A little more about me
Since my community is growing and I am so thankful for each and every one of you, I figured I should tell you a little more about myself.
I spent 15+ years in the design industry prior to diving into the wonderful world of wine full time. I was a fashion designer turned textile designer and fabric dyer. I spent 7 years teaching, making and sharing my love of design with others through my company, Dyes Happy. This was after a career in corporate fashion design. I may have left that career behind me (for the most part), but the artist lives on in everything I do with wine.
I am sure you have seen my infographics, wine maps and other wine art from me by now. This is how I channel most of my art these days. My passion for wine and sharing what I learn with you through words and art is my favorite thing. I figured I should explain the different “wine” art I am doing now and will be sharing with you here.
Wine Art by Kate
Over the past few years I had been blind tasting for wine exams quite often. One day while hiding wine bottles from myself it clicked, I needed to make my own hand dyed wine bags. I started making these over two years ago for myself. At that time I was still dyeing fabric almost daily so I had yards and yards to work with (and still do). Then friends started ordering them for hostess gifts as well as blind tasting practice. Although, I admit, I don’t advertise them, they are always something I have at least 20 of on hand to sell or use as gifts. This is a fun way to for me to blend my past dyeing and sewing career with my new wine one.
Wine bags by Kate
As you have probably figured out by now, I am a visual learner. The artist in me needs a visual to fully understand something. If there is not a visual, I create one. This is the joy and curse of being an artist at heart. I may make things that much more time consuming for myself, but in the end it benefits others as well. I know so many grape guides exist on the internet, but I wanted to make my own using my own maps. The maps are filled with my watercolor art or my hand dyed fabrics.
Grape guide by Kate
Of course I can’t stop at grape guides, I also share infographics for other topics such as sweetness levels, malolactic fermentation, etc. And of course, this lead me to my visual tasting notes. I decided last year I needed to document my wine notes in a unique way, for myself and also for others.
Visual tasting notes by Kate
Outside of friends in the wine profession, no one wanted to read my stuffy technical tasting notes. I forced my close friends to give me honest opinions, these wine lovers just wanted to know about the aromas and flavors in a wine, everything else was too much.
Thanks to their feedback, I started painting samples of my favorite wines on thick watercolor paper. I wanted to make something simple but direct in order to share the memories behind the bottles I drink. I have slowly been releasing these visual tasting notes over the past year. They will soon live in a section here for my wonderful community to enjoy. If you are thinking of trying a wine I write about, you can go to that section, find the visual tasting note and decide if it sounds like something you would enjoy.
Wine accessories designed by Kate
Thanks for being here
I hope I haven’t bored you to death writing about myself. It always feels a bit odd to do this type of thing. But I did think I should let my community know a bit more about me and why this all came about. I love being able to mesh my love of wine and art together in a way that connects the dots visually to things I write about. And as always, if there is a visual you want, please comment and let me know. I am here for you!
Art, But Make It Wine Related