The Art & The Beauty In/Of A Wine-Tasting In The Wine-Tasters Themselves : Their Expressions, Contentment & Joy For The Most Part, 6/16/2010

" Their Serenity and Poise, Too " the headline above should finish...

Enlarge this picture above and to the right of this young lady's head you will see the image of another young lady : so peaceful and beautiful - like a painting from the Renaissance period. I like it a lot.

It's a real treat for me being in the wine business and hosting various wine-tastings to be surrounded by so many beautiful people. I get to know many of them as we become very friendly and I help them with all their wine needs that vary depending on the moment. We are " right neighborly " as the old expression goes I believe. That's the only way I can conduct my life and my business.




Many of our customers are happy to pose for the camera. The other shots I take often quickly without them noticing so I may capture them and their mood in an non-distracting way so that they do not tense up and less relaxed. Sorry guts and gals : I hope you like these more candid shots that really do reflect the moment here in Washington D.C. Northwest ...




All the pictures are meant with my highest flattery and appreciation of those included here. You are all pretty much wonderful to me and being an artist I am attracted to both your personalities, you beauty and your dress.





Sometimes a split second captures a picture like the one above that shows a beautiful lady that was smiling a fraction of a second before this frame. What was she responding to here? It's just part of life ... I like it still. I'm waiting for her smile to break out : it will be worth the wait I am sure. I mean just look at ...




I love this picture above : four lovely ladies all in one picture. I bet they all met one another at some point in this tasting?




Who doesn't love Ben and Jerry's ice cream? I certainly do though I am not eating any ice cream now as I cannot give up wine and I want to lose my extra belly that I have finally decided to part with after so many years of carrying around unnecessary baggage that I know has never been good for me ...




I like this simple composition above taken at the cash register. I like the serenity on this young lady's face as she reflects/ relaxes/catches her breath before moving on and out of the store into the Washington D.C. early evening that is still light. It's a wonderful silhouette and everything seems to be just right from the bit of her arms shown, the slight ripples of the fabric of her tank top, the shading/shadowing of her facial features, and all that frames her here.

Look at the beer bottles of the New York State beer above OMMEGANG I believe they are called just above her right arm?

Look at the door and window frames that surround her face : the red awning outside, the wallpaper with wiggles and colorful squiggles on a white background, her hair band? All nice touches along with the green leaves from the trees outside as well as the daylight itself : all these things make a great composition and a great frame for the silhouette of her body here.

This is the artist speaking out in me here as I look and appreciate what this composition has to offer the eye ...




I don't name any names in these because it is more about the pictures and the moods and the demeanor's and the contrasts and compositions/actions/facial expressions, etcetera. You all know who you are : so do your friends. That should be enough. However, if you see this and want your name included just let me know or include the name below in the comment section provided after the pictures.




We have a whole assortment of people that attend of course from photographers, ballerinas, waitresses for the moment, lawyers, resp that help pour for these events, landscape designers that are eco-friendly, tour-guides, owners of property, and more including young children that accompany their parents and sit and wait patiently ...




The young lady on the right of the picture above did not know about this tasting when she came for her bottles of wine but was delighted to be here at the right place at the right time.




Three more lively and vivacious ladies and their expressions that say it all and more in this picture above.




I love this composition above of the young lady's expression as she holds her plastic wine-tasting cup in one hand, the price sheet in her other and listens to the wine rep describe the wine that she is tasting. The flavors are probably lingering on her palate and she is thinking about that as well, deciding if she likes it or not - or just how much she likes it? Enough to buy it, maybe? What's it cost? All these thoughts might be running through her thoughts right now ...




Happy customers enjoying themselves and happy to pose briefly for this picture before moving to the next table with more wine to be sampled.




The holding tightly of one's bounty : the hunter, the scavenger, the man that brings home his " catch/catches " to share with his family and friends and neighbors. The grin, the smile on his face - the look of complete satisfaction/contentment. I love it, really I do. Looks like he did, too.




The pouring of the wine , the sharing of it and passing it from the bottle to the glass. It's almost as significant as the sharing together of a meal. If you combine both the sharing of the wine with that of a meal then you have the true start of a beautiful relationship and bond that is not easily broken later ...






I do like blurred images that capture motion and warmth and glee and serenity, etc. They don't all have to be completely focused to be good. The smile above is worth a thousand words. Look at the bottles of wine displayed on the wine racks next to her beaming countenance? She loves wines ...




A beautiful young lady above arranges her hair so that she is more comfortable. I love this simple act that takes seconds and so I quickly snapped this shot/ It's a bit out of focus as I did this so fast. But the beauty of her arms and falling hair, her bracelet, the pattern of her dress, the unself-conscious motions of hers that she has done now more than a million times, her shiny belt - lovely.





Truth be told this picture above is perhaps my very favorite as I also quickly took it before her mother from behind me came up with her bottle of wine and I asked her if the young girl was hers? She said that she was. I asked her about her daughter's riding helmet and we spoke briefly about that. I said " hello " to the young girl, we all spoke casually at the register about wine and I found out that the young girl likes corks and that I have given her some in the past for school projects. I offered her more and so after her mother paid we went back into the store where I told her to reach into the wooden wine box and collect some more.

Look at what she is holding in her hands: it's a wine cork. She must have got one from one of our wine reps pouring on this evening. Nice. I love the composition of body and outfit, contrasting shapes and colors and textures. It's a fun picture and I am drawn to it. I did show it to her mother after I took it so that she could see. It was one of those pictures that I just had to have to complete the moment.

It's so much easier to take them to look at later because there are so many various " moments " all happening at once and there is no way to appreciate them all without the aid of a trusty Canon digital camera. Cheers, and enjoy, TONY

Buying / Purchasing May, 2010 : Colorful/Youthful Slice Of Life Of One Young Couple ...

I like to capture brief moments to recollect later and to jar my memory and to bring people, colors, motion, and interactions back to me as so many things are so fleeting and often lost completely if both mental notes are not taken as well as pictures to help bring more back.




I'm having the time of my life composing quick little vignettes that can tel a story or not depending if one responds or not to both picture and written words. This young couple got my attention : so did the red of the t-shirt and so being an artist and enjoying my Canon digital camera and what we can do together I quickly snapped these six pictures to look at later and see what we have?




I like all six pictures but especially these more blurred/action shots of movement. They speak more to me as the dissolve into everything in the picture and all the lines and boundaries become blurred : one for all and all for one?!? Is that it?




Youth and beauty and action and passion and perhaps purpose and mood and atmosphere and warmth. I said " hello " to them and offered to help/asked if they found everything okay? People respond usually quite warmly to these questions.salutations : and it surprises them, too quite a bit. It should not as every salesperson should be friendly and helpful and welcoming of everyone to their store of business. I am a dreamer and happy to be so.




I'm also an artist and see beauty in many forms, sizes, shapes, colors, patterns, formats, textures, lights, darks, shadows, blurs ... it all speaks to life and vibrancy and articulation and depth and feeling and loneliness and needing to share, love, be together, welcomed and appreciated and even perhaps somewhat understood?!? Ohh, this is heavy! Ohh, this is life at it's most intriguing, fascinating, daunting, beguiling, mystifying, wondrous, dark and light and rush and action, lights and madness, divineness ...


I hope they found what they wanted : seems like they did as they chat at the register before going off on their merry way. Cheers and hope you like this slice of life ... TONY

Golden-Hued Peops 6/10 : Speaking Italian Wines In English With Many Images & Metaphors & Inspirations - Aaahhh Yes! What A Wonderful World Is Ours!

I get inspired by people and conversation and serendipitous moments with discoveries and keen, revealing observations where one thing feeds upon another and those around me as well as me relax and smile and feel more at ease and comfortable and reveal more about ourselves in the process.




It all started with the observation that I had previously made a good wine suggestion and here these two were back for more of the same and perhaps something new? I liked the way this started. I liked the young lady's tattoo and I liked her enthusiasm for wine and her willingness to stand there and talk about it with me. The young man was also very interested in wine and so the three of us chatted for a long time before I got so inspired that I offered them both tastes of the wines that I had open and chilling in the wine cooler by the tasting table. We three all moved up there and I tasted along with them to see what had happened to the wine since I had last tasted it : how it had evolved and how the temperature changed it's taste?




I was inspired by all of this and kept snapping away hoping to get a good picture of the bottle that she held as well as of her tattoo. What I got was more abstract and fun and carefree and less distinct or clear : all a lovely blur where colors and shapes and textures all melted into the other. I liked it : a tapestry of browns and greens and shades of golden lights as well as shadows, too. Features and arms and legs and bottles and objects all became double or tripe and hazy and fuzzy and warm and very peaceful, too. I liked it all : I especially like it now weeks after I took these pictures with my Canon digital camera and I go back to see them once again.




These pictures tell a lovely story all by themselves. It's almost best that I let them speak for themselves and also as a whole and not say any more. What do you all think? Do you agree with this last observation of mine?




I also like that these two are really only recognizable perhaps to the two of them? Their features are blurred enough that only really their family and close friends will recognize them?

Is it necessary to have names to the faces and forms to make the stories any more interesting/ the pictures any more informative or thought-provoking or captivating?




So with this lovely tattoo and these two happy and young customers of ours interested in learning more and tasting more wine I leave you and let the pictures do the rest. Cheers, TONY




It's now Sunday, June 13th, 2010 ( actually it's Monday, June 14th, 2010 ( at 12:13 AM ) here at home in northern Virginia during the Soccer World Cup games.

Memorial Day, Monday May 31st, 2010 : Leaving Washington D.C. After Work & Heading To Virginia At Dusk

I was excited all day this Monday Memorial Day May 31st, 2010 here working in Washington D.C. I was excited about the day itself and what it meant to all of us Americans and to me in particular. I'm glad that I had a few moments to reflect on this and our vets and servicemen of our armed forces of the United States of America.




I had been pumped up earlier on my drive into work and was on the lookout for some of our vets on their Harley Davidson motorcycles. I wanted to both hear and see some of that Rolling Thunder that makes this weekend what it is at least in and around Washington D.C.

I witnessed some on my drive to work on Friday morning and so I was all charged up to see more as on Friday I had witnessed several groups roll their way in a cacophony of loud noise into Washington D.C. along with me ...




I was busy at work and less able to think about it later but I did write some on both our web page and our Facebook as well as include some thoughts in the week's store email that I started. I also wrote some poems at : chatpoetry.blogspot.com if you want to read them.




This blog however is devoted to the art in my experience and how my art helped to bring it more to life for me and give me a sense of celebration, too. Here are my pictures that I took with my Canon digital camera that help to show some of my excitement on this day. I'm really pleased with the colors and the hues and nuances of textures and spaces and how everything melts into each other : and the dashes of vibrant colors are more like fireworks and more like musical notes electrified or like letters and writing and exclamation points and contrasts of energy flows, etcetera ...




I hope that you enjoy these following pictures that started in Washington D.C. and wind their way into northern Virginia as the sun is setting and the moon is getting ready to be noticed soon. Cheers and Happy Memorial Day! TONY




The pictures themselves tell enough of a story all by themselves : they start it at least and we can all individually finish them as we please ...