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Daring to Doodle
Kalamadoodle draws out nascent artists in all by
EMILY TOWNSEND
A
snowstorm rages outside, but inside Rupert’s Brew House there is a calmer storm — a brainstorm, that is. Tables are pushed together and covered in long sheets of paper off a roll. Dozens of people of all ages sip beer or coffee, chat and doodle together, on shared paper, creating one collaborative piece of art. This is Kalamadoodle, a drink-and-draw event that occurs each month at a rotating roster of local breweries. At one high-top table, three newcomers use pens and markers to draw cats and Christmas stockings and swirling designs. They laugh, chat and sit comfortably together, even though they just met. “I really wasn’t sure what to expect, but I like to color, so I came,” says Sharon Brown, who describes her relationship to art as “pretty 12 | Encore FEBRUARY 2017
Top: Kalamadoodle attendees sip beer and doodle together on communal sheets of paper at Rupert's Brew House. Bottom: Doodlers decorated more than 100 kids’ lunch bags for a food bank, including these by artist Paul Sizer.