Today I am excited to have artist and mixologist, Hillary Butler, as a guest editor on Fashionable Hostess. She shares her Skinny “Mojito” Lime Fizzy cocktail recipe {a summer must!} as well as the perfect FH compliment – a stunning oil painting that brightens any room. Read on for how to concoct this recipe at home and see her bio below for purchasing her work.

Hillary writes:

“Oceans14” takes me to the beach, where I want to drink a summery beverage like a mojito. The cool, fresh tones in the painting pair well with the just- so- perfectly tart and refreshing flavor of this mocktail. To skinny and virgin this up, I only add a little raw sugar and let the fresh lime juice do the talking here. It’s my new favorite drink that takes me on a relaxing summer vacation… on a Tuesday afternoon… at my desk.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 Medium Key Limes 
• 2 sprigs of mint
• 2 tsp raw sugar
• Club soda
• Ice

Garnish:

• Cucumber slices
• Lime slices
• Mint sprigs

To Make:  (Makes 1)

Muddle 2 sprigs mint with 2 tsp raw sugar in serving glass. Stir in juice of 2 limes ( fresh lime juice is the secret ingredient here!). Add a few ice cubes and top with club soda. Garnish with mint sprigs, lime wedges, and mint sprigs. Enjoy while viewing the perfect pairing, “Oceans14.”

Hillary’s Bio:

To find Hillary, head down South to the culturally rich city of Memphis, TN. Cross over the bluffs and into a different land and way of life. Teeming with life, the city sings the blues on Beale Street, offers you pulled pork on every corner, and invites you in for sweet tea. Hillary loves being in a city where creative inspiration is plentiful- the blues, folk art, the Mississippi River, and vast open fields on the drive to her grandmother’s home. 

The land is her muse.  Having grown up surrounded by southern scenery, she draws on the land for her inspiration. The way of life is slower down South. They welcome you in for a chat and don’t let you leave without pie. Strangers that you meet around town went to high school with your parents. Barbecue is a food group, not just an activity. They do things differently down here. 

And you’ll find Hillary doing things a bit differently when it comes to art. Her passion for interiors, spatial arrangement, and interaction of subject and color also play a huge roll in the development of her pieces. She pulls inspiration from interior magazines and textiles for palettes and proportional treatment of color. Her work seeks to capture the constant ebb and flow of movement within a landscape with bold strokes of oil color. She states, ” The goal of my work is to find truth in each stroke, to embrace the process of letting go.” She’s here to give you the most perfect art buying experience and offers a different approach to doing so. Clients who are anxious about purchasing a piece before seeing it on their wall need never fear. She works up a digital mockup of a piece on your walls. Let her know how you can work together on creating the perfect painting for your space!

www.hillarybutler.bigcartel.com

Instagram: @hillarybutlerart