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I live and work in the Napa Valley. We grow cabernet sauvignon and watch the seasons change via the color of our grape vines more than through the leaves on the trees. We experience each season, even the white of winter. But light is the inspiration for art in the valley -- it is unsual, vivid, yet subtle regardless of season. The vineyards, hills, live and valley oaks, eucalyptus, rock outcroppings, creeks, rivers, and mountains that surround us create a never ending pallet to color one's creativity. Oaks are the masters of our hillocks. They grow in clusters like weeds and shade our hilltops and valley floors. Live oaks shed like a black lab all year, but never lose their blackish green coat. Their taller cousin, the Valley Oak, reaches towards the sky with its leafy seasonal shroud, then becomes oak’s naked kin for a third of each year. Meanwhile the eucalyptus invaders stand by to watch the shifts in oak foliage, constantly in an undressing mode regardless of the season.
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