About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 8, 2018)
Nick Bowman Features Editor | 770-718-3426 | getout@gainesvilletimes.com W&t Sttncs gainesvilletimes.com Thursday, November 8, 2018 The art in honoring their service Veteran blending love of service, Van Gogh into mosaic to beautify Quinlan parklet BY LAYNE SALIBA lsaliba@gainesvileltimes.com Dirt once filled a long, thin median behind Quinlan Visual Arts Center on Green Street. It was somewhat of an eyesore because nothing would grow. So the Quinlan folks decided to do something more useful by bringing some color to the area. “We thought we could honor veterans with it and have them get involved,” said Paula Lindner, assistant director at Quinlan. Now, as guests walk from the parking lot to the building, they’ll see pavers, many made by veterans, with mosaic designs filling what is now a parklet. The project has been underway since 2017 but is get ting closer to being complete. One of the statements com ing soon is something Jason Smith has been working on for about six months. Smith, 36, said he’s been to every mosaic workshop Quin lan has hosted. Art has become an outlet for him, a way to deal with post-traumatic stress dis order after two tours in Iraq where he was a Navy corps- man assigned to the Marines Corps. “I use art, personally, as a therapy tool and I believe it’s very therapeutic in that it can help men and women deal with the demons that they have and hopefully give them an outlet to express themselves,” Smith said. “It gives them a healthy outlet as opposed to doing something destructive or drinking or things like that.” Once he figured out how to create mosaic designs on the pavers and began helping oth ers at the workshops, Smith commited to something more. He didn’t just want to make pavers with a mosaic anchor or crow — although he did that, along with a handful of other designs, too. He’s creating a larger mosaic for one of the benches that, when it’s completed, will show the sky depicted in Vin cent van Gogh’s “Starry Night” painting with the silhouette of a Marine on a watch tower, watching over the town. “I’ve always been a fan of van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night,”’ Smith said. “I just thought about when I was overseas and standing watch, looking up at the sky and the clouds at night, trying to find shapes and stuff like that. So I thought Veterans Parklet Event What: Free mosaic workshop When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10 Where: Quinlan Visual Arts Center, 514 Green St. NE, Gainesville More info: Facebook about incorporating that memory into the ‘Starry Night’ painting.” His interest in art was sparked after taking an art appreciation class at Surry Community College in North Carolina. His wife, Pamela, bought him his first art set and he started drawing and painting. “I noticed that when I was doing art I was really relaxed and not high strung and not as temperamental,” Smith said. “So I just put two and two together and started doing that.” Smith said creating a mosaic isn’t too difficult. It just takes time. He works on the bench design on his kitchen table at his home in Gaines ville. He said he has a glass cutter he uses to score each piece of glass into the shape he wants. Then he uses run ning pliers, which are good for breaking glass apart, to get the piece he needs. “If I need to cut it smaller, I have a pair of glass nippers that I cut it down with,” Smith said. “Then I just arrange the pieces on what I’m working on to make it look how I want it to look.” “It feels good to give back to veterans, especially those like him,” Lindner said. “He’s such a nice guy, such a sweet guy, and to see that it’s changed his world is why I do my job basically.” As the parklet nears comple tion, Smith said he wants it to be a place veterans are proud of and a place that brings them comfort as well as pride. “I’m hoping that it can be something to reflect the vet erans in our community,” Smith said. “And it’s a way for the veterans who have attended the workshops to give back to the community and make their own mark on the community.” Quinlan will be hosting a free mosaic workshop at its center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 10 to finish more pavers and work on the curb, which is covered with mosaic tiles, too. SCOTT ROGERS I The Times Gainesville folk artist Jason Smith is creating a mosaic bench depicting a soldier with a Vincent van Gogh- style background for the veteran’s parklet behind Quinlan Visual Arts Center. The center is holding a free workshop on Saturday, Nov. 10, to help move the project along. Celebrating good family values in the Napa Valley Courtesy Frank Family Vineyards Frank Family Vineyards in the northernmost region of Napa Valley offers a variety of value wines. WINE OF THE MONTH FERRARI BRUT The wine: Crisp, dry white sparkling wine. The grapes: 100% Chardonnay. The source: Trentodoc region, northern Italy. The verdict: Want a Ferrari (bright red, of course) for Christmas? Flowsabout one for Thanksgiving? This sparkler is a great choice to serve with the Thanksgiving turkey... or ham, or beef roast. Italy has a good news/bad news situation. It is home to more than 500 indigenous grape types. And that can be confusing ... especially to American consumers. So some Italian wine makers have concentrated on classic European vinifera grapes — such as Chardonnay, one of the three grapes permitted in the production of the classic sparkling wines of Champagne. This Ferrari brings the crisp toastiness of Champagne to your glass for less than half the price of even the most budget-priced Champagnes. It mates well with just about any kind of food, but would enhance the aromatic roasted bird to perfection. This is a well-made, well-balanced bubbly. The price: About $28. We’re sliding into that time of year when family becomes even more impor tant than usual. Gatherings around the groaning holiday tables celebrate the hold that “family” has on most of us. And today I want to celebrate another family — the Frank Family and their lovely wines and historic Napa Valley winery. Back in 1990 Rich Frank was a top executive with Dis ney Studios in Los Angeles. He loved wine country and built a mansion in the Ruth erford area. While dining in a Napa Valley restaurant he encountered a Chardonnay that intrigued him. It was one of Koerner Rombauer’s wines and Frank and Rom- bauer became friends. In 1992 the former Hanns Kornell Champagne Cellars property went on the market and, with Rombauer’s aid and advice, Rich Frank bid half the asking price... and wound up a winery owner. Since then Rich and wife Leslie have turned the property around. It’s up in the northernmost region of Napa Valley, outside the mud bath town of Calistoga, on narrow Larkmead Lane, named for the original win ery on the site, Larkmead Winery. Rich and Leslie are hands-on winery owners RANDALL MURRAY murrwine@aol.com and run the place. But Rich delegated wine-making chores to the well-respected Todd Graff, who annually turns out spectacular wines — including some highly regarded sparkling wines in tribute to Hanns Kornell. The location, away from the hustle and hassle of the mid-Napa Valley, lends itself to a more casual atmo sphere. Visitors are wel comed into the bright yellow former home that serves as the public tasting area. If you go there ask to see the Hollywood Room, where many of Rich’s awards and memorabilia from his film days, and Emmys won by Leslie during her TV broadcasting career, are on display. I recently had a chance to sample three of four Frank Family wines and was reminded of how much I enjoy this winery’s products. I search out value wines like a pig rooting for truffles. I celebrate when I find a $15 Pinot Noir that’s a hair’s breadth away from being as good as that $50 bottle. Todd Graff’s wines, made from fruit from a variety of prime vineyards, are what I call “high value wines.” A prime example is the 2016 Pinot Noir from the Cameras Region just off the upper reaches of San Fran cisco Bay, where Pinot Noir and Chardonnay thrive. Using an aerator I poured about two ounces. Almost immediately I smelled soft spices wafting from the glass. After a good swirl I took a taste. Spice, red fruit and soft tannins took over my mouth. It’s a stunner! Now about that “high value...” The Frank Fam ily Pinot retails for about $40. It is better, more balanced than an Oregon wine I sampled, which has received high praise, but costs upwards of $70. I had the same reaction from the 2016 Cameras Chardonnay, a product of lots of TLC in the vineyards and the winery. It is fer mented in a mix of new and used French oak and, as a result, the vanilla nose from that wood is muted — but it’s there. I got a hint of citrus and crisp apple from a wine that truly fills the mouth. Same price as the Pinot Noir, but it made me think back about six months to one of those cult Chardonnays I sampled priced at $80. In a blind tasting I would have grabbed the Frank Family bottle and run with it. I hated to pull the cork on the 2015 Napa Valley Zin- fandel... but, sobbing softly, I did. While it obviously needed another 2-3 years in the bottle, it was glorious. I confess I am a Zinfanatic. A touch of black pepper, black raspberries and restrained oak flavors ran around. It was clear why this wine won Best in Class, Best of Vari etal and a Double Gold in the New World International Wine Competition. At just under $40 this was one of the best Zins to pass my lips in a very long time. I balked at opening the 2015 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Just could not do it. I’ll let you know in about three years what it’s like. But here’s what the online International Report had to say, while giving this Cab a score of 94 points: “This is a total success from the winemaking team at Frank Family Vineyards, who have managed to capture the ripe characteristics of the vintage while retaining wonderful balance.” One closing note. This is a family business. These wines don’t come down from some faceless cor porate boardroom dictat ing flavor and aroma. My thanks to Rich and Leslie Frank and Todd Graff for bringing excellent wines into the world at sensible prices. Randall Murray is a Gainesville-area resident. Have a question about wine? He can be contacted at murrwine@aol.com.
