Search for "wine painting" on the internet, and the results are largely paintings of wine, bottles, or vineyards. Many reflect the style of paintings that hang in wine cellars or on the walls of the Olive Garden. Very few are actually paintings made with wine. Not only are few people exploring this art form but those who are seem hardly able to distinguish the theme from the subject matter. In short, it's apparently hard to describe the semantics of painting WITH wine versus paintings OF wine. This raises the obvious question: Is there a difference between the two styles, and is that difference even worth exploring?
The short answer is, Yes. There is absolutely a benefit to doing any kind of art that forces people to climb out of the cave and realize that they were just looking at the shadows. To further this out-of-the-box mentality, art students are often challenged to make a "painting" without using any traditional media. It's surprising what can be done with mud, lipstick, and any number of drinks.
However, wine, as an artistic medium, does have a few limitations. Like any other monochromatic pigment, there are only so many layers that can be built up and so many values that can be manipulated. Also, since the medium is hardly thicker than water, tight detail can be tricky... to say the least.
On the more optimistic side, the benefits of this style greatly outweigh the hindrances. For example, by painting with wine, the artist can depict a vineyard using the grapes that came from that exact location. It's not necessarily original, but it is a fun thought.
Wine makers often refer to terroir (from the word terre, meaning land) as a defining element that makes their wine distinct and special. It's the soil, the climate, the vines' natural surroundings that are incorporated into the wine's qualities. This can make the difference between a $10,000 bottle of Romanee-Conti and a $10 California pinot. However, for all the good terroir does, it is a one-way relationship from soil to bottle. Wineries, vineyards, and tasting rooms are often hungry for a process that goes the other direction. Taking the specific wine produced from that location and painting the surroundings completes the cycle, bringing the vineyard back to itself.
While there are plenty of painters out there who depict still lifes of bottles, or red wine sloshing into glasses, there are few taking the road less traveled and, as we all know, that makes all the difference.
(It's also fun to repeatedly say "terroir.")
Curious about what a painting WITH wine looks like? Visit a gallery of wine paintings at http://www.thewinepainter.org/, and see some of the ways Taylor McPartland, The Wine Painter, blends art and wine.
Copyright 2011. Taylor McPartland. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
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