Icons of Champagne | Heritage & Endurance

Original, Ink on Cotton Rag (2022–2023)

Following the completion of my horology works, I wanted to test my pen against another discipline defined by centuries of patience and lineage: the historic champagne houses of France. My research into cinematic provenance and the world of James Bond led me directly to Bollinger. Combined with a personal appreciation for the craft of winemaking, the ambition took hold: a monumental five-part suite of 100cm × 150cm ink drawings celebrating the world's most storied houses, alongside an exhaustive video documentary archive.

Translating the dense optical weight of antique glass, foil textures, and liquid reflections across 1.5-metre sheets proved unforgiving. Between my demanding commercial career and the relentless physical strain of laying millions of repetitive micro-strokes across cotton rag, the work demanded more than anticipated. Complications from an old car injury flared up, and my joints could no longer support the physical toll of continuous monumental drafting.

Stepping away from the easel and placing the project on hold for an entire year was one of the most sobering decisions of my practice. Yet it instilled a fundamental truth of the medium: you cannot rush the ink, and you cannot negotiate with the body. While the broader five-piece series remains on indefinite pause, the two masterworks completed before the silence—Bollinger and Dom Pérignon—stand as a testament to pure physical and technical endurance.

Artwork Specifications:

• Type: One of a kind original master drawings (Signed & dated)

• Medium: Archival pigment fineliners on premium 640gsm Arches Rough cotton rag

• Dimensions: 100cm × 150cm each (Paper size) | Custom conservation framing

• Availability:

  Bollinger: Available for private or institutional acquisition (Framed)

  Dom Pérignon: Acquired — Private Collection

  • Series Status: Paused / Strictly limited to two original masterworks worldwide