London Breezy

London Breezy. Oil on panel, 12" x 12".  $595. [buy now]

London was already calling Camrin Costello when Teya and I met her one summer night at Casper Fry. The bar wasn't terribly busy, and as usual, the subject of the work-in-progress book came up. Camrin, intrigued by the book idea, told the story of a cocktail she invented on a trip to England.

In London for an interview at the University of Westminster, she spent a day at Westminster Abbey. The breeze blowing through the city provided both the inspiration and name for the drink she made that night: a concoction of gin, chartreuse, lemon and lime. I think she must have known the interview had been a success when she finished her new drink off with a splash of celebratory champagne. (Camrin lives in London now. Bully for her!)

For the painting, I wanted to capture the contrast of the citrusy drink with a cool cloudy background that suggested the tradition of an old english pub. I changed the color of the purple flocked wallpaper to a stormy gray, and was quite happy with the result—especially the way the oversized pattern leads into the composition.

The recipe for the London Breezy is available in Mixology With a Twist: The Art of Modern Cocktails,

Bijou, Yuletide, and Daily Paintworks

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

It's another busy week, with so much news!

First of all, thanks to everyone who came to the Mixology book release, and bought books, paintings and giclées. I was happily overwhelmed by the response.

If you missed the show, no worries! Now that I've let Mixology out of the bottle, as it were, there's no escaping it. Here's why:

Yuletide: Spokane Art School's juried holiday art and craft festival takes place at the Northwest museum of Arts and Culture this weekend! I'll have lots of original mini Mixology paintings (prices starting at $50), books and giclées available for purchase. Yuletide starts Friday November 14th at 10 a.m. and runs through Sunday the 16th at 4:30 p.m. (10–4:30 all days)

Daily Paintworks: Original paintings from the Mixology book that didn't sell on the show's opening night are now listed for sale on Daily Paintworks, along with earlier small works from the series. After Yuletide I will begin posting a new small painting to DP daily.

Mixology Books: Copies of the book are now available at Atticus and coming soon to Raising the Bar, both in Spokane. Also, I will have copies with me during my shifts at Iron Goat Brewing, and of course at Yuletide. Not in Spokane? You can order copies directly from the publisher.

Mizuna: the Mixology show will remain up at Mizuna through the month. There's still plenty of time to see the original paintings all together, get a delicious lunch or dinner (check out the full vegetarian menu!), and try a fantastic cocktail or two from this lovely restaurant. They can even make you a drink from my book if you ask nicely.

The Art Spirit Gallery: This beautiful Coeur d'Alene, Idaho gallery will feature works from the Mixology series in their December small works show, along with the work of many celebrated Northwest artists.

So much exciting stuff going on! I realized this morning that my Bijou re-do got lost in the midst of it, and had never been posted here. It will be at Mizuna through November, and is available for purchase at the link above or by contacting me directly (see contact form at right).

Bijou

Original oil on panel, 12" x 12". $595. Click to buy.

Bijou is a painting I have been looking forward to for a long time. The word bijou means "jewel" in French, after the jewel colors of the three main ingredients: Gin represents diamonds; Chartreuse, emeralds; and Vermouth, rubies. I knew I wanted to put in a giant cocktail ring just for fun (this one thanks to Finders Keepers here in Spokane). 

By now I had a great set of perfect sparkly, jewel-y props: multi-colored glasses, a faceted-stem cocktail glass, the silver tray. I arranged them together and it looked really, really dull. The colors of the glasses are faint, so to punch it up I actually mixed the drink to add color. But the drink somehow erased the delicate blue of its glass. 

I decided to push through it anyway, and punch up the glassware colors in the painting itself. Before long I realized this was going to work out better than expected. I ended up capturing the sparkly, jewel-like quality I wanted in the end. Hooray!

For the next few weeks, I will be at an Artist Trust conference in Port Townsend, then off to the Sausalito Art Festival with a load of pastels. I look forward to painting more drinks in September!

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