lot of coffee at night,” he said. “And sometimes, when you’re too busy with designing or painting, you forget where you dip your brush. And I actually dipped my brush inside my coffee and that’s how it started.”

Aceves creates as a hobby rather than a full time gig, painting late at night while raising a family, and had been drawing ever since he could pick up a pencil, he said.

“I went to Booker T. Washington, but then I went back to Sunset and graduated in Sunset because I wanted to be a cartoonist for their newsletter.”

The combination of his art education and a late night accident has led him to traveling the world through coffee art. 

Recently connecting with Abraão Figueiredo in Brazil, Aceves invited him to come back to the state of Texas for the Fair’s coffee art exhibit. From his travels, Aceves has been able to invite artists from around the world to join the exhibit including France, Bulgaria and Ukraine to name a few.

Outside of traveling as an artist, he also teaches others to paint with coffee at the Methodist Health Center and an upcoming visit to the students at King’s Academy next week.

Aceves has participated in the Fair every year since 2018 through the coffee art exhibit, and said he hopes his art can help others to pursue anything as long as they believe in themselves.

“Sometimes you work hard and you get stressed out,” Aceves said. “And so, painting with coffee, like a lot of my students that I teach, they always tell me coffee painting is relaxing.”

Having that balance of a creative outlet and passion to pursue your dreams is something Aceves continues to do through his art.

“They say coffee inspires you,” he said. “Drink a lot of coffee. It kind of motivates you and makes you be creative.”