Fashion meets art

When artist Maggie O'Neill was painting outside Ginger boutique last week it looked like a scene from Montmartre. Finished paintings surrounded the artist busy at work while her mother handed out brochures to curious passersby. Usually found at her Kensington decorative painting company, O'Neill Studios, Maggie made an appearance during Bethesda Lane's Front Row events to display the art she says is her "real love." Her brightly colored paintings with names like "Girls Night Out" are on display at Ginger for another month. Check out more portraits and paintings by Maggie on her website: www.oneillstudiosfineart.com.

Meeting Jane Seymour

Yesterday I had a strange encounter of a surreal kind when I had the pleasure of not only meeting a well known celebrity, but meeting someone who was genuinely nice (and of course absolutely beautiful). Actress Jane Seymour was at Wentworth Gallery in Bethesda at an event showcasing her artworks. I bypassed the opportunity (stupidly) to get my picture taken with her and instead asked her when she started painting. She told me it was 18 years ago during a very hard time in her life--horrible divorce, hit bottom, had nothing. She shared the details, but you get the picture. Her mother, a concentration camp survivor, told her to stop wallowing and "get out of her own head" and do something--for somebody else. Jane gave what little she had left to a children's charity and in return was offered art lessons. She started painting seriously and found a new passion. Her paintings range from bold florals to traditional scenes to whimsical takes on her "open heart" logo. I was inspired not only by her openness and her story, but also by her mother's advice to "get out of your head and do something." I thought about it all day in fact and contemplated the strangeness of rare but fortuitous chance meetings.