Revisiting....

businesses who have invested in art just makes a girl happy. We installed these pieces 5 years ago and they look stunning!

Thank you Tim and Karen Hensley for investing and believing that art can make a difference in commercial buildings. Stop by and see this for yourself, it's in the hallway and stairwell at the Mission Oaks building (corner of Mission and 12th Street, Salem, OR.).

Kristin Kuhns


Paul Strauch


Jon Jay Cruson


Pat Horsley


and Jed Thomas

New Baby!

Kim Hamblin (amazing artist at our gallery) just brought in her latest creation...... her new baby! Welcome to this crazy world of artists!

Roving Roz....

our traveling "art correspondent" traveled to Seattle this weekend. She always sends me fun shots of what she sees when out of town.
We wanted to share a few of her shots.
A interesting table....rubberbands or colored string?


Artful food...yummy rubarb sorbet with ground peanut butter.


Did we mention that Roz LOVES boots? I think she was stalking these...


and of course...our Roz in front of the "gum wall".

We believe that openings CAN be fun...

and lively. Last evening at our First Wednesday, we heard that a neighboring business was planning their "Grand Opening" WITH COTTON CANDY!!!!
Now who can't resists this? We couldn't!
Welcome Hot Mess Boutique to State Street, what a great addition. Stop in and meet Kasheral!

Tina enjoying her cotton candy in front of Alison O'Donoghue's fabulous painting!


Of course I couldn't resist a bit of this pink fluffy stuff. (Kim Hamblin's art behind me).

Close-up and personal...

is something that needs to happen when viewing Doug Dacar's new show at the gallery. I feel that for one to REALLY appreciate an artists work is 1.... to know the artist, 2.....to understand how they work, and 3.....learn a bit of history of their past works.
With this show, I do believe one can spend hours looking at the layers of color, texture and mediums he uses to create this body of work. Love, love, love it.
Come on in and take a close look...we promise to not get too personal.


Airplane....ceramic


looking close in....

Art can be anywhere...

I carry my camera with me everywhere and take shots daily. Art surrounds us...some good.

some playful....


some will make a statement...


some arrange to make an art statement...
.

while others make you go huh?????


I'm happy to see it all.

Sue-Del McCulloch is amazing....

and this painting proves my point.

We hung this painting by Sue-Del in Waterplace....downtown Salem. Just stunning.

Combined efforts...

Recently my dear friend Kristin's father passed away after a long illness.
I was fortunate enough to have been asked to throw the cremation urn for the burial. My friend Kristin then took the leather hard piece and carved a tribute to her father. He worked many years for the Department of Forestry and had a passion for native american lore. The lid was then turned from old growth by Kristin's brother and the beautiful woven piece underneath was woven by Kristin's mom.
There was such peace throughout the project, passing from one hand to another, a tribute to a special father and husband.

It's a sad day at our house....

Today we had to put our sweet little Cooper dog to sleep. He's been with us and our family for 16 years...many happy memories with this little guy.
A crazy dog that ate birthday cakes, could grab a sandwich out of your hand and gobble it up before you even knew it was gone. He will be missed by his little friends Gramps, Maddie, Thor, Porkchop and T-bone.
Good bye Coopie.

You've got to see this movie...

I will never look at my trash the same way after viewing the documentary titled "Waste Land".


The renowned artist Vik Muniz embarks on one of the most inspired collaborations of his career, joining creative forces with Brazilian catadores -- garbage pickers who mine treasure from the trash heaps of Rio de Janeiro's Jardim Gramacho landfill. In this Oscar-nominated documentary, the catadores prove to be unique and surprising individuals in their own right, waxing philosophic as they impart a valuable lesson about what society discards.
This is one of the best documentaries I've ever seen....and yes...I did cry with joy to know that many artists that I meet each day have these same characteristics.

Birthday time for Tina

Tina works at the gallery and today and we celebrated. Candles with wishes,


Crazy birthday hats,


wonderful food,


good friends,


What a great day.

Plate it Up book is done!!!!!

I just finished our Plate it Up book which shows all the artists involved. Although it is published...I'm now waiting on my sample copy to check if there are any mistakes. Keep your fingers crossed.
If you'd like, click onto the book icon and it will take you directly to the online book. You can then "preview" the entire book before ordering. I'm excited! 154 pages of wonderful art.
The price is what Blurb lists it at and I have not added anything to their price. I'll let you know just as soon as I get my book!
As for now...you can look online.

Plate It Up 10...

Ceramics for CERF+

By Mary Lou Zeek

Book Preview

Plate it Up...First round.

We closed our bidding on numbers 1-45 and the bidding was brisk and fun. People were having a great time watching others "sneak" around to make quiet bids on their favorite plates.

Here is one of our favorites by Kate Speckman...the lucky winner was Rich Harcourt!

Remember.... bidding continues with the next round of numbers 46-90 ending the 18th of February. Hope to see you soon!

Ask US about CERF+.....

Last night was the opening of Plate It Up! We had a great time showing off all the wonderful contributions by artists from across the U.S....wow was the comment of the night.


Our table was set....


and Tina explained the bidding process.


We had visiting artists who were part of the show....
Anna VonRosenstiel and her new little one


Elizabeth Bauman...


Chris Giffin visiting with my husband Alan...


Don Hall came up for the show from California...wow


Robert Schlegel and Alan inspect the new remodel (Robert's Cow painting on wall)


We now have 39 people actively bidding on the plates and hope to have many more throughout the month. Give us a call to place a bid...we can't wait to hear from you.

What a whirlwind of a month...

We started on the 26th of December and finally finished with our remodel over the weekend. To top things off, we were also setting up our Plate it Up show which will start tomorrow.

Here is a look at the inside space.


We finally took the paper from the front windows and felt so refreshed...after one month, we got to see the light of day.


I had to take this shot from the upstairs office.


Friday night I celebrated a long month of work and went out with the neighborhood girls. We had a great time relaxing, visiting and discussing "fun times" in the hood. We decided to place a few "partial bodies" around for some fun and late night pranks!


Sunday...I saved a day just for me and another friend. We took a fantastic class up in Portland and learned how to make desserts from felted wool. I was able to finally spend a day doing something besides gallery business. This doesn't happen very often so I really relished in this pleasure....Here is my cupcake.


Hope to see you all at the gallery!
Mary Lou

Our remodel....

is nearing completion. We've moved everything out, repainted all the walls and redesigned the interior...on top of all of this we've been receiving 6 to 8 boxes a day for our Plate it Up show! Did I mention anything about " packing peanut hell"?

We are so excited and can't wait to reopen with our fresh look! We plan to rehang the gallery in the next few days and then will focus on hanging the Plate it up show...which is going to be GREAT! Watch for the upcoming plates on the website!


Of course....Cooper has the perfect life in front of our fire this morning. Lucky dog.

Plates are landing at the Mary Lou Zeek Gallery!

AND.......we are jumping up and down with excitment! Our "Plate it Up" show is off to a great start! Ceramic artists are sending plates from all across the United States...all in support of CERF+ (Craft Emergency Relief Fund).
We will begin photographing all of them in the next week and will post them online for everyone to see. Here is a sneak peak at a few of the plates that will be in the show and part of the silent auction.
Take a look.

Kim Murton


Joseph Pintz


Robin Slakey


John Gumaelius