Tag Archives: wine

Wine Cork Portraits by Scott Gundersen

Wine Cork Portraits by Scott Gundersen wine portraits cork

I’ve been known to pocket the occasional sentimental wine cork, but that’s nothing compared to the thousands of used and recycled corks needed by Grand Rapids-based illustrator and artist Scott Gundersen to complete his large scale portraits. Starting with a large photograph that’s transferred to a drawing, Gundersen pins each cork to the canvas, creating a correlation between the hues of the wine-stained corks and the value of light or shadow in the portrait. His latest work, Trisha, took 3,621 corks to complete, but other works have required over 9,000. Watch the timelapse videos above to see how he does it. And can I add, what I wouldn’t give to have a completely idyllic barn studio. Such a beautiful space.

Wine Stain Portraits by Amelia Fais Harnas

Wine Stain Portraits by Amelia Fais Harnas wine textiles portraits

I first covered the work of Amelia Fais Harnas last year when she had just begun experimenting with a series of portraits involving wine stains and embroidery. Harnas has spent the last few months perfecting the technique and now has some two dozen works on display. Via her website:

A portrait artist at heart, I am particularly intrigued by the challenge of trying to control the unpredictable nature of wine bleeding through fabric in order to channel the equally imprecise nature of a person’s character. In addition, the sacred aspect of wine lends itself to religious iconography, reminding many of the Shroud of Turin: one who drinks wine may come to feel a certain level of saintliness sipping on this liquid form of divinity. So, this is a form of consecration.

I’m also fascinated by the aspect of control in how she forces the wine to create line and tones, it would be great to see a video of the process.

By Christopher on June 13, 2012 • portraits textiles wine

Embroidered Wine Stains

Embroidered Wine Stains wine textiles illustration embroidery

Amelia Harnas creates these delicate portraits using a combination of embroidery and wine stains. Via her website:

These portraits are created either by using a wax resist (much like batiks) and repeated wine stains with embroidery as a reinforcing drawing over the original design or wine on paper with machine sewing. These are my first experiments using wine, and I am excited to continue expanding upon these first results.

It’s amazing to see the amount of control she has using the liquid, as is especially noticeable in the first piece. See several more pieces in her wine stain series here. Big thanks to Zum Zum for submitting this!

By Christopher on September 22, 2011 • embroidery illustration textiles wine

Vein Carafes by Etienne Menau

Vein Carafes by Etienne Menau wine sculpture glass body alcohol

Some anatomically awesome wine carafes available in limited editions over at Strange Carafes. I imagine more sculptural than functional. (via who killed bambi)

By Christopher on December 11, 2010 • alcohol body glass sculpture wine

The world’s oldest drinkable champagne drunk

The worlds oldest drinkable champagne drunk wine history

Two bottles of 200-year-old champagne that were recovered from a shipwreck earlier this summer were uncorked and offered to 100 journalists and experts at a tasting at Finland’s island province of Aaland yesterday.

It wasn’t until they opened and recorked them yesterday that experts were able to confirm that there are 2 different labels of champagne: Veuve Clicquot and Juglar, a house that went out of business in the early 1800s.

It has lost most of its fizz, sadly, but retains its sweetness (champagnes at that time used a brain-freeze inducing 100 grams of sugar in each bottle; a bottle of Veuve today has 9 grams of sugar) and the flavor imparted by the oak casks it was kept in before bottling.

As the contents were poured into rows of waiting glasses, the aroma was more pungent than any modern wine or champagne: a thick, nose-wrinkling bouquet that could be smelled several metres away.

More at the History Blog.

By Christopher on November 18, 2010 • history wine

Hamilton Fray wine packaging

Hamilton Fray wine packaging wine packaging illustration food birds

Birds on wine labels? I’ll take a case. Great packaging for Hamilton Fray by Motto. Each wine type is represented by a bird that lives natively on the property of the vineyard. Ah, with notes of blueberry, chocolate, and finch. (via lovely package)

By Christopher on November 10, 2010 • birds food illustration packaging wine

Eight Arms Cellars: The Tentacle

Eight Arms Cellars: The Tentacle wine packaging illustration food alcohol

By Christopher on October 20, 2010 • alcohol food illustration packaging wine

Minimalist bottle openers

After discovering Brendan Ravenhill’s excellent wood and nail bottle opener, I started thinking about how I’ve always appreciated the simplistic bottle opener over anything more ornamental or complex. Searching around online I realized that bottle openers are much like watches, in that there are literally thousands of designs that accomplish the exact same task. Here are some of the best I found.

Minimalist bottle openers wine utilitarian home beer

The marli bottle opener from Alessi, designed by Steven Blaess. Admittedly this is the opener we’ve been using here at headquarters since 2008 and I love its ergonomic steely goodness.

Minimalist bottle openers wine utilitarian home beer