Mary Lou Zeek Gallery

Art Cruiser

It's always fun walking or riding a bike on the same
street you drive over each day...you see things a bit
differently.

We find the time to look up and down and see things
up close and personal!

We can discover architecture, beautiful gardens,
chalk drawings on a sidewalk or a mosaic wall,
all the same things that whiz by us when driving in
a car.

Try it...and enjoy the last days of summer.

Fall Nesting

At our home, Fall brings us inside with restful times
by the fireplace. I also find myself rearranging the
art andrediscovering the stories of each piece.

Could this be Art nesting?

I find myself recalling little bits about the art and I
savorthe depth of knowing "the story or history".
This makeseach piece special and I never grow
tired of this yearlyprocess. It's like being reacquainted
with old friends.

Do you know your art? or it's "Art History"?
Being in my business, it's important for me to know
aboutmy artists and their processes.

When visiting artists or going to gallery shows, I find
myself looking at a piece of art and knowing that I
can't walk awaywithout wanting to know more. I love
the "arts history".

For me, it's important to know the who, what, when,
where and why of each piece of art. Knowing this
gives a much deepermeaning to all the pieces that
hang on my walls...it's not just apainting with layers
of color, it contains layers of content.

Take a peek at my walls

The art that hangs at my home has an "art history"
that means so much more than "matching the decor".
Knowing about the artist and their process engages
me to fall in love with each piece again and again.

This is a door from our Door Show by Jed Thomas.
I'm greeted each day by this larger than life artwork
when walking into my kitchen. I can remember the
first time I saw it.

A special painting by Anna McGruder, a meaningful
interpretation from a black and white photo of my
mother and sister.

I can't get enough of the talented Bill Skrips and his
unique wooden sculptures, they hang in multiple
locations throughout house.
I met Bill while visiting in Philadelphia and to this day
consider him a dear friend.

One of my favorite ceramic sculptures is by Marlene
Miller. I was told that this piece resembled Marlene's
aunt who slaughtered chickens.

This piece is always a conversation starter.

Emily Stuart's found object sculpture adds color and
texture to our wall. The red foundry piece was given
to Emily as her starting point when making this piece
that was in our "Industrial Objects" show.

One of our first art purchases was this piece by Claudia
Cave. I still love it to this day and have remained good
friends with this talented lady.

On our table and on our walls are the cheerful ceramic
artworks by Kim Murton. The first time she brought
artwork to the gallery, her son cried and didn't want
her to leave them with me. He's now in high school.
Time passes.

Studio Time

Kri Kri Studio

(Kristin Nelson)

Visiting a potter's studio always makes my heart race
a few beats faster than usual. I can smell the clay and
the dampness of the unfinished pots on the shelves,
I find myself coveting the colorful glazes and then
picking up each pot for examination. I'm in a time warp.

I remember my studio days.

I peek into the kilns and pick up each piece to look
at the construction...are the walls even, would this
be a good drinking cup?
Thirty years of living and breathing in my ceramic
studio and being away from clay for 10 more years,
walking into Kristin's studio flooded my memory.
It felt like it was just yesterday. Thank you Kristin.

Kristin's studio is situated in an old house in Seattle.
The studio was perfect.

Tables full of ware

Stacked shevles

Colorful glazes

Loaded kilns

Wide open space for working

Little details that make this home a working studio.

Meet Katherine Mead

a seamless walk from her home to her studio.

With her roots in an architectural background,
Katherine works with graphic blocks of color,
collages and layers of mostly found paper and
materials. She is recycling in it's highest form.