STEPHEN E. PRICE FINE ARTIST
Fine Art Murals
Residential & Commercial
by Stephen E. Price
Residential & Commercial
by Stephen E. Price
Press Release:
Wine & Art: Never Far Apart
the Art of Stephen E. Price
Wine & Art: Never Far Apart
the Art of Stephen E. Price
Stephen presents a special Winemaker's Edition of "Nourishment of the Soul" to Rick Quinn, co-owner of Opolo Vineyards at their Paso Robles tasting room.
A bottle of Opolo's 2007 Summit Creek Zinfandel stands in the painting's rear right corner. This medium bodied red wine features overt raspberry-like fruit notes framed with soft tannins and modest acidity. Its fruit is sourced from seven vineyards located both east and west of the Salinas river in Paso Robles including Opolo's 11-acre Zinfandel vineyard located at the winery property. The low yields from these vineyards produce wines of intense varietal character and generous mouthfeel and color.
Owners Rick Quinn and Dave Nichols also sell their fruit to quality labels such as Hess Collection, St Supery, Harrison Vineyards, Wild Horse, Castoro Cellars, and Fetzer.
A bottle of Opolo's 2007 Summit Creek Zinfandel stands in the painting's rear right corner. This medium bodied red wine features overt raspberry-like fruit notes framed with soft tannins and modest acidity. Its fruit is sourced from seven vineyards located both east and west of the Salinas river in Paso Robles including Opolo's 11-acre Zinfandel vineyard located at the winery property. The low yields from these vineyards produce wines of intense varietal character and generous mouthfeel and color.
Owners Rick Quinn and Dave Nichols also sell their fruit to quality labels such as Hess Collection, St Supery, Harrison Vineyards, Wild Horse, Castoro Cellars, and Fetzer.
Nicole Gruber, Executive Assistant to Justin Baldwin of Justin Vineyards takes delivery of their Winemaker's edition of Stephen's new release in their Wine Society lounge. This highly detailed painting features Justin's Savant, a blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon and 22% Syrah.
A love of French Bordeaux led to Justin and Deborah Baldwin's first plantings in 1981 of the three classic Bordeaux grape varietals--Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. These original plantings have been supplemented with limited plantings of other varietals with a special concentration on Syrah.
Beginning with their first vintages, and continuing through their latest releases, Justin wines have received numerous awards and accolades, including their rating of number 6 red wine in the world for their 1997 Isosceles.
A love of French Bordeaux led to Justin and Deborah Baldwin's first plantings in 1981 of the three classic Bordeaux grape varietals--Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. These original plantings have been supplemented with limited plantings of other varietals with a special concentration on Syrah.
Beginning with their first vintages, and continuing through their latest releases, Justin wines have received numerous awards and accolades, including their rating of number 6 red wine in the world for their 1997 Isosceles.
Based in the heart of the Central Coast wine country, artist Stephen E. Price is surrounded by the flourishing wine culture and loves to feature wine subjects in his fine art paintings and murals. The opportunity to depict Opolo and Justin bottles in a recent mural was a real honor to the artist, as he has great respect for the winemakers behind these labels.
Stephen is one of a handful of artists who paint in the trompe l'oeil style, a highly demanding genre that requires exceptional technical prowess in design and execution. Intended to actually fool the eye into believing that the object has actual dimension, the true test of this style of art is whether the viewer is moved to reach out and touch the painting surface to verify whether it is indeed real or not. The commissioned mural "Nourishment for the Soul", painted for Phil and Paula Taves of Cambria, California, has passed this test many times in their home, as guests often try to touch the wine cork that seems to extend out over the edge of the niche. That 'aha' moment, when the illusion is discovered, is the reward of a trompe l'oeil artist.
Objects must be painted at life-size to succeed in this genre, and Stephen faced a significant challenge with "Golden Vintage", a 6300 sq ft mural he designed and painted for a private estate winery near Cambria. The mural covers three walls and the ceiling of an entertainment hall and features life-size buildings on two walls that match the architecture of the estate.
Stephen is one of a handful of artists who paint in the trompe l'oeil style, a highly demanding genre that requires exceptional technical prowess in design and execution. Intended to actually fool the eye into believing that the object has actual dimension, the true test of this style of art is whether the viewer is moved to reach out and touch the painting surface to verify whether it is indeed real or not. The commissioned mural "Nourishment for the Soul", painted for Phil and Paula Taves of Cambria, California, has passed this test many times in their home, as guests often try to touch the wine cork that seems to extend out over the edge of the niche. That 'aha' moment, when the illusion is discovered, is the reward of a trompe l'oeil artist.
Trompe l'oeil elements in this full-room mural include a painted lamp, window with ledge and highly detailed wine casks. Stephen researches his subjects extensively to be sure that objects are true to their period, in this case pre-World War II Italy. The hallmark of his style is his obsessive attention to detail. The closer the work is examined, the more detail can be seen. Evidently it was good enough to fool animals too, as birds who flew into the building tried to land on the painted tile roofs, and a dog thought he would run down the vineyard road on the mural's center wall. This ambitious mural took just under 12 months to complete, and was painted mostly with a 1/2 inch brush by Stephen himself. Cambria artist Phil Hauser painted the figurative elements.
The vineyard pictured in "Golden Vintage" is a Pinot Noir vineyard, and the demonstration vineyards of Edna Valley and Justin both proved invaluable as reference for the shape of the leaf and the style of trellis. The homeowner now has 6,000 vines coming to maturity at this coastal estate. The transformation from empty aircraft-hanger ambiance of the new building to the rich, colorful and spectacular setting created by Stephen's artwork couldn't be more dramatic.
A professional artist since 1971, with collectors all over the world, Stephen paints mainly in water-based media and is an airbrush artist of great skill. For soft effects like shadows and clouds, the airbrush is the ideal tool. His skills were honed by years as one of the top photo retouchers in the nation, back in the misty past before Photoshop virtually eliminated this speciality. Photo retouchers had nerves of steel, as they painted in watercolors direct on the emulsion of the photograph, and correcting mistakes was nearly impossible. Often there was only one copy of the photo, and thousands of dollars had gone into the making of that image. This was an excellent training ground in learning how to realistically render all kinds of surfaces, a skill which would prove of great value in his future career in trompe l'oeil.
Since moving to the Central Coast of California in 1988 from Laguna Beach, Stephen has enjoyed exploring the beautiful Paso Robles wine country. He has painted wine bottles, grapes, stomping vats, corks of all descriptions, wine glasses, wine barrels, vineyards and casks. Cambria Pines Lodge used an original Price painting for its private label wine. He has even painted using wine as the medium itself. For this wine-loving fine artist, the art of the winemaker has been an ever-inspiring muse to his art.
Scroll down to view more of Stephen's wine subjects. These are available as limited edition giclees on canvas from the artist. Some are available as original acrylic paintings on canvas.
For more information about Stephen Price, or to schedule an interview, Since moving to the Central Coast of California in 1988 from Laguna Beach, Stephen has enjoyed exploring the beautiful Paso Robles wine country. He has painted wine bottles, grapes, stomping vats, corks of all descriptions, wine glasses, wine barrels, vineyards and casks. Cambria Pines Lodge used an original Price painting for its private label wine. He has even painted using wine as the medium itself. For this wine-loving fine artist, the art of the winemaker has been an ever-inspiring muse to his art.
Scroll down to view more of Stephen's wine subjects. These are available as limited edition giclees on canvas from the artist. Some are available as original acrylic paintings on canvas.
please call 805-927-6777.
All images on this website are available as high resolution versions for print publishing. Additional photos available.
"Small Collection"
"Half-Full"
"Three Europeans"
