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The
French Journal |
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An artist’s work speaks for itself. So I don’t usually talk about my
work. For this exhibit however, I find chattering going on in my head
about the work, about the commission, about the trip.
The story begins with Alain
Lacourte, one of the owners of Angelbeck's
in Upper Montclair, who delights in the world of wines. Each year, in a
blending of art and wine, he invites a local artist to create a signature
label for an exclusive vintage.
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When he asked me to do this year’s, I first thought that this is
really out of my realm. But Alain’s enthusiasm is contagious. The label
would be for the firm’s Millennium champagne. I’d go to the vineyard in
Bethon, a tiny ancient village about two hours east of Paris, outside
Epernay between Rheims and Troyes, in the heart of the Champagne region.
The maker, Monsieur Gruet, would be there to tell me about the vineyard,
about the seasons, about the landscape. I accepted.
| Bethon lies amid gentle, fertile hills. I arrived just before the
harvest, the "golden time" after the summer’s heat when the
grapes became sweet and the shadows at the beginning and the end of the
day lengthen and turn violet.
Every inch of land that is capable of
growing grapes, does.
The rest is a patchwork of lavender, jade, ochre,
mars violet and sap-green farm fields.
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Vineyard Study |
But as a painter, my heart sank. The landscape is too "pretty"
with no drama or singular features. Just miles of long rolling vineyards,
punctuated by wooded windbreaks. Very linear - but the lines in no way
trace the contour of the land; instead they mark countless farm plots and
lie at a riot of odd angles to one another, as if a patchwork-quilt maker
had gone mad.
Finding the right "voice" for the landscape too quite a bit
of experimenting. You can see this in the "Rhythm Studies
Series" where each of the 500 lines making up the piece had to be
accurate. It was very constraining. Several people have commented that it
"does not look like your work." But the nature of painting
"en plein Air" is to let the landscape speak for itself.
Three painting sites were chosen: One out in the vineyards facing the
front and side of the church perched on a hill overlooking the village;
the second looked out from the church dooryard; and the third directly
opposite the first site with the back of the church facing us across the
vineyards.
Reflecting the original "scroll" concept for the label and
the extended plane of the landscape, much of the work in the show is long
and horizontal. For example, the graphite panorama #397 chinese scroll
offers an expression of this theme with a sweeping view from the third
site.
As I write this, I am there – I can smell the earth, feel the
slippery soil between my toes. I acclimated more than I thought possible.
It is part of me now.
--
Catherine Kinkade.
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