mike geno - portfolio | cheese portraits

Glacier Blue

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: This is an organic, raw cow's milk blue from Cascadia Creamery, located in Trout Lake, Washington, is considered a "gateway" blue. This cheese has a mellow, fresh and light-ness in flavor. It's incredibly easy to eat for it's full flavor that's perfectly balanced. When I first saw it I was impressed by it's brightness and texture, showing the brilliant rich colors that indicated exactly how wonderful it would taste (trust me it does). It reminds me of Stilton.

Origin: USA, Washington

Tags: Washington State, WA, cow, blue, organic, Pondini

Price: sold

Off Kilter

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: This is "a beer-washed beauty", according to the cheesemaker, Dylan Stanfield who sent this to me. His kindness included FOUR of his cheeses and another THREE miniature cheese wheel sculptures that he made via "Tiny Cow Creamery". If you've not seen his art, check it out! on instagram: Tiny Cow Creamery This cheese is special to him. It's won 2nd place at the 2014 World Cheese Championships, in its class! After tasting it and having it melt in my mouth like glorious butter, I can see why. From Mt. Townsend Creamery's website: "A Salish Sea inspiration, we take our semi soft-ripened cheese and wash it with Pike Brewing Company's "Kilt Lifter" Scotch Ale. The result is pungent and earthy with a sweet malty finish. As a member of the washed rind family of cheeses, Off Kilter steps toward the "stinky" end of the spectrum, but finds the perfect flavor balance. " Their cheese reflects the wonderful flavor "terrior" of the Port Townsend, Washington landscape.

Origin: USA, Washington

Tags: cow, bloomy washed rind, WA

Price: sold

Seastack

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: Dylan Stanfield the head cheesemaker at MT Townsend Creamery in Seattle, WA sent me this among some of his other delicious creations. His accomplishments with this one are apparent the moment you taste it at room temperature. After posing as my model, this was such a buttery indulgent reward to a work day. I chose to go with orange, since the cheesemaker appears to be a ginger ;) plus, I wanted to add it to previous two cheese of his I painted, which one is red, one is blue. From their website: Named for the famous rock formations along Washington's coastline, Seastack offers complex earthy flavors with distinct beauty. As it ripens from the outside inward, the ripened areas develop an earthy, garlic flavor, while the less ripe interior maintains a bright citrus flavor and a firmer texture. It is dusted in vegetable ash and sea salt to enhance its visual and culinary appeal.

Origin: USA, Washington

Tags: cow, seattle, tinycowcreamery, tinycow , soft-ripened

Price: sold

Renata

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: This rare cheese is named Renata, after the cow that the milk came from. It's also no longer going to be available as cheese pioneer Sally Jackson has retired. Actually, this is one of the very last wheels to be experienced. Madame Fromage gave me this half of her precious wheel and I savored it for lunch the moment the painting was completed!

Origin: USA, Washington

Price: sold

Marco Polo

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: This incredible cheese from Beecher's is essentially their wonderful Flagship cheddar veined with a blend of milled and cracked green and black peppercorn. It's so so good.

Origin: USA, Washington

Tags: seattle, peppercorns, cow

Price: sold

Flagsheep

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: Best of show - Beecher's Handmade Cheeses Flagsheep, a sheep's and cow's milk clothbound cheddar won the honor of Best of show at the American Cheese Society's annual conference and competition. It's the BEST cheese made in America in 2012. That honor goes to a super high quality cheddar that is impressive to say the least. It's also in demand as a result of that ranking and near impossible to get these days. Fortunately I was commissioned by the ACS to paint the top three awarded cheeses and that meant Beecher's sent me 3lbs of this highly sought out delicious cheese.

Origin: USA, Washington

Tags: sheep , cow, ACS Best of Show 2012, ACSBOS

Price: sold

Flagsheep 2

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: Flagsheep the number one cheese of 2012 in the USA. I still had some award winning , best in show 2012, Flagsheep cheese in my fridge left over from a commission. So, I thought I'd not pass up the opportunity to paint this extremely hard-to-get cheese, now that it's #1. Beecher's makes great cheese and this cheddar is among my faves.

Origin: USA, Washington

Tags: cow, ACS Best In Show 2012

Price: sold

Cheese Curds

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: Sometimes referred to as "squeaky cheese" cheese curds are actually fresh, young cheddar cheese in the natural, random shape and form before being processed into blocks and aged. They make for surprisingly great snacks! A patron had some sent to me overnighted, from Beechers Cheese Seattle. Beecher's makes some great cheeses that Ive already painted but this her challenge was a complex model that I hadn't bother to taste (they're not tasty looking) before painting it. After I finished I decided to throw one in my mouth. Well, the rest were gobbled up within minutes. They're great. (sigh).

Origin: USA, Washington

Tags: curds, Beechers, J.S.Collection

Price: sold

Cirrus

Series: Cheese Portraits

Description: Made at Mt Townsend Creamery, this is a Pacific Northwest variation on French soft-ripened cheese. This rich cheese grows creamier and more indulgent with age when it develops a nutty, buttery flavor and a gooey texture that will soothe your palate. Dylan Stanfield, the cheesemaker sent me this with some other delicious treasure from Seattle. I loved working with the trio of wedges since that left me with the other half of the small wheel to eat while I painted these. This cheese is so mellow and buttery that I decided that that's all I needed for lunch.

Origin: USA, Washington

Tags: cow, seattle, tinycowcreamery, tinycow

Price: sold