MI6

MI6. Oil on panel, 12" x 12". Not for sale.

Many homework assignments were given over the course of making Mixology With a Twist, but Ruins' Crystal Bertholic dished out the biggest one of all.

She sent not one or two, but five recipes to try. By the time I collected the ingredients, the book deadline loomed large, and painting time was nearly gone. So we had to narrow it down to one. 

Vying against contenders such as DJ Lance and the Black Yukon Sucker Punch, MI6 stood out. Clean and light, this spiritous drink filled a needed position in the recipe lineup. The MI6 is a twist on the classic Vesper, and is named for the British secret service. It adds a lovely, subtle floral note with chamomile liqueur, offset with a dash of bitters.

Wanting to capture the bright elegance of the drink in the painting, I bought a mid-century stainless mixing pitcher (thanks, Raising the Bar!) as a nod to the 1953 James Bond novel "Casino Royale," in which Vesper Lynde appears. The metallic pattern in the art deco wallpaper reflects in the drink, emphasizing its clarity. MI6 ended up one of my favorite paintings from the book. Lucky for me, as my husband claimed it, and now I will have to look at it for a very long time.

Adriana Janovich featured the MI6 prominently in her article about Mixology With a Twist in the Spokesman-Review. You can read the article here.

Bad News From Houston

Bad News From Houston. Oil on panel, 12" x 12". 

$595. [Buy now.]

It's January already, and time to ease out of the deadly holiday combo of insanity and debilitating laziness. Naturally, on the first post-holiday Monday, I came down with a cold. Small wonder it isn't worse, given the number and strength of cocktails consumed over the preceding weeks.

On the subject of strong cocktails, I give you Bad News From Houston. (Well, not literally give, but it is for sale.) This is one of my absolute favorite drinks from both books combined, hands down. The mix of rye whiskey, amaro and two vermouths is already right up my alley, but the real kicker is the little bit of salt that makes the whole thing so buttery-awesome.

The recipe came to be in Mixology With a Twist courtesy of Seth Sempere at Spur in Seattle. Seth also happens to be the vice president of Washington's chapter of the national bartender's guild, as if this drink isn't proof enough that he knows what the hell he is doing. (Trust me, it is.) 

This was one of those paintings that I did twice, as the first painting didn't come close to doing the drink justice. Not sure what painting would, honestly, but I was much happier with this one. Both paintings featured the "horn"-handled mid-century bar tools and wagon-wheel-esque fifties coupe found at a second-hand store in Sunnyside. But this painting succeeded with a simplified—therefore strengthened—composition.

If you desperately want the recipe but don't have the book, please click this link to get it. If you desperately want the painting, please find the link under the photo above.

Happy New Year!

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,

Good Humor

Good Humor. Oil on panel, 12" x 12". $595. [buy now]

Seattle-savvy friends from both sides of the state unanimously recommended Canon Whiskey and Bitters Emporium as a can't-miss cocktail destination in the Emerald City.

So, during the west-side summer-show trip, Paul and I dutifully stopped in. Canon was already busy at around 4pm, but there wasn't time to come back, so the first bartender to hand us a menu got my spiel. That bartender was Sean Johnson. Without missing a beat he whipped up a frothy orange-colored concoction, then proceeded to decorate the foamy drink with a stencil and a spray bottle of bright-red Angostura bitters.

One sip explained the drink's moniker:somehow Johnson had caused a combo of gin, Cointreau, OJ, Licor 43, egg white and Angostura to taste exactly like an orange creamsicle. Minutes later Sean's original recipe appeared on the bar in front of me, jotted down on a scrap of  paper between drink orders. I think Good Humor described the bartender as well as the drink!

A note about Canon's bar: everywhere I looked was a still life setup. So much great stuff! I literally could have brought in an easel and painted right there. Since that was slightly out of the question, I had to recreate it best I could. Which ended up being pretty well, since I already owned some similar items and, oddly enough, the identical vintage art-deco lamp (see photo of Sean making my drink below). Only the base of the lamp shows in the painting, as the lamp itself conveniently provides the lighting for the still-life setup.

Cocktails are in the Cards!

My husband Paul is an idea man. 

Whenever I feel down about my business, he'll toss out twelve different things I could be doing, I won't get around to any of them, and then I'll feel worse. This time was different.

Last week, he asked out of the blue, "how many recipes do you have?" "Between both books?" I added them up in my head. "Fifty two." "What if you had them printed on playing cards?"

He went on to explain that often bartenders use flash cards to memorize drink recipes, so using my paintings and recipes on cards was a natural. While I spent maybe a minute marveling at the fact that I had exactly fifty-two recipes, Paul found an online printer that made custom playing cards. Fifty-four unique cards per deck---one for each recipe plus a front and back cover.  Three days later they were designed and ready to order. Boom!

Trouble was, the two shipping options. Free shipping would get them to me in two weeks, in the middle of Yuletide. They are perfect stocking stuffers, so that's great, but it would be nice to have more opportunities to sell them. Well okay, shipping option number two might get them to me in time for the book release party. For $165. Nope. 

Free shipping it was, with fingers crossed.

Damn, I love a nice surprise. This morning a cheerful Fedex man arrived at the door with a big box of Mixology Cocktail Cards. Ordered October 30th, delivered November 2. And they are beautiful. (I think a shoutout to Printerstudio.com is in order here. )

Sooooo.... get your Mixology deck o' cocktail cards this Friday at the Mizuna release party, or the following weekend at Yuletide! $10 each, and the perfect gift for your cocktail-consuming friends and relatives. Already own the books? Keep them nice and tidy, and keep these handy wipe-clean cards at the bar. I know I will.

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New Work Available on Daily Paintworks

Manhattans by the Pitcher Study. Oil on panel, 6" x 6". $125. Sold.

I'm back from the Bend/Sausalito trip, and it was a great experience. I met lots of fun new customers and many paintings found new homes. And of course, I tried new cocktails! I'm super excited about a new drink I discovered at the Dogwood Cocktail Cabin in Bend, Oregon.

More on that later, but in the meantime, a few of my favorites are still looking for love. This sweet little Manhattan painting is now available at my Daily Paintworks Mixology Gallery. I'll post more over the next week or so, along with new paintings for Mixology With a Twist.

Off to Bend and Sausalito!

Mac Daddy. Oil on panel, 30" x 15".

Time to pack them bags! Mixology makes its debut at two major west coast art festivals in the next few weeks.

This weekend, it's Art in the High Desert in Bend, Oregon. This is a lovely, well-juried little show along the river in Bend's Old Mill District. I've taken a few years off from the show and am excited to return with all new work.

Then on Labor Day weekend, it's off to the Sausalito Art Festival, a giant party of a show that never fails to be fun. I did this one last year with pastels, and couldn't wait to try it with Mixology.

I've made several new, bigger paintings for the shows including Mac Daddy, above, and Shake it Up and Stir it Up, below. Each is 15" x 30".

For show dates and hours please see my Shows and Events page.

Wabi Sabi and Liberty Bar (Laura)

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Wabi Sabi. Oil on panel, 8" x 8".

The best day at the Bellevue Arts Museum Artsfair was the day before the Bellevue Arts Museum Artsfair.

Paul and I set up in record time, then took off to try the Seattle cocktail recommendations of several friends. One place everyone agreed on was Liberty on Seattle's Capitol Hill. This low-key neighborhood bar and sushi stop turned out to be the single friendliest spot I have visited. In one evening, we came away with five recipes from two different bartenders, Willi and Laura.

Willi served us first, and that experience gets its own future blog post (once I do his drinks justice!). As we left for an art exhibit, he introduced us to Laura Bishop. Laura, herself an artist, liked the idea of the book project and wanted to contribute, so we promised to return.

Upon our arrival back at Liberty, Laura served three original drinks, all beautifully garnished (apparently the Liberty custom—more on that later). The first, the Wabi Sabi, combined green-tea-infused gin with lemon, simple and thyme for a fresh, summery taste that I instantly loved. Laura was so helpful and all of her drinks so delicious, I plan to include at least one more of them in the book. Stay tuned!

Laura demonstrates her mad garnish skills

About the painting:

Inspired by the Japanese moniker, I wanted to keep this painting simple. I googled Japanese textiles and found this vintage pattern, which I printed out for a backdrop. I already knew I wanted to use my best-ever-find cut-glass coupes (7 for $5 at a rummage sale!), so the perfect pairing of cut-glass pattern and bamboo-leaf print was a happy accident. The glass sits on a green-enameled metal wall tile, scavenged years ago from an old school. This brought the bright green color up into the stem and added green reflections to the bowl of the glass, all to tie in with the thyme-sprig garnish. But the real star of the show is the glow of the green tea gin and lemon against the dark background.

Mixology With a Twist Art Exhibit and Book Release Party!

Looks like I have a date! 

Once again, Mike has graciously offered to host the Mixology release party and art exhibit at Mizuna. I'm so excited to have it on the calendar! Just like last year, the event will be the first Friday in November, from 5 to 10 p.m. 

I'll have all the paintings from the book available for purchase, along with, of course, the book, and giclée reproductions and copies of the original Mixology classic cocktails book.

There's a ton to do between now and November, though! New drinks to paint, less-than-successful paintings to re-paint, drinks to taste, WRITING, more painting, more writing, more drinking, etc., etc. Oh, and a few art festivals happen somewhere in there.

And on that note, I had better get back to work.

Here are all the details:

Mixology With a Twist Book Release Party and Art Exhibit

When: Friday, November 6, 2015, 5–10 p.m.

Where: Mizuna, Spokane, WA

Celebrate the release of my second cocktail art book, featuring original recipes from Pacific Northwest bartenders and cocktail enthusiasts. Original paintings from Mixology With a Twist will be on display (and available for purchase) along with books and reproductions of select paintings. Mizuna will offer drink specials from the book along with their delicious food (separate, full vegetarian/vegan menu). Last year's party was a blast, so if you missed it, here's your chance to see what you missed!

Artwork will remain at Mizuna through the end of 2015, so if you missed the opening party, please stop by. Many of the original works are now available through my new online store.

La Mûre Printemps

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La Mûre Printemps. Oil on panel, 12" x 12".

While talking with Ruins bartender Crystal Bertholic one night about some recipes for the upcoming book, I received a recommendation for another talented bartender: Suzie Bertholic, Crystal's sister. Teya and I immediately headed down to find her at Boots. Suzie stood alone behind the bar, inventing drinks on demand for adventurous customers. Though busy, she did not hesitate when I made my request. She left for a few minutes, then returned with her personal notebook of cocktail inventions and a handful of old-school recipe cards. She proceeded to hand-write two recipes for me on the cards.

One of the drinks involved a hard-to-find liqueur that I have not yet found. La Mûre Printemps, however, made clever use of easily-accessible ingredients like vanilla soda, mint leaves, lemon juice and fresh blackberries (six per drink!). The following Wednesday, I made the cocktail for my notoriously not-into-sweet-stuff cocktail crew, who eyed the drinks suspiciously as I passed them around. Shockingly, La Mûre Printemps was in instant hit! The tartness of the lemon and blackberries balances the sweet ingredients perfectly to make a refreshing drink that really does taste like spring.

About the painting:

I think my obsessive Etsy vintage glass hoarding paid off here. The base of the purple collins glass took on the color of blackberries with the addition of the surprisingly red liquid. Special thanks to my mom for passing on her old William Morris fabric-pattern calendar. I think this page (oddly, the image for December) captured the essence of spring.

Festival Season!

I've added two festivals to the summer Mixology schedule, making for one fun road trip! Starting the last weekend in August at Bend, Oregon's Art in the High Desert, I'll then move on to the Sausalito Art Festival in Marin County, California for Labor Day weekend. What a great lineup.

Both festivals are top rated for the West Coast (not to mention the entire country). I'm so excited to be bringing Mixology paintings to them both for the first time.

Please find more details and links to the show websites on my Shows and Events page.

Hoarder

Painting may be on hold for a bit, but hoarding continues full steam ahead.

Above are all of the glasses, shakers and mixing pitchers I've collected while working on other projects. OK, maybe not all of them, but whatever. I can quit anytime I want.

For now, I've got a book to make. For that I must collect recipes. New recipes spark new painting ideas, and each new painting naturally requires some very specific prop that I don't already own.

For example, the purple glass is for a delicious recipe called La Mûre Printemps by Boots/Ruins bartender Suzie Bertholic. The drink, served in a Collins glass, involves gin and fresh blackberries. Tell me I didn't need that exact glass. The green and smokey glasses came with it as a bonus. All are vintage, found on my favorite vintage store for lazy people, Etsy. Just type in exactly what you're looking for, click the "Vintage" button on the left, and boom. You will spend money.

Same goes for the three mid-century rocks glasses, parts of whole sets found on Etsy. So many sets...

The sweet Mad Men-era mixing pitcher comes from my favorite local barware emporium and travel trailer, Raising the Bar. It's for a drink created by liquor rep Beth McRae to showcase liqueurs by Seattle distillery broVo. One of the distillers at broVo is the son of Renée Cebula, who owns Raising the Bar. The Tequila Negroni simply could not be painted without a pitcher from RtB!

And no week would be complete without a purchase from my favorite source for new barware, Crate and Barrel. The copper shaker is slated for a lovely mescal drink by Clover bartender Kristy White. The thick-based flute may represent for a refreshing drink by Jim German, owner of Waitsburg, Washington's amazing and unexpected jimgermanbar.

More on those drinks and stories later with paintings to come…. wait, what? Etsy, is that you I hear calling?

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".

French Farmhouse

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French Farmhouse. Oil on panel, 12" x 12".

An all-day, beer-lovers' brunch inspired this new twist on the French 75. Truthfully, the idea had been rolling around my head for a while, but the brunch kickstarted the process.

If I haven't beat this to death already, I am part owner of Iron Goat Brewing, a microbrewery in Spokane. The brewery is moving to a bigger space with a bigger liquor license, and a cocktail menu is now an option. A collection of beer-related drinks seemed apropos, so I've been pondering possibilities. Asked to bring a brunch cocktail on short notice, I gave this idea a try.

This drink replaces champagne in a French 75 with farmhouse ale (saison). Our seasonal farmhouse ale didn't come out until after the aforementioned brunch, so I used Boulevard's Tank 7 instead. (As a former graphic designer, I have a weakness for pretty packaging, so that was another excuse to use one of my favorite non-Goat beers.) The saison substituted seamlessly, the drink was declared a keeper, and I decided to paint it.

To get inspiration for the painting, I googled French country decor. I have never seen so many ticking stripes on one search page in my life. Or anywhere, really. Whitewashed wood and ticking stripes as far as the eye could see. Unbelievably, I already had a bar towel with stripes. Amazing! After several hours of futzing, an equal amount of easel time, and an unheard-of $0 in new props, a painting, and an unexpected addition to the new book, was born.

Last Canes

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Last Canes Cocktail. Oil on panel, 8" x 8".

Every so often, the list of unpainted cocktails needs restocking. When that happens, someone has to take one for the team and go find new drinks. It's tough work, but it must be done.

A few weeks ago, the job fell to me alone. I headed to Clover to find Kristy White, and find her I did. She mixed me a delicious drink she had recently invented (Pablo's Muse, coming soon). Then she set to work calling other bartenders for me. (I am always pleasantly surprised at the generosity of the bartenders I meet—not just with drinks, but with volunteering to find more people to share more great drinks.)

Kristy and bar manager Justin recommended Cameron Walls, another Clover bartender. Cameron happened to be heading our way. In the meantime, Kristy mixed a favorite Cameron concoction: a drink the Clover staff had nicknamed the "Little Cutie." A bit sweet, but with the layered complexity I love, the "Cutie" was a hit. Inspired by Cameron's mother's marmalade, the drink contained rum, amaretto, apricot liqueur and lemon juice in addition to the bitter-sweet orange preserves.

Cameron arrived and within minutes had me sold on an additional drink (the Weber, also coming soon).  But he had a problem with the Cutie… the name. Not manly. Few men would order a drink called the "Little Cutie." In order to give the drink universal appeal, Cameron decided it was time to commit to a different name. He chose Last Canes, a sugar harvest celebration from Barbados, as the permanent title.  

Last Canes, Little Cutie—whatever it's called, this drink is delicious and fun to paint! 

Accordance Cocktail

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Accordance Cocktail. Oil on panel, 12" x 12".

A delicious drink, a sunshine-filled distillery, and Seattle in springtime: it doesn't get much better than this! As I mentioned in my last post, we stopped in at Sun Liquor in Seattle several weeks ago. I ordered an Accordance and fell in love.

I tried to capture the afternoon in this painting, and with extra inspiration from their website, give it a Sun Liquor feel. 

Planning ahead, I grabbed a coaster from the bar and took a photo of the cool, pentagonal-based glass. I thought it would be no problem to find a similar glass, since it appeared to be new. Not so much. The glasses were available—from the UK, by the case. That was not gonna happen. Instead, I found a similar-ish Libbey glass and made a painting. Meh.

Then, a dangerous discovery. A search for "vintage cocktail glass" on Etsy brought up 146 pages of listings for every imaginable glass, including exactly one listing for a pair of silver-rimmed, hexagonal-based, mid-century beauties. I ordered them immediately, dooming myself to yet another painting do-over. (Obsessive much? Right?) And as if that wasn't bad enough, the glasses were tiny, so I recreated the coasters to scale with an ink jet printer and card stock. 

Obsessiveness and scale issues aside, I'm finally happy with the painting and excited to see it in the new book. That's all that matters, isn't it?

Pulse Wave

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Pulse Wave. Oil on panel, 8" x 8".

Last month we spent a gorgeous sunny afternoon in Seattle, in part, appropriately, at Sun Liquor. Their beautiful, retro-inspired cocktail bar adjoins the distillery. The menu boasted so many amazing-looking cocktails, I had to ask for help to decide. I decided on the Accordance, a boozy, bourbon-based drink that I loved. But Sun Liquor doesn't make a bourbon.

I picked up a card for bar manager Eli Hetrick, asking for the Accordance but also (or instead) for a drink that actually used Sun Liquor. He generously came through on all counts, sending me the Accordance and a personal favorite of his, the off-menu Pulse Wave. Taking inspiration from Sun's cool bar, amazing vintage barware collection and beautiful website, I sketched out an idea and painted away.

The problem was, I hadn't had the drink yet. The night I finished the painting, I made the Pulse Wave and realized my painting was not worthy. The drink was far prettier than my prop drink, and it was too good for my slightly muddy, overworked panel. So today I set everything up again and (I hope) did it justice.

Oh, by the way, the Pulse Wave is sort of like an Aviation crossed with a Negroni, with grapefruit. 

Here's my view from the bar of Sun's vintage barware collection:

The Anton Boxrud

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The Anton Boxrud. Oil on panel, 12" x 12".

Last week was a bit panicky, as the list of unpainted cocktails had shrunk to almost nothing. I enlisted a few members of the tasting gang and headed out for happy hour. First we hit Clover, looking for a bartender who had agreed to contribute a recipe. Unfortunately, she had left early to pick up a sick kid. Not willing to waste a perfectly good happy hour, we tried some tasty drinks and got a few leads (we'll be back!). 

Then it was on to Ruins, where Kelli Aspen Green greeted us from behind the bar. Just about every bartender in town had recommended I get a recipe from Kelli. She did not disappoint, immediately offering a delicious original creation and a story to go with it. 

Asked by mutual friend Sylvia (original owner of Mizuna) to create a drink, Kelli came up with this tasty concoction on the fly. Sylvia fell "instantly in love" with the drink. So Kelli decided to name it for the place where she first fell in love, the Anton Boxrud bed and breakfast in Salt Lake City. Kelli wrote down the story for me, offering that it was the place where she left her virginity. "Do you want that in the book?" I asked, and received an enthusiastic "yes!" So there you have it.

This drink is pure herbalicious refreshment, with a gin base, lime, fennel simple syrup, celery bitters and a rosemary garnish. Best of all, every ingredient is available in Spokane! At last!

Mixology With a Twist

Mixology With a Twist. Oil on panel, 12" x 12". Sold.

With a few solid drink paintings done, starting the design phase of a book amps up the motivation. It can also feel like a scary blank canvas. The goal for the new book is to feel fresh and modern, but what would that look like?

A visit to a free font site started the ball rolling. Okay. Lots of tall, modern display fonts tied nicely with the last book's art deco titles. How about pairing that with a typewriter font to reflect all those cocktail menus I've seen? And how about giving that a nice distressed texture to give it that old-as-new feel of modern cocktail bars? 

With that roughly settled, it was time to think about the cover. I knew I wanted the whole cover to be a painting this time, but that would be tough with one of the existing images. The only thing for it was to create a painting specifically for the cover, leaving room for the title and subheadings. So I worked backward, designing the text portion first, then creating a still life to fit it. 

Here's the mockup:

Even with the mockup cover printed out and clipped to the easel, it still felt like winging it. I didn't trust that the proportions would work exactly as planned. But in the end, I'm pretty happy with the result. The painting, which (hopefully) hints at the creative nature of modern bar tending, fit just fine. With the cover as a launch point, the page design almost falls into place. Feeling accomplished!

Here's the completed cover (subject to change of course):

65th Street Cocktail (Redux)

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65th Street Cocktail. Oil on panel, 12" x 12".

Like a few other paintings for this book, the first effort or two didn't quite hit the mark. But deja vu smacked me upside the head as I started this post. Then it dawned---the first painting is already posted here. Awkward-ish. But this was the first drink I painted for Mixology With a Twist, and it had not occurred that I would get so damned picky.

So much happier with this one! I imagine it as Curtis Day's view as he makes his signature cocktail at Casper Fry. Oddly, I didn't tell the story of this drink in the original post. The night we met Curtis, he told us that his girlfriend lived on 65th street in NYC. But the very next day, she was moving here and they would be together. So cool! 

Happy for him, happy with the final piece. Joy.