DESCRIPTION OF ART PIECE:

With this canvas, I tell a story of embracing your roots and staying grounded in the present moment. Allowing and welcoming color into your life along with enriching your community with what you do best. When you do what you love, the right individuals will gravitate towards you and support your passions, as they reciprocate.

This bright bold beautiful canvas represents the energetic aura that is created when multiple forces of community come together in creation. On Sept 26th, 2023 Turtle Boat and Chef Jeremy Song partnered up with local farms and producers to have their final Pairing Dinner with Dos Luces Brewery. I was brought along to live paint and instead was the one entertained by the wave of flavors and unity around what grounds us the most. More than just food, but a meal. The artistry of what it takes to curate a dinner experience and to taste the outcome of intention.

Beginning at six o'clock as guests arrived, I let every moment and interaction impact how my paintbrush stroked the canvas, whether I changed the medium or the color. I was inspired by Dos Luces’ lively inside garden and the kitchen’s fresh ingredients. I was moved to represent that through lively green textures, paying tribute to Mother Nature, an homage of gratitude for her giving us what we need to live.

As each pairing came out to the candle-lit crowd, the conversations began amongst the guests. Their words painted pictures of the rich ingredients, allowing me to highlight what their tastebuds were experiencing. Sitting inside Dos Luces Brewery has a warm feeling, it was my first time in the space, yet it felt nostalgic. It almost felt like we weren’t in Colorado. Maybe it was the orange sun setting directly on the red rough bricks and tribal paintings. Or it could have been the tropical flavors that Turtle Boat was serving, that for a moment, felt like an oasis in the blue hour with a slight cool breeze coming through the patio.

This painting was halfway finished, once the crowd left. After experiencing each five courses for myself, I was then able to add my interpretations of what stood out to me. From bold aromas, to what tasted subtle, slightly spicy, or delicately sweet; what parts of their sourcing stories stood out and which kept the consideration & care that Chef Jeremy Song had poured in.

To finalize the piece, I added the dangling lights that covered everyone's heads and highlighted “Los Dos Luces” (the two lights,) to represent both Dos Luces’s final moments and impact on its community along with Dos Luces and Turtle Boat’s collaboration and being examples of unique intimate dinner experiences to educate and nourish like-minds around.

Very grateful to have been there to truly capture the magic that occurred that night.