FROM MY PERSPECTIVE: MIRA KOVAČEVIĆ, ARTIST
A landscape painted using wine lives and changes on the picture When they mutually intertwine, complement and move one another, wine and fine art create an extraordinary, almost magical form of art that's known as vinorell. The wine used for the painting continues to live, just as it would in the bottle, so the picture also lives, with its colours changing constantly V inorell is a difficult technique that‘s almost unknown but represents a very challeng- ing working method, as it gives the artist the opportunity to demonstrate all their skill in mastering the brush. Like wine spilled on a cloth that‘s almost impossible to remove, wine on paper doesn‘t accept alterations and can‘t be painted over, so it is vital for every brush stroke to be made in the right place. All this was interesting enough for me, after many years of dealing with classic easel painting, to start working with wine. I wanted to create something special and recognisable that differs from everything that can be seen in galleries today. Given that vinorell isn‘t studied in art schools or academies, there is no existing literature, nor are there any universal rules, so I started researching and famil- iarising myself with it on my own. Now it is my means of expressing myself and a way of working that I‘ll cer- tainly continue nurturing for a very long time to come. Due to its unusualness, wine moved me as a painting
material and ensured that I wake up every day filled with new ideas and a desire to work. I most like to paint women, their beauty and di- verseness, because they are just like wine, aromatic and seductive. Some of them enchant you at first glance (sip), while others only gain their full quality and value over time, just like wine. I also often paint portraits of those people who are capable and like to enjoy wine. I like to portray on paper the beautiful places I‘ve been to or which I plan to visit. Recently I‘ve been working regularly on creating vinorells that are used in wine la- bel designs. I find it interesting to hear stories about these wines from winemakers, how they made them, what they considered and, finally, what kind of label they would like to use to present them. Clients are particularly interested in the character- istic that vinorell possesses – the fact that it is a “live” technique. This means that on paper, just like in bar- rels or bottles, wine ages and changes over the years. It changes its tones, shifting from strong, bruised, purple and burgundy hues to become brown, gaining a specif- ic kind of patina layer and warmth, becoming differ- ent. This ensures that vinorell paintings never have a final look and therein lies their magic and peculiarity. I paint exclusively with wines sourced from Ser- bia and the surrounding countries, and that means those produced from indigenous grape varieties or those made from foreign varieties, but by domestic wineries. I almost always include Prokupac, Vranac, Blatina and Plavac Mali in my works, and these are also wines that I like to drink. My unusual wine art has found fans on all continents, and that‘s a source of great joy and pride for a painter. In the name of that - cheers!
I most like to paint women, their beauty and diverseness, because they are just like wine, aromatic and seductive
Fine art » Slikarstvo | 37
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