Art is Life, A Roadtrip: Napa, Petaluma & The Hess Collection

Surrounded by rolling green hills, vineyards, old barns and spacious green fields blooming in yellow - we could be in Southern France in July. But we’ve taken highway 121 to Di Rosa Gallery, across the road from an estate winery whose graceful outdoor patio overflows into the afternoon with wine-tasting guests. It couldn’t be more picturesque. At Di Rosa, the Gatehouse Gallery features highlights of the larger collection with beautiful views of Winery Lake.



We arrive at closing time. The grandchildren create their own ephemeral installations

in response to the sculptures on the grounds.





At the Hess Gallery and Winery in Sonoma, it’s almost evening. We're in a stately brick building with thick walls and ivy snaking up. The museum on two floors, seems empty. But really, everywhere we turn, we step into space, wonderfully interrupted by art.




Even I find an exhibit, a flaming typewriter by Leopoldo Mahler! This is the omen I am looking for: now I know: my novel will be published this year!



We are beside ourselves with the quality and skill and sheer creative genius of this collection. Here is a Franz Gertsch. Over there are four or five other portraits stretching the room the size of a barn.





We see work by Anselm Kiefer. Oh! There’s Robert Motherwell! Morris Lewis! Minjin Yue. Andy Goldsworthy! Gord and Patrick have the most fun with somber pieces by Magdalena Abakanowicz.





Hess collects the work of 20 living artists over decades in order to support their evolving work over a longer duration. His collection reflects some of the best known contemporary artists.



I reserve my last experience of found art for the sleepy town of Petaluma, a stroll-able hamlet with houses from the late1800s, a cinema, second-hand stores and houses with porches, a variety of high caliber restaurants and hip coffee shops. Most Friday nights, Petaluma Pete plays the piano in the balmy outside air. I was so enthralled, I kissed him on the cheek. He wasn't surprised.



We stayed at Hilltop Wine Country Inn, a B & B whose décor is down-to-the-detail Early American (Maurice is an antique dealer) without being ‘overly-overly’. They have two bedrooms in their spacious spic-and-span home, with a back deck, a cat and a clutch of chickens. The art here is their graciousness and hospitality, something so personal and unique that we return, if only for the sound of Maurice’s voice.