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Nick Bowman Features Editor | 770-718-3426 | getout@gainesvilletimes.com
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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.
