Blue Hawaii Shimmylator | Matted Print

Part of Tom Thordarson's "Drink Machine Series," this tiki art celebrates the making of one of Hawaii’s signature cocktails, a Blue Hawaii. The drink gets its electric blue color from one of its ingredients, a liqueur called blue curacao. Visitors to Hawaii also know of the famous movie starring Elvis Presley called “Blue Hawaii” from the early 60’s.

"To create the perfect contraption to make a Blue Hawaii cocktail, I took elements from the Elvis movie like the bongo drums he played, surfboards etc. I also created a tiki version of Elvis which presents the finished drinks that flow from his likeness after which the cherries that bounce from the bongo’s can land perfectly upon the waiting wedge of pineapple and tooth pick. The giant 60’s lava lamp became the perfect vessel to mix the clear white rum and the blue curacao and juices. On the lamp's base is the pattern from the shirt Elvis wore in the movie. The drink then waits to be picked up… sitting on a tray that looks just like the gold record that was earned for the song with the same title that year. Just a lot of fun stuff... very pop-art like… great to look at while you sip the real thing and watch the painting start to come to life."--Thor