Pie and Plate Café’ in Ambler offers delicious confections, locally roasted coffee, numerous choices for tea and an overall welcoming vibe that is hard to match. Now, with a recent addition to the décor, you can now experience the past and present of Ambler through the art of Ambler native, Eddie Flotte.

Eddie likes to paint scenes and areas in Ambler that meant something to him in his childhood. His paintings of Ambler are unique in that he paints the scenes as they are now, but then adds memories of his childhood in the scenes. For instance, one of Eddie’s works is a painting of Trax Café’ in Ambler, which used to be the old train station. In the painting, you can see the sign for Trax, but also in different parts, you can see two nuns that Eddie remembers from the first time he ever took the train to see Santa Claus at the old Wannamaker’s in Philadelphia. He also included Dr. Richard V. Mattison, who was Ambler’s “Asbestos King” and for a time owned most of the Borough.

“When I see it [a place in Ambler], it brings up memories for me”, he said. “It takes me back…a memory of how I used to feel.”

Eddie has had no problem selling his work to the people of Ambler as he feels they identify with the paintings as memories, just like he does.

On one of his trips back to Ambler, Eddie stopped in Pie and Plate an immediately loved the ambience…and the food. He approached the owners, Kristen and Kurt and asked if he could play music there. After some conversation and after Kristen and Kurt looked at Eddie’s website, they were blown away by his art and offered him a space on their walls to exhibit it. You can view scenes of Ambler old and new at Pie and Plate now, because of their serendipitous conversation.

Ambler isn’t Eddie’s only haunt when it comes to painting. When he returns to our area on his yearly visits, he also paints at the Grassy Sound in Wildwood which he describes as “rough” (rough as in back to nature) and he also has a penchant for Kuerner’s Farm, famous for being the inspiration of local painting legend, Andrew Wyeth.

You can see and buy all of Eddie Flotte’s work directly from his website. You can also see his work at the Carol Schwartz Gallery and Serendipity, both in Chestnut HIll. And of course, we recommend you go to Pie and Plate and enjoy his Ambler exhibit – paintings are also on sale there! While Eddie might not live in Ambler any longer, you can see his love for the area through his art…as he e-mailed us later to say – Eddie Flotte’s slogan is “Proud to be Ambler”.