Exhibit Wall Mural Photography

The past three days have been hot in Northern California...you don't expect to feel 100+ degree heat in Napa Valley but it happens. The past three days have also been the days that I had slated in to do all the vineyard and crush pad wall mural photography. The good news is that the high pressure system (no, the heat is not due to 'global warming') sitting over Northern California kept the conditions very consistent. Lot's of clear blue skies and dry heat everyday. The bad news is that there were lot's of clear blue skies everyday... Why, because as a landscape photographer there is nothing I want to see more than clouds. Not heavy overcast gray rainy skies, but the beautiful summer cloud types that add so much interest to a plain old clear blue sky. That said, I'm happy with the photography taken the past few days.... the blue skies will look nice on the exhibit walls, but even a few clouds would have added more depth and some extra interest to the walls.

The photograph above is an unfinished composite of three images taken from the crush pad at Monticello Vineyards. This image will be the rear wall of the exhibit space. It will be 10 feet x 45 feet in size. The truck is another original piece of Napa Valley culture.... It's been transporting grapes, barrels and winery equipment for thirty years.

Thomas Jefferson's Point of View

As you enter "The Culture of Wine" exhibit you will quickly find yourself in two rooms that are a tribute and informational representation of Thomas Jefferson's dining room and wine cellar at Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia. Here you will see the replica dining room fireplace and other Jefferson replica artifacts. In his wine cellar recreation you will see how Jefferson stored his valued wines and how the bottles were loaded into his famous dumbwaiter that would carry them to the fireplace upstairs in his dining room.

The photo shown here was taken during the construction of a corner niche that will hold Jefferson's bust in his dining room area. As you can see the construction is not complete at this point. Once finished, the bust will sit on a hardwood riser lighted from above, overseeing the room.