Two art benches land at same location

Fast forward from Nov. 2, 2019, when the "Take A Seat" art bench auction was held at Vince Ross Village Square, the artists who painted their creations and the buyers who lovingly placed them in their yards said they have found it a challenge to stay healthy and positive.

The art bench auction was started to raise funds to support Save Our Forest's environmental education programs through chair Jackie Heyneman and retired Fallbrook elementary school teacher Jean Dooley who, along with volunteers, worked with children at the schools. The coronavirus pandemic has brought the education program to a halt.

This month features two artists whose benches have both found a home at D'Vine Path Vineyards. I visited D'Vine Path to see the locations where these colorful gift benches have been placed in the beautiful landscape at Batali Ranch. The benches were painted by BJ Lane and Joel Anderson and now provide respite for visitors and students alike.

The farm grows flowers, such as protea, and other crops, and it is their second year of growing wine grapes. The farm serves as training grounds for students of D'Vine Path, and they will begin growing produce for the Fallbrook Food Pantry.

One bench has not yet been permanently placed, because the bench inspired the owners to make a physical transformation to D'Vine Path's entry and doorway. For BJ Lane's double-sided beauty, a brand-new entrance is being created around the bench – where both sides can be viewed, so visitors will be happily greeted and visually treated whether they are coming or going.

Lenila Batali said she just knew she had to share both sides of the bench, so why not make a new doorway to accommodate the colors of a sunset and a big red car?

"We wanted to brighten our entryway anyway and it forced me into making it come true," she said.

Photos of the new entrance will be printed in the Village News when it is done.

Lane's and Anderson's lives have both changed since the November auction. Lane's daughter Tammy was not able to attend a special state program through TERI and The Regional Center, thus requiring her mother to regroup her professional art life to focus all her energy on her cognitively challenged, 29-year-old daughter, Tammy Lane.

After a roof collapse of her art studio following an earthquake, Lane jumped into her daughter's care with both feet, involving Tammy Lane in an art project using a long roll of butcher block paper as a daily journal. Also, the duo played the piano together daily with Tammy Lane joining in free form. BJ Lane retained respite services to help out, so she could handle family food shopping.

But the stay at home orders have brought changes for Tammy Lane too. Once BJ Lane began the journaling project with her daughter, she said it helped bridge a gap, but Tammy Lane understandably missed her friends and teachers at the work center, working at the gift shop and the daily excursions which she so enjoyed.

BJ Lane completed book, "Memoirs of the Heart," which includes daily gratitude sayings interspersed with her artwork. She said this project has helped her get through the many changes but she said she wishes one day to have things back to normal for both her and her daughter.

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Joel Anderson, on the other hand, has been busy illustrating two children's books, had his work displayed at the Village News office on Alvarado Street and began a line of sewing fun, making surgical caps for Scripps Mercy Hospital Chula Vista and a pastoral counselor there. He has also been attending class and social groups on Zoom at D'Vine Path.

Recently, Anderson won first place in the Fallbrook Art Association Exhibit for his painting of a seal that is now on exhibit at The Gallery at the corner of W. Hawthorne Street and N. Main Avenue where children's masks are also for sale Friday and Saturday from 3-7 p.m. until the end of the year.

Anderson's bench harkens the upcoming D'Vine Path Vineyard harvest. Usually the vineyard hosts a gala to celebrate the completion of the growing season in September or October at which time students will have another design contest.

Anderson's bench is available for visitors to "sit a spell" and gaze across the eastern view of the ranch. Each bench was a labor of love to create and a gift from the heart of each artist.