Custom cocktail signs available for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, or just because.

‘Cocktails at Home’

I can tell that you’re a craft cocktail aficionado. Is that a sazerac in your hand? You know your spirits. You’ve been to the bars and admired the pros. You’ve watched mixologists whip up fresh takes on the classics and craft new, invigorating libations.You left with visions of barstools and speakeasies in your head, pledging to make inspired craft cocktails at home.

But with all the buzz about bitters, tinctures, infused anything, and essence of this and that, it’s easy to throw your hands up and pour yourself a beer. Hang on though. Mixing cocktails can be easy once you learn the basic components. 

To show you what we mean, let’s go with a classic. Take the old-fashioned. It’s a classy cocktail that’s spirit-forward. Drop the pom-poms--not that kind of spirit. We mean it’s heavy on the booze. 

The old-fashioned keeps company with the likes of the martini, negroni, sazerac, manhattan, and the vieux carre. Don’t let the fancy names fool you. They all follow a basic formula: 2 parts base, 1 part modifier, and 1 part accent. 

In spirits-forward cocktails, bases are liquors like whiskey, gin, vodka, or rum. Modifiers soften and enhance the base. They include aromatic wines like vermouth, sugars, fruit juices, egg, or cream. 

Accents add a little punch. Common ones include bitters, flavored syrups, olives, fruit, and herbs. 

Our old-fashioned contains:

2 ounces of whiskey

1 sugar cube (or 1 oz. simple syrup)

3 dashes of angostura bitters 

Add a big, fat ice cube to your glass. Less surface-area please! A perfect cube will melt slowly and won’t dilute your drink. 

Twirl a long spoon around the outside of the glass to combine the contents of your concoction.

For the final flourish, rub the rim of the glass with a lemon peel before dropping it in the mix. 

And there you have it. A classic cocktail made with the classic ratio of components. 

Happy home cocktailing. 

Prints and original cocktails also available.

Calligraphy & Design by Brown Fox Calligraphy

Have you heard of the technique to help you remember almost anything called the ‘Memory Palace’?

The premise is that you close your eyes and think of a place you know by heart. The place you could walk through in the pitch black without bumping into a chair or doorway. The one where you can recall the feel of the smooth cool tile under your feet, the one with the smell that makes you think of Fall, and the one where you’ve memorized every crack in the ceiling.

For most people, it’s their childhood home or a place they’ve called home for decades in adulthood. To remember something like a grocery list, you place each item in your list in a room in your memory palace and make them absurd, funny, or surprising in some way. Giant bananas might take over your mudroom with monkeys climbing them. Take a step into the family room and your sister is soaking reading her favorite book in a giant can of crushed tomatoes. You get the idea. 

Homes and other special places hold great power and places of honor in our lives. These paintings are some of your special places that I’ve had the privilege to paint. 

I take commissions on an ongoing basis. Please contact me for availability.

As a child I was given a brown stuffed bear. He read stories with me, tucked me in at night, and sometimes kept my other stuffed animals company at the foot of my bed. He had a sweet little smile, kind eyes, brown fur, and a soft cream colored tummy. His name was Polar Bear. 

I don’t recall giving him this name and he had become such a good friend that I didn’t have the heart to tell him he wasn’t really a polar bear. 

Commissions of cuddly nursery animals available.

“...I’d rather painters painted food.

Food,

Just food,

Just any old kind of food.

Let it be sour

Or let it be sweet

As long as you’re sure it is something to eat.”

-Ogden Nash.

Originals and prints available. Inquire about custom projects.

They say you should put your dreams out in the universe. My dream is to illustrate a cookbook. You heard it here.

Remember that moment when the path outlined for you disappeared in the mist and you were left with your own two feet and some big decisions to make? For most of us, this happens when we take that last mapped out step--whether it be going to college or trade school, getting married, having kids, or landing the “dream job.” But what comes next when you veer off into that uncharted territory that ancient maps labeled “here there be dragons?” 

I’m sorry that I don’t offer maps for life, but how about one for your wedding? I’d love to bring your special places to life.

Custom maps available for any occasion--wedding, anniversary, birthday, new home, moving to college, bouts of homesickness and more.

The animal kingdom plays a special part in growing childhood wonder.

Have you read My Family and Other Animals, the delightful memoir of Gerald Durrell’s childhood on the Greek island of Corfu? Gerry chronicles his family’s move to the island and their many rollicking adventures that ensue due to cultural misinterpretations. It’s a story filled with warmth, humor, and innocence. Gerry skips out on his school books to traverse the small island in search of creatures big and small. He studies ant hills, observes the mating rituals of seabirds, and sneaks many an animal into his family’s home much to their displeasure. Gerry builds up quite a little zoo with makeshift enclosures and the help of a local biologist. In adulthood, Gerry follows his childhood passions and builds his own zoo. 

Prints available.

“I got an entire Oreo in my ice cream cone!” I gleefully announced. It was August in Cape Cod and we sat outside of the ice cream shop at a table with iron chairs ornately designed in the pattern of Queen Anne’s lace. In my hand was my reward for patiently waiting in the long line at the Sundae School—a mint Oreo ice cream cone—and I felt like I had just hit the childhood lottery. 

August’s grasshopper pie watercolor in this 2020 Confections Calendar was inspired by childhood memories of summer ice cream cones. Each month of the calendar celebrates the sweet moments that we share with friends and family all year long. 

The calendars are a heartfelt collaboration between Two Moos Studio and Brown Fox Calligraphy. Together we’ve shared many sweet treats.

Each month is cause for celebration, wouldn’t you agree? Whether you are ringing in the New Year with a glass of champagne, relaxing by the pool on a sunny vacation with a mai tai, or warming yourself in a cocktail bar with a smoky old fashioned, take a moment to enjoy yourself.

The 2020 cocktail calendar was a heartfelt collaboration between Two Moos Studio and Brown Fox Calligraphy. We are two friends who have enjoyed many cocktails together. In designing and offering this calendar, it was our hope that it would remind you to get together with friends and family more often to toast the goodness in your life.

In my childhood nursery, a pastel print with muted green, teal, pink, and mauve hung on the wall by the bookshelf. 

In my childhood nursery, a quilt rose above my little bed keeping the wall cozy. It was made to look like a little house and had pockets in each room where you could place a fabric dolly. 

In my childhood nursery, the sun winked through the trees as they swayed outside the window. 

Commissions for Children’s Nursery Art are available.

Drinks from years gone by. 

The original cocktail calendar.

A heartfelt collaboration between Two Moos Studio and Brown Fox Calligraphy.

When you walk by a flower shop and see a pretty bloom peeking out, who does it make you think of? 

Every special person in your life has a flower they love. 

Mine is the sunflower. What’s yours?

Originals and prints available.