Kendra Dandy is an artist and illustrator whose work features bright colors and a playful, sassy mood to create a style that’s distinctly her own. As the owner of Bouffants and Broken Hearts @theebouffants, Kendra creates prints, apparel, and home goods, as well as creating surface patterns and custom artwork for clients of all kinds.
During quarantine, Kendra picked up home bartending as a hobby and has paired her new skills with her artwork, creating the Instagram account @artistichomebartender, which has become our go to source of aesthetically pleasing images and cocktail inspiration. Read on to learn more about Kendra, the inspiration behind her work, and the recipe for her equally delicious and gorgeous pomegranate daiquiri.
Pomegranate Daiquiri
- 1.5 oz White Rum
- 1 oz Lime Juice
- 1/2 oz pomegranate syrup
Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice, shake, strain, serve in a chilled glass.
On your account @artistichomebartender, you share gorgeous cocktails that pair beautifully with your artwork. Have you ever made drinks professionally, or is it a hobby you happen to be really good at?
I’m definitely more of a hobbyist as far as bartending is concerned. It really began when the quarantine happened and I could no longer go to my favorite bars. Reality set in that if I wanted some of my favorite drinks, I would have to get some good supplies and try to make them myself. So far it’s been pretty fun although I do miss going to my favorite spots. Making good cocktails is definitely a lot of work and involves fresh squeezed juices and quality ingredients.
Does the drink inspire the artwork, or does the artwork inspire the drink?
I usually stare at the liquors and juices I have ready and try to either put things together from that or just make a classic drink. Then when it comes time to take a photo sometimes I’ll try to find what I have that relates to the drink or I’ll just grab a random artwork.
The drinks that you create have the most fabulous colors. Any tips on making our cocktails as aesthetically pleasing?
I use a lot of fresh juices, so that helps. There are also a variety of syrups that can affect the colors of your drinks as well as add nice flavors. Garnishes such as edible flowers and fruits also make for nice aesthetically pleasing details.
Your art has a very distinct style. How long did it take for you to discover and hone in on this?
My style has evolved over the years and will continue to evolve. Change is definitely constant and keeps your work fresh.
On your Instagram account you talk about the proper way to credit artists, which is an important conversation to be having in the IG era. Can you talk about the proper ways to share and credit an artist on social media and why it’s so important to get these steps right?
The proper way to credit someone’s work on social media such as Instagram is by mentioning their handle early in the caption(not under a lot of hashtags/dots/text), plus the tag. The tag makes it so it shows up on your profile in case you get a lot of notifications and you miss the mention, but it alone is not sufficient as credit. This is important because a) the work doesn’t belong to you! b) the person who created the work should have their name highly visible in the post in order to give your audience a clear notice of who created it and give them a chance to be discovered. Just doing a “lazy tag” as I like to call it feels very dismissive because it takes no effort to just mention the handle and it’s just another way to make the original credit less visible. If anyone thinks it isn’t a big deal, always remember “a)” that is mentioned above as well as it’s the law (google copyright law!)
Any advice for artists, bartenders, and creatives in general wanting to turn their hobby into a successful business?
I’m definitely not a professional by any means in the bartending world, but I would just say to any artist or creative you just have to work at it every day and constantly seek out opportunities to further your business. It’s a lot of work that never ends but if you truly love your work, it’s worth it.
What’s your sign?
I’m a Sagittarius!