A Letter to Carol Jessen

Dear Carol Jessen,

We were so excited to see you recently. We're honored that you drove down from San Francisco to visit us! Imagine our delight when we learned you had brought us six delicate woodblock prints and one playful oil painting!

The Paper Makers, woodblock print by Carol Jessen

So reminiscent of the time you spent living and studying in Japan, The Paper Makers captured our attentions immediately. Your tutiledge under master printmakers Toshi Yoshida and Richard Steiner must have been inspirational to your creative process. The way you have captured the mood of the paper studio, with the two workers cooperating to lift the mold and deckle out of the vat of pulp, is exquisite. We can almost hear the rush and drip of water through the screen, feel the damp on our hands. We sit with you outside of the frame, perhaps perched on a table observing the magic happen before us.

Edge of the Bamboo Forest, woodblock print by Carol Jessen

In your woodblock print Edge of the Bamboo Forest, we admire your skill in leading the eye from the left foreground, across the middle ground to the structures on the right, and then back again to the suggested buildings in the background. Your use of linear patterns and subtle color variations evokes misty dawns and the fog rolling in during the late afternoon. Did this make you homesick while you were away from your beloved San Francisco? Edge of the Bamboo Forest makes us feel peaceful, zen-like and just a little bit wistful.

Ponto Cho Lanterns, oil on canvas by Carol Jessen

The oil painting you shared with us, Ponto Cho Lanterns, is vibrant in color and light. Your classic style of inwardly lit subjects shines through in brilliant Technicolor. Did you see any geisha as you strolled along the Kamo River in Kyoto's Old Town? We can picture the steep roofs of the old Japanese buildings brimming with light from these lanterns, their luminosity reflected in the water illuminating the narrow streets. The small scale of this painting - only 12 x 9"! - lends itself to the intimacy of memory.

Thank you, Carol, for sharing your talents with us yet again! We love your work, and we know many of our loyal clients do, too. We hope to see more of you and your artwork in the very near future.

Sincerely,

Your Friends at Chemers Gallery