Two Artists Under One Roof

"Art enables us to find ourselves & lose ourselves at the same time."
- Thomas Merton

Catalina, oil on canvas, 12" x 60"

​We are not only two artists under one roof, we are married.

I create inspirational paintings, and my husband, let's call him "Josef", he creates visually as well, with food, but just as importantly with the palette of taste, flavor, relish, tang and smack.

Our house is relatively small, and the entire domicile is my art studio, and a placeholder for my paintings that are awaiting their journey to an exhibit, a personal space or place of business.

Josef and I compete for this space. During the years that he worked in the restaurant, the Green Music Center, Meals on Wheels and for the Schulz family I had the run of the place. Well, things just don't stay the same, and our home has become a shared working community, because he runs his business out of this dwelling as well. Some days we step all over each other, but time has taught us pretty much how to dance around it in respect to when one of us needs quiet, a listening ear, a trained eye.

​When you walk into our house, you may smell oil paint or perhaps, some spices, or food cooking in our test kitchen for our evening meal. When Josef comes home from the Healdsburg Farmers Market on Saturdays we take any leftovers from food demonstrations, chop it up and throw it into a salad, along with the freshly baked artisan bread and cheeses that he buys or trades for at the market. Somehow this always feels good and harmonious in that natural flow of life.

We hang out on the patio relaxed and happy, talk about the people he met that day, among them, the three chefs from France, the happy local regulars, and "restaurant row", where the three former, well known Sonoma County chefs are still at it, but in a different way. Not glamorous, but still creative and connected with their audience.

We are artists. We take our creations where they can be viewed and drunk in, and tasted and savored, to connect. We add something to people's lives that was not there before. We rely on our wits and on the gifts and  kindness of life, and the love of family and friends. I love our life, and express my gratitude for your gift of attending one of my art shows or teaching me to tap dance or cook, or who spent some time sharing a part of your life with me. In appreciation to the artist in all of us,

Vive l'art!!
Jill