Happy Birthday, Jaq!

Yesterday, Jaq celebrated her birthday, but like any true lady, she will never reveal her age.

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She invited me over to her gorgeous home for a delicious glass of wine with a few of her closest (and well-dressed) friends and family. Conversation flowed mainly around art and culture.

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Jaq brought up an interesting discussion she had the other day about Mark Rothko's work now being categorised by critics as “landscape” rather than the former “abstract expressionism.” Personally, I still think abstract expressionism most accurately describes his work, but then its really just a label. One of Jaq's friends said she could see the critic's point as Rothko's work is rectilinear in nature.

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From there, we talked about metaphysics, operas, plays and the pizza in Verona, as well as the mutual chocolate obsession shared among a few of us.

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At one point, the conversation turned to classical music, namely Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde – Prelund Liebestod, which Jaq described as a musical orgasm. And from there, led to Schubert and the beauty in his music, especially right before his death at the young age of 31, six years after he was diagnosed with syphilis.

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Another of Jaq's guests pointed out that Schubert was not especially attractive to the ladies of his time. He was even called “The Little Mushroom” as he was shorter than 5'2 and apparently quite rotund.
This brought out the philosophical question of, “Do you think it's possible for true beauty to be the creative output of a person with a destructive personality?”

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And speaking of creative output, (though far from a destructive personality) Jaq led me upstairs to her studio at one point. She's currently working on three very large (taller than me) canvasses simultaneously. Each is in a different stage at the moment, layers of paint drying.

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They are ethereal, whispy, off-white, bits of blue. She said they reminded her of a tiny fragment of cells on a slide under a microscope, magnified about 300,000 times their size.

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By the way, the view from her studio is gorgeous and inspiring, in case you were wondering. She said the room was built for an artist before.

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In other news, I've entered Jaq's painting La Fille des Feuilles into the Saatchi Showdown. Because, well, why not? Voting begins April 2. Nothing will probably come of it, but as it's free, I thought we should give it a go. Stop by to vote if it's April 2 or later http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/showdown/index.php?showpic=13283. If it's before that, enter your own work!

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Look for a blog post by Jaq herself over the weekend.

~Posted by Steph~

The Mystery of a Geisha

From the OUT OF THE ORIENT collection
The Golden Geisha

(Fine Art Offset Lithograph Print: 28" x 20")

Golden kimono
a mystical illumination
in the evening's attempt to
burn off the scorching daylight hours
an oil spill of colours painted on a canvas sky

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Floating
her body drifts through
trees with whispering branches
as if she were riding the leisurely current of a stream

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She moves as a geisha must with elegance and grace
an entertainer, an icon of mystery
contemplating her affairs
dreaming

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Keeper of secrets that slip like silk through her ears
a woman whose emotions must always be
wrapped in layers like her skin
swathed neatly in a
golden kimono

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Note: All OUT OF THE ORIENT prints purchased include a complimentary copy of Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha.

Prints have made Jaq's artwork more accessible, especially to her younger audience who are often looking to decorate the walls of a new flat.

The OUT OF THE ORIENT collection is meant to reflect the Japanese values of serenity and meditation to set off a calm aura in a room.

Filling a Blank Slate

As a writer, my memories are recalled through strings of carefully constructed sentences, with details flowing in the form of metaphors and descriptions of taste and smell.

As an artist, Jaq sees the world differently. Her thoughts are constructed in images. Her memories are recalled in shape, form, colour and texture.
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To me, each day begins as a blank page; to her, a blank canvas.

One month ago, she took me on as her marketing executive, a position that allows me to be surrounded by beauty and creativity, to write, and to put the degree I earned in my home of New York to good use.

This blog will give an account of my experience working with Jaq and will share her experiences as an established painter in London, a city I have fallen in love with for its history, art, culture and lifestyle.

Just as I have often been inspired by my travels to write, Jaq has been inspired by her own to paint. One of her newest collections is called SOLANO, which is composed of abstract landscapes rich in the vivid colours and defining texture that are the key elements of her unique style.

Red mountain is the largest in this collection measuring 48" x 41". It is currently hanging on the wall in the lower level of Jiq Jaq Art Gallery in Hampstead, awakening the senses of its viewers with beautiful streaks of gold strewn across the deep reds in the foreground and textured paint that imitates the rugged face of the mountain's terrain.

One of the pieces in this collection that has been commented on most often at the gallery is called Mirage. It was inspired by a trip Jaq took to Northern Africa, by the idea of a mirage in the desert and the stirring of dust that blurs the landscape.

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Forest goes back to the beginning of this post, to different ways of seeing the world. A forest to one person may not be the same as a forest to another person just as an ocean may not appear to be the same for everyone standing on the same shore. This painting illustrates the unique perspective of an artist whose forest is characterised by colours blending and colliding amongst the wavering lines of abstract tree trunks and branches.

To see the rest of the SOLANO collection, click here and watch this blog space for some insight on the life of a successful painter and those who observe her.