I selected this bottle of wine to create a photogram of because the image is etched on the glass. This transparency allows for a sharper and more clear image than images from paper labels. Last year the owner of Ellensburg Canyon Winery selected a giclee print of this image for his tasting room. After receiving the artwork he sent me the following message:
"Natasha-
I received my Root 1 art work today and hung it in my Tasting Room, very nice touch. The reason I choose this piece is because I get a lot of questions about how a grape vine grows and why Washington Wines are unique in the World of Wine. A picture is worth a 1000 words and your art captures the following discussion beautifully. The piece shows that a grape vine is a perrenial/taprooted/dicotyledonous plant, which in Washington, does not need to be grafted. This is due to our soils/climate, which do not allow for the winged form of Phyloxera to occur and therefore allows the true varietal characteristics to manifest themselves. If you don't know the story of Phyloxera, it goes something like this: Thomas Jefferson loved wine so much that he wanted to see if American grape vines (Vitas lambrusca) when exported to France for trials there, could make a great wine in that Terroir. With the root stock went Phyloxera (a root louse), which then infested all vineyards around the world, decimating the Wine Industry by 1865. It was not until Dr. Denson at Texas A&M University realized that the American Vitas lambrusca was resistant and by grafting Vitas vinifera onto it, saved the World's Wine Industry. This then, makes any/all Washington Wines taste 'different' than the same variety from any other place, and in my humble opinion, taste better. This is proven by the fact that when tasted in blind competitions against the finest French Wines in Paris, the Washington Wines are chosen. When the price point comparisons are added in, jaws drop, as we make quality wines at very affordable prices. Cheers!"
Thank you for viewing!
If you have questions or comments I would love to hear them. Much love to you all!
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When using "Cheers" to title the artworks in my wine series I use it as, "A blessing. To wish some one good cheer and happiness." "Cheers" is an expression, often used as a greeting or toast. It is a ritual in which a drink is taken as an expression of goodwill. While often involving alcoholic beverages, especially champagne and wine, toasting is not limited to alcohol and as a custom it can involve celebration or ceremony with any beverage. The origins of toasting date back to 1640, and the first known use of 'cheers' was in 1919 (according to Merriam-Webster dictionary). Various stories claim the custom of touching glasses is related to concerns of poisoning. Clinking glasses together causes each drink to spill over into the other thereby discouraging one from poisoning another for fear of mixing beverages. Offering a toast was therefore a gesture of good faith. However, no verification of this has been found. The International Handbook on Alcohol and Culture says toasting "is probably a secular vestige of ancient sacrificial libations in which a sacred liquid was offered to the gods: blood or wine in exchange for a wish, a prayer summarized in the words 'long life!' or 'to your health!'" The term "toast" comes from the ancient practice of dropping a piece of burnt bread into wine. One of the first written accounts of it was in Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor when Falstaff demands, “Go fetch me a quart of sack; put a toast in’t.” (He is asking for a large quantity of wine with toast in it.) Toast was put in lower quality wine to temper it. The charcoal soaked up some of the acidity making the wine more palatable. Drinking joined in celebration spans time and connects cultures. While the physical and / or verbal ritual of a toast may vary - from elaborate and formal to simple and unceremonious - the intent of benevolence and fellowship is universal. Some new Cheers pieces I created earlier this week: |
The image to the left shows how I set the piece up. An aspen branch from my front yard is propped up on the top, and a wine bottle is in the center. Wine glasses of various sizes are placed at set distances from the paper, and they are filled with different amounts of water. The image above shows my tools. A hand-made LED light device + crystal to diffuse and refract the light + orange, blue, and red color gels. |
I then painted blue light around the aspen branch, which resulted in yellow and red.
Last, I painted red light around the middle and the wine bottle, which resulted in green.
I will be signing posters, which are 18" x 24" on high grade paper. Posters will be sold at the festival. If you cannot attend the festival but would like to buy a poster, let me know and I can get one for you.
I will also be exhibiting a selection of artwork from my wine series at Arroyo, an art gallery and wine bar in Telluride, throughout the month of June.
If you have questions or comments I would love to hear them.
Much love to you all!
♥ Natasha
Naked Winery is located in The Old Mill at 388 SW Powerhouse Dr., Bend, OR.
They are open Monday - Saturday 11:00 AM - 8:00 PM & Sunday 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM.
Special offers on my wine series throughout March include:
~ 50% off all prints to newsletter subscribers. Subscribe here.
~ 25% off all originals to Naked Winery members. Join here.
Some installations shots:
The lighting was very hard to photograph. They look MUCH better in person! ;)
Come see them! :)
If you have questions or comments I would love to hear them.
Much love to you all!
♥ Natasha
In January I asked Facebook fans which series they would like to see more of in 2014. The wine series was popular, but not the most popular. Birds and skyscapes received the most votes, and I planned to begin working on them. And I will! :)
But I felt called to work on the wine series. And like many creatives, I go with the calling. And like universal support responding in kind, as soon as I began working on the wine series opportunities (gifts) for it came my way.
The first gift was an email from the senior editor of Wine Enthusiast Magazine saying, “We have a page every month called, Our Crush, and we want to make your wine photos April’s.”
~Stay tuned for details, which I will share first on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
The second gift, just one week later, was a sweet voice mail from my friend Leanne. She was at Naked Winery talking to the manager about my artwork. The manager looked up my website and loved my wine series. I had considered contacting Naked Winery several times before but for some reason never did. I am so grateful for the selfless kindness of Leanne (who I had never talked to about Naked Winery) for generously sharing my artwork with others.
~My wine series will be featured at Naked Winery during the month of March, with an opening reception during First Friday Art Walk on March 7th from 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM. Join the event on Facebook and invite your friends!
The third gift was from my friend Lindsay. She was the first participant in The Wine Project, and a while back she had suggested I use her crystal wine glasses in my artwork. Three days after gift number two, I took her up on her kind offer.
~See results below.
staggered wine glasses = different sizes & sharpness + white light (no color filter) = red |
bent photo paper = distortion of shapes & sizes + color filters = opposite colors on negative photographic paper (red = cyan, orange = violet) |
staggered wine glasses = different sizes & sharpness + this piece was solarized |
staggered wine glasses = different sizes & sharpness + different color filters combined = a variety of colors on negative photographic paper (red = green, blue = orange, orange = violet) |
crystal wine glasses refract more light + different color filters create a variety of color patterns |
same as above + bent photo paper = distorted shapes |
Thank you for viewing!
If you have questions or comments I would love to hear them.
Much love to you all!
♥ Natasha
11x14 inches
Collection of The Artist
I first drank (vintage 1997) Penfolds Grange in 2003. My twin brother, Nick, gave it to me as a gift. He picked it up while in Australia and casually said it was recommended as a good wine. One day I grabbed the bottle while on my way to Heavenly Mountain Ski Resort with my husband (then boyfriend), Tony.
While on a ski lift, we opened the bottle and noted the amazing bouquet. We poured the wine into paper cups and noted the beautiful color. Taking our first sip we were amazed by the rich and complex flavors. As it is described on one website, “Penfolds Grange is a wine of extraordinary dimension and power. Richly textured, intensely concentrated and packed with fruit sweetness... Immensely complex, beguiling wines that seduce the senses.”
Later that day Tony returned from the restroom explaining he dropped and broke the bottle losing the last quarter of the remaining wine; but he salvaged the cork so we could look up the wine when we returned home. Upon searching we quickly realized we could not afford another bottle of Penfolds Grange which retailed for over $400. Our amusement at losing a bottle of wine on a ski resort bathroom floor turned to disappointed when we understood that over $100. worth of wine was lost; but we were grateful for the wine we were able to enjoy and for Nick’s incredible generosity.
We remembered the bottle fondly, and to our fortune Nick gifted me another bottle in 2005 when I completed my Master’s Degree. We saved the bottle for years, and finally drank it in 2011 to celebrate our 10-year anniversary. This bottle is lovingly displayed in our kitchen.
One day I took the bottle down to my studio and created the above photogram of it. I love wine and I thought a series of wine photograms might be interesting, but I did not have much inspiration for variety within the series. I also love trading my artwork, and I thought trading people wine for a customized photogram of the bottle they gave me could be fun. So I began The Wine Project.
For each piece in the series the participant gave me a bottle of wine. Most participants chose a bottle they enjoyed and wanted me to try, or they chose a bottle with an interesting design element in the label. This has allowed me to try many excellent and unique wines I would not have otherwise explored. I gladly drank each bottle of wine to the participant’s health, and then created them a customized photogram of it. The most interesting aspect of the series has been the input given by each participant, and the way the series continues to develop because of the creativity of so many people involved. Some participants gave very specific requests, while others left most of the design to me. Some participants preferred simple compositions, while others preferred more busy compositions; one participant decided to make the composition horizontal. Some bottles came from local retailers, some from select wineries, and some were shipped from the East Coast. Some of the artworks were displayed in homes, and some were given as gifts.
Each image is a unique print so get the one-and-only piece while you can!
If you want to purchase one simply be the first person to post a comment with the title and it is yours!
Then send me a message at [email protected].
Click on the images to enlarge and see titles and sizes.
If you are interested in commissioning a piece in The Wine Project series send me a message at [email protected].
Purchase wine prints here.
(Click on the images to enlarge and see in slideshow format.)
The second Penfolds Grange photogram (above center) was created for our mom.
Thank you for viewing!
If you have questions or comments I would love to hear them.
Much love to you all!
♥ Natasha
Welcome to my blog!
I am an artist working with light, combining contemporary & archaic processes to push the bounds of conventional photography.
In this blog I share information & images about my process, installations of my artwork, & more.
If you have questions or comments I would love to hear them.
Much love to you all!
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