1994, Mason's Coffeehouse, 9x12 inches, reduction woodcut, (3 out of 4) by Kenney Mencher
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This ships from Round Lake Beach, Illinois. A suburb outside of Chicago.
I use UPS and sometimes US Post.
This piece is called Mason’s Coffee Shop, and I made it in 1994 as a reduction woodcut. It’s 9x12 inches, editioned 3 out of only 4. This print came straight out of my memories of being a teenager in New York City, when I went to Art and Design High School on 57th Street in the late '70s and early '80s.
One of my best friends back then was a very butch girl named Mason. I really looked up to her. She brought me into her circle, and we spent hours together in a tiny coffee shop right across the street from the school—just hanging out, drinking bottomless cups of coffee, eating grilled cheese sandwiches, and smoking cigarettes (you could do that in restaurants back then). It was loud and smoky and warm—full of stories and people trying to figure themselves out.
I even wrote a song about her called “Meeting with Mason in the Coffee Shop.” I recorded it on an old TEAC 4-track reel-to-reel with just my acoustic guitar, some wine glasses filled with water, and my voice. This print came years later, but it’s rooted in those images, smells, and sounds. I guess I sound a little like Marcel Proust here, but it really was that kind of formative time.
This print is part of my Fresh Finds series—original works from my personal archive that I’ve pulled out to share with collectors. These are handmade, one-of-a-kind or very small edition pieces from my early career that have lived in flat files until now. They’re part of my story, and I thought it was time to let them out into the world.
The technique is reduction woodcut—meaning I used a single block and carved it in stages, printing one color at a time and cutting away more after each pass. Once the final layer is printed, the block is essentially destroyed, making it impossible to reprint. It’s a bold, deliberate process that forces you to commit at every step.
The style is highly graphic—strong contrasts, expressive lines, and minimal detail. The figures are simplified but dynamic. I didn’t want this to be a literal picture of two teenagers; I wanted it to capture a mood, a gesture, a moment in time. The background lines suggest the cluttered rhythm of the coffee shop—the buzz, the chatter, the music—and the central figures lean in, mid-conversation. The image is stylized but emotional, with a warm, almost glowing underlayer peeking through the darker surface.
Compositionally, it’s symmetrical and focused, with both figures facing each other across the center of the print. Their arms and hands form a sort of visual bridge, and the space around them echoes with the vertical lines of booths, paneling, or maybe even old venetian blinds. It’s familiar and personal, but also open enough for anyone to project their own memories into it.
Details:
Title: Mason’s Coffee Shop
Year: 1994
Medium: Reduction woodcut
Dimensions: 9 x 12 inches
Edition: 3 of 4
Signed and numbered
Unframed
Based on memories of Art and Design High School, NYC
Part of the Fresh Finds archive release
FREE SHIPPING Shipping takes 3-4 Weeks
This ships from Round Lake Beach, Illinois. A suburb outside of Chicago.
I use UPS and sometimes US Post.
This piece is called Mason’s Coffee Shop, and I made it in 1994 as a reduction woodcut. It’s 9x12 inches, editioned 3 out of only 4. This print came straight out of my memories of being a teenager in New York City, when I went to Art and Design High School on 57th Street in the late '70s and early '80s.
One of my best friends back then was a very butch girl named Mason. I really looked up to her. She brought me into her circle, and we spent hours together in a tiny coffee shop right across the street from the school—just hanging out, drinking bottomless cups of coffee, eating grilled cheese sandwiches, and smoking cigarettes (you could do that in restaurants back then). It was loud and smoky and warm—full of stories and people trying to figure themselves out.
I even wrote a song about her called “Meeting with Mason in the Coffee Shop.” I recorded it on an old TEAC 4-track reel-to-reel with just my acoustic guitar, some wine glasses filled with water, and my voice. This print came years later, but it’s rooted in those images, smells, and sounds. I guess I sound a little like Marcel Proust here, but it really was that kind of formative time.
This print is part of my Fresh Finds series—original works from my personal archive that I’ve pulled out to share with collectors. These are handmade, one-of-a-kind or very small edition pieces from my early career that have lived in flat files until now. They’re part of my story, and I thought it was time to let them out into the world.
The technique is reduction woodcut—meaning I used a single block and carved it in stages, printing one color at a time and cutting away more after each pass. Once the final layer is printed, the block is essentially destroyed, making it impossible to reprint. It’s a bold, deliberate process that forces you to commit at every step.
The style is highly graphic—strong contrasts, expressive lines, and minimal detail. The figures are simplified but dynamic. I didn’t want this to be a literal picture of two teenagers; I wanted it to capture a mood, a gesture, a moment in time. The background lines suggest the cluttered rhythm of the coffee shop—the buzz, the chatter, the music—and the central figures lean in, mid-conversation. The image is stylized but emotional, with a warm, almost glowing underlayer peeking through the darker surface.
Compositionally, it’s symmetrical and focused, with both figures facing each other across the center of the print. Their arms and hands form a sort of visual bridge, and the space around them echoes with the vertical lines of booths, paneling, or maybe even old venetian blinds. It’s familiar and personal, but also open enough for anyone to project their own memories into it.
Details:
Title: Mason’s Coffee Shop
Year: 1994
Medium: Reduction woodcut
Dimensions: 9 x 12 inches
Edition: 3 of 4
Signed and numbered
Unframed
Based on memories of Art and Design High School, NYC
Part of the Fresh Finds archive release
FREE SHIPPING Shipping takes 3-4 Weeks
This ships from Round Lake Beach, Illinois. A suburb outside of Chicago.
I use UPS and sometimes US Post.
This piece is called Mason’s Coffee Shop, and I made it in 1994 as a reduction woodcut. It’s 9x12 inches, editioned 3 out of only 4. This print came straight out of my memories of being a teenager in New York City, when I went to Art and Design High School on 57th Street in the late '70s and early '80s.
One of my best friends back then was a very butch girl named Mason. I really looked up to her. She brought me into her circle, and we spent hours together in a tiny coffee shop right across the street from the school—just hanging out, drinking bottomless cups of coffee, eating grilled cheese sandwiches, and smoking cigarettes (you could do that in restaurants back then). It was loud and smoky and warm—full of stories and people trying to figure themselves out.
I even wrote a song about her called “Meeting with Mason in the Coffee Shop.” I recorded it on an old TEAC 4-track reel-to-reel with just my acoustic guitar, some wine glasses filled with water, and my voice. This print came years later, but it’s rooted in those images, smells, and sounds. I guess I sound a little like Marcel Proust here, but it really was that kind of formative time.
This print is part of my Fresh Finds series—original works from my personal archive that I’ve pulled out to share with collectors. These are handmade, one-of-a-kind or very small edition pieces from my early career that have lived in flat files until now. They’re part of my story, and I thought it was time to let them out into the world.
The technique is reduction woodcut—meaning I used a single block and carved it in stages, printing one color at a time and cutting away more after each pass. Once the final layer is printed, the block is essentially destroyed, making it impossible to reprint. It’s a bold, deliberate process that forces you to commit at every step.
The style is highly graphic—strong contrasts, expressive lines, and minimal detail. The figures are simplified but dynamic. I didn’t want this to be a literal picture of two teenagers; I wanted it to capture a mood, a gesture, a moment in time. The background lines suggest the cluttered rhythm of the coffee shop—the buzz, the chatter, the music—and the central figures lean in, mid-conversation. The image is stylized but emotional, with a warm, almost glowing underlayer peeking through the darker surface.
Compositionally, it’s symmetrical and focused, with both figures facing each other across the center of the print. Their arms and hands form a sort of visual bridge, and the space around them echoes with the vertical lines of booths, paneling, or maybe even old venetian blinds. It’s familiar and personal, but also open enough for anyone to project their own memories into it.
Details:
Title: Mason’s Coffee Shop
Year: 1994
Medium: Reduction woodcut
Dimensions: 9 x 12 inches
Edition: 3 of 4
Signed and numbered
Unframed
Based on memories of Art and Design High School, NYC
Part of the Fresh Finds archive release
