Crux Redux

$95. Click to buy.

This is an image I kept going back to. I really enjoyed the drama of it, and the colors. This is a 6" x 6" original pastel, matted and ready to frame.

Missing the Mixology paintings? Find new paintings and behind-the-scenes stories about the making of the upcoming Mixology book at mixologyart.blogspot.com.

Negroni

Original oil on panel, 12" x 12".

I might just keep this one. The color of this drink is simply amazing, even though we cut back on some of the sweet stuff in our recipe. And I had yet another beautiful art deco wallpaper pattern to make me crazy inspire me. 

The Negroni is one of Tom's signature drinks, but as always I started with a recipe from out in the world. Only subtle adjustments were required, but in the end you could actually taste the gin, which, around here, is considered to be a good thing. 

While we enjoyed our last Negroni, we dove into Teya's newest recipe find: a vegetarian version of Bebimbap, accompanied by delicious vegetarian kimchee. (Yes, to the dismay of Tom and Paul, Teya and I are—you guessed it—vegetarians.) 

Here are her recipes, and they were good!

Oh, and at the risk of repeating myself... 

GUESS WHAT!

Since Mixology has pretty much taken over my daily painting blog, I have given it a blog of its own. New drink posts, old drink posts, book info, release party info and more details about recipe tests can all be found at:

MixologyArt.blogspot.com

Prohibition

Original oil on panel, 12" x 12".

None of us had ever had a Prohibition cocktail before. But with a name like that, how could it not be in a book of vintage cocktails? In fact, I was so sure that it needed to be in the book, I painted it untested. The recipe did sound pretty good, after all. And we were behind on test nights, or I'm getting faster at painting, or something.

Anyway, I wanted a real 1920s feel for this, so I googled art deco wallpaper patterns and hit the jackpot. This was not an easy pattern to paint, but I loved it and did it anyway. Really happy with it in the end. So happy that I went to T & T's house and declared that by the end of the night, everyone in the room MUST like this drink. Including our unsuspecting guest testers, their new neighbors Scott and Nancy.

Fortunately, everyone did like it. To the point that for only the second time, we left the original recipe alone. Sadly, that meant we only got one, but we still had work to do.

GUESS WHAT!

Since Mixology has pretty much taken over my daily painting blog, I have given it a blog of its own. New drink posts, old drink posts, book info, release party info and more details about recipe tests can all be found at:

MixologyArt.blogspot.com

Corpse Reviver

Original oil on panel, 12" x 12".

Death, Gin and Lemon Juice, Part 2: we brought ourselves back to life with the Corpse Reviver. Actually the Corpse Reviver 2. The recipe tests always start with a recipe straight out of a book or the internet, then we tweak it to taste and I rewrite. The Corpse Reviver 2 recipe came from the Savoy Cocktail book, and for the first time ever, everyone agreed the drink could not be improved. It was perfect!

Given the zombie-ish name, I wanted a zombie-esque look for the painting. The startling green of the Absinthe made it pretty easy, along with the day-glo depression glass. A floating chunk of orange skin always looks sort of creepy too, although here it looks a bit like an egg. Which would also be creepy.

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French 75

Original oil on panel, 12" x 12".

"Death, Gin and Lemon Juice" was the theme for our last recipe test night. For the first half, we offed ourselves with the French 75, named for early French artillery. This is normally a champagne cocktail with a bit of gin. Ours ended up more of a gin cocktail with a bit of champagne. Is that bad?

I'll get to part two next week. In the meantime, I'm happy to announce that I have a venue for the Mixology Book Release Cocktail Party: it will be at Mizuna, a wonderful Spokane restaurant committed to delicious cocktails and an exceptional vegetarian/vegan menu (in addition to the regular menu, don't worry). It's happening the first week in November.

This is getting real!

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Reef Study

$95. Click to buy.

Reef Study is another 6" x 6" pastel from my summer show season. It is matted to 10" x 10" and ready to frame.

Meanwhile, I'm having fun painting French 75 for my book...

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Sunshine Daydream

Sold.

I'm just back from the Sausalito Art Festival and the Artist Trust Edge program, and it seems like I've been gone forever. I'm so ready to dive into the last batch of paintings for Mixology!

In the meantime, here is one of a few pieces I brought back from Sausalito, and it needs a home! It's an original pastel, all matted and ready to frame. The photo looks a little odd---I forgot to photograph it before I matted it, so you can see the edge of the mat and a bit of shadow.

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