I really didn't mean to paint a stop light

This will be up on etsy soon- if you're interested before it goes up though, just let me know!

but... well that's kind of how it turned out.

And I love it. Reminds me of my dad saying "pink patty!" whenever we'd go through a yellow light.

Speaking of, I didn't realize that wasn't just something my family said until like 5th grade (my mom's name is Patty so my 4 year old mind just assumed it was a joke I didn't understand, and then, well I guess I stopped thinking about it.) Of course, I never admitted that to anyone because I realized just how silly it sounded. So of course, the logical thing to do is to tell the story over the internet. You know, since that is so much less public.

I'm also working on a painting that may or may not be turned into a tattoo (someone else's tattoo in case I just gave my parents a heart attack) and I am so pumped about it. It's also just a little bit of pressure though knowing someone may put this on their skin. For like ever (for eva eva?) Good thing I'm proud of it!

And just a reminder- my watercolor classes are live! If you haven't signed up yet, you still have time. Come join over 250 of us for an awesome (if I do say so myself) time at www.jeanneoliver.ning.com. Want to see what some people are creating? check out #creativelymadewatercolors on Instagram!

sliced lemons

Sliced Lemons via courtney khail. Purchase this painting here

I just can't stay away from the lemons lately. Every time I walk into the grocery store they're just overflowing from the bins and the next thing I know, I've purchased another six. Luckily, I really like lemonade. And lemon cookies. And pretty much all other baked goods with lemon zest.

Something about citrus fruit always reminds me of lazy summer afternoons. Sitting outside on your porch-your skin still warm from an afternoon in the sun- just cooling off with a glass of cold lemonade that you bought from the stand on the corner. Though I guess that's probably made from a package, but that doesn't really matter. Those are the memories I wanted to capture in this painting. A piece that- even on the coldest of days- could send you right back to your sun drenched front porch.

To be honest, I wasn't exactly planning on painting these lemons, but after I sliced them to put into my water, I couldn't get over how pretty the looked arranged on the cutting board so I pulled out the paints and got to work. I love how vibrant the yellows are and how if you look closely, the flesh of the lemon has a slight lime green cast. It's those little variations in color that I just can't get enough of lately.

lemons, limes, and oranges (oh my.)

So apparently you all really like the citrus- all of my citrus paintings sold out in less than two weeks! (Which is still incredibly surreal and I can't put into words just how grateful and moved I am by all of your support. I always said I wanted to be an artist when I grew up, and it's just amazing that I've gotten there! Of course that also makes the assumption that I've "grown up" and well, I'm not 100% sure that will ever happen. Let's just say I've grown a little older.)

Anyhow, I was wandering around the grocery store and stumbled across key limes. Cute, little bursts of beautiful lime gradients that I promptly tossed into my cart. And because I rarely can think of just one thing at a time, I of course started thinking of what I could make with the key limes after they were painted. I'm so not a fan of key lime pies (too tart, too fake tasting-reminds me of that episode of Dexter where he searched and searched for the "perfect key lime pie.") so I asked around and my good friend Mel sent me what looks like the most amazing cheesecake recipe ever. I'll keep you posted on how it goes! Hopefully I do it justice.

After doing a little dance in my head about the key limes (or maybe I actually did that in public. Who knows. I've sometimes caught myself singing along in my head to whatever music is playing overhead and then having a moment of panic that I was actually singing out loud.) the beautiful display of yellow lemons and bright orange tangerines, naval oranges, etc. caught my eye. Amazing how inspiration can come that quickly! As soon as I saw those together, I knew I wanted to incorporate that into a painting (which is how the orange and lemon painting arose.)

How do you like these? Anything in particular you'd like to see me create in the future?I kind of want to try artichokes. Wouldn't they look cool?!

And on a completely unrelated note, I successfully patched our bathroom ceiling yesterday! We had a roof leak soon after moving in and because we'd only notice it was leaking when it snowed (and thus it was too wet to fix) it took a really long time to get everything back in working order. Even after it was though, I kept a Tupperware bin under it anytime we left "just in case." Yep, I'm a little neurotic. (I prefer to call it prepared though.) So now that it's (finally) sealed up and dry, I thought it was about time to make it pretty again. So far so good! Now I just need to prime and paint. (Which may happen in 5 minutes, it may happen in 5 days. We'll see.) Y'all get anything accomplished from your to do lists this week?

Both pieces copyrighted by courtney khail stationery and design. You can find all of my work right here!

From The Studio: Lemons and Blood Oranges

 

Citrus fruits epitomize warm weather for me and with the temperatures rising in Denver, I knew it's what I wanted to paint next in my food series. Today I added three new paintings to the shop that remind me of spring and summertime. One is a childhood memory, and the other is just because I love the fruit.

First, the childhood memory. Growing up, my mother used to roll a whole lemon until it was soft, cut a hole into the top and then put an old fashioned peppermint stick into it. Because the peppermint sticks had small holes in them, you'd use them as a straw to drink in the fresh lemon juice. The sugar and mint from the peppermint sticks would make perfectly sweet but tart lemonade that was perfect in the summer months. Looking back, it was just one of those things my mom did to make little treats that much more special, but to this day when the weather gets just hot enough to make you want to run through a sprinkler, I can't help but crave a homemade lemon and mint drink. Through these paintings, I wanted to capture that playfulness and memory.

As for the blood orange, there is just something so exotic about them.Like a grown up orange. From the outside, it looks just like any other orange. Bright orange and smells amazing, but that's all. You wouldn't really be able to tell the difference unless you sliced into it. When you do that, you're greeted with the surprise of a deep red flesh- juicy and sweet like any other orange, but almost as though it captured even more sunlight inside. There's a sexiness to them that makes even the simplest things- like an orange juice or a mimosa- that much more special.

All paintings copyrighted by courtney khail and are available for sale right here

kim and courtney cook: lemons

watercolor via courtney khail

photograph via kimberly taylor

Well everyone, I'm back! We've officially moved in to our new place (and for the most part we're settled though we still have a lot of things to finish up,) J's studying for his boards (he takes them later this month) and slowly but surely we're learning the city. I'm still amazed that we live here and feel so lucky to be able to call Denver home!

All of that said, sorry for the delay in May's "kim and courtney cook." Both Kim and I were swamped last week and just couldn't get it all together. That said though, this month's was worth the wait! We decided on lemons and the recipes are awesome. I haven't tried Kim's (yet) but I'll go ahead and warn you that the cookie's I choose for my recipe are incredibly addictive. Hope you enjoy!

Lemon Ricotta Cookies (via here)

Side note-if you have limes as opposed to lemons, that works really well too.

Ingredients:

Cookies:

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick softened, unsalted butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 15 ounces of whole milk ricotta cheese
• 3 Tbs of fresh lemon juice
• The zest of one lemon (zest first, then juice. It will save you a lot of headache!)

The Glaze:

• 1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• The zest of one lemon

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees

2. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and put to the side.

3. In another bowl (or a stand mixer) beat the butter and sugar until it's light and fluffy. Takes about 3 minutes. Add one egg at a time, allowing each one to incorporate before you add the next one. Next, beat in the ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest until it's all combined.

4. Finally, stir in the dry ingredients.

5. Spoon the dough onto parchment lined baking sheets (roughly 2 Tbs per cookie) and bake for 15 minutes. (You can start making the glaze while they bake.) You'll know they are finished when they are slightly golden at the edges.

6. Take the cookies out of the oven and let them cool down for about 20 minutes

Glaze Directions:

1. Combine the confectioner's sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice in a bowl and stir until it's smooth and creamy. Spoon about 1/2 tsp of the glaze per cookie and smooth with the back of the spoon. After sitting for approximately 2 hours, the glaze will be nice and hardened and you can package them up. Or you can do like me and eat a few as soon as the glaze hits and then put the rest in the frig until they set.

And now for Kim's recipe:

Lemon Mousse (courtesy Ina Garten)

Ingredients

• 3 extra-large whole eggs
• 3 extra-large eggs, separated
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (4 lemons)
• Kosher salt
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup good bottled lemon curd, at room temperature
• Sweetened Whipped Cream, recipe follows
• Sliced lemon, for garnish

Directions:

In a large heat-proof bowl, whisk together the 3 whole eggs, 3 egg yolks, 1 cup sugar, the lemon zest, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for about 10 to 12 minutes until the mixture is thick like pudding. (I change to a whisk when the mixture starts to get thick.) Take off the heat and set aside for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours, until completely chilled.

Place half the egg whites and a pinch of salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on high speed. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and continue to beat until the whites are stiff and shiny. Carefully fold the beaten whites into the cold lemon mixture with a rubber spatula. Place the cream in the same bowl of the electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (no need to clean the bowl) and beat on high speed until the cream forms stiff peaks. Carefully fold the whipped cream into the lemon mixture. Fold in the lemon curd, and pour into a 7-inch-diameter, 3-inch-deep souffle dish. Decorate with sweetened whipped cream and lemon slices that have been cut into quarters. Chill and serve cold.

Sweetened Whipped Cream:

• 1 cup cold heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Place the cream, sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip on medium and then high speed until the cream just forms still peaks. Spoon the whipped cream into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip.

See? I told you these were worth the wait. Make sure to pop on over to Kim's blog to see more of her photos as well as her take.

Tuscan Lemon

via inspired by this

I would love to throw a dinner party designed completely around this one photo. Isn't it just beautiful? I can almost taste the fresh lemonade and smell the lemon zest pound cake baking! I know summer is technically over, but I just couldn't keep this one to myself :)

Happy Friday everyone! I hope your weekend is wonderful!!