Remix at Dry Fly Distilling, November 5th 2021

Absinthe Blanqui, oil on panel, 8" x 8". ©2021

At long last - a new work alert! 

Hard to believe it's been five years since I posted here. A lot has happened, much of it not good. In 2017 my charmed life came crashing to an end, with several terrible losses taking a toll. It was strange to see my last post date from Before. But life goes on for those of us left behind, so, onward...

Meanwhile, art has taken me in different directions. I've decided to end the Mixology series, as I have too many bodies of work to keep up. But rather than quietly move on, I went the other way and painted eighteen new pieces for one last show. 

Mixology: Remix opens at Dry Fly Distilling in downtown Spokane, Washington, this Friday at 5p.m. Pacific time. When the show opens, the Remix online web shop goes live at sheilaevans.net/mixology-remix. (Preview now at the same link.) The show includes five absinthe-themed paintings inspired by vintage French posters, and thirteen new 6" x 6" pieces featuring popular cocktails. A few older pieces may make an appearance as well.

I hope to see you there, or if not, I hope you take a minute to have a look at the show online. A few notes:

• I'm planning a special Mixology offer for email subscribers only in the next month. Get on the list here.
• There will be five sets of two cocktail books and a deck of cocktail recipe cards for $48 in the shop
• I'll be leaving the blog up so you can access recipes and find links.
• The address for the Remix show is 1021 W. Riverside, Spokane, WA 
• Please visit my website to see what else I've been up to
• Scroll down for a few more images from the show

Cheers! 🍸🍸

Artfest 2016 Starts Friday!

Shake it Up. Oil on panel, 15" x 30".

Artfest is coming! Spokane's own Northwest Museum of Art and Culture hosts its annual juried art festival June 3rd through 5th this year. The festival takes place at Coeur d'Alene Park in Browne's Addition, just west of dowtown Spokane and a few blocks from the museum.

I'll be back at Artfest with Mixology paintings, reproductions and books this year. I'm so excited! Many of the original paintings from both Mixology: The Art of Classic Cocktails and Mixology With a Twist: The Art of Modern Cocktails will be available for purchase, along with dozens of smaller pieces and some larger works created just for the show. And of course I'll bring along lots of the popular Cocktail Cards!

Here are the details:

When: June 3–5, 2016
Where: Coeur d"Alene Park, Spokane, Washington
Hours: Friday, Noon–8, Saturday, 10–8, Sunday, 10–5.
Booth # B-23.

Hope to see you there!

Here's an Artfest map, with South at the top (I think.)

Mid Mod Moon

Mid Mod Moon. Oil on panel, 7" x 5". $195. [buy now]

Mid Mod Moon is in the online store!

To be honest, I'm pretty surprised about this. I made the painting for Yuletide, and expected it to be gone almost immediately. Last year, Yuletide happened at the museum, and it was a busy, high-energy show. But as often happens with art shows, a change of location and hours resulted in poor attendance. Almost none, really.

Hopefully this will be resolved for next year, and if not, there will almost certainly be an alternative venue. Will keep everyone posted!

Yuletide is This Weekend!

Mid Mod Moon 2. Oil on panel, 5" x 7". $195. [buy now]

Yuletide kicks off this Thursday with a private party at the Downtown Spokane Public Library!

I'll be there with lots of original art (including Mid Mod Moon, above), both Mixology books, high-quality giclée reproductions, and of course, my new Cocktail Cards (the perfect stocking stuffer). 

Here are the deets:

Yuletide 2015

Preview Party November 12, 5 – 8 p.m.

Yuletide, November 13 – 14, 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Downtown Spokane Public Library, 906 W. Main (corner of Main and Lincoln, across from Nordstrom)

I know how much you all like your martinis, manhattans and rocket shakers! So, in addition to Mid Mod Moon, I've made several more new small original paintings just for Yuletide. Check them out after the jump. Hope to see you this weekend!

Mixology at Artfest 2015!

Moontinis at Midnight. Oil on panel, 14" x 10".

Artfest is coming! Spokane's own Northwest Museum of Art and Culture hosts its annual juried art festival May 29 through 31st this year. The festival takes place at Coeur d'Alene Park in Browne's Addition, just west of dowtown Spokane and a few blocks from the museum.

I'll be back at Artfest with Mixology paintings, reproductions and books this year. I'm so excited! Many of the original 12" x 12" paintings from my first book will be available for purchase, along with dozens of smaller pieces and some new larger works created just for the show.

Here are the vital details:

When: May 29–31, 2015
Where: Coeur d"Alene Park, Spokane, Washington
Hours: Friday, Noon–8, Saturday, 10–8, Sunday, 10–5.
Booth # TBD.

And here are some more new pieces I'll have available:

The Pink Lady. Oil on panel, 12" x 12".

The Mile High Club. Oil on panel, 12" x 12".

Clouds Over Manhattan. Oil on panel, 6" x 6".

Manhattans by the Pitcher. Oil on panel, 8" x 8".

Two Olives. Oil on panel, 6" x 6".

Artini. Oil on panel, 8" x 8".

Fly Me to the Moon Again

Fly Me to the Moon 2. Oil on panel, 7" x 5". Sold.

I went to take down the setup for Fly Me to the Moon, and I couldn't do it! It was so festive and beautiful, I wanted to keep looking at it. So I made another, smaller painting in the vertical format I like best for the rocket shaker.

Fly Me to the Moon

Fly Me to the Moon. Oil on panel, 8" x 8". Sold.

While I still had my celestial ornaments at the studio, I thought I would have some fun combining them with Paul's rocket shaker. While I worked on arranging the setup, I listened to the Pink Martini Pandora station (a favorite of mine for cocktail painting!) I really struggled with getting a good composition, and it took a lot longer than it should have. But finally. the exact moment I hit on something that seemed to work, Frank Sinatra's "Fly Me to the Moon" started to play. A sign from the Universe and a title all at once! Nice!

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Purple Skies

Purple Skies. Oil on panel, 8" x 8". Sold.

Last weekend was Yuletide, and what a great show! So many original paintings, giclées and books found new homes. I'm so grateful to everyone who came and supported me and the other amazing artists.

But many paintings are still looking for their forever homes, and I've been promising for a while that small original works would be available online. So starting with Purple Skies, above, a new painting will appear each day here and on Daily Paintworks.

All of the paintings are done in oil on masonite panels, and are ready to frame. Please be aware that the color may vary from monitor to monitor. For instance, Purple Skies looks over saturated on this blog (on my monitor)---the background is really a muted periwinkle blue.

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Aviation

Aviation. Oil on panel, 12" x 12". $595. Click to buy.

I'm going a bit out of order with this one. We tested Aviation on the last recipe test night for the classic cocktails book. It probably would have happened much sooner had I been able to find Creme de Violette, but the timing was perfect in the end. It is a lovely drink and fit well into the "best for last" category (although there are so many good ones!). Best of all, by the time I got to it I was pretty sick of my shaker options, and thus willing to splurge on the beauty you see here. It doubled as a festive centerpiece:

Teya and Kate enjoy an Aviation Cocktail

We fully tested this drink before indulging in Teya's delicious dinner (more on that later), which led to some issues when we moved on to Whiskey Sours… stay tuned...

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Vesper

Original oil on panel, 12" x 12". Sold.

Born in a 1953 Ian Fleming novel, Vesper is the "newest" drink featured in my book. I decided to include it because 1. it is a delicious drink and 2. it gave me an excuse to paint Paul's awesome mid-century-esque rocket shaker. 

Just like its namesake in Casino Royale, Vesper the painting proved a bit treacherous. The Lillet label was a beast, but since it looks like it hasn't changed in 100 years and I like that, I persisted. I even switched out one of the shot glasses in frustration halfway through. The new shot glass ended up looking much better in the end. I love how it reflects the lemon's cute little pointy butt.

We tested this recipe at the home of our friends Richard and Kate Vander Wende. They are both artists with a fascinating history in the film industry. Kate inspired me to start daily painting, and went with me to the Carol Marine workshop that kicked this project off.

Richard made the drinks for Vesper and Martini night. He got it all right the first time, no tweaking required. Since they provided the drinks, I made dinner. I had no idea what to make for martinis, so I started looking up appetizer pairings. Naturally, everything was olives and salty, so I made a puttanesca. Not a great puttanesca, mind you, but the pairing was solid.

Richard, Paul, Kate and Tom enjoy a Vesper Martini

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I'll Make Manhattans

This piece was purchased by another artist for a Manhattan-loving friend, who in turn commissioned a similar one (see below) for the first friend. If you see something on this blog that really blows your skirt up, but it's sold, I'm happy to create something similar.

Sold.

I'll Make Manhattans. Original oil on panel, 6" x 6".

I learned recently that Manhattans should be stirred rather than shaken. Shaking makes the drink cloudy, while stirring preserves the beautiful golden-ruby color and clarity. You can still use your shaker for mixing, of course! I like to add a tiny splash of the cherry juice as well. 

I am really happy with the Bakelite strainer handle in this piece especially, and the color harmony between it, the countertop, and the warm orange tone of the Bulleit Rye in the shot glass.

Meet Me in Manhattan. Original oil on panel, 6" x 6". (Commission.)

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The Usual Suspects

This was sort of a breakthrough piece inasmuch as I really liked the tighter crop. As I got more comfortable with the technical aspects of painting, I thought more about composition. 

Sold.

The Usual Suspects. Original oil on panel, 6" x 6".

With a name like "the Usual Suspects," I suppose I ought to have turned the beadboard backdrop on its side. It would look more like a proper lineup. Still really happy with this piece.

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Moon Shot

Paul snapped this one up the second I finished it. You may notice that I have the tag "gifts for men" on all of my painting posts. Seriously, in a few months I have had more of these bought by or for men than any of my other artwork in all the years I've been painting.

Sold.

I think there are about eight shakers in my collection at the moment. My husband Paul only has one: the world's most awesome shaker, in the shape of a retro-futuristic rocket. I'm pretty sure he still has me beat. I thought the little onion looked like the moon.

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