

The Art of the Chair
The chair is a familiar and artistically inspiring every-day-object, found all over the world. Here is one of Jean’s chairs covered in fabric that she hand-painted.


Jean has always been inspired to paint chairs as they remind her of past homes and journeys.
Here’s an old photograph of a corner of our house in Seoul, South Korea.


The unique and much loved and used bamboo chair surrounded by some favourite objects inspired Jean to paint this:


Artistically, when a chair is painted in a natural landscape it can mean there is a community, humans are around, somewhere. Here is Jean’s painting, “Chair in the Middle of the Road”, inspired by such a sighting when she first arrived in Umbria.


Chairs symbolise many things, from comfort, as a place to rest, to companionship. A single painted chair also symbolises hope – waiting for someone to return. Here’s Jean painting, “Umbrian Chaekkori” (read more about Chaekkori here).


And occasionally there is chair irony. Here, Jean’s “Water Wizard”, surrounded by waves, sits comfortably on dry land. Sometimes, unexpected chairs provide the best view or at least an interesting juxtaposition. (The Water Wizard is part of our children’s book “The Wizards and the Whale”).

