New Exhibition and New Paintings

Human interaction with the environment is complex. From the needs of hunters and gatherers to the current obsession with recycling and global warming prevention, the land has not only been a stage where we act out our daily roles, but an intimate part of our lives. Jaq enjoys the excitement of travelling around Europe, the Mediterranean and America, where she gathers much of her inspiration from the mountains, the oceans and fields. Returning to London, it is the familiar landmarks that immediately bring a feeling of home. In that same way, we all look to well-known landscapes for comfort and unfamiliar environments for adventure.

Jaq expresses her interest in the interaction of the human mind and our surroundings with her series “Searching for a Skyline.” Instead of focusing on a literal depiction of landscapes she encounters in her travels, she zeros in on the abstract emotions and memories that these places evoke.

The most recent and most abstract work to enter this series,'Secret Weapon' and 'A Walk Down Park Avenue', are displayed in the window of Jiq Jaq Gallery, and the rest of the collection is available to view on the ground floor.

Downstairs, the exhibition veers away from landscapes and focuses on the human side with some figurative pieces from Jaq's Rococo collection. The women in these paintings are daydreaming, looking away from the viewer. They are deep in thought, perhaps longing for loved ones far away. Upstairs hangs a painting of a simple bridge stretching over a body of water, a connection between two lands and possibly the subject of these daydreams. The title of the painting is 'Between Us'. Another is of a sunrise. These illustrate the way land dictates our relationships, nudging us closer or splitting us apart.

'Secret Weapon' and 'A Walk Down Park Avenue' edge toward a brand new collection called “An Ideal Place”. A tiny canvas, 20cm by 20cm, a teaser of this collection, is on display now. There are 15 other canvases already painted waiting to be unveiled in the near future. While the landscapes in “Searching for a Skyline” are vaguely recognisable as mountains or glaciers or oceans, “An Ideal Place” takes the abstraction one step further to give the viewer just a sense of a place. This is achieved through the abstract application of bold and neutral colour and layers of texture.

But the most unique aspect of 'An Ideal Place' is the variation in canvas size. While they clearly represent the same series, the 20cm x 20cm 'A Fragment of a memory' is tiny in comparison to the three 183cm x 137cm canvases that comprise the triptych 'Perfect Moments Do Exist I, II and III'.

Enjoy 'Searching for a Skyline' and 'Rococo' now and look for “An Ideal Place” at Jiq Jaq Gallery at the next change of exhibition (date to be decided). For further information, visit http://www.jiqjaq.com/.
Jaq has also completed three new paintings to continue her "An Ideal Place" series posted in the last entry.

Street Sleep Walking

Confetti Salami

Jumping Over

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.