North Bay winery installs bold sculpture inspired by destructive 2019 wildfire
HEALDSBURG -- Sometimes, it just takes some time for the seeds of recovery to bear fruit.
That's one of the hard-earned lessons people living in Sonoma County have learned in the years since the devastating Kincade Fire in 2019.
"I was just in shock and agony," said Ken Wilson, owner of the Soda Rock Winery, upon learning that his beloved Alexander Valley winery had burned to the ground four years ago.
Soda Rock was spared the fire's initial onslaught but, four days into the firefight, the wind kicked up and the fire escaped, raining embers on homes and businesses and vineyards across Alexander Valley.
"We did our best but we were outmatched," said Cal Fire Battalion Chief Marshall Turbeville. Bat. Chief Turbeville and his team had spent the preceding 24 hours building containment lines aimed at stopping or at least slowing the fire. Mother Nature had a different plan.
By daylight of the following day, little was left of Ken's beautiful winery. At Soda Rock, only three things survived the blaze: the stone facade of the main building, a barn used for wine tastings and other special occasions and the towering metal sculpture affectionately known as "Lord Snort," which depicted an oversize wild boar -- the work of artist Bryan Tedrick.
Tedrick and Wilson were friends and frequent collaborators. Wilson's wineries were home to two Tedrick sculptures -- "Lord Snort" and "Coyote' at the Wilson Winery in Healdsburg.
Once the smoke cleared, Wilson called Tedrick to pitch an idea.
"These girders, in the intense heat, twisted -- just went into these weird shapes," Wilson said. "I think that would be quite intriguing to have the old and show that it endured a catastrophe and yet here is the rebirth."
Wilson had already commissioned a new sculpture from Tedrick even before the Soda Rock Fire. But salvaged material from Soda Rock became a foundation of the new work.
"I just incorporated about three or four feet of an old I-beam into the ankle area. Just to make that connection with Soda Rock," Tedrick said.
What eventually emerged from Tedrick's studio was a towering, 28-foot-tall behemoth -- a bear rising up to its full, fearsome height on its hind legs.
The "Big, Bad Bear" now greeted visitors to Wilson's winery at St. Anne's Crossing. It is a creature of fire and flame in both creation and inspiration.
And, after everything that we've lost in the fires of recent years, we have also now gained a fierce new symbol of recovery. The fresh, if unexpected fruit, of a bitter harvest of ember and ash.