Simple Kitchen Beauty

Kay Jackson Paintings

Here are 2 paintings by Kay Jackson, a very talented artist who visits Maine to see friends but lives in the Washington DC area. What makes Kay's work unique is that she often uses gold leaf as a base layer to her work. The bright color of that material gives her nocturne painting series a lovely glowing interior light.

Both these works are 15" x 19" and  priced at $2500 each.

Window With Vase

                                                                                 Balcony

Meet The Zieglers

Say hello to Henry and Jourdan Ziegler. Please be aware that they do not live a life that remotely resembles yours and read on.

Henry, before he stopped working, was responsible for the “care and feeding of the ultra rich”. As a partner in the prestigious law firm of Sherman and Sterling headquartered in New York City, he looked after the legal affairs of extremely rich clients all over the globe. In his last stint in the workaday world he was the CEO of the American office of Deutsch Bank. To say that he was well connected globally, working like hell and very  wealthy himself would be an understatement.

Jourdan Arpelle-Ziegler has had an active art career in the Big Apple and Germany. (see www.jourdanarpelle.com) She painted, she sculpted, she made prints. To say she was engaged with her career and working like hell would also be an understatement. 

It happened in 2007. On May 4th to be exact. They quit. Not like play-golf quit or take-up-bridge quit. QUIT! Sold-the-house quit. Gave-their-car-to-his-son quit. Stored-the-bulk-of-their-clothes quit. And just took off.

They spent a month decompressing, doing yoga in an ashram in western Massachusetts and then they stuffed what they had left of their clothes into a Tumi satchel (one each), a back pack (one each), a carry-on bag (one each) and left their old lives behind. They had no place to return to and were not even sure where they would go next. They just went. As Henry put it, “We went from career to creative self.”

A few facts about their life currently. They maintain a legal address and a manned mail drop in New York City. They keep the clothes they are not using in an on-line “closet” called www.garderobeonline.com. When the Zeiglers go to a different climate they send back the stuff from their Tumi satchels they no longer need and get sent the things they intend to use for whatever new temperature zone they will be in next.

So far they have crossed the United States, traversed Asia and flown around the world, stopping where the spirit moves them.  

This nomadic duo has been doing this for three years so far.  They have no idea when they will stop. Their blog is www.jaztravelweb.com.

Henry misses playing the piano. Jourdan, content for now, occasionally dreams about walk-in closets.

Gold Leaf Icons

There is a lady from Washington DC who does lovely homages out of embossed gold leaf commemorating the endangered species of this planet. I am thinking of showing these works next season.

I Like This Photograph of Boston

It's hard for me to take photographs in a city that don't look "touristy". A building, a statue, a garden might be interesting in and of itself but the image stops there. It doesn't speak to the greater urban context it which the subject is found.

This photograph of the reflecting surface of the John Hancock tower was taken from the front edge of Trinity Church looking across the street that runs in front of the Copley Square Hotel. The street light, window grids and one-way sign give an urban angularity to the shot while the facade of the church and the wavy reflections of the buildings along Boylston Street give clues to where you are.

"Loose Rung Ladder Man" A mataphor of our times

Whimsy can carry a serious message. A case in point is the most recent work of the Belfast artist Harvey Peterson. In today's fast-paced confusing world, ladders to "success" often have loose rungs that bring down careless climbers. The celebrity ladder comes to mind.

Sunday Summer Window

The gallery is closed today and the national heat wave continues. In the "old" days Maine very rarely got this hot. Climate change is not an abstract concept anymore. 

 We had nice morning breakfast downtown with my niece Terry and her husband Tim. Terry is working hard to complete some courses prior to enrolling in a Wellesley College degree program for older folks. I am very proud of her. Tim has got a good job with the medical technology giant Fresenius and he fully supports having his wife go back to college.

A couple of fans of Carol Rowan came by and I opened the gallery briefly for them. But today is a day of rest and Sarah and I took off to Searsport to see the show at the Marine Museum. Nice bus man's holiday.