Artichoke & Olive Tapenade Recipe Illustration

13x19" Print

I love to cook and I've been wanting to work on more food-related illustrations. Here's a new piece that was just finished today. It was created in watercolor and colored pencil on a thick, textured drawing paper. Later I scanned each individual piece, did some path work in Photoshop and then brought all of the pieces into my layout program InDesign to create how the final illustration would come together for prints. I would say, it's more of a visual recipe illustration, meaning you will not get ingredient and preparation details. Instead I wanted a cleaner, modern look with less words and more white space, which I think makes it perfect for framing in a kitchen or maybe even a restaurant.

If you're interested in making the actual recipe see below:

Artichoke & Olive Tapenade - Bon Appetit

1 13 3/4-ounce can artichoke hearts
1/4 cup toasted walnuts
8 large brined-cure green olives, pitted
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Finely chop the first five ingredients in food processor. Add 1 tablespoon parsley and oil; puree until coarse paste forms, Season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon parsley. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover, chill.)


Prints are now available in two sizes (11x14 and 13x19) in my Etsy shop.

close-up detail of illustration

time to make the donuts....

This is a little how I feel right now about making cards & prints for the shops, galleries and craft fairs for the holiday season. Just a little fun for the day! Who remembers this cute commercial?

Herbs: my work in progress...

A few years back, even before I was really selling my work publicly my Aunt had asked if I would work on some herb illustrations for her kitchen. I did start them at one point, but I never fully executed my whole idea, so I started over and I'm working on them now for a collection of herbs. Here's a sneak peek of my work in progress... (more to come soon!)

MidCentury Cocktails Watercolor Illustration Poster Print

For several weeks I have been working really hard on my MidCentury Cocktail Illustrations . My original idea was to do this poster, but then I thought I should maybe offer each cocktail as an individual print as well, because everyone has their favorite, right? As I worked on each cocktail I started laying out each drink in an InDesign file on my computer. I was constantly organizing them and moving them around, trying to find the right proportion size and this also helped me decide on how many cocktail illustrations I was going to display as well. Seventeen illustrations was the magic number that I decided would work nicely for this piece. I think it would make a lovely piece of art for anyone's bar display and especially now that the vintage bar carts are so very popular, (which I also love so much). 

I decided on two styles of the poster. I did a poll on my Facebook page and it was almost split down the middle, so I decided it would be best to have both options available in my Etsy shop. You can also buy them locally where I sell my work but, only Style A will be available in stores. There are 17 cocktails in total and you can purchase them individually also in my Etsy shop, in either an 8x10 or 11x14 size. They also come in two different styles for your choice of text options. One option is with the name of the cocktail with the drink ingredients listed below, and then if you prefer a more modern, cleaner look (which is my preference) the second option is just the drink name. Cheers!

STYLE A - 13X19" ILLUSTRATION POSTER PRINT

STYLE B - 13x19" ILLUSTRATION POSTER PRINT

Cosmopolitan MidCentury Cocktail Watercolor Illustration Series

The Cosmopolitan. Definitely a girl's night out kind of cocktail, but it's not "just for the ladies." It's a very delicious, classic cocktail that's loved by all and perfectly festive to serve for the holidays.

Prints are now available in my Etsy shop!

Gimlet + Sidecar MidCentury Cocktail Watercolor Series Illustrations

I finished up two more MidCentury cocktail illustrations today! The Gimlet & The Sidecar. The Gimlet is a vodka drink, sweetened with lime juice and served on the rocks. Yum! The Sidecar is made with cognac, triple sec, and lemon juice. Shake it up with ice and serve in a fancy cocktail glass. Cheers to the weekend!

Classic Martini MidCentury Cocktail Illustration Series

I always think of James Bond when I think of the Classic Martini!
Prints are now available in my Etsy shop.

Old Fashioned MidCentury Cocktail Illustration

Prints are now available in my Etsy shop!

When I'm working down in my studio sometimes I listen to movies on Netflix. Yesterday to get in the spirit of the classic Old Fashioned cocktail, I started listening to the "Mad Men" TV series. The Old Fashioned certainly seems like a drink that Don Draper would have after a long client meeting in the office or actually knowing his character it might even take place before. HA!

Pink Squirrel MidCentury Cocktail Watercolor Series

Another fun 60's cocktail hot from my studio.... Pink Squirrel. I have to say it sounds delicious, almost like dessert! Prints are now available in my Etsy shop!

Blue Hawaiian MidCentury Cocktail Series

My love for all things mid-century continues... and with that, I'm really excited about my new series of watercolor + gouache illustrations --- 60's cocktails! Tiki drinks were very popular in the 60's. Who could pass up a fun colored, fruity elixir adorned with miniature paper umbrellas and a tasty fruit garnish? This painting is in honor of my Dad who loved his tiki bar and tiki cocktails. Lots of great memories are in that tiki bar. Cheers to you Andy! My original illustration was created iwth watercolor and gouache.

Print sizes available:
8x10" printed on 8 1/2 x 11" paper
11x14"

Prints are created on an Epson Stylus R1900 with UltraChrome Archival quality inks meant to last a lifetime with Epson Ultra Premium Presentation Matte Paper.

You can purchase prints in my Etsy store or visit shops and galleries locally where my work is for sale.

Window Display - Dancing Eye Gallery

Girls Night Out window display at Dancing Eye Gallery!

Last weekend at Dancing Eye Gallery in Northville it was Girls Night Out downtown. They asked me if I could bring in some Barbie images for their window display - thinking that the "girls" would love the Barbie prints. Of course I said yes! Janine who works at the gallery did a great job of filling the window with tons of great gifts for the event.

Lots of other cute gifts amongst the Barbie prints!

Girls Night Out was a big success at Dancing Eye Gallery, so today I stopped in and replenished lots of Barbie prints, cards and other goodies. My Mom came along and dropped off some crochet goodies (unicorn, frogs, bumblebees, robots) too!

It's a really great shop, with Theresa (the super-fun-fantastic owner) and the gals that work there are always cheerful and ready to help you with whatever you need . I always enjoy stopping in to drop off my work -- just being there gives me a lot of inspiration. Downtown Northville makes for a great afternoon when you just want to have a day to play!

Check out that super cute Sock Monkey wine bottle bag!

Modern Portait

Just a quick post to show you this modern portrait that I did as a custom piece. I used a loose watercolor style with a pen & ink illustration. The client wanted me to use neutral colors since this is a wedding gift and she didn't know where they would be hanging it in their home.

salt + pepper

I'm finally finished with a new painting "salt + pepper" that I'm really excited about sharing with you. The salt + pepper shakers are from the family cottage and the first time my husband took me to his family's cottage was when we were dating. I spied these art deco beauties right away. I have no idea why it has taken me so long to be inspired to paint them, but I finally brought them home on our last trip so I could use them for reference. I'll be taking them back though, because they are a nice part of history for the cottage.

I have 8x8 and 5x5 prints now available in my Etsy shop!

now available : red pop button set

My mini pinback red pop (faygo) buttons

are now available in my Etsy shop!

A set of 2 just for you!

soda pop nostalgia

The vintage Faygo Red Pop is one of those things that reminds me of being a kid. It reminds me of Summer BBQs in my parents backyard, birthday parties, and drive-in movies with my parents while dressed in my pjs and a huge bowl of popcorn that my Mom popped from home. Special, simple, happy times with great memories.

I love that a lot of the food industry companies are bringing back vintage looking packaging. It's that feel good sort of thing. When I saw this bottle at a local deli, I bought an extra one to bring home to use for reference for this painting. Maybe it brings back happy memories for you too?

Print is printed on 8 1/2 x 11" Epson Ultra Premium Presentation Matte Paper, formatted for a standard 8x10. Printed on a Epson Stylus R1900 with UltraChrome Archival quality inks meant to last a lifetime.

Print will be signed and packaged in a cellophane wrapper with an acid-free backing board and certificate.

the lunch studio and flint handmade

If you're hungry and you're going to be out and about near downtown Flint check out The Lunch Studio for a tasty sandwich, soup or salad! While you're there, check out the Flint Handmade shop within the restaurant for some cute, handmade Valentines! I'm excited to have my Valentine Owl, Dancing Cups, and Puppy Love cards and prints there!

buttons, buttons and oh some magnets too!

I'm pretty excited about some new items that I'll be offering at Yellow Door and my Etsy shop for 2011!

My sock monkey illustration buttons were quite popular at the Detroit Urban Craft Fair holiday show so I've decided to add some more designs to mini 1" buttons. Adding to my button collection, I'll be having the three Eames chair illustrations and seven Barbie illustration buttons. I've decided to sell the buttons in sets at Yellow Door and I haven't quite decided if I'll be selling the buttons in sets or sold individually on Etsy. Decisions, decisions...

For those of you that love magnets, I'll be having mini 1" magnets made of each of my three Eames styled chair illustrations and the seven Barbie illustrations too! I'm going to sell the magnets in singles.

Look for mini buttons & magnets at Yellow Door & my Etsy store mid-February!

I have some other new items coming soon for 2011! I can't wait to tell you about them really soon!

be mine : customized valentine print

Mr. Espresso cup & Ms. Hot Cocoa cup are dancing their Valentine's Day away, in the streets of Paris and this lovely illustration can be customized too! For purchase see my Etsy store.

CUSTOMIZED INFORMATION:
• Customize this print with your initials + your valentine's initials "or" you can have "be mine" in the heart. Please see the last two photo examples on my Etsy listing for how the initial version will look.

• Please specify in the "message to seller" at checkout if you would like "initials" or "be mine" format in the heart and please don't forget to add the initials the way you would like them too! All initials will be lowercase in the same font as shown with the + sign between the initials. If you do not specify in the message to seller, I'll assume you would like "be mine." No returns/exchanges are available on customized prints.

Print size: 8x10
Paper size: 8 1/2 x 11"

Print will be signed and packaged in a cellophane bag with backing board for stability.

Valentine cards coming soon in this design!

Snooty Bird : Cafepress shop items

I love my little Snooty Bird illustration so much that I decided to adorn a few more items other than the archival prints in my Etsy store.

So, I added the illustration to a few items in my Cafepress store. For the girls you'll find a tote bag and a women's fitted organic cotton tee. For the kiddie's I have a baby bib, an organic cotton baby onesie, organic toddler tee and an organic kid's tee. Lastly, for the mini button collectors I have a snooty bird for you too!

You can find all of the sizing information you need on the page of each item. If you see an product on Cafepress that you could  like the Snooty Bird illustration (or any of my current illustrations) put on that is not currently listed in my store, just send me an email and I'd be happy to put the image on that item for you. Also, If you want your tee or item personalized, for $5 extra dollars I can create a file with a name under the illustration just for you! You can e-mail me at: cheryloz@wideopenwest.com

Here's just a few images of the items listed in my Cafepress store.

Mini Button

Perfect for the button collector

Organic Cotton Baby Onesie

A soft 100% organic cotton onesie. Perfect for a unique shower gift!

Organic cotton women's fitted tee

100% soft organic cotton by American Apparel - Order up one size for a looser fit.

Heavy weight 10oz. natural canvas tote bag (full-side & bottom gusset)

Size: 15" x 18" x 6" - Perfect for toting around all your favorite things.

Machine washable too!

inspiration : "sprinkles" cupcake painting

I'm not sure what it is but I'm enthralled with cupcakes. Not so much the eating of them, but just how cute they are. From the perfectly piped frosting, to the detailed decorations, even the ones with a big plop of homemade frosting that a grandma might make. It could be the scalloped-edge wrappers in all their fanciness too. Maybe it's because they are a delicious treat made specifically for one. Could it be the sparkly sugars, silver-glistening non-pareils or colored sprinkle balls? Whatever the case may be, they are too cute and they have inspired me to paint. I can see more cupcake paintings coming soon, because this one was just too much fun. Let me introduce you to "Sprinkles."

All of the merchandise you see in the above photo is now available in my Cafepress shop. Items are located in the following sections: Baby & Kids, Apparel, and lastly the Stickers, Buttons & Magnets section.

The "Sprinkles" cupcake print is now available in my Etsy shop and the original will be available for purchase soon! Stay tuned.