Jane Seymour art NY Art Expo 2002 (By Mary Ann Marino) The moment I learned Jane would be one of the featured artists at the NY Artexpo; I was faced with one burning question. Should someone with NO sense of direction at all take a 4 1/2-hour bus trip from Boston to a city she knew absolutely nothing about and risk finding herself totally lost there perhaps,indefinitely? Deciding that this was not a pleasant scenario, I posted an invitation on the Dr Quinn List to anyone interested in accompanying me to the exhibit (or rather keeping me from wandering around New York City lost the entire weekend) and mercifully, some friends of mine came to my rescue. So at 7 AM on March 3rd I boarded a bus headed for New York City and Jane. I had met Jane on several occasions before, at Paramount Ranch, at Star Week, where I had given a speech at her Walk of Fame reception, at a book signing, and last year in Montreal when she had graciously allowed me to interview herfor the DQ times. This though, would be my first time meeting Jane, the ‘artist’ When we arrived at the center the first thing we noticed was a bulletin at the ticket booth inviting attendees to come meet ‘Film, Stage and Screen star Jane Seymour in person.’ So far so good- she was here and so were we! Her booth was at the back of the auditorium; in fact, one could almost have missed it had it not been for a video playing in front of it of her discussing her art. We didn’t even realize she was there at first as she sort of slipped into the booth without us even realizing it. One minute she wasn’t there and the next she was! I had forgotten how incredibly beautiful this woman is in person! With hair down, dressed in a long sleeved white sweater and black pants and a beautiful scarf from her own signature collection draped over her shoulders, she looked barely 40. I hadn’t really expected Jane to remember me. (After all it had been a year) but to my unexpected delight, she greeted me with pleased astonishment and a warm embrace. She then proceeded to introduce me and my fellow companions to Susan, of Titus Fine Art as “friends’ of hers, an appellation that stunned yet pleased us enormously. She couldn’t have been warmer or more gracious as she proceeded to personally guide us through her paintings, stopping to answer questions and to ask us what our favorites were.. Some of the paintings on display I had seen on television but never in real life. The painting of Johnny in a fireman's outfit, the sadness in his eyes seeming to reflect the sadness of the world on September 11th was even more haunting in person. I asked her if that particular image had been inspired by a photograph I had once seen of Johnny that had been taken on the Dr Quinn set, and Jane confirmed that it was. There was also, among other previous works such as her hibiscus, a charming portrait of a little girl in a red, white and blue striped bathing suit on a beach frolicking in the surf entitled simply "Freedom " which I believe was done right after the World Trade Center bombing. The paintings, which formed the heart of her exhibit though, were the ones inspired by her trip to Giverny. These were a variety of muted pastels painted in a style reminiscent of Monet, each more lovely and extraordinary then the next. Two of these had claimed my attention the minute I entered the booth. One a charming pastel of a woman with long hair and a floppy white hat strolling through a beautiful garden, the other, almost haunting, of a woman hair pinned up, dressed in typical 19th century garb, gazing out while standing on a footbridge. When I remarked that the women in the paintings reminded me of her, especially the one with the long hair, Jane confirmed that she had indeed painted herself into the images, although she had deliberately not given the women in the paintings her actual features, wanting them to be representative of how a woman from that time might have appeared within the context of Monet’s garden. Later after we had marveled at all her paintings and were discussing her new clothing line, Jane brought out one of the scarves from her new signature collection being offered at crossingpointe.com. It is a lovely reproduction of one of her floral paintings in muted shades of violet and pink.I asked if it was available as a poster and she said that unfortunately it wasn't but that one could certainly frame it as if it were a painting, which I thought a lovely idea. Visitors to the booth came in waves and Jane moved back and forth patiently showing her works, signing posters and posing for pictures, seeming not to mind in the least that we were sort of “hovering’ in the vicinity and not actually “paying customers,” as we jokingly referred to those fortunate enough to be able to purchase her art. During down time, we discussed upcoming art exhibits, (To my delight, she informed me that Boston, though as yet unconfirmed, was among the cities she would be visiting) her recent movie Touching Wild Horses,her signature collection, James’s Mom’s on Strike, the upcoming DQ times dinner, and the possibility of a future series. When one of may companions asked about the possibility of a joint project with Joe Lando, Jane smiled and replied that they were constantly looking. At 3:30 we traipsed downstairs where Jane was showing a movie on her recent trip to Giverny, Journey to Impressionism (see highlights from the film) (The one playing at her booth) She had taken it upon herself to work the DVD player and we laughed with her as she fought with the remote first to get it to run the movie (the one playing at her booth) and later at her plaintive plea to “PLEASE STOP” at the end when it indicated a desire to rerun the film! The movie, approximately 20 minutes long, is an exquisite documentary created by Jane and James, almost a visual journal, of Jane’sexperience painting in Giverny, the home of Monet. James himself even appears briefly in it dressed as Monet wandering the gardens, which I thought, was a cute touch. Jane’s passion and love for her art and her near reverence for being allowed the unique privilege of spending an entire day alone in Monet’s garden is reflected in the joy on her face throughout the film. What is perhaps most fascinating is that the paintings she had in her booth were actually taken directly from the video. You could identify the scene she was painting in the video and then view the actual painting itself. Afterward, during a brief question and answer session, Jane related an amusing anecdote of having been been asked by other artists how she had been able to sit in the actual boat which Monet himself used. She said that her response was, “VERY CAREFULLY!” When asked how long it took her to do a painting such as the ones in her exhibit, she replied that it was hard to say, as she is also still a full time actress and mom and it depended on the circumstances. She did reveal though that to prepare for this exhibit she had sometimes spent ten hours a day doing little else but painting. That reply prompted a question about how she found so much time to paint with the twins to care for. She laughed and said that the twins were "mercifully" in school until 3 PM every day and that when they came home often the first thing she did was ask, "So who would like to paint with mommy? At the end of the session, she was informed that someone had just purchased every painting in her booth, an announcement that brought congratulatory applause from the audience. All too soon it was 4PM and time to leave. It was wonderful having the opportunity to meet Jane ‘the artist’ and I have to say that even though I'm a bit embarrassed that we saw little of the other artist's works at the center, I don't regret spending the entire time at Jane's booth; she was after all the reason I had come. Jane’s art is an entirely different side of her, separate from her life as an actress, wife and mother and anyone interested in her, even if you aren't an art buff, will enjoy I think, coming to know this side of Jane Seymour as well. As much as I miss seeing her weekly on television, I'm truly happy for her that she has found such joy in her painting and a way to share it with the rest of us.