Wine for your Walls: Leanne Laine Fine Art

Since we began appreciating wine in earnest, we’ve collected a few pieces of “wine art.”  Several are simply artist-signed posters of local wine festivals, but we also have several pieces we purchased in local boutiques.  I usually want to carefully inspect any sort of art I’m purchasing, and get to know the artist or the proprietor, because to me, art is personal. I’m always looking for something unique – and so often artists who incorporate wine themes into their work just seem to be copying a “style” that has so saturated the market that it’s now available in a print at Walmart (think Thomas Kincaid, whose original painting I purchased back in the beginning of his “fame” is now practically worthless.)

So I was delighted to discover a artist whose work reflects the way I feel about wine.  Or rather, she discovered me.  One day I had a new “follower” on twitter. I usually do a quick check of the updates and conversations to make sure I’m not going to be sent naked videos of Brittney Spears; or about to follow yet another “Life Coach.” But I rarely click on the follower’s actual website until I’ve chatted with him a bit.  But for some reason, I visited the website, looked at the pieces, and immediately made a purchase – something I rarely, if ever, do. And that’s how I discovered Leanne Laine!

Temptress Tempranillo,
by Leanne Laine – The Women in Wine Artist

Leanne Laine: The Women in Wine Artist

Leanne Laine

Not only is Leanne herself gorgeous, she is a talented artist whose work now graces the walls of many a discriminating wine bar. Leanne was born in The Philippines and raised in British Columbia, where she lives today. Like so many woman (myself included), Leanne originally chose a “practical” career, rather than pursuing a career in the arts. She went to business school and entered in corporate rate race, painting or sketching as a hobby. But as fate would have it, Leanne’s practical career became of victim of downsizing in a bad economy. And this gave Leanne the push she needed to do what she loved most. Leanne believes that everything happens for a reason.  she now works out of her home studio — because creating art is her raison d’être! I like Leanne’s Women In Wine series because it “speaks to me,” as they say. Says Leanne about her work:

When I began my fascination with wine as a subject matter, I began to look at wine a little differently. As seen with all my art pieces, I definitely use a rebellious twist with all my subjects, but wine was even more intriguing, an interesting study. Put bluntly, wine is sexy and sensual. It can hold its own. It livens up the wine glass, basically putting on a show in the glass once poured: swirling, seducing, and tantalizing the taste buds. To me, wine seemed to have similar qualities to that of a woman. Sensual, sexy, empowering, and you tend to notice when a beautiful, confident woman enters the room. People want to be her; people want to be with her.

That’s how I feel about wine, and Leanne’s paintings capture that feeling.  I love so many of her paintings, but was immediately drawn to one in particular. We had recently returned from Russian River Valley Wine Road Barrel Tasting, where we had met up with a number of the other women bloggers for dinner. This picture reminded me of my first face-to-face meeting with the bloggers I’d gotten to know through twitter. Not only did they share my love of wine, but we felt as if we already knew each other, even though we’d somehow missed one another as last year’s conference.

“Ring Around the Rose” captures that bond. It reflects our passion around wine, and the playful way we “rib” each other on twitter, through e-mail and text messaging; they are their iPhones and me on my MotoQ. (If you click on the picture, it will take you a larger version of the artwork itself.) Many of Leanne’s original Women in Wine series have already been sold. But hand-painted subsequent editions can be produced upon commission. Many of her pieces, as the one I purchased, are also available in Limited Edition Giclee on Stretched Canvas.

Limited Edition Giclée on Stretched Canvas

Exactly what is a Giclée? A very sophisticated type of limited edition print, a giclée (pronounced -zhee-clay-) is an art term originated by the French which means “spray.” However, most experts in the fine art industry refer to the term giclée as the process to create a giclée one more advanced and resulting in a higher quality than the traditional lithographic or “poster” print commonly framed behind glass. The quality of a giclée is achieved by using high-end media and advanced equipment involving microscopic spraying of the inks to produce a quality image for richer colors and clarity than a lithograph. More from Leanne Laine’s website:

In addition to Leanne’s love for creating original art, she also carries a high interest in graphic imaging and printing where she is the maker and self-publisher of all her giclées, therefore sustaining a sense of personal touch for her collectors’ investments. Time is well spent where meticulous imaging is conducted to ensure that the giclée image matches the original painting as close as possible. In addition, although the giclée artwork is slowly printed in high resolution, the rest of the production is assembled by hand. The canvas giclée is inspected, then applied with a glossy varnish, stretched and stapled around a ready-to-hang frame, and the sides are painted in black. For pieces over 11″x14″ or 12″x12″ (including multiples), the special feature with Laine’s giclées is that she also applies a glossy texture medium using either knife strokes or brush strokes following the subject matter throughout her art giving depth, dimension, enhanced sheen and contrast to the subject matter and its colors. All of her limited edition giclées are also signed in iridescent gold, as well as numbered, dated, titled, location of make, description of giclée “produced by the original artist” and registered with its own authenticity code on the back. This code corresponds with a signed Certificate of Authenticity that is also provided.

While Leanne concentrates on all creative aspects in the making of her original paintings and giclées as well as providing direct customer service with her clients, Leanne’s husband and partner Stewart Laine oversees all operational aspects including, printing, marketing, administration, financial management and customer service for retail buyers and business owners. Since 2003, numerous art pieces of Leanne’s works have been sold to private and corporate collectors around the world including every province in Canada, every state in the U.S., the U.K., France, Greece, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Saudi Arabia, India and Hong Kong.

Most importantly, Leanne and Stewart Laine believe that giving back is a rule as success grows. Leanne Laine Fine Art plays a regular role in contributing to charitable causes and is a proud supporter of the Ronald McDonald House, The S.O.S Children’s Village, World Vision, Canadian Cancer Society and The B.C. Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Leanne has also created a Vinogamy series of artwork, perfect for wedding and anniversary gifts to wine lovers. Like her Women in Wine series, each piece features the “couple” in wine glasses. I look forward to collecting more of her work, and hope to meet her face to face at one of her gallery openings.

Cheers!

~ Amy Corron Power,
aka WineWonkette