Butternut Mountain

While visiting friends in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, I was drinking coffee and enjoying the view of evergreen-covered Butternut Mountain through their kitchen window.

 

As I finished my drink, I was startled at how residual coffee grounds had formed a pattern at the bottom of the cup that resembled the mountaintop I was seeing.

 

The pattern so struck me that I endeavored to recreate the effect at home so I could photograph it.

I experimented with different coffee-making techniques and allowed the patterns to form on a variety of surfaces. These are some of the earliest images

in the series.