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FRIENDS OF THE BRENTWOOD LIBRARY

Each month, The Brentwood Library hosts two local artists on the Friends of the Brentwood Library Gallery Wall and Showcase Display.

For August’s Gallery Wall, Jean Gauld-Jaeger is displaying realistic oils:  landscapes, still-lifes. The Showcase Display is of handmade books by bookbinder Katie Gonzalez.

A member of the Tennessee Art League and the Chestnut Group of “pleinair painters for the land”, Jean Gauld-Jaeger is the recipient of numerous awards for her landscape and still life paintings.  She is represented by Paul Lequire and Company fine art gallery, located in Green Hills.  The public is invited to view her oil paintings during regular library hours.

Gauld-Jaeger received training in Decorative Art in Pittsburgh, Penn.  She studied Social Work and Health Planning and Administration and had a long professional career at Vanderbilt University Medical Center as Director of the Department of Patient Affairs. Near the end of her professional employment, Mrs. Gauld-Jaeger began studying fine art with well-respected portrait artists Michael Shane Neal, Roger Brown, Jason Saunders, Dawn Whitelaw and many others.  She continues to teach group painting classes and workshops in both her studio and other locations and has students studying with her on an ongoing basis.

In regards to what inspires her, Jean says, “There is no way to adequately reproduce the beauty in a child’s face or the wonder of nature. But I feel very fortunate to be able to create a close approximation. I am truly humbled by what happens to a sunbeam as it filters through the cracks in the barn siding and illuminates the interior. I wish I could exactly reproduce that beauty but I have to be satisfied to come close, and keep trying. It pleases me when my paintings make people happy. When my painting causes you to remember a special person or place or time I feel very privileged. I hope that you will continue to be pleased by my efforts. You are my inspiration.”

The public is invited to view her oil paintings during regular library hours.

Friends of Brentwood Library showcases hand-bound leather sketchbooks, journals and photo albums in August

This month, the Brentwood Library showcase features Katie Gonzalez, a bookbinder creating meaningful handmade books every day.

Katie studied the art of bookmaking in Cortona, Italy. There, visiting a medieval bindery, working with luxurious materials, and learning to make paper by hand instilled a sense of tradition into her work.

She has blended those principles with the techniques of design, printmaking, painting, and photography that she learned while earning a graphic design degree from the University of Georgia and while designing publications for several years.

In 2011, inspired by a move to the thriving creative city of Nashville, she broke away from the designer’s desk to make bookbinding her full-time profession.

To find out more about Katie, and to shop her collection, please visit her website at linenlaidfelt.com.

The Brentwood Library is located at 8109 Concord Road.