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Dive in to the Pondering Pool and you’ll find not just beautiful art and clever poetry but a brilliantly twisted world.  We meet its creator, Susan Mrosek. By Gillian Drummond. Artwork courtesy of Susan Mrosek.

Susan Mrosek remembers her dreams in detail. She writes them down, tries to analyze them.  But it’s not always easy.

The other night she dreamed she was dismantling an artichoke bomb. Even in the realm of dreams, it’s a strange one. But then when you learn about the world Susan has created through her art – one that’s twisted, funny and comforting all at the same time –  the dream seems to fit right in.

Her world is called Pondering Pool. It’s a place where characters – almost all of them women – come together to contemplate and escape. They’re found trying to free themselves from crises of confidence or self-esteem, or celebrating friendship, personal growth and (usually new-found) self-belief. They’re trapped, or have just escaped. They’re troubled. They’re also hilarious.

The figures are languid, bony, with over-sized hands and large noses, and they take on surrealist forms: extra heads, arms, legs, elongated necks, bulbous bellies. It’s not surprising that Susan counts Tim Burton, Dali, Picasso and Joe Sorren among the artists she loves.

The messages that go with them – on her greeting cards, posters, luggage tags and pendants – are wordplay and poetry, pieces of writing that Susan has created in her own daily journals. Many of the messages take common turns of phrases, pick them apart and reformulate them – brilliantly.

“It is what it is, isn’t it? Never sure,” says one. Another: “It was time for Stella to ‘pay it backward’ – to take care of her inner little one.”  And another: “She took time, plucked it and twisted it, tried to fold it in two, ended up chopping it in half. It never quite fit after that.”

Since Pondering Pool began in 2000, its women and their droll musings have been quietly causing ripples; sales, online and in gift stores, are nationwide and in Canada, and enough to financially sustain Susan and her best friend and business partner Bill. They’ve also attracted some prominent followers, among them actresses Jamie Lee Curtis and Sharon Gless, author and self-help guru Louise Hay, and “self-care” expert Cheryl Richardson.

Tucson artist Liz Vaughn, another of Pondering Pool’s devotees and an acquaintance of Susan’s, relates to her work on a couple of levels: as a customer, a female one; and as a fellow artist who, like Susan, uses words and phrases alongside her characters. “Susan captures things that we are thinking but won’t say out loud because we don’t want people to think we’re crazy. The women she portrays are very real. They might be at times wispy but there are a lot of sags, a lot of expanded noses. It’s humanity,” says Liz.

The woman who opens the door of a one-bedroom Tucson studio looks not dissimilar to her characters: the angular features, the nose, the lithe figure. She’s had her troubles. And she’s hilarious.

Susan Mrosek. Photo by Gillian Drummond

The studio where she lives and works is straight out of one of her creations: shabby chic, very feminine, with lots of lace, antiques and Victoriana. In the words of Susan: “It’s like a grandma’s house.”

Her dark, sharp humor “came early and just blossomed”. It saw her through a sexually and emotionally abusive childhood, and it glued Susan and her sister Diane together during rough times both as children and as adults. Various disorders plagued  Diane, who was also an artist. She had severe obsessive compulsive disorder, and was at various times diagnosed with bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and Tourette’s.  “In the end the doctors called it Diane Disorder,” says Susan.  “She was really messed up. I was messed up, but I could function. She couldn’t. She was extremely creative but she was unable to get her work out there.”

Diane encouraged Susan to write, something this long-time sculptor and painter hadn’t tried before. “I had no idea I could write. My English teacher once said I had as much brains as his briefcase. Diane was the writer [among us].”

Susan tried daily journaling and amazed herself. “By God I could write, and then I had a voice so I could express myself. And goddamn it was fun.” And as Susan began to write, Diane began to draw. “It was like we morphed into each other,” says Susan.

The two shared their writings and drawings, connecting three times a day – mostly by phone, sometimes in person – and making each other laugh. They were taking their troubles and Diane’s mental health issues and turning them into something joyful. Diane became Susan’s muse, and the world Susan created became Pondering Pool. “It was tragic and a treat at the same time. It was very therapeutic. It was so cathartic for her and for me. It was the most wonderful time in my life. I couldn’t get enough of it,” says Susan.

And then therapists suggested to Susan and the rest of the family to practice some tough love, and stop communicating with Diane. The two sisters didn’t talk for two years.  They reconnected eventually, although Susan says their relationship wasn’t the same. Seven months later, in 2008, Diane died from complications related to Hepatitis C.

Although Diane’s death left a hole that can’t be filled, it was freeing too, says Susan.  “I felt like I was just out there flailing, and asking other people to take her place. It’s been hard to hold onto the feeling we had, but at the same time I’m healing. Now that she’s gone I’m allowed to heal.” She adds: “I became all about her instead of about me.”

Diane and Bill, who has been instrumental in creating and running the business, encouraged Susan to sell the work, and sell it did. John McNulty, retail manager at the Tucson Museum of Art, believes the TMA’s store was one of the first in the country to carry her cards. “The cards have been a huge success for me. I just think it’s her thoughts and images. They evoke lots of giggles and thoughtfulness. People buy them ten at a time, although I don’t know if they ever send them. They wouldn’t dare send some of them, they are very to the point,” he says.

Susan’s writings and musings come first, and are usually taken from her journals. Then she sketches and scans the drawings into her computer, and finally paints them using Photoshop. Transferring her painting skills to Photoshop was “seamless”, say Susan. “I was enthralled and overwhelmed, exhausted, by the endless creative possibilities it provided.” Fellow artists, among them John McNulty, a Tucson ceramicist, and Liz Vaughn, say they are amazed that such finely detailed work is produced on Photoshop, especially given Susan’s oil painting background.

Susan has been experimenting with sculpture as a way to take Pondering Pool in another direction. Photo courtesy of Susan Mrosek

Dotted around her studio, among the giclee prints of her work, and books and family photographs,  are her latest creations: sculptures, her beloved characters in 3-D. It’s one of the areas Susan has been exploring lately – a way to take Pondering Pool in a new direction.

She’s been considering YouTube videos, film, book illustration and children’s books.  There have been offers and discussions – one to turn her work into animation, another, with Jamie Lee Curtis, to produce children’s books.  She didn’t feel she was ready for either.

Her cards are used as catalysts and aids by many therapists, she says.  Her work has also been used by an elementary school in Tucson to help students understand poetry, and to develop their writing skills. “Though my art was at first cathartic, I’m beyond thrilled that it helps others,” she says.

She was a keynote speaker at a domestic abuse fundraiser, and wants to do more public speaking. She would love to give a TED talk on mental health, in her sister’s honor. “The people who ignored her or shunned her or were afraid of her missed out,” she says.

Pondering Pool’s themes are not as dark these days – a sign, says Susan, that she has moved on from her sister’s ill health and subsequent death. “Now [my work] is more explorative.  I would say it’s more thought-provoking, more healing. These characters have served me well but they exhibit what I’ve gone through and what my sister has gone through.”

Susan works out of a one-bedroom studio in downtown Tucson. Photo by Gillian Drummond

Those characters, though, they won’t go away. They literally jump off the page as she creates her art.

“Then I feel like I’m meeting them.  That’s something I love about being an artist. You get to meet all these people that weren’t even created before.”

* Find Pondering Pool at the Tucson Museum of Art’s gift store, Chocolate Iguana and Antigone Books in Tucson. They are also sold in stores nationwide and in Canada, as well as online at www.pondering pool.com

* Liz Vaughn’s work can be found at www.lizvaughn.com and in shows and artist fairs around Tucson. Look out for a solo exhibition from her this November.

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Take two best friends, a love of horror movies and a big dose of YouTube. Then say hello to the extreme make-up talents of Strawberri Gashes, who put on an exclusive photo shoot just for us. By Gillian Drummond. Cover photo by Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli. Make-up by Strawberri Gashes. Models: Katy Gierlach and Jared R. McKinley.

Kitty Quasar and Andromeda Katz, aka Jared R. McKinley and Katy Gierlach, promoting Glitterball 2014. Make-up by Strawberri Gashes. Photo by Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli

Katy Gierlach can’t speak. And, even more crushing for this normally cheery lady, she can’t laugh or smile… for close to three hours.

Katy is a Tucson model known best for fashion and style shoots. Tonight, though, she’s going gory. She has agreed to be transformed into an apparent murder victim, with a facial prosthesis that will resemble the exit wound of a bullet. That’s a bullet from the gun of her fictional husband, who has discovered his wife’s affair and shoots her while she’s in the shower. It’s not an impulsive act, though. The husband is smug about it, proud that he’s finally got evidence of something he’s long suspected.

Tricia, left, and Hillary. Photo by Danni Valdez

This detailed back story and the special effects make-up are the work of Tricia Golding and Hillary Solterbeck, the best friends, self-professed soul mates and horror film fans who comprise Strawberri Gashes.

Their make-up business is just a year old and, while most of their work still comes from fashion and beauty shoots, they are becoming a go-to for local photographers and event producers needing zombies, vampires, aliens and… well, the list is literally endless. Because Tricia and Hillary are game for anything, which is why those who use them say they love them.

Their professional makeup baptism wasn’t so much by fire as by rotting flesh. “It was dumb luck,” says Tricia. Her then sister-in-law had heard of a charity event called Zombie Apocalypse that was looking for make-up artists. Together, Tricia and Hillary transformed 12 models and worked 14 hours straight.

Make-up by Hillary Solterbeck. Photo by Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli

“I told them it was going to be sink or swim and they did amazing. I couldn’t have asked for a better team,” says Jake Rafus, the Scottsdale-based model and producer behind the Zombie Apocalypse event, and now a regular collaborator and friend. “It’s not just the skill, it’s their personality and who they are. I feel like no matter what [job] I give them they’re going to get it,” he says.

Tucson-based photographer Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli, also an organizer of Zombie Apocalypse, says they are his “go-to girls” for styling that’s outside of the box, outlandish and outrageous. “As a photog, usually I’m the one visualizing things more ludicrous than anyone else in the room, but they’re brilliant cause they always go further than I thought possible. I have to reel them back in like Robin Williams on a talk show. That’s what you want when working with real artists, you want them flirting with the limits of what’s possible.”

Make-up by Tricia and Hillary. Photo and poster design by Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli.

Jared R. McKinley echoes those sentiments. In his spare time, this publisher, writer and botanist puts on special events through MEOWmeow Productions. “After doing this kind of thing for years, I think enthusiasm goes further than skill. They’re very skilled, but skill only takes you so far,” he says. “Enthusiasm is going to take you further and allows you to jump into things. They’re not afraid of playing. Some people might say ‘I’m not ready for that.’ They’ll do it and with a lot of enthusiasm.”

Glitterball 2014. Makeup and special effects by Strawberri Gashes Makeup Photo by Tricia Golding

Strawberri Gashes was hired to help turn Jared and Katy Gierlach (his girlfriend) into their alien alter egos, Kitty Quasar and Andromeda Katz, to promote MEOWmeow’s glam rock-themed Glitterball last March at Tucson’s Rialto Theatre. It meant three hours in make-up – specifically, a metallic powder mixed with liquid, the remains of which stayed with the couple for days, says Jared.

Tonight, as Katy and Jared lend their modeling services again in an exclusive photo shoot for 3 Story, the issue isn’t glitter but liquid latex, cotton balls and toilet paper. Make that one-ply toilet paper, the cheapest you can get. That, say Tricia and Hillary, works wonders when they are creating gore, from scars to Katy’s fake blown-open face.

Make-up and photo by Tricia Golding

The two work in tandem, each delving into a pull-along train case to produce everything from the pedestrian – Q-tips, mascara, said toilet paper – to the fascinating, like a ‘bruise wheel’ with varying shades of red, purple and black cream that give the illusion of bruises and abrasions.

Make-up and photo by Hillary Solterbeck

The fake wound has been partly constructed earlier and is now attached to Katy’s right cheek, along with special effects make-up, in a process that could be straight out of the TV reality show Face Off. (You can see the step-by-step process, and the end result, in the slideshow below).

Documenting the whole procedure – and producing the final photos – is their friend, photographer Danni Valdez of Shutter2ThinkPhotography. Danni met Tricia and Hillary at the Zombie event and, having just lost his long-time make-up artist to Los Angeles, jumped at the chance to work with them. Now the three are regulars together on photo shoots.

A scene from Zombie Apocalypse. Make-up by Strawberri Gashes. Photo by Dominic Bonuccelli

Danni, Tricia and Hillary dissect the scene they are about to create. “What would the bullet have hit when it exits?” asks Danni. “Nothing!” laughs Hillary, not wanting to have to add any more to the already complicated vignette. Then the conversation turns to how Katy would have fallen out of the bathtub after being shot. Katy is finally ready and Tricia and Hillary arrange a white shower curtain on the bathroom  floor. Katy lies down on it, naked, one leg draped over the tub. Then they drench her ‘wound’,  face and body with fake blood, and mix it with water to add to the shower curtain.

The easy-going Danni is a fan of Forensic Files, and it shows. As he sets up his camera equipment he is still concerned about authenticity.  “Are you gonna put blood splatter on Jared’s head? She should have liquid blood under her head too. You have to have more blood on the clear curtain.”

Make-up by Strawberri Gashes. Photo by Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli

Jared, who plays the wronged murderer husband, has changed from jeans and a T-shirt into suit pants and a white shirt. He’s sipping Scotch and waiting for his cue. The Scotch becomes a prop in the final photo, as does an empty gun and a Camel cigarette. Jared nails the smug, morbidly fascinated look they were all going for. Katy looks suitably murdered – her eyes slightly open and staring.

Danni wraps it up and, a few iPhone snaps later – of the bloody Katy grinning for their Facebook pages – they’re done. Jared apologizes to his other half – “I f***ed you up real bad honey, sorry” – and Katy showers, this time for real. Her verdict on her first gory photography session? “Sticky.” And although she’s used to hanging around on photo shoots, keeping her face straight for three whole hours was a challenge. “When you hang out with people you like and they’re making you laugh, it’s hard not to,” she says.

Make-up and photo by Hillary Solterbeck

Tricia and Hillary have worked relatively quickly, says Katy, thanks to teamwork and an interesting shorthand. “They tag team. And they’re so close they finish each other’s sentences. They’ll point to something on your face and they won’t have to even say anything.”

Make-up and photo by Hillary Solterbeck

Strawberri Gashes – named after a song by ’90s riot grrrl group Jack Off Jill – is the culmination of both this friendship and years of fascination with make-up.  Tricia and Hillary, both 26, met aged 12 and haven’t spent much time apart since. They live minutes away from one another, see each other two or three times a week, and finish each other’s sentences. “People will talk about soul mates and you tend to think of that as a man and a woman. We’ve always believed there are friend soul mates,” says Hillary.

They started experimenting with make-up as teenagers. Tricia honed her skills as a student for a while at modeling and acting school  in Scottsdale. Hillary, banned by her parents from wearing make-up until she was 15, wore it anyway, sneaking it out  in purses and school backpacks.

Then along came YouTube, opening their eyes to instructional make-up videos, products, and online gurus like Goldie Starling. Their make-up experiments became more extreme, sometimes gory, spurred on by their love of horror films.

On Friday the 13th of July 2007, Hillary’s brother and her roommate were killed in a car accident and Hillary was badly injured. Hillary woke to find the bodies, which were in “extraordinarily bad condition,” she says. “I know it sounds morbid but it’s almost for me therapeutic [to watch horror movies] in the sense that I can say ‘This is fake’. It helps me.”

While freelance make-up is Hillary’s day job (she trained as a beauty technician for a time, and was a bartender), Tricia is juggling a job as an insurance agent with an online degree. She is also a licensed pharmacy technician. “Makeup is never going to give you a steady income unless you end up working with a [film] studio,” reasons Tricia.

Photography by Danni Valdez. Make-up by Strawberri Gashes. Model: Contessa Oblivian

Make-up and photo by Hillary Solterbeck

That’s something they’re not ruling out. Their guru, Goldie Starling, recently won a scholarship to the Cinema Makeup School in Los Angeles – a place they’d love to attend.

“The biggest thing we’ve had to deal with is so much interest so quickly,” says Tricia of their busy year. But one thing they still make time for is YouTube and the makeup tutorials that helped them on their way. ‘It’s the top school for people that can’t go to school,” says Tricia of a medium that has seen huge growth, and business opportunities.

As for Face Off, which returns to TV screens in a few weeks, you can bet they’ll be watching.

* Find Strawberri Gashes on their Facebook page. Season 7 of Face Off begins on the Syfy channel in July.

* See below for our slideshow on how Strawberri Gashes and photographer Danni Valdez created their gory scene.

The final ‘shot’. For more, click on our step-by-step slideshow below. Make-up by Strawberri Gashes. Gore concept and photography by Danni Valdez. Models: Katy Gierlach and Jared R. McKinley.

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Make-up by Strawberri Gashes. Art direction and photography by Danni Valdez. Models: Katy Gierlach and Jared R. McKinley

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If  Tucson is getting a name for its craft cocktails, it’s largely due to the talent of these guys – a group of bartenders that is tribal, close-knit and supportive. Gabby Ferreira and Kaleigh Shufeldt spent time behind bars. Plus: an exclusive look at Tucson’s newest bar,  Sidecar, opening this month. Cover photo courtesy of Zocalo Magazine

Bryan Eichhorst works his magic at Penca. Photo by Gabby Ferreira

Agustin cocktail. Photo by Ryan Clark

Just west of the downtown area, tucked inside the courtyard in a whitewashed, Spanish-style building, is Agustin Kitchen. It’s late afternoon and the restaurant and bar – a critics’ darling since chef Ryan Clark took over – is all but empty. Bartenders chop fruits and vegetables, even a ginger root, in preparation for the busy night ahead.

Courtyard perspective of Agustin Kitchen. Photo by Ryan Clark

Two men in particular move in concert. Ciaran Wiese and Garrett Steffgen have known each other since their high school days in Tucson. In fact, Garrett helped Ciaran get the job at Agustin after Ciaran moved back here from Portland last year.

“It’s a chill sibling rivalry. It’s definitely not cutthroat,” says Garrett. It’s far from cutthroat, in fact. These young bartenders who, collectively, are making Tucson a go-to place for craft cocktails, are a close-knit and supportive group. There’s healthy competition among these twenty- and early thirtysomethings, but also camaraderie. Not only do these guys know each other, they drink together, visit each other’s bars, and share recipes. This is more than just a scene, it’s a family.

The family

Tucson High School may not have bartending among its elective classes or internships, but it has produced a number of Tucson’s best. Ciaran, Garrett, and Alex Arnold met there, although they were in different years. “Garrett taught me a lot of what I know,” says Alex, enjoying a sandwich after his bartending shift at Wilko. Garrett worked at Wilko before Agustin Kitchen, and helped Alex land his job at Wilko. After traveling and working in New York, Mexico, and Guatemala, Alex “wound up back here,” and doesn’t plan on leaving Tucson anytime soon.

Ciaran Wiese, left, and Garrett Steffgen of Agustin Kitchen. Photo by Gabby Ferreira

Ciaran has been hitting the cocktail headlines for years, particularly during his time behind the bar at Scott & Co, a tucked-away place on Scott Street in Tucson’s downtown area. The New York Times, CNN and Food and Wine are among those that have featured Ciaran,

Cocktail from Scott & Co

who has been tipped as one of the nation’s top ten mixologists to watch. Ciaran got his start in New York. After some time here at Scott & Co, he left for for Portland, Oregon (and this city’s cocktail lovers mourned). But it didn’t last long; he  returned to Tucson because he wanted to bring “this kind of bartending” to his hometown. Ciaran is buying a house here, and is making plans to open a bar of his own here downtown. “Tucson’s my hometown, Tucson’s my place,” he says.

Alex Arnold of Wilko Photo by Gabby Ferreira

Among the people Ciaran has mentored in Tucson is Bryan Eichhorst, the mixologist at Penca. The two used to work together at Scott & Co, where Bryan first learned how  to refine his craft. Bryan laughs as he tells of the worst drink he ever made. After he knew how to make everything on the menu, Ciaran gave him one hour to go back to the kitchen and come up with an original drink. “For some reason, I thought potato syrup was a good idea,” says Bryan, at 23 the self-described baby of the group. According to him, his concoction looked and tasted like gravy. While it was not his finest moment, he says that Ciaran still offered encouragement. “He said, ‘Well, you made something on your own’,” says Bryan.

Aaron DeFeo, mixologist at PY Steakhouse at Casino del Sol

“Everyone’s like a big family,” says David Clark, the vice president of the local chapter of the United States Bartenders Guild and mixologist at Hotel Congress. David has been at Congress for nine years; he also plays saxophone in a local band. The bartending scene is similar to the music scene, says David – full of healthy competition. David is another bartender grad of Tucson High. It was there he first met Aaron DeFeo, president of the USBG’s local chapter and mixologist at PY Steakhouse at Casino del Sol. Aaron used to be the bar manager at Hotel Congress before leaving for the casino; he was poached by mixologist Tony Abou-Gamin, who helped open the cocktail program at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

But while almost 15 miles separate Aaron from his downtown Tucson peers, he still lives in central Tucson. “Downtown has a special place in my heart,” he says.

Just down the street from Hotel Congress, Erik Evans bartends at Scott & Co. Erik grew up in Tucson and started his bartending career at Bob Dobb’s bar on Sixth Street, where he learned the craft on the job. After Ciaran left for his year in Portland, Erik applied for the job at Scott & Co.

Why do they all love bartending so much? Silly question, really. Says Erik: “You basically get to throw a party every single night.”

The craft

Agustin Kitchen. Photo by Gabby Ferreira

David Clark at Hotel Congress loves it when his customers say, “Make me something.” Like many bartenders, he loves to get to know and be tested by his customers. “I enjoy making things based on what people like,” he says.

“Every subset of customers have different preferences,” says Aaron DeFeo, adding that his worst mistake is not correctly reading the crowd. “We know the drink is good, but at the end of the day it’s always about the customer.” His biggest challenge: creating a product that appeals universally.

The term ‘craft cocktail’ was coined to describe drinks with homemade ingredients and high-end liquor. Juices are freshly squeezed, fresh fruits and herbs are abundant, and bottled juices are frowned upon.

Alex  says that he and Garrett have a tradition of mixing cocktails out of “whatever is in the house” at the end of the night. “We just make up the most ridiculous cocktails that you can imagine.” He adds: “It’s not about always doing the weirdest, most interesting thing, it’s about making the customer happy. You can make the most interesting, creative cocktails in the world.” But sometimes only a fellow bartender will appreciate the artistry behind it.

Agustin’s secret ingredients. Photo by Gabby Ferreira

Bryan Eichhorst describes his chosen career as a mix of “drinking culture and nerd culture.” The lads spend all day talking about drinks and working with drinks, and they learn everything there is to know about them – just like any other nerd. The cocktails they make aren’t as simple as a gin and tonic; they involve a variety of nuanced flavors, and Tucsonans are said to lap it up – willing to try new tastes and combos.

Interestingly enough, Ciaran was in New York for culinary school when he got into bartending and mixology. Ciaran says he likes creating new recipes but wanted to interact with guests. Bartending was the perfect mix. While Ciaran is a self-described foodie, not all of the bartenders are. They all say, however, that making a good cocktail is a lot like cooking; you have to balance everything.

Cocktails at 47 Scott

“I love being attached to a kitchen,” says David, who likes being able to talk to the cooks about different flavors. He says that the culinary aspect really drives the craft cocktail culture.

Much of the craft is trial and error. Aaron often researches cocktails on the Internet and works from there. “I still use the Internet everyday,” he says, perfecting the recipes he finds and forging ahead on his own once he has found something worth trying.

Little black books may have a notorious image, but among our bartenders, they’re crucial. These guys use them to collect recipes and ideas, not phone numbers. Erik’s books – yes, plural – are full of new recipes that he is “playing with.”

The play

Whoever said you shouldn’t mix work with play? For these guys, it’s impossible not to. They’re usually seen drinking at places like Che’s Lounge on 4th Avenue. And their own drink orders are simple: a shot of hard liquor and a beer. ‘I make these wonderful, glorious cocktails, but drink whisky,” says David.

Bryan, David Clark and Aaron at Playground. Photo by Gillian Drummond

For Bryan, “it’s usually a beer and a cheap shot of whiskey.” “We spend way to much time together,” says Bryan. So it was one recent Monday night, when some of the lads gathered for a bar crawl – sorry, bartender competition – in which they travailed some of Tucson’s nightspots and tried their hand at New Orleans-style cocktails. When 3 Story joined them at the last stop – The Playground on Congress Street – it was a haze of cigarette smoke, the booze was free-flowing, and the banter friendly.

Most of these guys fell into the bartending profession, starting out as barbacks (a bartender’s assistant, or runner) then discovering a passion for the job, and worked their way up the ranks. “Most boys want to be bartenders at some point in their life,” says Ciaran. These lads are happy to be making a decent living out of it.

As for the current trend of calling bartenders mixologists, they take it with a pinch of bar salt. Ciaran says he really doesn’t mind the term. “People who refer to themselves as mixologists tend to take themselves more seriously and there’s less of a service aspect. But I tend bar and provide service. I just happen to like making cocktails.”

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Classic and timeless are the themes at Tucson’s newest bar, Sidecar

This month sees the first business partnership for friends and collaborators Ari Shapiro, Page Repp and Rick McLain. Story and photos by Gillian Drummond

For the record, the person behind the bar at Sidecar, the new offering from Tucson entrepreneur Ari Shapiro, will be called a barkeep – not a  mixologist. Why? Because the owners’ aim is to eschew all that might be considered trendy or transient for traditional, classic and long-lasting.

“I want this to be more than anything a long-term neighborhood institution and not fly-by-night or trendy. We want this to feel as good in year 10 as it does in year one or year 20. That’s what they are,” says Ari, co-owner of Sidecar with architects Page Repp, Rick McLain and a silent partner.

Page, left, and Ari

The original brick was painted and a concrete bar was poured

In coming up with the bar’s concept, design, and menu, the trio – friends and collaborators for a long time (Page and Rick’s architecture firm Repp + McLain designed Ari’s pizza restaurant Falora and coffee shop Sparkroot) kept coming back to the theme of ‘everyman’. They didn’t want it to be exclusive, they wanted its appeal to be wide and at “a very very fair price point”, says Ari.

The bar will feature four draft beers, 16 bottled beers and cocktails. The cocktail menu – designed by Luke Anable, formerly beverage manager at Penca and now at Wilko – will feature craft creations with home-made infusions, syrups and herbs. But Ari says he wants this to be a place for a simple gin and tonic or vodka soda too. “Although they will be good versions of those classic high balls,” says Ari. The bartender will be Beau Hintz, a barista by training.

The leather wall pieces were shipped from New York City

The signature drink, of course, will be the Sidecar, and there will be three versions: a Prohibition-era Sidecar made with brandy and sour; one made with bourbon instead of brandy; and a beer and whiskey shot. “If you go into certain bars, a Sidecar is a euphemism for a shot on the side,” says Ari.

Sidecar, opening May 15, takes up a corner building of a square of stores at Broadway Village, a historic midtown Tucson shopping center dating back to 1939, and designed by Josias Joesler. As happened with Falora, just a few doors down, Repp + McLain is keeping what it can from the original interior. The interior brick walls have been painted white, the concrete floor patched and re-stained. Lime green leather banquette seating features an oak trim. Single bare bulb filament lights hang down as pendants.

The bar features steel tubes for a butcher block look

Repp + McLain designed both a leather wall covering and the bar. Page had hides of leather shipped from New York’s Garment District and cut up into squares, then stapled on the front of a floating wall in the bar’s center. The bar itself is poured concrete with a steel ‘butcher block’ top – tubes of steel welded together then topped with a see-through resin. “This has always been something I’ve wanted to do,” says Page.

* Find Sidecar at 139 S. Eastbourne Avenue, in Tucson’s Broadway Village, from May 15.

* Read more about Page Repp in this issue’s My Space feature.

Sidecar is the latest addition to historic Broadway Village in Tucson