Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #61, February 25, 2016, Rondy Brew by Anchorage Brewing Co.

Grab your Rondy pin, don your winter boots, put on that crazy fox-face fur hat that has been sitting in your closet all year, because it’s time to RONDY!  That means a carnival on 3^rd Avenue, directly across the street from my studio, a craft fair in the hallways here, dog races in front of the building both weekends, and the annual running of the reindeer.  Not to mention other odd events in the immediate area like snowshoe softball (may have to be studded shoes softball this year due to lack of snow), and the outhouse races! 

The annual Rondy Brew by Anchorage Brewing Co. is fabulous this year!  Brewed with Motueka hops and aged in fouders with Hibiscus and Brettanamyces.  The brew is a lovely rose color right now, but I bet that will fade with aging.  I am sure the traditional Saison flavor will increase if you cellar it, and the pink will possibly drop out into a sediment layer.  It is a tart, refreshing, floral brew right now.  I absolutely love it!  The Motueka Hops blend with the Hibiscus to produce a refreshing flavor that won’t shut down your Rondy groove, because the beer is only 6% ABV. 

The studio will be open from 11 AM – 6 PM all weekend, starting on Friday.  Come check out the view of the ferris wheel out my window, and peruse the large selection of prints, paintings and art cards.  If it’s not too busy, I can make a print of any painting that’s at my Etsy Shop.  I am also offering a free poster with any $20 purchase.  333 W 4th Avenue, Suite 4.

Cheers to another fabulous Rondy Brew! 

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #61 by Scott Clendaniel. February 25, 2016. Rondy Brew by Anchorage Brewing Co. 11″x14″, oil on panel.

Fireworks, First Friday, and Dog Races!

~ by Maria Benner

View from our studio.

Fur Rondy officially starts this Friday, February 26th, sending us into a whirlwind of fun activities in the middle of a dreary snowless winter.

First is the Fireworks Extravaganza on Saturday, February 27th at 6:45 PM.  Our studio will have a great view, so if you need a warm place to watch the fireworks, stop by.  The space is small, and I have a feeling that a lot of people will figure out that we have the view, so get here a few minutes prior to the show (no, we won’t be letting random strangers in). Suite 4, inside the 4th Avenue Market Place (the blue mall on 4th Avenue).

Another noteworthy event is the World Championship Sled Dog Races Friday – Sunday.  The 4th Avenue Market Place is hosting a craft fair that weekend, and our studio will be open from 11 AM – 6 PM, so stop by to warm up if you’re out and about downtown.

Next up is First Friday on March 4th.  This month Scott is having an art show at Sub Zero Microlounge on F Street.  The reception will be from 6-9 PM, (free appetizers from 6-7PM)!

Following First Friday is the ceremonial start of the Iditarod on 4th Avenue.  Once again there will be a craft fair inside the 4th Avenue Market Place and we will be in our studio from 10 AM – 6 PM, so stop by to warm up.

That will keep us busy for the next two weeks!  This time of year we really appreciate the location of our studio.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #60, February 18, 2016, Feast Label for Midnight Sun Brewing Co.

Not often does a visual artist get to brew a beer in a commercial brewery.  I was lucky enough to get to do just that!  When my home-brewing buddy Chris Hilliard became the Chef for the Loft at Midnight Sun Brewing Company he told me he was going to see what he could do to get into the brewery and brew a beer.  I told him that was a dream of mine as well and that I would like to join him.  Another dream of mine was to do the artwork for a beer label.  Many people have asked me which beer labels I have designed, and I have had to say the only beer labels I am responsible for are my home-brew labels, which I normally get rushed on as fewer than fifty bottles of beer hardly warrant much of my time.  Home-brew is gone before anyone really takes the time to look at the label.  Nor does it qualify as a commercial beer label.  Chris went to bat for me and not only got me into the brewery to brew a beer with him on the big brew kettle at MSBC, but he also got the marketing crew to let me make a painting that would be the label design.  The beer, which is called Feast, due to the recipe being created by Chef Chris, is a traditional German dopplebock aged in whiskey barrels.  It is not a small beer, being around 7.0-7.5% ABV.  Dopplebock has been referred to as liquid bread, which brings to mind monks drinking beer during Lenten fasts.  We discussed all kinds of names and different images I could use for the label, but the marketing team decided to go with Feast, and I thought that it would be cool to put a bunch of Alaskan animals all around a big table at a huge feast.  The animals represent the MSBC staff members as well as some of the regulars at the Loft (I like to think of myself as the mountain goat).  I included images of the food you can eat at the Loft as well, in homage to Chris’ culinary skills.  All in all, this label took me way longer than I thought it would, but I think it turned out better than I had hoped.  The images in this post are of the original painting without any textual graphics, and the mock up of the label, which is subject to change due to the fact that it has not been fully approved by the marketing staff.  I hope this will be the first of many label designs.  I do love working with breweries.  Cheers to the Feast!  Act like a monk and drink your meal!  The tentative release date is in April.

The original oil painting will be up for auction at the Loft when the beer is released.  I am releasing 52 limited-edition fine art prints of this painting, which are available for sale at my Etsy shop RealArtIsBetter.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #60 by Scott Clendaniel. February 18, 2016. Painting for a Beer Label Design for Feast Dopplebock by Midnight Sun Brewing Co. 19″x24″, oil on panel.

Feast Dopplebock Label Mockup. First Draft.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #59, February 11, 2016, Dark Star Imperial Oatmeal Stout by Fremont Brewing Co.

A few months ago in the faraway city of Seattle I bought this beer, known as Dark Star Bourbon Barrel Aged Oatmeal Stout from Fremont Brewing.  I was eager to drink it, but I had other beers I needed to try first.  Finally, I unleashed this Imperial beer last week and sampled the contents.  I was blown away!  This beer tastes like the dark side of barley wine!  It is a blend of barrel aged stouts, aged for 8, 12 and 18 months in Kentucky Bourbon barrels, then blended together.  The oats and massive dark grain blend together nicely with the warmth from the bourbon barrel aging.  It is a menacing beer coming in at 14.5% ABV, so part of that warmth is the booze itself.  Watch out though, this beer will bring out the rebel in you.  Surrounded by the dark-side, you will come out firing all your blasters, against all the odds!  This beer is like a great movie.  It starts with a bang, will last you for two hours, then leave you with fond memories!

Cheers to Fremont’s Dark Star!  Its imperial nature will take you to new places in the universe of flavors!

This original oil painting, and 52 limited-edition prints are available for sale at my Etsy shop RealArtIsBetter.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #59 by Scott Clendaniel. February 11, 2016. Dark Star Bourbon Barrel Aged Oatmeal Stout by Fremont Brewing Co. 11″x14″, oil on panel.

Spotted Cow vs. Heady Topper

~ by Maria Benner

As we were packing orders the other day, we noticed that the Spotted Cow and Heady Topper prints are neck and neck.  We’ve sold 31 prints of Spotted Cow and 32 of Heady Topper.  They’re our top sellers in the beer art category of prints!  We don’t know if this means they’re the two most popular beers in the country, or that they have the most hard core fans.  They’re both great beers that are hard to get, and are completely different from each other.  Spotted Cow is only distributed in Wisconsin, and Heady Topper is in high demand and low supply.  We’ll see which one will sell out first.  There are 365 limited-edition prints of each painting, so we have a ways to go.

Year of Beer 02.20. Heady Topper Double IPA by The Alchemist. Oil on panel, 8″x10″.

Year of Beer 08.07. Spotted Cow Ale by New Glarus Brewing Co. Oil on panel, 8″x10″.

 

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #58, February 4, 2016, Sloth Belgian-Style Imperial Stout by Midnight Sun Brewing Co.

Originally part of the 7 Deadly Sins series of 2007, Sloth Belgian-Style Imperial Stout is one of the finest beers brewed by Midnight Sun Brewing here in Anchorage, Alaska.  There is a reason Midnight Sun claims this is one of Alaska’s Most Wanted beers on the label.  It is really good!  A sloth is a cute, but slow creature moving so slowly that algae grows in its fur.  I recommend drinking this beer as if you were a sloth, sipping it slowly like you have all the time in the world.  Sloths are tan and develop a green tinge as the algae grows in their fur.  The beer is as dark as night, and has a serious punch in its flavor.  It smells sweet from the extensive malt backbone, and Belgian yeast, and the booze is there, but for a 10% beer it tastes mild due to the Bourbon barrel aging.  I recommend buying a case of this amazing brew, as it is one that will hang out and cellar well.  Don’t delay, the last time it was brewed was 10 years ago!  Cheers to the Sloth in all of us.  Hey, it might be a deadly sin, but it is dreadfully delicious as a beer!

The original oil painting sold.  You can purchase a limited-edition print, or order a Custom Beer Painting at my Etsy shop RealArtIsBetter.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #58 by Scott Clendaniel. February 4, 2016. Sloth Belgian-Style Imperial Stout by Midnight Sun Brewing Co. 11″x14″, oil on panel.