When winning tastes oh so sweet

Portrait artist Sheyenne Wiggins received national recognition when she learned that she had won the second annual Duplin Winery label contest for its 2009 limited release “Sweet Caroline.”

The mildly sweet red wine is produced by the Duplin Winery of Rose Hill, N.C., owned and operated by the Fussell family. The winery is the largest in the South and maker of America’s Muscadine wines. The national wine label contest was announced earlier this year and conducted online with public participation in the selection of the five finalists.

“I worked on it every Wednesday at the Senior Citizens Center where all my fellow artists got to see it,” said Wiggins. “I originally wanted a woman with a big hat, but she is a compilation of several pictures I found.”

Wiggins submitted her work online to the winery on the last day allowed. Out of 20 art submissions nationwide, Wiggins became one of the five finalists. Her original artwork was matted by the Mitre’s Touch Gallery and shipped to the winery.

The Fussell family made the final choice, and about a month later, Wiggins received a letter from Jonathan Fussell stating that she was the winner.

“I feel really comfortable having my artwork on their bottles because they are a good company,” said Wiggins. “They were just recognized as the recipient of two national brand growth awards: the Impact Hot Brand award and the Beverage Dynamics Fast Track award.”

With the letter Wiggins received, the winery enclosed a check for $500 and a promised shipment of a case of Sweet Caroline, which arrived July 27. Wiggins was also awarded a four-year membership to their Heritage Club, which will ship four bottles of Duplin wine to her every three months. In addition she was given four tickets to their Grape Stomp in September.

Wiggins’ portrait of a young southern woman with captivating green eyes and subtly pursed, purple lips wearing a large floppy-brim sun hat was inspired, in part, by the music Wiggins played while painting.

“The song gets me to feel how I want the portrait to make others feel,” she said. “The two songs I used for this portrait were ‘Don’t Cry for Me Argentina’ and ‘Alegria,’ which is about happiness and love. Sweet Caroline has a story, and I want people to pause long enough to find out what it is.”

Wiggins began drawing when she was old enough to hold a pencil. Faces intrigued her, and throughout high school she persisted in her desire to paint portraits. Although she is mostly self-taught, she learned some useful shading and blending techniques from EOU student teachers like Olivia Slippy, who worked in Mike Schireman’s art class at La Grande High School where Wiggins attended. 

“I started working on portraits because I’ve always liked drawing people,” said Wiggins. “I started with just half a face first and eventually did both sides of a face. Even when I was supposed to create a sculpture in class, I did faces.”

Her original portrait for the Sweet Caroline label is framed and hanging proudly on the wall above the wine display at the Duplin Winery store, said Jonathan Fussell. “And the comments are glowing.”

The winery expects to sell a few hundred thousand bottles of Sweet Caroline this year.

More of Wiggin’s portraits can be seen at http://artgirl1028.sumopaint.com.