Queen’s University fine art student Kelly Baskin is making her mark in the art world thanks to Magnotta Winery. The Vaughan-based winery selected her artwork to grace the label of an upcoming bottle of Cabernet.

“I really entered this contest because there was no fee,” says Ms. Baskin (BFA’17) with a laugh. “It was also a great opportunity to get my work out there, to get it noticed. At the announcement there were a number of local artists I was able to connect with. I was also able to mingle with the other artists and experience their work.”

Ms. Baskin developed her five-foot by six-foot oil painting with a theme of “significance in a room. It’s about a feeling and an energy that carries a certain vibration and resonance that exists beneath the visible layer. A feeling of everything being more tense, more still, more heavy, with nothing to see - which ultimately fit perfectly with the description of the wine being full-bodied, dark, intense and off-dry.

For the first round, she submitted a photo of the piece and was short-listed with nine other artists for the final.

“I had to take my piece to the winery for the winery’s annual Underground Cellar Event,” she explained. “Being a student, I couldn’t afford to ship it so I drove it there in my truck and carried it in. It was the biggest piece in the room.”

As a reward for her efforts, Magnotta Winery purchased her work for $2,500. Magnotta is the only Canadian winery that owns a private fine art collection and reproduces an original piece of art on each of its labels to distinguish its more than 180 wines. The piece will remain in their permanent collection until it’s used for the label of their next bottle of red wine.

“The recognition for me was huge,” says Ms. Baskin. “I’m very passionate about my work and this shows that others also appreciate my work.”

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