Community Corner

The Starbucks Picasso: Homeless Artist Turns Coffee Lids into Portraits

Every morning, Gisberto Bertucci, 70, sits at a Newport Beach coffeehouse and sketches mini-portraits.

A cup of Starbucks coffee tends to be the same no matter where you buy it, unless Orange County artist Gisberto "Bert" Bertucci gets his hands on it.

Bertucci, 70, had been living a quiet life in a Costa Mesa camper since 1979 -- until his sketches on coffee cup lids became an attraction at the Starbucks on East Coast Highway and Bayside Drive in Newport Beach. The sketches bear the faces of notables such as President Barack Obama or locals who attract Bertucci’s eye.

"I just get a feeling about people and, if I can memorize their face, I begin to sketch them on the lid," he explained.

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Bertucci, who takes the bus from Costa Mesa to Newport Beach every morning, sits at the same corner table at Starbucks, where he talks to regulars and sketches coffee lid portraits.

Normally lost behind his gray hair and tattered fisherman's hat, his blue eyes light up when he recalls how the popularity of his artwork skyrocketed over the Christmas season.

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"One morning, I came into Starbucks and saw a Christmas tree in here, but it was bare and had no ornaments. It looked sad," Bertucci said. "So I decided to draw sketches on the coffee lids and used them to decorate the tree."

The Christmas tree is long gone, but the Italian-born artist has kept sketching unsuspecting customers who pique his interest or regulars who ask him for a portrait.

"Everybody here knows Bert," Newport Beach resident Moira Pattine said. "He's a lovely man with a great talent."

It takes about five minutes for Bertucci to turn a coffee cup lid into a work of art. He does it with a regular blue pen, and is very shy about having someone watch him while he works.

"I get nervous if people watch me. It's overwhelming when they like it, and ask me to sign it. Sometimes they ask, 'Do I really look like that?' and I tell them, 'Yes, but that's not my fault,' " Bertucci joked.

The soft-spoken artist makes a living by doing odd jobs every once in awhile, and he doesn’t think of himself as an artist.

"I consider myself a drywall taper, not an artist," Bertucci said. "Sketching is just something I like to do, and I don't think I'm very good at it."

After his morning coffee and sketching, Bertucci catches the bus to Laguna Beach, where he plays chess at Main Beach. At the end of the day, he takes the bus back to Costa Mesa, where he works on his vegetable garden and perfects sketches he didn't have a chance to finish in the morning.

"It's hard to be alone, but after awhile you get used to it," Bertucci said.

Although he has grown accustomed to his routine, Bertucci's heart remains in his hometown of Pontecosi, a small town in Italy's Tuscan province of Lucca. He carries around a photo album with his personal pictures of Pontecosi and shares them with his Starbucks friends and people he meets.

"This is the house I grew up in," Bertucci said while displaying his pictures. "It is the most beautiful place."

Bertucci said he is content to visit his hometown through pictures and memories and is delighted by his newfound popularity.

"I think I will make my way back there one day," Bertucci said. "But for now, I enjoy being here: coming to Starbucks, playing chess at the beach and sketching the portraits for my friends."

What do you think of Bertucci's coffee cup lid portraits? Tell us in the comments.


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