KIRO Nights: Top It Yogurt Shoppe art recreates famed film scenes

Have you ever walked down a busy street strewn with various local businesses and been so pleasantly surprised by a store front you had to go in to see more?

Jake Skorheim, host of “KIRO Nights with Jake Skorheim,” described an experience like that during Thursday’s show.

Using words like “enchanting” and “phenomenal” and phrases like “really grab my attention” and “really grab my eye,” Jake told the story of discovering Top It Yogurt Shoppe in Snohomish last year while on an outing with his family.

“Your eyes are just kind of dancing around the room because there was all this really beautiful artwork and are are you the artist are you do you have that,” Jake said.

Top It owner and baker Ken Coman is the artist behind the pieces that captured Jake’s attention and he appeared on “KIRO Nights” Thursday to talk about the art seen at the shop located on Main Street.

More on the art at Top It Yogurt Shoppe

The art seen on the windows has featured scenes from various famed and beloved films such as the “Harry Potter” series, “Star Wars” and “Titanic.” He has also tackled Marvel’s The Avengers and he had a “Sleeping Beauty” window recently as well. Coman told Jake he uses acrylic paint markers for his pieces and there’s a reason for that.

“My background is really pencil sketch, colored pencils. I’ve never really done much with painting, but I can’t really draw … pencil sketches on my windows,” Coman said.

Coman went on to tell Jake that it takes about two weeks to do a window and he explained how he finds the time on the attention-grabbing art.

“I usually start (at) about 3 in the morning and I paint until about 10:30 (a.m. or) 11 or later … depending on how busy the store gets,” Coman noted.

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The Top It Titanic theme

After describing the recent “Star Wars” theme in the shop, which included art featuring the perspective of someone standing on the bridge of a Star Destroyer and a giant Chewbacca standup, the conversation moved to what the shop looks like now, which features a “Titanic” theme.

Looking at the windows first, Coman explained his current piece was meant to look like stained glass from the Titanic’s smoking room.

“I wanted people to feel like they were on board the ship as much as possible. So all the windows are as though you’re inside the ship. First class is everyone’s first class,” Coman said.

Inside on the wall, Coman added that there is “a full-sized reproduction of the largest part of the Titanic that they’ve ever recovered.” It’s called the “Big Piece” and the original is on display in Las Vegas now.

Coman told Jake he built the reproduction in his barn, took it apart and reassembled it in the store.

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Toward the end of the interview, Jake asked Coman what the best part of the process of building and creating these displays for his store.

“The best part for me is making a place where individuals and families can come and really enjoy their time together,” Coman said. “And it’s not just kind of the food that we get whenever we go out and eat, although that’s important, (it’s) the environment and how we’re treated that really matter …”

To hear more from Ken Coman, including more on what will be coming for the shop’s Titanic display and how he got into decorating the Top it Yogurt Shoppe, head here or listen to the full interview below.

Steve Coogan is the lead editor of MyNorthwest. You can read more of his stories here. Follow Steve on X, formerly known as Twitter, here and email him here.

Listen to KIRO Nights weeknights from 7-10 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the KIRO Nights with Jake Skorheim podcast here, on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

You can also follow Jake on X (formerly known as Twitter), Facebook and Instagram for more.