Real Art for Real Wine Lovers

Posted by Tom Wark on Apr 11, 2005

            

In the course of feeding your passion for wine you come across various "accessories" that you are told you must have in order to do it right: Corkscrews that look like animals, 2000-bottle freestanding cabinets, cute "wine charms". The list of wine accessories is mighty.

Then there is wine art. That weird genre in which landscapes and bottles are represented in normally very amateurish or cute ways.

But sometimes you come across an artist whose unique brush and clear mastery of technique combines with a passion for wine to create something quite stunning.

Leanne Laine is such an artist. I admit, her work appeals to me in large part due to the way she uses color and light. Though a portion of her work is happily focused on wine and that’s why it is featured here at Fermentations, there is a dark, brooding, sensual quality to the way she gathers and blends color on her canvas that is striking, regardless of the subject matter.

Laine is a Canadian who got to art after a stint as a singer then time in the corporate world. She’s one of those lucky ones who found her calling at a young age.
The prices of both her original works as well as her prints are quite reasonable.

In the past I’ve been convinced that artworks representing your passions, such as wine, always seem a bit tacky to be hung on the wall of your home or office. The "wine works" I possess are prints of Willi Wine Bar Posters. They sit in my office. But I admit, I’m tired of them. Frankly, they are just a bit too happy. I never liked "happy"  looking art. Laine works in a broad range: celebratory, intimate, voyeuristic, abstract, whimsical, crude, spirited.

Her works can be found at her website and at her website as well as at this online store.