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My association with the world of wine label illustrations began in 1995, when I was offered to make one of the Queen of Clubs (Semillon) labels for Peter Lehmann Wines (see also my Biography). This was followed by a number of other commissions for wine labels over the next several years. The Queen of Clubs label used on the Semillon wine for Peter Lehmann is quite well-known to this day – there was even a controversy about its export to the US, which meant I had to make two different versions. Other labels of mine have included the Grenache for Peter Lehmann Wines and a label for Brangayne (whose story is on the Brangayne site). The Brangayne label shows the preparation of the Drink of Love; it was used in different designs for various wines.
A series of four labels after Irish legends for Setanta Wines was my last project in this area. I enjoyed researching Irish mythology very much, but I must admit that it was very difficult to create an image reflecting the time, since all that is left from this period are crude rock drawings, which are not always very clear. A lot of imagination was needed to create a heroic and fearful image of Setanta - a hero from the Irish legends - while preserving, at the same time, the beauty of the good deeds and the necessity of lightness in the images, so that people would wish to try the wines and not be scared away by a ferocious-looking Setanta!
All my wine labels were created using the unique printmaking technique I invented in the 1980s, and are thus in reality monoprints (for which see my Monoprints page).