June Carey presents us with yet another of the country’s fabled wine regions. The Russian River Valley was settled in the early 1800s by Russian winegrowers who had found their new home along the Northern California coast. The character and soul of the valley’s wine flows from the land and its generations of tender cultivation. A late afternoon’s walk through the vineyard, where special days are toasted with a glass of fine wine, speaks of a place abundant in the simple pleasures of life.

Few artists can depict the larger-than-life romance of Italy with the passion of June Carey. In "Above Florence," we visit the beautiful hills of Impruneta, the Tuscan town located between the valleys of the Greve and the Ema streams, south of Florence. Known as “in pineta” (within the pine woods), Impruneta’s pine forests can still be seen among the olive groves on the surrounding hills. Florence, the unspoiled and fascinating birthplace of the Renaissance, lies in the distance.
"Above Florence" is the fifth in June Carey’s “Dona di Natura” series, which explores Italy’s fabled wine country. Others in this series, including "Lost in a View" and "Chianti Estate," are Sold Out at Publisher. Don’t miss this opportunity to discover Italy’s beauty and hidden treasures

June Carey’s first love is the nurtured beauty of the earth. “I’m deeply affected by the terrain that flourishes under human care, where cultivation results in harmony between humanity and the land,” June says. Alexander Valley Winery’s reputation for exceptional grapes is considered among the best in California. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Gewurztraminer from Alexander Valley have each earned reputations for their distinctive regional character.

The character and soul of California begins with the land, an expansive, diverse and verdant landscape blessed with a Mediterranean atmosphere. This magical environmental setting creates the one of the world’s ideal grape growing locations. Nearly half of the wineries in the United States make their home here, and the wine country mystique is an essential ingredient of the California Dream. Spanish missionaries introduced wine growing grapes to the West Coast nearly 350 years ago. Vineyards have been in families for generations and this steady nurturing of the land has created a distinctive personality to California’s wine growing regions that is entirely its own.
June Carey portrays this harmony between people and the land as no other. A nurtured landscape can flourish and be as striking as a natural one, and she conveys that with passion and flair. One can feel the rich, warm summer breeze that flows across this golden field as the clouds drift through a blue violet sky.
California Wine Country belongs to the extremely popular family of large-scale landscape paintings collectors clamor for: California Home, Alexander Valley Winery and September Gold. Like those, California Wine Country is available as an over-sized, 45” x 34” MasterWork Fine Art Giclee Canvas, but in an exclusive edition of only 25. A more moderately sized and exquisite 28’ x 21” Fine Art Giclee Canvas is available as well.
Define your living or dining room’s appearance with that mystical California Wine Country ambiance delivered by this striking June Carey work of art.

Everyone in Northern California is familiar with the coastline in Mendocino County. It is cool and moist like Cleone and Fort Bragg that the region descends upon when it’s hot and dry inland. It is a romantic place of expansive beaches, rocky headlands and crashing surf. The more adventurous try to time their visits to the arrival of storms because the waves can be so huge. “I’ve found that seascapes are a dream to paint,” confides June Carey. “Because the water is moving and flowing (unlike a static landscape), I have much more freedom in how to paint it. I’m not locked into creating details and can play more with forms and motion. This painting captures MacKerricher State Park in a rare sunny, albeit misty, morning light.”

"In July and August, wonderful patches of solid gold appear and flourish across the Tuscan countryside," says artist June Carey. "Close inspection reveals vibrant fields of sunflowers basking in the hot sun, bowing rows of big happy faces. Even when their giant heads, heavy with mature seeds, begin to hang from the weight they still seem lighthearted.
"Girasole (singular) or girasoli (plural) is Italian for sunflower. Gira means 'turn' and sole means 'sun. People think the flowers actually turn to follow the sun. I have spent time studying this and can say that once the flowers are mostly open, they seem to stay facing primarily east, in Italy and California.
"Finally, in 'My Girasoli,' I achieved something I always wished for: to live in a painting! Each year the sunflower crop is alternated, usually with maise. I was sad to learn the field beside the house was not going to be sunflowers last year while I was there. But, Francesco told me that these sunflowers were newly planted just up the road. Francesco has a hugh garden down the road. He and his wife, who live in the apartment above mine. Here he is just returning home for lunch, carrying his hoe. Maria's fresh laundry is hanging on the terrazzo above mine. I am the crazy American artist, running around with my camera, taking photos in the hot sun while every sane Italian is going to rest until the heat subsides."

"Oil Trees of Chianti" is the fourth image in June’s Dona di Natura series, which focuses on the romance of Italy’s fabled wine country. The Chianti region, considered one of the oldest wine regions in the world, makes some of the highest quality olive oil from trees in its hills. It takes at least 50 years for an olive tree to get into full production making Chianti olive oil some of the rarest in the world.

Tuscany, against the foothills of the Apennine Mountains sits the small, walled-city of Castiglion Fiorentino. It is in magical places such as this that the soul of the region resides. It is here, in the shadow of the ancient stone tower, Il Cassero, that cultivated fields and Old World charm thrive.
“On the peaceful flatland of the Val di Chio, just below the city, I climbed out onto the floor of this field of sunflowers,” reminisces June Carey. They were tall and I wanted to stand among them, to look up and see the sun glowing through their golden crowns. I made my way amongst the giant leathery leaves, trying not to step on anyone’s feet. I was able to see, through the many flowery faces, my beautiful and ancient Etruscan village silhouetted against the sky, creating the dramatic background I hoped for in this painting. I wondered if the Etruscans planted sunflowers here. I didn’t linger, for I know the very much still-living proprietor tending these flowers could have soon arrived to question me. As I escaped through the mud, I sensed a thousand years of culture still thrived in this field.
“These large girasole are just now reaching their full maturity and are covered with a million buzzing bumble bees. Their heads are heavy with the seeds and have begun to lean over with the weight. The petals droop gently down across their giant smiling faces. Too heavy to follow the sun, the flowers simply remain facing east.”
“Sometimes I park outside the main gate of the city, and walk up into the busy streets to go to my local post office or shop for a local wine or book. There is a coffee bar and pizza place just outside the massive, medieval gate, where old men always sit playing poker, laughing and talking. The old women are never with them. They are inside the village walls hanging out the clothes to dry above the narrow streets, running small shops, buying fresh bread for the day and talking loudly to each other. Their voices echo noisily within the ancient stone walls.”
You can brighten any room with happiness of fresh flowers and the romance of Tuscany. Sunflowers of Castiglion Fiorentino is available as an oversized MasterWork™ Fine Art Canvas for large spaces and as a moderately-sized Fine Art Canvas Edition as well. You might not have a home in Tuscany, but with the art of June Carey you can enjoy Tuscany in your home!

The first hint of russet leaves on the vines let us know magic is in the air as fall arrives in the Alexander Valley. The warm days and cool nights have matured the grapes to peak perfection. Over one hundred days ago, they first appeared as flowers on the vines; six weeks back, these grapes were green and hard, now they are soft and red. They are bulging with the perfect balance of sugars and acids. Yesterday was too early, tomorrow will be too late. Today is the day, today is harvest day.
In a series, "The Fullness of Time" would nestle between June’s "September Haze" and "Fall Vineyard." Those long since Sold Out at Publisher editions are among collectors most favored and sought-after of her California vineyard works. The long, horizontal format of the painting emphasizes the hand-manicured rows of vines sweeping across the undulating hills. Crisp highlights underscore the brilliance of West Coast sun.
At 60” x 23”, the Greenwich Workshop Museum Edition Giclée Canvas captures the you-are-here impact of June’s massive original painting, though only a few are being offered. A 41” x 16” Masterwork Giclée Canvas has been created as well, sized in keeping with the sister editions of "September Haze" and "Fall Vineyard." And, for the first time since 2002, we are making a June Carey painting available in a full-sized paper Giclée edition.
"The Fullness of Time" is vintage June Carey and wine country landscape art at its finest. Don’t let this classic pass you by.

In this sumptuous landscape by June Carey, she offers her vision of the grand Italian garden. On a recent trip to Tuscany, June found herself overwhelmed by the magnificent verdant light and was compelled to bring it to you it in her view of these expansive citrus gardens and their lush surroundings. Located in the hills overlooking Florence, this classic villa was built by the Medici family in the 16th century. The architecture of these enchanting gardens are a work of creative genius: the famous fountain of Hercules and Antaeus surrounded by the geometric arrangement of driveways, flower beds, bushes and intricately cut box hedges, blend perfectly with the buildings to complete a scene of unforgettable beauty.

“This is how I remember wine country when I first discovered it,” recalls June Carey. “I couldn’t believe that such a lush and verdant region existed in the hill country between the Central Valley and the coast. There was a pastoral magic in the air. Nearly every twist and turn in the road presented a view that seemed to say, ‘Yes, it’s that’s beautiful here. Don’t you wish this was where you lived?’ “In fact, I lived in Chico, CA with my late husband, the marine artist David Thimgin. He and I would always make painting trips from our home in Chico to the coast via the main highways. One mid-summer day, I was driving back and decided we would go a different route. That decision was one of the best I made in my life, it opened a whole new world to me.
“I grew up in farm country back East and never encountered anything like it in the areas of California I had visited. I missed the sense of a personal connection that the small farms and communities had to the land they cultivated. And here, in the Alexander Valley, I discovered it again. Added to all this beauty ¯they were growing grapes for wine!”
Vineyard Before the Harvest is a stunning wine country panorama presented as a 48" x 19" MasterWork™ Fine Art Canvas. The edition is set at 45 pieces. Hang this exquisite work of art in your dining room and you’ll be able to savor the brilliance an Alexander Valley summer day, every day, wherever your home may be.