By Marti Casey, In Buona Salute Magazine
Most people naturally assume one is referring to "drinking" the
wine when those words are spoken, but Nelva Richardson faces this dilemma each
time she practices her artistic skills using the juice of the gods.
I first met Nelva at the Italian Cultural Society in Carmichael,
CA while taking an Italian class. When she told me she actually
painted with wine, my first thought was, "Wow that sounds
a little like alcohol abuse." Fortunately, I shook off
that notion and once I saw a few samples of her work, it was
obvious that Nelva had something special here... talent.
As you may have picked up, her paintings are created with wine—Nelva's "medium
of choice." The detail on each
piece is a testament to what she can do when she gets her hands
on a nice bottle of red.
Nelva is blessed with natural artistic abilities, and an affinity
for creativity. She graduated from the University of Illinois
with a degree in Medical Illustration and began her career
at prestigious Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington,
D.C. Her responsibilities included illustrating textbooks, journal
articles and courtroom exhibits. Eventually, with the advent
of computer illustration, 3-D animation and the internet, Nelva's
career was changed forever. In order to adapt, she took computer
graphic classes and learned how to utilize the computer for
her illustration work.
"My heritage is Italian," she said, "and I have
always thought that I could go to Italy and paint someday. Today,
I still take language classes (at ICS), and I travel, paint
and study in Italy whenever possible."
About a year ago, Nelva began exploring ways to combine her
love of art with her love of Italy.
"The idea of painting with wine came to me during a vacation
with friends," she recalls.
"We were looking at some prints that were burgundy in color
and I thought, 'Wow, I could do that with red wine.' When we
returned, I painted a portrait of the Chateau Les Mas de
Montet and sent it to our friends as a thank-you. They loved
it and encouraged me to do more."
Nelva showed one of her paintings to a friend attending an Italian
class down the hall. When the instructor, Franca Lingren, saw
her work she immediately envisioned great possibilities.
Franca, who also directs tours to Italy for Dario Sattui of
the V. Sattui Winery in Napa, gave Nelva a commission to paint
the Castello delle Serre, where her tour group would be staying.
Franca distributed cards reproduced from Nelva's painting
to each person on the tour. She also gave prints to the proprietor
of the Castello in Italy as well as Dario Sattui. Seems Nelva
had a new manager... and she was well on her way to success.
Her next commission was to paint the newly opened Castello di
Amorosa in Napa Vally -- using their own Cabernet Sauvignon.
They continue to sell prints and cards of her artwork in their
gift shop.
Last year, a trip to Yosemite National Park inspired a couple
of wine paintings of the Ahwahnee Hotel.
"I started one of the paintings and then stopped for a
while before going back to it. It was interesting to see how
the color of the wine had changed as it oxidized. The cliffs
behind the hotel were much deeper -- almost mahogany -- while
the newly painted lodge and trees were burgundy."
"Each wine is different in color and character and I usually use
only one wine for each painting," explains Nelva. "Wines
are transparent -- it takes time to build darker tones. You
have to apply many, many layers to each piece, so patience is
key. As you may know, wine can be unforgiving if you make a
mistake."
Recently, Nelva has spent time painting portraits of other
wineries in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys.
"There are many beautiful places already photographed and
painted by other artists," Nelva explained. "My challenge
is to find a purposeful view of each location and paint it using
the estate's own wine."
Nelva sells reproductions of her paintings as matted glicée
(high quality digital inkjet) prints. The Castello and Ledson
prints are currently for sale at the winery locations in Napa
and Sonoma. Her largest painting to date is of the Ledson Winery
and Vineyard in Sonoma Vally. She is available for commissioned
work, and is branching out to include portraits for anyone interested
in capturing their likeness in the wine of their choice.
You can view the artwork of Nelva Richardson, as well as place inquiries and orders through her website at www.paintingwithwine.com.
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