Last month, I visited Imagery Estate Winery for artist Elaine Coombs’ stunning wine label exhibition. The venue has asked me to design a label inspired by the Parthenon structure at Benziger Family Winery (sister winery). The deadline for artwork submission is July 15th for this year’s vintage!
Since then, I’ve been busy organizing research and creating drafts. Some sketches were successful and others less desirable. This is all part of the artistic process! In the end, I picked my top six artworks for final submission.
IMAGERY description: My art practice investigates diverse yet interdependent relationships within natural and manmade environments. Imagery Estate Winery and Benziger Family Winery reside within the ecosystems of Jack London State Historic Park and Sonoma Mountain. The Parthenon is Benziger’s landmark with plaques of HOW O’YE THE COYOTE-MAN DISCOVERED HIS WIFE, A tale of the Hoo’-e-ko of Nicasio and San Rafael. The Parthenon in Athens is a dedication to Athena, the Greek goddess of war, wisdom, and practical reason. IMAGERY blends the column’s stoic curvature with the natural twisting of grapevines. Mimicking a DNA sequence, the artwork pays homage to the past and the future under second-generation winemaker Jamie Benziger of Imagery Estate Winery.
When visiting Benziger Family Winery, I documented the Parthenon’s interaction with the natural world. Through extensive background research, repetitive abstract patterns emerged. Pen and ink drawings recorded these inspirations and findings. Digital images of completed drawings were then manipulated using design software. The goal is to merge together the digital and artist’s hand.
Jamie Benziger was picked as one of Wine Enthusiast’s “40 Under 40 Tastemaker 2019”: “Her family is huge in Sonoma County winemaking, and Benziger’s father, Joe, founded Imagery in 1986, the year she was born. She didn’t intend to follow in his footsteps, but working summers at the winery during college caused something to click. Before long, Benziger was alongside her father to help make some 35 different wines, from Malbec to Muscat. She recently launched Imagery California, a new line of traditional varieties ‘with a little twist.’”
2020 is the year to support women creating and securing their own paths! Imagery Estate Winery leads by example. The spirit of the Parthenon lives on in Sonoma County…
*Stay tuned for the final label selection!
Links:
https://balisle.com/2020/02/23/imagery/
https://www.imagerywinery.com/
https://www.winemag.com/content/40-under-40-2019-jamie-benziger/
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