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: Oranges and Grapefruit

While grapefruits were always a little too tart for me (and by the time I put on enough sugar to make that less so, it kind of defeated the purpose of eating it) oranges always held a very special place in my heart. Growing up, my aunt and uncle and grandparents lived on the St. John's River in Astor, Florida. Astor is a tee-niny little town with a post office, a food mart (that's actually what it's called) and like 4 restaurants. My aunt and uncle owned one of the only 2 places to stay if you happened to visit (mostly bikers during bike week or fisherman looking to catch "the big one" on the St. Johns) and if I remember correctly, there isn't a stop light. There may be a blinking light. Maybe. 

Going to visit was about spending time with family. It wasn't about Disney World or the beach (though those were close by if you wanted to go) but instead it was about watching the sun create glittery patterns on the river, listening to the waves splash against the docks as barges drifted by, and long talks with my grandparents. It was the kind of place you could actually breathe and hear yourself think. Aside from a speedboat or my grandfather's saws spinning in his shop, the world was quiet there.

And something you could ALWAYS count on at my grandparents was a huge breakfast every morning. You'd wake up to the smell of grits, toast, bacon, sausage, eggs, croissants and of course the juiciest, sweetest, fresh orange wedges from my grandmother's trees out front. I would eat plate after plate of her oranges. Sweet, sticky juice dripping down my hands, warm sunlight on my back- it's one of those memories that just holds on and stays with you. To this day I can't see an orange without associating them with my grandparents and those easy summer mornings. As soon as I cut into one I can almost hear the rustling of the newspaper as my granddad turned the pages and the shuffle of my grandmother's slippers as she cleaned up while we all ate. (Seriously. You could never get her to sit down. She always worried about everyone else. Was your grandmother like that too?)

Paintings and images copyrighted by courtney khail and are available for purchase 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