Ritual Coffee Founder Eileen Rinaldi interviews artist Galine Tumasyan about life in San Francisco, the art scene, and her relationship to coffee.
When did you realize you wanted to be an artist?
G: Pretty much as soon as I could talk! Because my family, all of them are artists, on my dad’s side everyone is an artist, and my mom also paints and draws. So like, basically for me and my brother, it was a no-brainer that this is what we were gonna do, and it was highly encouraged in our family, Draw, Draw, go to school, do it professionally! I just knew this was the only path that we have because of our family history.
That’s amazing, that’s so cool! There are lots of stories of people trying to be artists and it doesn’t work out. I’m curious, your dad was an artist, and what kind of art does he do? Was it his career?
G: Yea, he is kind of like an abstract expressionist with a little bit of surrealism, he is an oil painter. He doesn’t really paint anymore, unfortunately, but he went to school and he was painting basically all his younger life. I remember growing up with the smell of oil paint, so every time I smell it it’s very nostalgic for me, just canvases stacked everywhere. So this is what he did, and then my grandpa, his dad was a professional photographer, he had a studio. And then his brother (my uncle) was also a painter. It’s painters and photographers basically.
Tell me about your relationship with San Francisco, how long have you lived here?
G: I’ve lived here for 11 years now, and it’s a place that I always wanted to live, you know, even when I lived in Uzbekistan, I always was fascinated by San Francisco. Because of all the cultural movements you know. It just has so much history, and New York does too but there is something very special about San Francisco specifically, just something very magical and I still, to be honest, am in love with the city every single day that I walk around. I think it’s the best place. And, you know, no matter what people say like, ‘Oh, it’s not the same’ you know, it goes through different changes as everything does, but I feel like it still has a very rich art scene and music scene, it’s still there if you look for it.
What did you hear about San Francisco before you came here?
G: The two main things were the gay movement, and you know the whole, summer of love movement too! Those two things were so incredible to me, you know, living in a country where you can’t really express either of those things, you can’t just rage on the streets and play music like they did in the summer of love. Or you know, the gay movement is still highly repressed in all post-soviet countries. So that is something that I definitely was like, ‘this is incredible, this is like ultimate freedom! Nobody else does this in the world.’
When you moved to San Francisco did it match what your idea was? Or was it different than you were expecting?
G: It matched! I remember even going to North Beach and hearing about the Beat movement, and going to Haight Street and knowing the history behind it. It definitely matched I think! Same with Castro as well, there is definitely this magic still, you can feel it.
Do you feel like San Francisco has had an influence on your art?
G: Definitely! My first biggest influence was psychedelic posters, and I’m very lucky that I actually work with The Fillmore now, and do posters with them, so that was something I always looked at and dreamt about, so I couldn’t even imagine that that would be me one day, doing work for them. I just always loved their 60’s posters, they are just so stunning, the color and typography. That was one of the biggest influences for sure, The Fillmore posters, that’s kind of where it all started.
How did you end up getting to design posters for The Fillmore?
G: It was interesting, I just started working with different promoters and designing posters and one of my friends actually reached out to me and was like, ‘Hey, looks like the Fillmore is looking for a new artist you should just reach out to them’ and I did and they were like, “yea let’s do it!” and I was like ‘Oh my God! What?!’ Their art director is wonderful, and we actually became friends with her, and she is really sweet and supportive so I have been fortunate, and working with her a lot.
Growing up in Uzbekistan, could you envision yourself being an artist had you stayed there? Would your art have been different?
G: You know, probably no. It’s interesting because I always knew I was going to be an illustrator, or like, an artist of some sort, but in my early 20s, I thought, ‘ok I need to think about a career’ but realistically there was no way I could just draw and make money because over there people are still really focusing on survival. It’s getting better now, but when I lived there people didn’t really think about art as much, even though it does have a lot of theater, music, and art history, it is kind of a melting pot of Central Asia. Nevertheless, I didn’t see myself as having a career as an artist, so I became a tattoo artist. I was like, ’Well, I like to draw.’ It was, you know, y2k era early 2000s, piercings are cool, tattoos are cool. It was so different over there for us, it was like a taboo that we finally tapped into. I learned how to do tattoos and piercings and that was my career for a few years before I moved here.
I remember you once talking about what you saw in the Ritual logo because obviously, you grew up in a communist country so you have a very different understanding of it to someone who grew up here. Could you talk about that?
G: Yea, it’s just so funny, there are so many different relationships to that history. For me, when I see a red color and a star it’s kind of comforting almost, ‘I remember that!’ aside from any political thing, I like the logo and it makes me feel good!
So, do you like coffee?
G: I love coffee! I’m drinking it now! Coffee is our fuel, without coffee, there is just nothing. You can’t really function without coffee. If I don’t have my coffee I just know it’s not going to be a good day for me.
Do you make coffee at home? Or do you go out?
G: I make coffee at home, because for me, near work it’s just Starbucks and I’m not a fan.
What’s your brew method at home?
G: We have a French press, and the Ritual ones [beans] you gave me are very good, too, because you can grind it and it’s very fresh, you can make a French press and it’s very nice!
We love working with you because you are an amazing illustrator! It’s rare for me to meet somebody who loves San Francisco as much as me. What does working for Ritual mean to you?
G: It’s kind of exactly what you said, you celebrate the city and the history and all the quirky little things that we have here and it’s kind of cool to zoom into every neighborhood and really go through everything that the city has. As we were designing the RTD line, all the cans, if you look at every single one of them it’s just so quirky and fun and interesting. It’s cool to do a deep dive, and be like, ‘Oh yea, there is a falcon that lives in the PGE building, and there are parrots that just hang out everywhere!’ It’s just so weird, it’s unlike anywhere else, and for me as an illustrator, illustration is like storytelling too and it’s cool to tell the story of each neighborhood through illustration. You guys are also really good collaborators, too, you give a clear direction and know exactly what you want, which is a huge thing when a client knows exactly what they want, which is super helpful in the collaborating process. So I really appreciate that you know what you want.
I just think it’s so special that your family is all artists, you said your brother is an artist as well?
G: He doesn’t do it professionally, but he draws every day. Ever since he was little he just draws every single day. He is self-taught and he draws better than me, who actually received an art education. He has 3 kids, so he says he doesn’t have time, but of course, the kids now draw too. So it’s just a thing that will continue, I’m sure!
Where did you go to school for art?
G: CCA. [California College of the Arts]
Is there anything else you want to share?
G: The last thing probably would be just as [an] artist and musician here, for me it is very important for me to keep preserving the narrative that SF is an art city and a cultural city. With so many tech companies and everything it’s what people want to see SF as. It’s still an art city! It’s still a city that celebrates the queer movement, it celebrates art and music. I think people often really forget that this is actually what SF is all about. They think, ‘there is no art left, there is no music left’ and I’m like, ‘No, there is actually a lot of it, you just have to go out, and support it, and see it.’ I think, being in a band and illustrating, making art. I just want to reinforce that this is what our city is all about and it’s still here, and we are still here. We are going strong, and we are going to keep doing it.
Are there any other artists you want to shout out? When you want to go see art/music, where do you go?
G: As far as art, I’m still very closely connected with my CCA teachers. When I was in college I was a little older than my peers so I connected with my teachers more and had more in common with them. I always go there [to the CCA] when there is the opportunity to see an exhibit there. Sometimes we have Twin Peaks Fest, and that happens in fall and it’s amazing, one of the people who puts it together is the Fillmore’s art director. She also makes embroidery art, which is really cool. That gathering is great because a lot of artists express their fascination with Twin Peaks through so many different mediums. There are so many great bands in SF that people in England and Scotland are talking about saying, ‘the Bay Area scene is so huge!’ so there is a lot going on here too. We usually go to The Knockout or the Make Out Room, those are still original bars/music venues that keep that SF spirit. Of course Chapel is amazing, The Great American is amazing, and The Fillmore of course. There is just so much here, it’s great to go out and see it and support all of that too.
What’s your band’s name? Are you still playing shows?
G: Seablite. Yea! We went on our first UK tour in October.
I often hear people say SF is dead, but I’m like, no you just stopped going out!
G: Exactly! That reminds me, we played Vesuvio last August, and that is an amazing historic place, and they do these Wednesday summer concerts. But there were so many tourists who were like, ‘oh my god there is just music on Kerouac alley!” I love doing stuff like that because I’m like, yes, this is San Francisco, this is what we do here, come join us, and hang out with us!
For me, the Mission was the center of my universe for a long time, but I’m friends with people who were in San Francisco in the 60s and they still all live in the Haight, and they still do stuff! For all those people who say San Francisco is dead, you just have to like, find your scene, or find someone elses scene and go visit.
G: San Francisco is so welcoming actually, and when someone new shows up who likes music and wants to be part of it, that’s great! It doesn’t matter where you come from. When I moved here I went to a couple of the Mod nights, and they never met me before, I was just a young girl who moved here and they introduced me to everybody and I became friends with all of them and moved here.
I just love this city, and it’s good to be reminded of why. It creates a home for people who want to do something different.
G: Exactly.
