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By Sandi Whetzel, 25 contributed posts
View all Sandi Whetzel's posts. About the author: Sandi's vibrant contemporary art has recently been welcomed in various Ashland art venues. She is most known for her art promoting the wine industry in Oregon. Fantasy blends with reality in her contemporary, sometimes surrealistic, frequently sensual renderings of succulents, abstract flora and trees and her most recent passion to expand her popular wine series. Sandi's home studio is located in Days Creek. See Sandi's listing at the Southern Oregon Artists Resource to learn more and make contact.
matte white finish inside, optional customized text message up to 500 characters
horizontal or vertical orientation with choice of white or black background
price, same as generic greeting cards, $4.95 ea./price/shipping breaks on multiple cards/packs
Don’t like the initial cropped image on the card? Adjust the image size to fit the card better. Choose a white or black background for a more pleasing card orientation. See the pictorials, (below) to see how I changed an undesirable cropped off version of my painting, (above) to a full view of my image on the card during the ordering process (below). I used the provided slider tool to shorten the image enough to fill the full length of the card.
Better full view of image on white card
Now the image is not cropped off at all. Much better, but I can do more
with this greeting card image. Instead of leaving the background of
the image white, I can visually extend the image by changing the
background to black.
By Sandi Whetzel, 25 contributed posts
View all Sandi Whetzel's posts. About the author: Sandi's vibrant contemporary art has recently been welcomed in various Ashland art venues. She is most known for her art promoting the wine industry in Oregon. Fantasy blends with reality in her contemporary, sometimes surrealistic, frequently sensual renderings of succulents, abstract flora and trees and her most recent passion to expand her popular wine series. Sandi's home studio is located in Days Creek. See Sandi's listing at the Southern Oregon Artists Resource to learn more and make contact.
Sandi Whetzel’s sensual wine images are elevating her artistic status to a “Go To” Sensual Wine Artist.
The image on the left, one of Whetzel’s earlier images, is not one of her wine series, but it
vividly illustrates the eye-popping focus of Sandi’s upcoming art event:
In addition to
featuring her recent sensual wine originals, she is introducing the most contemporary and most affordable, reproduction print medium available to tickle your senses. “Seeing is Believing” the incredible, slick, wet-look, of Sandi’s sensual wine images printed on shimmering metal. You have to see them in person to experience the drama the lustrous shine adds to her images.
Not only are Sandi’s popular wine prints on metal the most economical reproduction media, but they are the most dramatic and most contemporary way to display her sensual wine art. Metal prints are durable, water resistant, light weight, ready to hang and they will not bend. Whetzel’s prints on metals are available at her website , but metal prints will be sold at special introductory prices at the event.
Sandi also has just four of her wine images available on smartphone covers for iPhone 4 /4S and Samsung Galaxy S4 at special introductory savings during the art event. (Any of Sandi’s images are available on phone cases at her website . Just click on any image and select the “phone case” option to the right of the image.) To learn more about the metal print options, click on any image at Sandi’s website: , select the “metal print” option and scroll down the page to see more about metal prints and Fine Art America’s generous Return Policy.
See Sandi’s original art and shimmering metal prints at the Umpqua Valley Arts Annual Summer Arts Festival. Details Below:
For a complete listing of attractions, festival hours and schedule of entertainment at the Summer Arts Festival, click here.
By Sandi Whetzel, 25 contributed posts
View all Sandi Whetzel's posts. About the author: Sandi's vibrant contemporary art has recently been welcomed in various Ashland art venues. She is most known for her art promoting the wine industry in Oregon. Fantasy blends with reality in her contemporary, sometimes surrealistic, frequently sensual renderings of succulents, abstract flora and trees and her most recent passion to expand her popular wine series. Sandi's home studio is located in Days Creek. See Sandi's listing at the Southern Oregon Artists Resource to learn more and make contact.
(Please PIN THIS IMAGE FROM THE SITE ABOVE, NOT FROM HERE, to properly link it back to that source)
The Pacific Northwest’s regard for wine
inspires me to celebrate the wine experience in
my contemporary acrylic paintings. My images mirror the
emotions, romance, fantasies or whimsy that consumption of wine
fosters. My passion for sensual, curvy, shapes and scintillating
color flows into the graceful wine vessels and alluring human forms
infused in my creations.
I explore how to tickle viewers senses
in ways they have not seen in typical wine-themed art. I imagine
surprising, surreal wine scenarios: Sensual. Seductive.
Tantalizing. Romantic. Playful. It’s almost as if I produce
advertisements for the wine industry.
Cropping
my wine narratives to a close-up of the pertinent elements dramatically zooms-in on an intimate view of the novel event —
It suggests an
engaging storyline and some mystery for the viewer. I
think people are looking for a simple elegancein
artwork that separates it from the ordinary. That is my goal in
blending fantasy with reality. I aim to grab the viewers’
attention: “Wow! I’ve never seen anything like that!”
Most people don’t realize how much
thought, creativity and risk of failure goes into each painting. Like grapevines selected for wine
production, the idea for a painting is nurtured, allowed to grow and
take form through pruning and reshaping. As with wine after the
harvest, the images are distilled and refined before they are served
up for enjoyment. My art is avisual
elixir
of seductive, unexpected twists on
wine.
My fascination with uncommon wine
themes began when I competed creatively to promote a premiere wine
event. Before this challenge, I created sensual floras, usually from
some form of visualinspiration. The only inspiration this time was animposed “Wine on the Vine” theme. I pondered all the
“typical” wine images I had seen, but I wanted an exceptionalconcept
to illustrate that theme.
As a
starting point, I considered abstract wine bottles among grapevines.
While sketching some robust, curvaceous wine bottles, I got a
brainsmack! I could encase a cluster of grapes inside open wine bottles
growing from grapevines! I was juiced!
As I
continued sketching, ideas for the painting flowed — glistening
highlights, colored reflections and shadows in the grapes, bottles,
and leaves revealed form and transparency. I added a pearly
textured moon with light radiating around it into an evening sky. The
wind-blown grape leaves, climbing tendrils and the skewed placement
of the wind-tossed bottles, echoed the radiating pattern of the
moonlit sky. It was an elegant,
serene, scene that said, “Wine on the Vine” just about as
well as anything could, in my opinion.
That
experience, creating something entirely from my imagination, taught
me what can be
when I trust my imagination to lead me. Because that painting was
so popular, I created more wine paintings. My wine images promoted
the 2004 Art About Wine Exhibit, the
2005 Umpqua Valley Wine, Art & Music Festival and the Umpqua
Valley Winegrowers Greatest of the Grape
in 2006, 2011 and 2013. In 2009, one of my wine images won a wine
label design contest for the Downtown Initiative for Visual Arts,
(DIVA) in Eugene, OR.
When viewers connect emotionally with
my art, when they experience it, the art is complete.
I hope people feel about my art the way they feel about good wine —
I hope it elicits pleasure and enhances your life experience.
By Sandi Whetzel, 25 contributed posts
View all Sandi Whetzel's posts. About the author: Sandi's vibrant contemporary art has recently been welcomed in various Ashland art venues. She is most known for her art promoting the wine industry in Oregon. Fantasy blends with reality in her contemporary, sometimes surrealistic, frequently sensual renderings of succulents, abstract flora and trees and her most recent passion to expand her popular wine series. Sandi's home studio is located in Days Creek. See Sandi's listing at the Southern Oregon Artists Resource to learn more and make contact.
Ruby Red Original, Sold–(Prints Available) Her Popularity Became the Inspiration for a Sequel Artwork
Ruby Red was practically snatched off my easel by a recent client. The popularity of this painting inspired me to create a sequel painting — A blonde version with a white wine pour.
THE FACE – A SKETCHY IDEA
INSPIRATION FOR THE WINE POUR:
For the white wine pouring over her head, I chose Chardonnay for its color and also, because I could have a bit of fun with a “word play” on that varietal. I will call the painting, “Chardonnae”. Usually, a painting title doesn’t come to mind until after I create a painting. I got a wine buzz!
FACE IN THE GOBLET:
For my painting reference photo, I chose a three-quarter facial view of a blonde, instead of a full-frontal view. This choice differentiates the painting from its predecessor, but not without challenges. Portraits are the most difficult subject to paint. Add to that, the fast drying time of acrylics makes blending soft edges more difficult. Also, acrylics dry noticeably darker than when they were mixed wet.
WHY DO I FREQUENTLY CHOOSE COMPLEX PORTRAIT PAINTING SUBJECTS IN MY WINE-THEMED PAINTINGS?
I’m establishing myself as a contemporary “go to” wine artist who celebrates the wine experience differently than the ordinary wine art genre does. That involves creating wine art not typically seen. I haven’t seen any women’s faces or bodies in wine vessels the way that I render them. I hope to create sensual, elegant, simplicity in my wine narratives. Zooming in to intimate views of realistic or abstract human forms seems to engage viewers (and me) more. It’s a challenge that fascinates me.
BEYOND SKIN DEEP & ONWARD
GOING BEYOND SKIN DEEP:
After rendering her face similar to the reference photo, I realized she needed more dimension than was evident from the photo, especially on the left side. Without a subtle change in plane from the side to the front of her face, she literally appeared flat. The photographer used more than one light source to blow out most of the shadows cast by her features. Fashion photography intentionally avoids light that creates harsh shadows and lines to produce more flattering results. It was fine for the photo because her hand and her hair defined her well enough. Isolating her face from the rest of her head and including more of the side of her face with the three-quarter view, as I did in the goblet, created more of a portrait challenge. While I didn’t want harsh shadows and features in my painting, I had to invent a more apparent light source and appropriate shading to define her facial forms.
COLOR CONFUSED/ADJUSTED
CHARDONNAY COLOR CONFUSION:
Considering my passion for wine art scenarios, it may surprise you to learn of my limited wine-tasting experience. I have never observed or tasted Chardonnay wine. (I do gravitate to white wines like Reisling and Pinot Gris.) For the painting wine pour, I googled “What color is Chardonnay?” I saw two kinds of Chardonnay pictured: One, pale yellow-green and one described as a golden copper-yellow, or saturated straw gold.
I headed back to my easel with that descriptive vision of coppery-gold in my mind’s eye. Things went well with the painting. For some darker areas to define the streams of wine pouring, I used a burnt orange. Unfortunately, the oranges became so rich that the coppery-gold tones were overpowered. When the painting dried darker, as acrylics do, I had a rusty-orange redhead; not the sultry blonde I was aiming for. This would not do — I had to get it right. Painting is a constant process of adjusting. Sometimes you just have to get it wrong before you discover how to get it right.
I revisited the Chardonnay illustrations at my computer. This time I noticed the color described as a coppery-gold was actually a yellow gold with a greenish cast. I mixed a more neutralized gold and started painting over the dominating orange tones. I feel I’m on the right track now. I’ll probably replace the orange in the wine bottle with neutralized green casts. STAY TUNED FOR THE BIG FINISH IN THE NEXT POST…
If you are local to Roseburg, I invite you to attend an artist reception for myself and two other artists, Susan Rudisill and Andrew Duclos at Fisher’s Flowers & Fine Art, 638 W. Harrison St, Roseburg, OR on this Friday, 4/4/2014 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Fisher’s is near the corner of Harvard and Harrison. The art receptions at Fisher’s are popular for their fine art, delicious treats and fine wine tasting. I have a few large, sensual wine paintings on display at Fisher’s from now through June 27, 2014. I’d enjoy visiting with you in this relaxed, fun venue if you attend the reception this Friday.
Sandi’s vibrant, textured floras are hanging at Ticor Title Insurance and next door she has a few wine paintings on display at Fortress Financial, 180 Lithia Way, Ashland, OR through April 2014. These are new venues for Ashland’s First Friday Artwalk, April 4th.
By Sandi Whetzel, 25 contributed posts
View all Sandi Whetzel's posts. About the author: Sandi's vibrant contemporary art has recently been welcomed in various Ashland art venues. She is most known for her art promoting the wine industry in Oregon. Fantasy blends with reality in her contemporary, sometimes surrealistic, frequently sensual renderings of succulents, abstract flora and trees and her most recent passion to expand her popular wine series. Sandi's home studio is located in Days Creek. See Sandi's listing at the Southern Oregon Artists Resource to learn more and make contact.
Ticor Title Insurance proudly introduces their expansive business quarters during their debut as a First Friday Artwalk destination in Ashland, OR. Adorned with Sandi Whetzel’s vibrant, contemporary, flora art through the end of April, the business seeks to become a popular art venue.
The first Friday of each month, the public is invited to stroll the historical downtown railroad districts, exploring the visual and tasty treats at many participating art venues from 5-8 p.m. Ticor, located at 180 Lithia Way, near the corner of Lithia Way and
First Street, is near the center of some of the popular art stops. Ticor will serve wine and chocolates to art observers this Friday and April 4th.
Ticor management requested Sandi Whetzel’s art via Ashland Art Center’s ART2Business program because they felt her uniquely textured, graceful floras complemented their contemporary, wide-open space. Sandi is pleased to have her art hanging on the walls of such a spacious, contemporary building. There is plenty of elbow room to comfortably browse the exhibit space at your leisure while sipping wine.
Sandi Whetzel says, “I think people are looking for a simple elegance in an artwork that separates it from the ordinary. That is my goal in blending fantasy with reality. I aim to grab the viewer’s attention: Wow! I’ve never seen anything like that!”
Besides her graceful, sensual floras, Sandi is becoming known for her paintings celebrating the wine experience. Her wine narratives tickle viewers senses in ways they have not seen in typical wine-themed art. She renders surprising, surreal wine scenarios: Sensual. Seductive. Tantalizing. Romantic. Playful. It’s almost as if she produces advertisements for the wine industry. See more of Sandi Whetzel’s art here .
By Sandi Whetzel, 25 contributed posts
View all Sandi Whetzel's posts. About the author: Sandi's vibrant contemporary art has recently been welcomed in various Ashland art venues. She is most known for her art promoting the wine industry in Oregon. Fantasy blends with reality in her contemporary, sometimes surrealistic, frequently sensual renderings of succulents, abstract flora and trees and her most recent passion to expand her popular wine series. Sandi's home studio is located in Days Creek. See Sandi's listing at the Southern Oregon Artists Resource to learn more and make contact.
Get an up-close-and-personal view of the gold leafed, metallic sheen and
texture in this original painting. I professionally scanned this
original to reproduce the metallic properties of the gold leaf as
closely as possible to the original. However, you won’t see this
close-up detail of the image on-line, unless you view
portions of the painting in full-resolution, as in the cropped
portion above. I explain how to view full-resolution portions of all my images at my website a little later in this post. It’s really easy to do. It’s a feature built-into the site.
You will be amazed
at the clarity of prints this high-resolution
file will produce. Photographing art for print is difficult, but reproducing gold
leaf has been a real challenge. Prints of this image will reproduce
the metallic shimmer and texture of the gold leafing amazingly.
Can you imagine how awesome this print will look on shiny metal?
To see
full-resolution portions of my paintings on-line, click on any
paintingfrom the home page listing
at my website: After
clicking the image on the home page, the image appears larger on a separate
page. Hover your mouse over the image and click on the framed area
that appears. In a few seconds, a high-resolution close-up of
that portion will appear — you can see incredible details of the
image. Move the mouse to different sections of the image for more high-res
close-ups. It’s the next
best thing to seeing the original in person.
The High-Res feature can only be accessed by clicking images from
the home page— it is not
active once you’ve opted to look at the image in any of the print
option modes, such as canvas prints or metal prints, etc. Looking at
the images in High-Res mode will give you confidence in the print
quality the image shows.
I wish I could
show you on-line how dramatic the images reproduce on shimmering metal prints,
but photography for the web cannot capture the sleek,
incredible shine of prints produced on metal — you have to see
them in person to witness the drama, depth and richness of
colors.
You can
see five of my wine metal prints displayed in the new
Artisan’s Gallery at the Roseburg Valley Mall, located at 1144 NW
Garden Valley Blvd., #250, Roseburg, OR. Here’s the link to their website:
More great news!!
My metal prints at Artisan’s Gallery are priced the same as
they are at my website! (after shipping is calculated
for website orders).
Bella di Vino smartphone cover
For
you or a wine enthusiast on your gift list, Customize your iPhone
or Galaxy phone cover with my art! You
can order a custom iPhone or Galaxy phone case with one of my wine or
flora images printed on it at thiswebsite:(The site mirrors my other website, but the smart phone covers
are best ordered at this site.) Just click on any of the art images and then scroll down to select the iPhone or Galaxy Cover print option. Then select your iPhone or Galaxy model to fit your smart phone. You can view just how the image will appear on your smart phone. You can customize the size and position of the image on the case by
clicking and dragging the image up or down or to either side and using the horizontal scroll bar to the right of the image to make the image larger or smaller. The case color (white or black) will only be visible if you shrink the image so that it does not fill the entire case. A warning will pop up to let you know that. Each iPhone case comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
A note to save you time when choosing images for your smart phone cover:
Not all the images are going to look well in a smart phone format because key elements of the image may be hidden by the openings on your phone. I tried a number of them to see how they appear in phone cover format. Keep in mind where your phone model openings are in relation to the image. Some of the images can be adjusted to the left or right or up and down to yield a better look. It’s something you can play around with a bit to come up with a unique image for the wine loving, phone user on your list. It just might be YOU! Merry Christmas!
By Sandi Whetzel, 25 contributed posts
View all Sandi Whetzel's posts. About the author: Sandi's vibrant contemporary art has recently been welcomed in various Ashland art venues. She is most known for her art promoting the wine industry in Oregon. Fantasy blends with reality in her contemporary, sometimes surrealistic, frequently sensual renderings of succulents, abstract flora and trees and her most recent passion to expand her popular wine series. Sandi's home studio is located in Days Creek. See Sandi's listing at the Southern Oregon Artists Resource to learn more and make contact.
I was fascinated
by an idea to paint a woman’s face nestled inside a
wine goblet, but I was undecided about how to incorporate that idea into a
winning painting– I like my art to be sensual or whimsical, but not
cartoon-ish. I had no problem envisioning a feminine face conforming
to a goblet shape–But just a woman’s face inside a goblet, without
anything to complete the top of her head-shape, yielded an awkward cut-off head effect.
I was stuck. I hadn’t decided how to resolve the incomplete-head-issue
until I saw a woman with the most vibrant red hair I’d ever seen.
That extremely red hair sparked the solution to my exceptional
painting concept.
First
I painted a beautiful woman’s face inside the goblet. Then I
painted red wine pouring from a wine bottle above her face, flowing onto her face, spilling over the goblet and around her face, like hair
tresses. It is a robust wine flow, but it isan abstract/surrealistic painting–I can
take liberties in the painting execution. Maybe execution is a poor choice of words
considering my prior reference to a cut-off head—Maybe
it is justified, if it helps you see the dilemma I was facing. (Sorry–I’m on a roll with
metaphors.)
Ripe and sassy, this elegant red is firm and sinewy, yet
balanced; it shows fine length and freshness, lingering easily and
persisting on the lively finish. Several painting titles came to
mind, but Ruby Red just seemed to fit better than any
other.
I’m
anxious to hear if Ruby Redis
received as enthusiastically as I feel about her. I’m considering
silk-screening the image onto women’s black wine apparel. What do
you think? Is it a dramatic rival to other wine
diva-themedshirts
on the market? Can you imagine this sizzling image printed on shiny
metal?
I’d
love to read what you think in the comments section below.
٠Other
News: Sandi Whetzel’s Wine Art Illuminates Roseburg Valley Mall’s
Artisan’s Gallery with her shimmering prints on metal
I
am excited for Roseburg area shoppers to see how shiny, shimmering,
sleek, lustrous, scintillating and slick my wine art prints on metal
appear. You just have to see them to believe how dramatic they are.
See all five wine metal prints available for purchase at Artisan’s Gallery . This is a newly-opened shop inside Roseburg Valley Mall,
located at 1444 NW Garden Valley Blvd. #250, Roseburg, OR. They
offer fine jewelry, unique gifts, art, and a precious metal exchange.
They are right next to the book store and a must-see holiday
shopping destination.
By Sandi Whetzel, 25 contributed posts
View all Sandi Whetzel's posts. About the author: Sandi's vibrant contemporary art has recently been welcomed in various Ashland art venues. She is most known for her art promoting the wine industry in Oregon. Fantasy blends with reality in her contemporary, sometimes surrealistic, frequently sensual renderings of succulents, abstract flora and trees and her most recent passion to expand her popular wine series. Sandi's home studio is located in Days Creek. See Sandi's listing at the Southern Oregon Artists Resource to learn more and make contact.
Henry Estate Winery has pulled out all the stops this year to make HENRY GOES WINE: theGrape Escape the place to be, Saturday, August 17, 2013. See sensual art and awesome wine shirts designed by Artist, Sandi Whetzel. Listen to mind-blowing music groups. Enjoy wine, delicious food, miniature golf play, wagon rides through the Vineyard, Wildlife Safari animals, horse rides, magic by Chuck, face painting, a petting zoo and summer market booths. You will be entertained. On the main stage Lee Koch, (appeared with The Voice), Joni Harms, Aulani Hula Halau and The Stone Foxes perform throughout the day and evening.
For ticket information, click or call 800-782-2686. Advance purchase of tickets are discounted from Gate Admission prices. Henry Estate Winery is located at 687 Hubbard Creek Road, Umpqua, Oregon.
Schedule of Events:
Music on the Main Stage:
12:00 – 2:00 pm Lee Koch (Appeared on the Voice)
2:00 – 6:00 pm Joni Harms
6:00 – 7:00 pm Aulani Hula Halau
7:00 – 9:00 pm The Stone Foxes
Other events:
3:30 – 6:30 pm Smoked Salmon and Tri Tip BBQ $15 (or purchase in Advance, $13)
12:00 pm Amateur Horseshoe Tournament
1:00 pm Miniature golf play
1:00 – 7:00 pm Bouncy Houses and Petting Zoo
1:00 – 9:00 pm Wagon rides through the Vineyard
2:00 – 4:00 pm Wildlife Safari
5:00 – 6:00 pm Falcon Display
Other events include Winery Tours and Barrel Sampling, Dutch Bros Coffee, Douglas County RC Flyers, Fisherman’s Grotto Seafood, Summer Market Booths and Wine Art by Sandi Whetzel. Be the first to see her art printed on sleek, shiny metal. You won’t believe the depth and richness of colors on metal until you see them for yourself. Right next to Sandi’s art booth see her wine shirt designs in Pour Accessories booth.
By Sandi Whetzel, 25 contributed posts
View all Sandi Whetzel's posts. About the author: Sandi's vibrant contemporary art has recently been welcomed in various Ashland art venues. She is most known for her art promoting the wine industry in Oregon. Fantasy blends with reality in her contemporary, sometimes surrealistic, frequently sensual renderings of succulents, abstract flora and trees and her most recent passion to expand her popular wine series. Sandi's home studio is located in Days Creek. See Sandi's listing at the Southern Oregon Artists Resource to learn more and make contact.
During one of my “all-things-wine” modes of thought,
I saw a simple line-drawing — an eyebrow, eye, nose and lips bordered on the right
side by a large comma-shaped line defining a woman’s cheek and chin.
A long curved line like the left half of a parenthesis mark stretched
below the right side of her chin, forming the right side of her neck.
Large generic leaves flowed around her facial
features like hair. Leaf veins separated the leaves into sections
like locks of hair rippling down her right cheek, exposing the line of
her neck. A large leaf swooped over the left side of her face
obscuring her left eye, cheek and neck. The facial shape
and the slim exposed right side of her neck resembled a woman’s face inside a wine goblet. Well, Iwas in “all-things-wine” mode — an inspiration for a wine painting was hatched.
I intended to create a similar style painting of a woman’s face
shaped like a wine goblet with loose outlines of grape leaves
representing hair sweeping over one side of her face and neck. The
exposed side of her neck, expressed as a vertical curved line, formed
the goblet stem. After I outlined her eyebrow, eye, nose and lips,
my passion for a sensual, rather than an abstract
portrayal took over. I might paint an abstract image inspired by
that line drawing I saw sometime, but I couldn’t bring myself to do
it this time.
I ditched the idea of making her face and neck resemble the shape of
a wine goblet. It would be more sensual to render her facial
features realistically, as well as reveal her bare neck and
shoulders–I was seduced.
I sketched many grape leaf shapes until I was satisfied with the way
they layered around her face. While sketching I observed an awkward
symmetrical placement of two same size leaves that resembled horns
coming out of each side of her head — thank goodness for the ability
to re-do acrylic shapes. I also avoided a halo effect circling her
head. It was a delicate balancing act to arrive at the most pleasing
leaf configurations.
To add abstraction and a little mystery, I rendered her in shadowed reflections of the grape leaves in light and
dark shades of green. To create a serene, earthy quality, I
painted the grape leaves realistically; dominating in greens with
color accents in the leaves and grapes only.
Choosing the painting title was difficult. I considered Vine
Goddess, Goddess of the Vine, Venus and Venus of the Vine.
They were all a little too obvious. Just as her focused engagement
with viewers intrigues, I wanted more than anapt labelto engage viewers. I thought about the beauty from within her and the
vineyard — virtuecame to mind. I liked the ring of Virtue
in the Vines. Besides honor, integrity, purity, love, value and
worth,virtue also means innocence, morality, chastity. I
reasoned that her demeanor, as well as her unclothed appearance,
might suggest something other than virtue to some.
However, I liked the ambiguity Virtue in the Vines might
foster. Conversely, the grapes have not been touched; not harvested;
not made into wine — she is pristine; untouched; innocent. She is Virtue in the Vines.
See more of Sandi’s art here . Upcoming Exhibits: Gallery NorthWest, 625 SE Jackson St., Roseburg, OR, 8/1/13 to 8/31/13. Opening Reception: 4:30 – 7:00 pm, Fri., 8/2/13 ~ Henry Goes Wine: the Grape Escape at Henry Estate Winery, 687 Hubbard Creek Road, Umpqua, OR, 8/17/13. For tickets and schedule of entertainment, click Sandi will will show some of her extremely shiny prints on metal. Be one of the first to see this sleek, contemporary new print media. You won’t believe the depth and richness in prints on metal! vine goddess metal prints
By Sandi Whetzel, 25 contributed posts
View all Sandi Whetzel's posts. About the author: Sandi's vibrant contemporary art has recently been welcomed in various Ashland art venues. She is most known for her art promoting the wine industry in Oregon. Fantasy blends with reality in her contemporary, sometimes surrealistic, frequently sensual renderings of succulents, abstract flora and trees and her most recent passion to expand her popular wine series. Sandi's home studio is located in Days Creek. See Sandi's listing at the Southern Oregon Artists Resource to learn more and make contact.
Imagine my surprise when I saw that a Las Vegas businessintended to use an obvious imitation of my painting, Wine Affair,(above left) for one of their events. For a nominal fee the restaurant and painting studio provides painting materials to guests who are guided through a re-creation of the featured painting of the evening. Participants paint, socialize and dine on gourmet foods and partake of alcoholic beverages offered for purchase. What a novel concept for
introducing people to a “painting experience” while capitalizing on the
sale of food and beverages during the event! It sounds like a lot of
fun. Above right, is the featured painting they intended to be re-created at the painting event April 17th, 2013. Is it inspired by my painting? Is it a copy of my painting? I’d be interested in what you think.
I think there are too many obvious similarities in the two paintings to leave any doubt this version was copied from my painting. First, I know my painting is an original. I created it out of my head from scratch in 2010. I had not seen anything like it anywhere before. The goblet is from my cupboard, but I painted it abstractly. I worked long and hard on several sketches of the goblet before settling on its shapely placement.
The treatment, shapes and placement of the goblet, bottle and moon are nearly identical. The swirls in and around the moon and around the bottle are another giveaway. The colors and their placement in the bottle closely resemble those in my wine bottle. The painter chose to use a shorter canvas format and alter the angles of the goblet slightly in an effort to change their version and avoid copyright infringement. However, as complicated as it is to determine copyright infringement, one guideline is:
The test of an infringement is whether an ordinary
personwould determine that one work is copied
from the other; the copying need not be exact.
My first gut reaction when I saw this painting was to smile and feel good that somebody was so inspired by my Wine Affair painting that they wished to create their version of it for use in their business. The familiar quote, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” came to mind. I had to laugh at the mere prospect that my work might be famous enough to be copied! If I had thought this imitation would reduce my ability to profit from reproductions of my painting, I would have been furious and demanded recourse. However, I did not feel it would be a threat to the sale of my original or reproductions of it.
Wino Wine Bottle is a playful piece. The sad thing about this imitation is that several sacrifices in the re-design of the painting were made, either in an attempt to differentiate it from my painting, or maybe the artist just didn’t know about more aesthetically pleasing elements of design. Even sadder is that they would have been encouraging their class participants to repeat those design flaws by copying the mistakes.
Crowding the bottle and the moon too closely to the top of the canvas and squeezing the bottom of the goblet and bottle too close to the bottom of the canvas makes the composition look awkward and amateurish. The weight of the goblet and bottle appear to be falling through the bottom of the canvas.
Allowing the goblet to share its edge with the curving silhouette of the bottle creates another awkward “crowded” sensation. One of the objects should be placed behind the other, or leaving some space between them would avoid the awkward look. I also feel that the color of the wine next to the harsh white of the goblet appears garish.
If I were a vindictive person, I might have seen an opportunity to go after this business for their copyright infringement and possibly be awarded a large sum of money. In this situation, I don’t feel it would have been worth the frustration. What do you think? You can either email me your thoughts from the link at the right sidebar, or you can use the comments section below this post.
EPILOGUE: Right after I first posted this blog I started thinking about the repercussions of having copied versions of my painting floating around the country and the internet if the business had used it. If people saw the copy and then saw my Wine Affair original, might someone question whether I had copied Wino Wine Bottle instead of it being the opposite situation? And was it fair for participants not to know they were copying copyrighted art? I also wondered how many other artists’ work might be exploited if I kept silent. I contacted the restaurant and studio to inform them of their copyright infringement. I am happy to report, they have ceased advertising Wino Wine Bottle as the featured painting and will not use it for their event.
By the way, the original of Wine Affair and reproductions of it and other of my paintings are available at my new print-on-demandwebsite . sensual wine art art
