The year’s project has ended and the exhibition at the Cité des Climats in Beaune, Chablis and Macon start on 25 April to 28 June 2026.
It has was great and busy year. Occasionally drawing live, but mostly taking many, many reference photos so that I could capture unscripted moments of winemakers’ work and draw in my studio. Even sorting through the hundreds of reference photos took hours.
I started with huge ambitions, but as the year progressed I realized I could not include everyone or every moment. Much of the work is also repetitive, continuing over several months, or repeated at any time of the year. The work at the domaines gave me a renewed appreciation for everything that goes into producing these fabulous wines.
However, the focus of my project focus remained intact which was to to reflect the people rather than the machinery that assists them and to explore some different ways to draw the scenes. There was less artistic exploration that I originally intended, mostly as I became aware that the project was also a piece of social history and that people would like to recognize something of themselves in the drawings.
I was given a warm welcome by everyone at the domaines and it was a privilege for me to be given the access I was. I’m grateful to the Collection Tramier, Domaine Clotilde Davenne, Domaine Hubert Lignier, Domaine la Croix Montjoie and Domaine Leflaive for that, and to La Cité des Climats et les Vins de Bourgogne for making that possible.
You can see the art created for this project on the Burgundy Winemaker Art page, where they can also be bought as originals or A4 open edition high quality, pigment ink, prints, and there is a book of the project. Selected images will be available as A3 very limited edition giclée prints, , released in batches of 3, available individually. It’s been a huge amount of website work to be ready in a short time, so the site will be gradually updated with better images of the art over the next couple of months.
Out of the whole project, a new type of drawing emerged of which I am creating a series called ‘The Movement in Wine’. I may also revisit some of the reference photos to create more drawings or paintings in the style already created, or to push new drawings towards the abstract figurative. Updates on those will be shown in Instagram and also on here.
