Painting in the vineyards

In late August I had an opportunity to go over the mountains and spend three wonderful days with my friends at Lange Winery in Dundee, Oregon.

I spent the time sketching and painting the vineyards and the vistas from their wonderful tasting room.

Don and Wendy Lange have been generous and enthusiastic sponsors for the Sisters Folk Festival and the My Own Two Hands event for the last five years, providing us delicious wines to serve to our patrons and guests.

It was so fun to be able to sit and sketch the vines that produce that great wine and soak up the sun just like the grapes. I loved the idea that I'd be able to sip that pinot noir later and remember that time again through the wine.

Wendy and I took an afternoon and drove to Red Ridge Farms in Dayton where she introduced me to Ken and Penny Durant - they have a wonderful small vineyard, a terrific nursery and gardening gift shop and an olive orchard with fresh delicious olive oil to sample!

I came back to Sisters crowing about my wonderful experience. All my painter friends were envious, and I made sure that I did a fine job of describing the visit in full detail - down to Wendy singing and playing guitar for her dogs, Hannah and Daphne (mind you, she won a big award a few years ago at the Kerrville Folk Festival - these dogs know their music)!

Waiting for me in my e-mail inbox was a note from my friend Susan Sokol Blosser. We had met earlier in the year at a conference in Spain. Susan has recently written a wonderful book entitled: "At Home In The Vineyard."

It is a terrific memoir of her role in the development of the Oregon Wine Industry. She wondered if I might help her stage a book signing here in Sisters in January. I immediately called her back and said I would host an event here at Sisters Art Works. Another phone call and Brad Smith of Paulina Springs Books agreed to participate and provide the books.

The date was set for January 19, 2007.

Then it occurred to me that this was a perfect opportunity for a multilevel event. Maybe I could talk a couple of friends into coming over to the vineyards and painting for a couple of days, and we could have an art show to accompany Susan's book signing… and then - how about a wine tasting? We couldn't just talk about the wine without letting people experience it!

A quick e-mail to Susan, and we were invited to come on over - things were just beginning to get ready for harvest, and maybe we could even get some shots of people harvesting the grapes! So I made a couple of calls and we created "The Painter's Posse - Sisters on the Road!"

Myself, Paul Alan Bennett, Karen Piedmont, Susan Lucky Higdon, Mary Marquiss and Tracy Leagjeld all signed on to spend two days in the vineyards and sketch and paint.

We met at the Sokol Blosser Vineyard at 10 a.m. on a Tuesday. The place was jumping with people-the warm weather had turned up the ripening process and the grapes were ready for harvest. We split up and began to work - so many wonderful places to paint!

The Langes, Susan Sokol Blosser and Penny and Ken Durant hosted our group of artists to a wonderful dinner at the Dundee Bistro in Dundee. We sat outside and enjoyed some lovely Sokol Blosser and Lange wines - and went around the table and talked about each artist's medium and some of their experiences and then heard from the vintners about their business and passion for winemaking and the new olive oil industry in Oregon.

In the morning we drove out to Red Ridge Farms - Penny Durant is an accomplished gardener and she has worked her magic here - incredible backdrops of vineyards, huge showy dahlias and lavender, oak and big leaf maples turning golden and red.

Red Fox Bakery from McMinnville delivered us wonderful box lunches, and we headed up the road to Wendy and Don Lange's beautiful vineyard atop a hill in Dundee. Looking out to the east there is a terrific view of Mt. Hood with the whole Willamette Valley floor spread out before you like a big quilt.

After a tour of the place, we all began to capture images of Lange Winery.

Wendy's goats entertained Susan while she captured the antics of the chickens; Tracy, Karen and I spent some time getting up close and personal with the vines and grapes in the lower fields, while Paul captured some wonderful images of people working.

The daylight began to fade and so did we…. Lots of sun and intense sketching can take it out of you! We packed up our paints and bade the Langes farewell. We drove home over the Santiam Pass and were dazzled by the vine maples lining the roadway.

Mark your calendars, and join us in January to share our experiences, see our finished paintings and our sketchbooks, meet the winemakers, taste a bit of the wonderful abundance of Yamhill County and see the trip through a painter's eye. Then book your own trip to Oregon's wine country!