Introducing Wine Country Art Marketing

Wine Country Art is now Wine Country Art Marketing. Instead of trying to round up all of the art happenings in Napa & Sonoma counties, and highlighting the artists and their shows, I’m going to start talking about what I know best: marketing.

Specifically, I’ll be writing about basic marketing principles and how artists can use them to promote themselves, their art, and their careers. This isn’t to say that there will be no mention of specific artists and their work, or galleries and events. I’ll be incorporating as much of this as possible, keeping abreast of current art happenings. It just won’t be the primary focus of this blog.

My background is in corporate retail marketing and I’ve learned that many of the same strategies and tactics apply to the art world. I’m confident that some of the tips and techniques I pass along will not only be interesting, but can be easily applied to effectively promote artists and their work.

I look forward to your comments.

Sign of the Times

The deep recession, with its lost jobs and falling home values nationwide, poses another kind of threat: to the art galleries. The tide of big spenders that decorated their homes with vineyard and wine art from their trip to the wine country is receding, leaving some communities high and dry. Yountville lost one gallery last year and Images Fine Art South on Washington is closing April 30.

Citing exorbitant rent increases and the slow economy, they are closing their Yountville location and selling everything in stock at deep discounts. Granted, they still have a St. Helena location, Art on Main, but losing another gallery in Yountville is worth mourning. It appears that visitors are looking for a beautiful place to stay that has great food and wine, but many of their wallets are empty when it comes to shopping for pricey souvenirs.

Tough economic times have come before and boom markets inevitably follow. The ebb and flow of tourists and art patrons cycles through the wine country with each passing season. But our artists are steadily creating magnificent pieces, transforming color and line into beauty, and lifting us out of the flotsam of discouraging news. When the market is right, our artists will be selling pieces again and the wounds incurred in the current recession will be healed.

Maceo Montoya Mural at Ceja's Lounge

For a trek down history lane, check out the Montoya mural at the Ceja tasting room on 1st St in downtown Napa. Rich in detail and vibrant colors, the work traces the line from ancient winemaking to the present with depictions of Baccus, Egyptian winemakers, Father Junipero Serra, Spanish conquistador Cortez, a present-day farm worker and of course, the recognizable face of Cezar Chavez. The painting depicts the struggles balanced with the joys of the winemakers. Full of strong images of the vineyard workers, the artist honors the Mexican-American contribution to the winemaking process. The Ceja family background as immigrants and vineyard workers has influenced the artwork and it stands as a proud homage to the workers that went before.

Check it out for yourself at 1248 First St in downtown Napa, open daily 12 to 6, Saturday 12 to 10, closed Wednesday. Check out the Ceja Vineyards online at www.cejavineyards.com

Other-Worldly Pictures from Chris Purdy

Do you ever feel like a trip to a gallery or museum is like a day trip out of town?  Some art can just transport us to another place, mentally and spiritually. Photographer Chris Purdy has a knack for capturing and printing images that can take you to those places.  Purdy has photo journalized natural imagery and local residents of many exotic countries, but with a unique perspective that brings out the mystical and transcendent quality of the scene.  

Purdy also pushes the production boundaries with a printing technique he has developed that oversaturates the colors to give the print a peculiar depth and dreamlike quality.  The image above, "Prickly Pear Blossom," is an example of this method.  The bold red color draws you in as it melts into the thorny cactus.  Is it a painting? Or a photograph?  The effect created gives one pause, and for a moment, we are transported. 

You can view Chris Purdy's work at Folio in downtown Napa through February or online at www.purdypictures.com. 

William Wheeler and California Poppies

Bright colors and light subject matter, poppies are enough to cheer anyone up.  William Wheeler has both working for him in his series, on the Life of a California Poppy.  Not sure it's really a California variety he's painting.  I'm a Southern California native and have seen my share of the bright orange beauties covering hillsides and lining freeways, but if Wheeler sees them as little white gems, who am I to argue?  They are alluring just the same and he paints not only their abstract essence, but the playful notion of it's passage through time. 

Wheeler has his first solo exhibit in four years which includes recent oil paintings, drawings, lithographs, and monotypes.  Check it out at the Palette Art Cafe, 235 Healdsburg Ave in Headsburg, 707-433-2798 or www.palette-art.com. Showing through January 29, Tues - Sun 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., Free. 

T Barny - Beauty Out of Stone

It takes innovation and skill to draw elegance out of stone.  T Barny starts with selecting the raw chunk of marble, matching the color with his vision, then carves and shapes it into light and fluid, almost translucent, abstract designs suggestive of seashells and sea creatures.  

For the entire T Barny collection in stone, steel, bronze, wood, water and ice, check out his web site at www.stonesculptureforsale.com.   

Barbara Stafford

Every rug tells a story. Every fiber from the animal is tamed into threads and coerced into textiles.

The result is a textural story artistically woven together into a resilient rug that no one in their right mind would put on the floor and walk across.  These rugs are pleasing to touch because of their animal essense, but they are especially pleasing on the eyes.  

The award-winning example above, Camel 2: Lines, is camel hair interwoven with wool. 

Feast your eyes on this and more at www.barbarastafford.net.

So Much Art, So Little Exposure

With the Open Studio events in Napa and Sonoma Valleys in September and October every year, we get a glimpse of the vastness of art that is created here year round.  I was especially impressed with the sublime tempera drawings of Oscar Aguilar Olea, the vibrant jazz & romance paintings of Ed Grant, the woven masterpieces of Barbara Stafford, the woodworking of Jerry Kermode, and the lighter-than-air stone sculptures of T Barny, to name only a handful. 

There is so much superb artistic talent in the wine county I'd like to take the opportunity to spotlight some of their works throughout the balance of the year. I'll be highlighting artworks, events, news and original content that the community digs and creates. If you've got a hot tip, please drop us a line.