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The California Wine Club: Interview with Artist Ruth Jaffe – Uncorked: The Blog

Artist Ruth Jaffe
Artist Ruth Jaffe paints with wine.

“14 years ago, I began painting with wine,” says artist Dr. Ruth Jaffe. “We were visiting a gallery that had adjacent to it a wine tasting room. Or rather, we were in the wine tasting room and adjacent to it was a painting studio. I remember it very clearly, almost like a photograph in my mind. I was tasting a red wine, and I was looking through a door to where there were some easels with some paintings, and I thought, hmm…”

The California Wine Club member Jim Schwenke from Connecticut introduced us to Ruth’s art. Jim’s library was exhibiting her work, and he thought other members would find Ruth’s art as intriguing as he did. Happily, when we tracked Ruth down, she was gracious enough to tell us all about herself and our favorite art medium.

“I’ve dabbled with painting all my life,” explains Ruth. “I’ve always been interested in art and I started to paint more steadily about 19 years ago. I am a psychoanalyst, that is my profession, which goes right along with painting as my own personal therapy.” Ruth has shown her paintings in group shows in New York, California, and with the Washington Arts Association in Connecticut.

A watercolor of a vineyard, made with wine.
VINEYARD© –wine and ink
A watercolor of a vineyard, made with wine. Perfect!

Uncorking Inspiration

At the time of her wine painting revelation, she had been focusing on watercolors, which she loves for the challenge they present. She and her husband, a neurologist who was also known for his sculptures, were wintering in Carpinteria. Carpinteria is a bucolic, picturesque beach town just south of Santa Barbara. They had been regular visitors for many years, and always enjoyed visiting the wineries in Santa Ynez and Paso Robles. As wine aficionados, they had traveled to South America and Europe to wine taste, but for them, there was something special about this area.

That particular tasting on that particular day led to a whole new adventure in painting. Feeling inspired, she began experimenting that same day. “I took a small amount of red wine, it was a Cabernet, and I started to see what happened with it on paper with a brush,” says Ruth. “It was a little too faint, so I thought maybe if I boiled it down it would intensify the pigment. I put a small amount in a pan, and I brought it to a boil and simmered it like a sauce for about 4 minutes. It evaporated and became stronger in color. I cooled it and then I started to paint with it.

I was so excited. I have that first painting here—I framed it. I can’t part with it. And it is sort of a test to see whether it changes over time. It hasn’t. People have asked me, ‘Well wouldn’t it change over time?’ It absolutely has not. If in 100 years it looks a little different, well, none of us are going to be around to see it. Right now, this painting that I did 16 years ago looks exactly the same as when I first finished it.”

Framed Wine Painting
Ruth’s first wine painting.

Experimentation Begins

After that successful first attempt using wine as a medium, she continued experimenting with different kinds of wine, tracking her findings using methods learned during years of research and teaching in Neuroscience. “I kept track, on a spreadsheet, of different wines and what they looked like on paper. I also tried different papers. When you deal with painting paper for watercolors, the absorbency of the paper can be very different. There are hot press and cold press papers, and then there are some beautiful Japanese papers—I got some at Bergamot station in Santa Monica. It makes a difference.

Everything makes a difference. The absorbency of the paper, the amount of color in the wine. Some wines, like Cabernet, come out as sepia color, whereas the best that I have ever found in terms of a real wine color, we associate wine with a deep, dark, burgundy color, that would be a Shiraz. Petite Sirah, Tannat, a big red blend, these would all work well. Something thin, like a Pinot Noir, doesn’t paint very nicely.”

Wine (Paint) Selection

How does Ruth select the wines to use for her paintings? “I was introduced to what everybody calls ‘Two Buck Chuck’ from Trader Joe’s, and I decided that as far as painting goes, it really doesn’t make much of a difference whether it is a less expensive wine or an expensive wine. I got all their wines, and I found that their Shiraz works the best. But I also kept track of the origin of other wines, other than California wines. Because we had been in Argentina and been through the Mendoza Valley wine region and through Chile through the wine region there, I got Chilean and Argentinian wines. It was of interest to me where the wines came from and how different they appeared on the paper. They don’t, not really. The main factor is the grapes, or the mixture of grapes.”

What doesn’t work? “I’ve tried white wine, of course, but nothing comes out,” notes Ruth. Sometimes when it dries, you can’t tell that anything was painted at all except the paper looks different because it has had liquid on it. Neither white nor Rosé works. They just simply don’t. I’ve tried Port, but I don’t particularly like the way it looks on paper in terms of the color. But I really stuck with wines, I just decided that was it.”

Colorful Ruth Jaffe Watercolor Wine Painting
STORM OVER VINEYARD© –wine, watercolor, and gouache
A watercolor wine painting that lifts the spirits.

Creating a Palette

“I boil the wine for approximately 4 minutes. It is usually about half a cup. It goes a really long way, as I just dip into it. You don’t need large quantities of it. So, for example, if we were to drink a bottle of wine and there was some left over (not always, I confess), but sometimes there is some left over and that would be just enough for me to use the next day for painting.

I put it in little bottles, and I label what it is, where it is from, and the date. Now, some paintings are strictly wine alone, and some paintings are watercolor. I mix and match. Sometimes I use wine instead of the water with watercolors, I dip into the wine then I dip into the palette. And sometimes I just use several washes of wine with watercolor on top, and that produces a different effect.

I’ve had a lot of fun doing this, and explaining it to people, how it works, and trying to see if other people would be interested in doing it. It’s fun if you like wine. It has been the subject of many jokes. People always ask me do you paint with it or do you just have it to drink? And it depends on the time of day. Sometimes I certainly would have it to drink and to paint with at the same time.”

Ruth Jaffe's watercolor painting of sunset
MOODY II© from the Wine Series II — wine and watercolor
Ruth’s watercolor creations inspire a sense of calm.

Creativity, Art & The Psyche

Not surprisingly, Ruth is fascinated with the connection of mental health and art. “The single almost universal reaction to all my paintings has been that they inspire serenity, a sense of calm, peace, contentment…not exactly my usual state of mind at all! More what I seek to feel — and often do — WHILE painting. Those precious hours I set aside do provide me with a sense of communion with nature, with beautiful, quiet seascapes and landscapes which inspire me and guide my brush. As a psychoanalyst, I treasure moments when I can set aside the traumas and grief that I carry of both my patients and myself.

Sharing Her Art

As Ruth’s wine painting’s multiplied, she was found a ready audience in wine country. “Right now, I am thinking of sitting on the balcony in Carpinteria overlooking the ocean at sunset, which became for us, the time of day we simply had to be there, as we were directly facing the ocean. It became an obsession to paint the sunset. I started to do a series of very small paintings that I had printed and made into greeting cards. These cards were sold in the gift shops at five different wineries in Paso Robles, and one in Los Olivos. I kept in touch with the wineries, they are wonderful people. Every time we went, they would treat us to a wine tasting. Adelaida. Daou Vineyards. Eberle. Sculpterra loved my cards and kept them in stock for several years. Tablas Creek had the cards. They were also in a wonderful little giftshop in a bookshop in my hometown.”

For now, Ruth divides her time between New York and Connecticut. But she is “California Dreaming.” “For 12 years we wintered in Carpinteria, and I miss it terribly. But my husband passed away several years ago and I haven’t been back without him. The show I had this last summer was the first I had since he passed away, so it was bittersweet. I’ve been daydreaming that I would go back to Carpinteria this year. We’ll see.”

Rare Finds

Until the talented artist Ruth Jaffe makes it back to Santa Barbara County, she will continue to paint, and wine will be both her inspiration and her medium. Exhibits are rare, so you’ll be one of the lucky few if you stumble across one, and even luckier if you acquire one of her pieces!

Ruth Jaffe Watercolor Wine Painting
FOND MEMORY© from the Wine Series — wine and watercolor
What do you see in this image?

About The California Wine Club

Since 1990, it’s been our wine club’s mission to help artisan wineries share their small-batch wines with wine enthusiasts everywhere. At The California Wine Club we happen to think these wines simply taste better than the mass-produced wines that dominate store shelves. 

We visit the wineries, meet the families and winemakers behind the wines and then invite them to share their favorite wines with our wine club members. Every wine featured in our five monthly wine clubs comes from a real-working winery and is proudly backed by our wine club’s Love It Guarantee.

If quality and service matter to you, and you’ve been searching for a wine of the month club to try out, we invite you to give us a try and get to know the artisan wineries we feature.

5 Responses

  1. Jane Wilkins says:

    MESMERIZING -The process, the paintings, the painter! AND- the artist’s blending- not only of the materials, but also of her travels and life experience. A coup d’etat!

  2. Mark Mellinger says:

    Brilliant idea and beautiful glowing images. Here’s to you. L’Chaim

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