Leanne Laine, also known as the “Women in Wine” artist, creates some of the most collected wine art in the world. She joins the gals on this week’s podcast to chat about her motivation behind her paintings, growing her business, creativity, and what her wine art has come to mean to so many. We know you are going to love hearing her story as well as the other nuggets of information we have for you. Pour a glass and sink into this special, inspiring episode!
Steph: “Welcome Wine-Two-Five listeners! Thank you so much for joining us for Episode 59! Today we are visiting with our special guest artist Leanne Laine.”
Val: “Yes, we are coming to YOU from all over this continent – Steph’s in Arizona again, I’m in “the Springs, yo”, and Leanne is in BC Canada. Welcome to the show Leanne!”
Leanne: “Hi!”
Val: “Before we get into the show, let’s find out what’s in everyone’s glasses, and we do understand that Leanne is waiting until the end of the day to crack open a bottle, as she has her little ones at home.”
Drinking:
Steph’s sip from this episode.
Steph: “I’ve got a #W25Challenge today live on the show because my adorable sister-in-law Lindsey has wine in “alternative packaging” for me to try for the show. (I haven’t tasted it YET!) It is called XO, G Rosé by Giuliana Rancic, the E! News entertainment reporter. This Rosé is from France. This packaging is unique because there are 4 stackable, shatterproof, pre-filled, plastic single-servings of wine. Guliana’s XO line includes a Moscato, Pinot Grigio, Rosé, Pinot Noir or mixed pack (2 Pinot Grigio and 2 Pinot Noir). $10-12 for the “Stack” of 4 glasses, and these were on sale for $6!”
Val: As usual, Val has no idea who these celebrity people are … meanwhile, “I’m drinking Chateau St. Didier-Parnac, Cahors, France 2013. This is the home of Malbec, by the way, where it’s called Auxerrois and Cot in other parts of France, like the Loire. But it’s not to be confused with the Auxerrois white grape or Auxerrois Gris in Alsace. This is the same black grape we were tasting from Argentina’s Kaiken last week!”
Discussion: Interview with Leanne Laine
Leanne’s complete bio:
Leanne Laine is BC’s very own internationally-collected wine artist. With more than 590 works in her portfolio ranging from still-lifes to landscapes, modern abstracts to dancing figuratives, it is her unique wine subjects that have gained her global recognition. Her most popular and unique concept of women flowing in wine has also earned her the title, “The Women in Wine Artist”. Leanne is an expressionist whose art has been described to celebrate traditional subjects with a liberating, sensual and empowering twist.
Photo courtesy of Leanne Laine Fine Art
“Wine, the art of dance and the appreciation for color are a few of my favorite things. Combining them strikes a liberating feeling inside of me. In my eyes, wine not only moves, it dances with elegance, grace, poise, confidence and power. When I dance, my body is stimulated by the rhythm of music. When I paint, my eyes are stimulated by the power of what we take for granted in our daily surroundings — color. Every single being in our existence is a masterpiece and deserves to be celebrated with a toast!”
Leanne’s life has seen trials that has propelled her towards success through her art. Growing up with anxiety and bouts of depression, she once chose to live homelessly to escape years of domestic abuse. Living on the streets has opened her eyes to the neglected of many who live with various disorders both physically and mentally. With art and sketching to be a soulful way of coping, she eventually regained her life, moved up the corporate ladder and earned her education in Business Management to keep up with today’s fast-paced society despite her true passion — Art. The drive that turned her hobby of creating art into a full-time career propelled once again when she was laid off from her job due to a corporate buy-out. She decided to hold off on the job search, paint her heart out and sell her art online. Within 24 hours she sold her first painting, and then four more by the end of the week. Her business was born and a year a later, her husband Stewart quit his job to help support her mission — follow her passion, share it for the world to not only appreciate, but to also help benefit important causes locally and abroad. They now run Leanne Laine Fine Art Inc from their home in Surrey. Thanks to the support of her collectors, the works of Leanne Laine continue to hang proudly in galleries, restaurants, hotels, offices and homes around the world.
Leanne takes us back to 2003 when she became her own boss. She had recently been laid off from her corporate job. At the time she was newly married, had just moved in to a new house, and they were still paying for the wedding. Leanne started painting until her husband advised her that there wasn’t enough wall space in their home for all the art she was creating. She started on eBay with the four-piece Social Collection and built her reputation and was selling to the point where she then needed to create more. She and her husband flowed with it and the business was built.
Lady Merlot was the genesis for her Women in Wine Series. The painting is described as “…a wine painting where the Merlot owned the wine glass, confident and empowered…” Leanne gave us the story behind that painting, as it was not an intentional direction for her art. Facing a blank canvas she began with what was most likely going to be another wine painting, but the female form in the wine glass began taking shape. From this experience she felt a sense of empowerment and confidence. In fact, she stresses, it’s important we all try to do what we are most passionate about and be who we are. Her message to young women is “… following your heart and do what really means so much more to you no matter what anyone things or says.”
She goes on to tell us about her experiences with artist’s block as well as where most of her most popular pieces are seeded in terms of emotional events in her life. When it comes to being an artist and a mother, she’s learned that her best energy for creating is at night. However she’s also learned that sleep is important to keep up with the kids and their schedules and has found a way to balance her busy life.
Social media has also been a powerful ally in building her business and making connections those who follow her art, clients, and other artists. It’s also been a great medium for people to share what Leanne’s art means to them or how it helps them deal with whatever is going on in their own lives. Hearing the stories from those who enjoy and are inspired by her art inspires her in return. This motivates her but at the same time helps her keep her feet on the ground.
Speaking of keeping her feet on the ground, Leanne also has a funny story to keep it real. You can’t help but smile listening to this interview. We were so grateful to have Leanne spend some time with us and share her story. Many of you have most likely seen her art and hopefully this episode brings it to life even more.
Winoradar:
Steph: “The non-profit called Children of Restaurant Employees aka CORE was brought to my attention when I was in Napa last month for Women of the Vine. I met the Executive Director, Lauren LaViola, when a group of us were chatting after one of the seminars and heading to lunch. Here is a description of the organization from their website. “CORE supports the children of food and beverage employees who are navigating life-altering circumstances or conditions. Since its inception in 2004, CORE has helped over 115 children from families across the industry and the country. CORE has raised over $1.5M in support of these families.” It is such an awesome cause that brings us all together to help one another in the food & beverage industry. I’m happy to see all the sponsors that support this organization too. If you’d like to know more about it or know someone who could use a grant from CORE, please check out the link.”
Val: “Krug plans next move to ‘kill the flute.’ There seems to be a movement among top Champagne houses to say buh-bye to Champagne flutes because they don’t exactly provide the best sensory experience when enjoying the fizzy treat. According to Krug’s CEO, Maggie Henríquez ” … drinking Krug from a flute ‘is like listening to opera with earplugs’.”
Shoutouts:
Steph: “I’m still in AZ right now and big high five to Paul Fitz #therealpaulfitz who is the beverage manager at Brix Restaurant and Wine Bar in Flagstaff. Justin and I dined at the restaurant with our friends the DeRosas on Wednesday and had a wine-tastic good time! Paul got geeky with us and busted out a bottle of Left Coast Cellars White Pinot Noir to taste. The highlight for me was the cauliflower small plate! So for all you AZ listeners, if you get a chance to go to Brix, say hello to Paul and order the cauliflower!”
Val: “I have to give a shout out to the Steadcast, which is Colorado journalist Jason Gray’s broadcast from Gray Area Farms. He is actually the dude that also picks up the cases of empty bottles for the earthship house (it’s a thing). For anyone who has a backyard garden (as we do) or a small farm – or wants to survive your chickens going on “egg strike” – this is the podcast for you. I’ve known Jason for quite a while and he’s hilarious. The episode where he’s actually recording his podcast while feeding chickens kinda has me thinking we need to up our game here at W25. You can find Steadcast on iTunes, and Jason’s articles keeping Coloradans up to speed on our goofy politics, as well as things like energy policy, personal finance, economics, and cannabis legalization issues.”
Connect with Val on Twitter @WineGalUnboxed and on the Vino With Val FB page, and on instagram as Vino with Val.
You can find me on Twitter @Albarellosoap and on the AlbarelloSoap FB page, and check out the videos on the Albarello YouTube channel!
You can find Leanne at leannelainefineart.com, twitter, facebook, pinterest, YouTube, and instagram.
Wine Two Five is also an affiliate and supporter of Leanne Laine Fine Art. By purchasing her art via the links on this page, you are also helping the gals at Wine Two Five keep the podcast going! How cool is that?
Val: you can visit us on the WineTwoFive website, FB page, Twitter, Pinterest & YouTube. You can also email us at winetwofive@gmail.com.
Also please share Wine Two Five with your friends and online community.
We appreciate all your involvement and feedback and especially iTunes reviews.
One more thing… Don’t forget to use the #W25Challenge when you are trying new wines and drinks
So until next week – Cheers!