White sweater 9"x12" oil

Click here to purchase.  $125

My goal for today was to unify my palette and keep it sketchy.  I'm happy with it.

My blog: http://claudiahammer.blogspot.com
My website: http://claudiahammer.com
My email: iclaudiahammer@insightbb.com
My DPW gallery: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/chammer-209

Reading about Tamara 9"x12" oil

 Click hereto purchase.  $150

She is reading about Tamara de Lempicka and when I first saw this book in 1993 it inspired me want to paint.  I had been drawing only for about 30 years and did not have any interest in painting and then all of a sudden I wanted to paint!  And I wanted to paint like Lempicka.  Here is my first painting and you can see Lempicka's style.  I've come a long way.

My blog: http://claudiahammer.blogspot.com
My website: http://claudiahammer.com
My email: iclaudiahammer@insightbb.com
My DPW gallery: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/chammer-209

Willett Bourbon 6"x6" oil

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Here is a review from Whisky Connosr.

The Willett family owned the Willett Distilling Company until they sold it to Even Kulsveen in 1984. The company was renamed Kentucky Bourbon Distillers, Ltd. in order to make the company name more recognisable as being associated with Kentucky whiskey for the purpose of international marketing. 

Nose: brown sugar, like an aged rum, black cherry, plum, rye spices, subtantial oak, with just hints of vanilla and caramel.

Taste: the spices explode all over the palate--this is spicy like the spiciest rye whiskey. The alcohol taste reinforces the spicy effect. The wood is very strong here as well. This is a bourbon of enormous flavour, able to keep company with George T. Stagg, William Larue Weller, and Old Potrero. Vanilla, caramel, oak, black pepper, cherry and plum dance and crackle all about the mouth. A spicy beginning gives way to developing sweetness, which becomes all-encompassing

Finish: these enormous flavours just last and last, doing a slow fade together. The sweetness remains strong in the mouth throughout the finish

Balance: Lovely, lovely, lovely! I have had other Willett Bourbons, and have loved them all. This bourbon is quite delicious and quite balanced, for all of its enormous powerful flavour. 

My blog: http://claudiahammer.blogspot.com 

My website: http://claudiahammer.com 

My email: iclaudiahammer@insightbb.com 

My DPW gallery: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/chammer-209

Knob Creek 6"x6" oil

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This is a cool bottle and label.  The packaging pays attention to the details. With a bottle reminiscent of a bootlegger’s flask, it embodies the unpretentious, handmade look and feel of turn-of-the-century bourbon. The observant eye will notice newsprint scrawled on the label—harkening back to the decades-old custom of wrapping bottles at the distillery in newspaper.  Knob Creek is 100 proof and aged 9 years.  When coming up with the name they went to history to name Know Creek, the answer was nearby.   Approximately 20 miles south of the distillery runs a little creek, the same creek that ran by Abraham Lincoln's boyhood home.    Kentucky is full of history.

Did you know.... Nothing can be added at bottling to enhance the flavor of bourbon, such as flavoring, sweeteners or artificial coloring, unlike whiskeys which can add those things.

My blog: http://claudiahammer.blogspot.com
My website: http://claudiahammer.com
My email: iclaudiahammer@insightbb.com
My DPW gallery: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/chammer-209

Reading 9"x12" oil

Click here to purchase.  $150

I like the fact that she wore her reading glasses, they add so much to the  attitude.

My blog: http://claudiahammer.blogspot.com
My website: http://claudiahammer.com
My email: iclaudiahammer@insightbb.com
My DPW gallery: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/chammer-209

Maker's Mark Mint Julep 6"x6" oil

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A Mint Julep is the official Derby drink although you will find few who drink it the rest of the year but you will find it everywhere on Derby Day here in Louisville KY home of the Kentucky Derby. 

Easy Recipe:

Pack a glass with crushed ice and put in a sprig of mint and a short straw, when frost forms pour in Maker's Mark Mint Julep bourbon. Voila! 

Recipe From scratch:

1 sterling silver julep cup (or official Derby tall glass)

1 oz. simple syrup ( made from 1 part water, 1 part granulated sugar, heat to dissolve sugar)

5-7 mint leaves

3 ounces Kentucky bourbon

3 ounces water

Into a large mixing glass pour simple syrup, add mint, and muddle well.  Add bourbon and water.  Fill with crushed ice or small ice cubes and shake.  Garnish with a large sprig of fresh mint and add a long straw.

 History of Mint Juleps - Mint juleps were probably first served in the early to mid 1700s in Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina. "Mint julep" first appeared in print in 1803, described as a "dram of spirituous liquor that has mint in it, taken by Virginians in the morning." The French word "julep" is derived from the Persian "gulab," a sweet concoction that may have been a vehicle for medicine.

The first mint juleps were made with rum, rye whiskey and other available spirits. Kentucky bourbon whiskey wasn't widely distributed until later in the 19th century.   The tradition of sipping mint juleps migrated westward to Kentucky, and soon became associated with horse racing. In 1816, the KentuckyGazette mentioned mint julep cups being awarded as prizes at horse races in the Commonwealth. We do not know when bourbon was first used in juleps, but by the early 1800s, many Kentucky farmers owned stills, which they used to make corn whiskey or what is now called bourbon. Later, bourbon became the preferred spirit in mint juleps everywhere.


My blog: http://claudiahammer.blogspot.com
My website: http://claudiahammer.com
My email: iclaudiahammer@insightbb.com
My DPW gallery: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/chammer-209

Bill Fletcher Workshop Day 6, 6"x8" oil

Click here to purchase.  $125

We worked today on a photo of our own and I chose a photo that I took when I was in Provence France.   There was this wonderful field of poppies and I just happened to take a great photo.  I learned how to portray flowers without painting each flower.  Don't you get a sense of many flowers?   I painted the essence of the flowers.  This was the last day of this workshop but Bill Fletcher is having another workshop similar to this one and it is going to take place here in Louisville KY at the Mellwood center.  If you are interested in taking this workshop, which I recommend, please click here to send him an email about your interest.

My blog: http://claudiahammer.blogspot.com
My website: http://claudiahammer.com
My email: iclaudiahammer@insightbb.com
My DPW gallery: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/chammer-209

Maker's and 46 12"x12" oil

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Maker's 46 starts with Maker's Mark straight from the barrel, then the barrel head is removed and ten wooden staves are affixed to the inside of the existing barrel.   The staves are slowly seasoned and cooked in order to caramelize the sugars in the wood.   Ultimately this helps give Maker's 46 with its distinct caramel and toasted oak flavor.  The Maker's Mark goes back into the ready barrel for at lease several more months, which is not a specific time, when it is ready their panel knows it.  Read all about it and see a video at Maker's Mark 46.

My blog: http://claudiahammer.blogspot.com
My website: http://claudiahammer.com
My email: iclaudiahammer@twc.com
My DPW gallery: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/chammer-209

Makers Mark 6"x6" oil

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Each bourbon maker has their own special recipe and process.  Makers Mark attributes its unique taste to pure, iron free limestone spring water which comes from a 10 acre limestone spring fed lake at the Maker's Mark Distillery.  They also use red winter wheat rather than traditional rye, along with naturally malted barley and yellow corn.  They have beautiful distinctive copper still pots that are an important part of their double distillation process which removes impurities.   They use cypress tanks for fermentation and some of the planks are more than 200 years old.  There is more so click here to read more about it.   I have driven to this distillery and it is a beautiful drive through the Kentucky country side.   

My favorite part is when they dip each individual bottle in the red wax.  Here is how it came about.  Bill Samuels wife Marjorie was a fan of fine pewter pieces, which were known for the mark their maker put on them (hence their name) but to truly embrace the name, she felt that they needed their own special mark. This led her to create the SIV symbol, which stands for “Samuels - 4th generation.”  She also collected antique cognac bottles that were commonly dipped in wax. She thought that signature look would be a great idea for their bottle. And her creativity didn’t stop there: Marjorie completed the Maker’s look by creating their distinctive typeface herself.

My blog: http://claudiahammer.blogspot.com
My website: http://claudiahammer.com
My email: iclaudiahammer@insightbb.com
My DPW gallery: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/chammer-209

Red teapot 9"x12" oil

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This is the same model and set up as last week but since everyone was working on a new piece we decided to change the pose slightly.   I'm sure you can see what is different.   I had wanted to put the red teapot in last week but the composition I chose did not allow for that so that was what I wanted to put in this time.

My blog: http://claudiahammer.blogspot.com
My website: http://claudiahammer.com
My email: iclaudiahammer@insightbb.com
My DPW gallery: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/chammer-209

Town Branch Bourbon 6"x6" oil

Please click here to view pricing information.

This is my favorite bottle, I love the square shape!   I love square paintings too so maybe I'm just square.  The Town Branch website (click here), has the interesting history bourbon, going all the way back to the Scots.   Below are some interesting facts:

Whiskey (the abbreviation of uisce beatha) is Gaelic for "water of life."

Whiskeys are rated in four ways:

1. The nose - the aroma.

2.  The taste - its arrival on the palette. (the tongue not the painting palette)

3.  The finish - how much residue is on the palette, it will tell you a lot about the aging process.

4.  The balance of the flavors, the caramels, the woodiness, and how they all come together.

Town Branch Whiskey is a bourbon from the first distillery to be inducted into the Kentucky Distillers Association since 1880.   

Town Branch is named after the Town Branch River in Lexington, KY.  Within one year of the founding of Lexington the James Pepper Distillery was established in 1780, quickly followed by other distilleries such as Henry Clay, Henry Gilbert & Co., Ashland Distillery Co., and William Tarr was set up in 1879.   Little did they know that it would be over 100 years for the Lexington Distilling Co. to be founded. 

1. My blog: http://claudiahammer.blogspot.com 
2. My website: http://claudiahammer.com 
3. My email: iclaudiahammer@insightbb.com 
4. My DPO gallery: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/chammer-209

Eagle Rare Bourbon 6"x6" oil

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Eagle Rare Bourbon is aged no less than 10 years and each barrel is discriminately selected.   It offers consistent flavors but with an individual personality from each unique barrel.  They do make a 17 year old as well and both have won numerous awards.  Check out this link for more information.

I was thinking on all previous bourbon paintings that the white background was the best for showing off the wonderful amber glow coming through the bottle but I tried this blue and it was good too!

My blog: http://claudiahammer.blogspot.com
My website: http://claudiahammer.com
My email: iclaudiahammer@twc.com
My DPO gallery: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/chammer-209

Reading the newspaper 9"x12" oil

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I had a hard time getting a model for Friday, when I finally got this one I had a pose in mind from William McGregor Paxton called "the morning paper". My version is more poster like, it is just the way I saw it once it was set up.

My blog: http://claudiahammer.blogspot.com
My website: http://claudiahammer.com
My email: iclaudiahammer@insightbb.com
My DPO gallery: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/chammer-209

Four Roses in tandem 6"x6" oil

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Four Roses Small Batch and Single Barrel, you can click on the highlighted links to read more.  The legend  began when Paul Jones, Jr., the founder of Four Roses Bourbon, became smitten by the beauty of a Southern belle. It is said that he sent a proposal to her, and she replied that if her answer were "Yes," she would wear a corsage of roses on her gown to the upcoming grand ball. Paul Jones waited for her answer excitedly on that night of the grand ball…when she arrived in her beautiful gown, she wore a corsage of four red roses. He later named his Bourbon "Four Roses" as a symbol of his devout passion for the lovely belle, a passion he thereafter transferred to making his beloved Four Roses Bourbon.

My blog: http://claudiahammer.blogspot.com
My website: http://claudiahammer.com
My email: iclaudiahammer@insightbb.com
My DPO gallery: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/chammer-209

Bill Fletcher Workshop Day 5, 6"x8" oil

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Today in the Bill Fletcher Workshop each one of us painted from our own photo.  This was from a photo I took while in Rome, it was our first day and at sunset we walked up the long steps to a higher elevation and saw these domes.  The one on the right in the distance is the Vatican.

One lesson I learned today was looking at photos in a different manor, changing the cropping and coming up with a more pleasing composition.  Another thing I learned is tweaking the color within the value while not changing the value.  

My blog: http://claudiahammer.blogspot.com
My website: http://claudiahammer.com
My email: iclaudiahammer@insightbb.com
My DPO gallery: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/chammer-209

Four Roses 6"x6" oil

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I know what ya'll are thinkin, man is she a lush!  Well actually it is my friends fault, they keep bringing me these bourbons to drink.. I mean paint!   There are so many bourbons, so little time.  This one is Four Roses, single barrel, 100 proof and it has a leather tag on the neck with SB embossed on it.   There is also a small label on the bottom with the barrel number.  It contains hints of ripe plum and cherry with fruity, spicy aromas including maple syrup and cocoa.  It has won many awards.  

My blog: http://claudiahammer.blogspot.com
My website: http://claudiahammer.com
My email: iclaudiahammer@insightbb.com
My DPO gallery: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/chammer-209

Manhattan 6"x6" oil

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This was a tasty manhattan, however I had to taste test about 4 cherries to make sure they would be worthy of putting the drink.   The batch passed the test.   I used Evan Williams which is owned by one of the largest distilleries, Heaven Hill.  This particular bottle is a single barrel vintage bourbon bottled solely from one barrel and hand-selected by Master Distillers Parker and Craig Beam.   Each bottle contains a date telling when it was put in oak and bottled and a serial number of the barrel it came from.  Evan Williams Bourbon is named for Kentucky's first Distiller in 1783 and has won "Whiskey of the Year" five times.

My blog: http://claudiahammer.blogspot.com
My website: http://claudiahammer.com
My email: iclaudiahammer@insightbb.com
My DPO gallery: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/chammer-209

Chinese umbrella II 14"x18" oil

Click here to purchase.  $150

We have the model usually for two Fridays in a row and because I treat these as my daily I usually do a different one on the second day.  I decided to work in a larger format and it did not work out totally so I broke a rule of mine and I worked on it at home after the session.   I lightened the shadow area and corrected the chin area.   This came out better.  Hope you like it too. 

My blog: http://claudiahammer.blogspot.com
My website: http://claudiahammer.com
My email: iclaudiahammer@insightbb.com
My DPO gallery: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/chammer-209

Bourbonball 6"x6" oil

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In the book "The Kentucky Bourbon Cocktail Book" by Joy Perrine and Susan Reigler there is a wonderful award winning BOURBONBALL reciepe (Tuaca Cocktail Contest, 2001, First Place).  This drink is the signature drink for Jack's Lounge here in Louisville KY.   1 part Woodford Reserve, 1 part Tuaca, 1 part dark creme de cacao.   Combine, shake over ice, and strain into a chilled martini glass.  Garnish with a strawberry on the rim.   Well, don't you know this drink evaporated as soon as the painting was done.   This is definitely going to be in my drink collection!

My blog: http://claudiahammer.blogspot.com
My website: http://claudiahammer.com
My email: iclaudiahammer@insightbb.com
My DPO gallery: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/chammer-209