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.

The Scientist

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Sheila's Medicine. Oil on panel, 12" x 12".

About the drink:

When I started this new book project, the first person I thought of was Alison Collins, owner of Boots Bakery and Lounge. I had been enjoying her drinks for years at Mizuna, and continued to enjoy them when she opened her own vegan bakery, deli and bar.

Last December, I met up with her to try some original creations. When I arrived at Boots, I here's what I found: Alison, looking like an adorable mad scientist, hunched over a row of ten glasses—each containing a variation of a drink she was designing just for me. When she finished the drink, she named it "Sheila's Medicine," but I want to rename it "The Scientist" in honor of this scene:

The complex drink, adorned with a fresh cocktail onion (how did she know I love painting onions?) has an overall sour cherry vibe. This comes from Amargo-Vallet, a bitter liqueur from Mexico, which stars in the drink alongside its sister liqueur, Fernet-Vallet. Other ingredients include gin and a delicious house-made agrodolce (sour and sweet) syrup containing orange peel, ginger and white balsamic vinegar.  I made this syrup at home and found that once strained, it leaves a pile of amazing candied orange peel. Bonus!

About the painting:
I wanted to capture the feel of the scene I found at Boots the day I tried this recipe. It took me eight months to figure out that I should do what Alison did: put the winning drink in a coupe-ish glass in front of a row of hopefuls. And of course I couldn't resist filling a glass with onions. I love how they reflect back and forth, becoming more colorful with each bounce of the light. Boots has a lot of string lights, so I set some up just above the drinks to reflect on the shiny black "bar" and in the glasses. As I work on this project it's getting more difficult each time to come up with a unique perspective, so I was happy with how different this painting looks from the rest.

jimgermanbar*

Our group's commercial realtor, Patricia, captured
 the perfectly-staged party room at jimgermanbar.

This post has been a long time coming. 

Way back in May, a cocktail tasting night ended in the hatching of ambitious group travel plans, as per usual. This time, shockingly, we went through with it and somehow got ten busy people to spend a night in the tiny town of Waitsburg, Washington, at the wonderfully out-of-place jimgermanbar.

Jim German, a Seattle artist, uprooted himself to open the bar and eventual restaurant, where he serves creative and artistically-presented original cocktails, "Etruscan Snacks," and if you can put together a group of ten or more people, a reputedly-delicious paella. (It was not vegetarian, so I had to take everyone's word for it, but it smelled and looked amazing). 

The space is beautifully constructed with custom furniture made from salvaged materials from the previous café, and has a warm, inviting, rustic-modern atmosphere. Original artwork by Jim and friends hangs throughout the two rooms, enhancing the creative atmosphere. Jim's own art studio occupies the rooms above the bar.

It was a fantastic night with wonderful drinks, food and company. Jim promised me a recipe for the new book, and I was ecstatic to include it. Both Jim and I being busy people with crazy lives, it took until now to actually get the recipe. Thus the long-time-coming post; I didn't want to tease you with a recipe that didn't happen!

*UPDATE: on the subject of teasing, I'm sad to report that jimgermanbar is no longer open. Rumor has it that Jim is up to something good in Walla Walla, so I will try to keep you posted.

Kate can't wait!

Devil's Garden

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Devil's Garden. Oil on panel, 8" x 8".

About the drink:

This is another one from our own tasting crew, and a delicious one it is! Tom Musselwhite, famous for his one-and-you're-done, all-booze cocktails, surprised the hell out of me with this complex, herbaceous twist on a whiskey sour. Or some kind of Manhattan. Or both. In any case, it is absolutely right up my alley (intentionally, perhaps?).  Inspired by a recipe he found online, Tom experimented until he had something that may or may not even remotely resemble the original drink. Basil-infused simple syrup, vermouth, lime juice, bay leaf and a topping of Iron Goat Goatmeal Stout add a balanced complexity to two ounces of 100-proof Rittenhouse Rye. Mmmm.

About the painting:

This one had been rolling around in my head for a while as I worked on other projects. I was excited to include all the leafy bits, since leaves have kind of been my thing for a while. I knew I wanted some of the leaves to hang down for a spooky, live-oak-in-a-southern-garden effect. But that was about all I had. When I went to paint it, I found I had exactly the glass that Tom had used to serve the drink, as well as the perfect backdrop in another William Morris calendar page (thanks Mom!). The leaves worked out exactly as planned to balance the composition Everything seemed to fall together. Except it looked boring. Until, I did the unthinkable… I moved my light to the other side of the still life stage. I'm sure other artists do this daily, but through over a year of still life painting I have kept my light on the left side. Probably this was due to laziness, but for whatever reason, I will not make that mistake in the future. When I moved the light, this formerly boring setup sprang to life, and inspired me to very quickly paint one of my favorite pieces to date. I love it when a plan comes together!

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.

Tequila Negroni

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Tequila Negroni. Oil on panel, 8" x 8".

This twist on the classic Negroni boasts a delightfully complicated Northwest pedigree. Created by Beth McRae, it stars on the menu of Spokane’s Republic Pi, where bartender “Fro” Carpenter helped McRae perfect her recipe. The drink showcases liqueurs from Seattle’s Brovo Spirits. Brovo distiller Mac Kenney is the son of Renée Cebula, owner of Spokane-based vintage-barware-shop-in-a-vintage-trailer, Raising the Bar, which was the source of the vintage mixing pitcher in the painting. Whew.

Beth and her husband Lon live in what might be Spokane's most impressively, enthusiastically mid-century house, so the wallpaper and glassware are a tribute. I especially love the wallpaper reflected in the top of the pitcher… the light shining directly on the paper to the right lit up the metallic copper highlights, making them brighter in the reflection than in the background. It's the little things.

Fleur Asado

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Fleur Asado. Oil on panel, 8" x 8".

The Fleur Asado, a.k.a. Burnt Flower) comes to us from Richard Vander Wende, creator of the Blackbeer'd. A trip to Mexico (which Richard says smells of flowers and burning vegetation) inspired this delicious, smoky, floral drink.

At the time Richard created the recipe, flowering quince bloomed in his back yard. The edible flowers proved perfect for the garnish, holding up well to the blowtorch treatment they endured. The coral-colored flowers with lightly singed edges, contrasted against a mixture of lime juice, mescal and elderflower liqueur, made such a lovely drink that only a close-up portrait would do.

After my struggle with the complicated Pablo's Muse painting, this one practically fell off of my brush. What a joy the Fleur Asado was to paint (and to drink)!

Richard playing with fire.