A flexible job, and a penchant for painting and poetry

By CHARLIE BUTERBAUGH

MILFORD, PA — His job at McDonald’s fits his life as a painter, an arrangement that hardly seems strange to David Applegate.

Flexibility is the key to his artistic freedom.

“My goal is to be an artist and a writer. The only way I’m going to get there is to be where I’m at right now,” Applegate recently said inside Milford’s 7th Street Coffee. Six of his paintings are currently on display at the coffeehouse, where owner David Miller has covered the ceiling with rock LPs and displayed his copious collection of concert posters that memorialize the recently disbanded, experimental rock band, Phish.

Applegate’s next stop will be Café New York of Rutherford, NJ. There, he will display 40 paintings and enjoy a two-week show while on leave from work.

“I think it’s kind of funny,” Applegate said about his day job. “It keeps me kind of humble, being told by five or six people what to do. We have a lot of fun.”

When he gets off work, usually by 3:00 p.m., he walks home and gets to work, either writing on his typewriter or painting. He recently won the Editor’s Choice award from Poetry.com.

“I’ve been told my work is very original,” he said. And without an iota of embarrassment, Applegate explained that he came to be a poet and painter through his recovery from addiction to alcohol.

He began experimenting five years ago with watercolors and ink, applying the latter with a calligraphy pen. Three of his pieces on display at 7th Street Coffee are part of his “traditional” collection—landscapes that offer intricately detailed trees over soft, bluish backgrounds. Applegate said he likes the watercolor-ink combination because it creates a clear appearance of depth.

With ink, “you can get lines so fine that you can hardly see them,” he said.

The self-taught painter has also introduced a collection of abstract acrylic paintings at the coffeehouse, which he has left unframed. “I like the look of an unframed canvas,” he said.

Applegate is currently working on a book of short poems, most of which originate during his walks in nature around Milford. Few include more than 20 lines, and many are as short as six.

“Most of my poems are pretty basic and simple. They’re not hard to understand.”

Would he ever write a poem about working at McDonald’s? “No, I do take it seriously. I don’t want to turn my poetry into something that’s a joke. That’s something that’s from my heart,” Applegate said.

He grew up in Rutherford with a view of the Empire State Building, but now he has found satisfaction in the arts community in Milford.

“I enjoy walking around and looking at other people’s work,” he said.

Aplpegate is a member of the Pike County Art Association. He last displayed his work at the Golden Fish Gallery in Milford.

7th Street Coffee is located in the Lumberyard Shops. For more information call 570/409-0279.