Acclaimed actress and artist Jane Seymour, OBE, chatted about her upcoming “Up Close and Personal: The Exhibition” in Stone Harbor, New Jersey, this July.
Art exhibition at Ocean Galleries
“Jane Seymour: Up Close and Personal: The Exhibition,” houses her impressive collection of original artwork. These works will be on exhibition and available for acquisition from July 1 through 10, 2022, at Ocean Galleries, Stone Harbor’s premier Fine Art Gallery.
Three special in-person “Meet-the-Artist” appearances are scheduled for Friday, July 1 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday, July 2 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. as well as on Sunday, July 3 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet Jane Seymour and experience her extraordinary art.
The artwork is available for acquisition and all appearances are complimentary and open to the public. “This is the first art show that I am doing since the pandemic,” she said.
“I am very excited about this exhibition in the beginning of July,” she exclaimed. “There will be 120 different pieces: there will be sculptures such as the ‘Open Heart’ sculpture, which is something I am known for, and we also have it in a much larger size. We also have monumental ones, which people are putting up in public places in America and Canada. There will be watercolors, pastels, acrylics, and oils. I also have four pieces from my son, Sean M. Flynn, which I have been involved in, and they are phenomenal.”
“Also, there are a lot of very new styles that even people that have seen my work before would not have seen,” she added.
To learn more about Ocean Galleries, check out its official homepage.
She noted that her “Open Heart,” in addition to having a nonprofit aspect to it, was the only heart that has been able to be trademarked in a very long time. “My dream of it is that it becomes a universal symbol of giving and receiving love,” she said.
Keeping creative during the pandemic
During the pandemic, she shared that she developed the ability to teach painting on Zoom. “I was painting alongside people that wanted to paint with me,” she said. “We painted together and it was fantastic. I developed a line of jewelry based on my images, paintings, and open hearts. I did a lot of Zooms from the Art Studio and a lot of philanthropy. We were able to raise a lot of money for amazing organizations.”
“In a funny way, the pandemic was in some ways really great because we were able to make a difference without leaving our homes or endangering ourselves and others. Obviously, in other ways, it was very difficult because we couldn’t travel and I couldn’t do art shows,” she added.
Daily inspirations
On her daily inspirations, Seymour responded, “My iPhone is with me all the time. I have grandchildren and the most beautiful gardens. I am inspired by what is around me. It depends whether I have time to do a big painting or if I decide to just let it out. I have my paints always on the outside table outside my kitchen overlooking the ocean, and it’s really my meditation.”
“Also, nobody else ever touches my paintings, everything is by my hand. It’s 100 percent me. These are almost like a meditation, I don’t even know sometimes what I am going to paint. I play with color and then I turn it into whatever it is going to be. It is very free and very liberating,” she added.
“I have some roses that I intend to paint very soon, some of which I photographed yesterday, and I just love them,” she said. “I paint the ocean a lot because I live on the ocean, and I have a whole philosophy about the wave. I believe that in life, it’s like you’re in a body of water going in a general direction and the ‘woohoo’ moment where you win the prize or make the team or fall in love is when it comes down.”
She perceives the “wave” as the cycle of life which has its ups and downs scraping the bottom and the same energy that takes you down there continues and brings you back up. “If your mind and your heart open, you will connect with something new: a new idea, a new relationship, a new way of approaching lives, a new place to live, who knows. It’s cyclical and it’s about doing a change in life. All of my wave paintings are about change,” she explained.
Career-defining moments
Speaking of change, she acknowledged that there have been many moments in her career that have helped define her. “I’ve had to change all the time,” she said. “I’ve had so many ups and downs, including three near-death experiences. I choose to focus on the positive and the ‘can do’ rather than the negative and the ‘why me.’ My paintings, my art, and even a lot of the subject matter I do in terms of acting is empowering, hopefully.”
“I see no reason in hanging on to the past because the past is done, and now we know that we can’t control the future at all,” she said.
“If we are not celebrating the moment, then we are missing out on the beauty of this experience and life,” she added.
Jane Seymour, OBE
A multiple Emmy and Golden Globe winner, Seymour was the recipient of the Officer of the British Empire (OBE) that was bestowed upon her by Queen Elizabeth II. She has proven her talents in virtually all media, the Broadway stage, motion pictures, and television. “Getting the OBE was quite a while ago and it was absolutely fantastic because I thought the queen would never think of me because I was living in America. It was such a shock and a wonderful surprise,” she reflected.
“My mentor, who was a very famous dancer and choreographer, happened to be receiving his on the same day and at the same time. We didn’t realize that because they keep things secret. I thought that it was amazing that I started out as a dancer and my mentor was there too. I received the OBE for all the work that I had done in my life including philanthropy,” she elaborated.
“It was very special and I am very grateful that it was the Queen that actually presented it to me. I got it from the real queen and I had met the queen before on a number of occasions. I do know various members of the Royal Family so I am obsessed with watching ‘The Crown.’ I brought my OBE out and I wrote it the other day on my jean jacket because I felt it needed to be taken out of the safe,” she added.
Emmy and Golden Globe wins
On her awards and accolades, she said, “I have been very fortunate to play many different characters, I’ve never been stuck playing some version of me. I am always playing somebody different so that has been really lovely and that is why my art is always different. I am always experimenting with something new: a new medium, new technique, and a new concept. I am interested in that.”
“Even if I am playing Dr. Quinn, I am trying to make her grow or even when I am playing Harry Wild, as I am doing right now. Characters evolve,” she added.
Portraying Dr. Michaela Quinn in ‘Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman’
As the iconic star, Dr. Michaela Quinn, of the beloved hit TV series “Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman,” she became a role model to young women and girls throughout the world with her inspiring rendition of a woman who can courageously dare, achieve, and improve anything a man can do, investing it with that “woman’s touch” of caring humanity.
On playing Dr. Michaela Quinn, she said, “My father was a doctor so I grew up with medicine since the time I was born. I had a microscope when I was seven and by the time I was 10 years old, I was watching surgery. I was a member of the British Red Cross so I learned how to heal wounds and do home nursing and emergency first aid. I worked in a hospital since I was about three or four years old helping out the nurses.”
“My father’s favorite thing was the history of medicine,” she said. “Unfortunately, he passed away before I got ‘Dr. Quinn’ but I felt like it was a ‘meant-to-be moment’ because that was during a time in my life when I lost everything financially and emotionally. This was a gift given to me literally overnight. Nobody realized it was going to be such a big hit and it still plays in 98 countries.”
When asked how she handled being dialogue-heavy on that show (especially with medical lingo), she noted that it was a “nightmare.” “Honestly, I learned nine pages a day,” she said. “I love it when millennials talk about how hard they have to work and how they need an hour’s lunch break and sick days. If I was ever sick, I was still working.”
“I worked at least 14 hours a day on set, not counting going there and coming back,” she said. “Then, when I came home, I had to learn nine pages for the next day and try to get seven hours of sleep. That’s what life was like back then.”
“Now, I am doing ‘Harry Wild’ with an older brain so it takes just a little bit longer for me to learn all those lines,” she said. “My brain is getting a lot of exercise. I don’t have time to do Sudoku puzzles, I just play characters.”
She was awarded a Golden Globe for her role as “Dr. Quinn,” Seymour made history with her six-season “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” series, blazing a trail for family-worthy programming to return to series TV.
Other successes in the entertainment industry
Seymour has reached success with a star career encompassing international movie stardom with such lasting films as “Somewhere in Time” and “Live and Let Die”, Broadway and London stage acclaim including creating the role of Constanza in “Amadeus” and television achievements in award-winning performances in “War and Remembrance” and “East of Eden.”
Her now-classic turn in “The Wedding Crashers” which paired her with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson changed the industry landscape for Seymour, showcasing her comedy skills to a broad audience that has led to starring roles alongside Robert DeNiro in the feature film “The War with Grandpa,” opposite Malin Akerman in Friendsgiving and Netflix’s “The Kominsky Method” opposite Alan Arkin and Michael Douglas.
In television, Seymour stars in “Harry Wild” for Acorn TV as a retired college professor who cannot quite manage to stay quietly retired to the dismay of her police inspector son. “Harry Wild” debuted to rave reviews in April of 2022.
Seymour also stars in the 2022 Australia film release “Ruby’s Choice” as Ruby, a grandmother who suffers from dementia. The film is a poignant tale that follows three generations of strong Australian women who struggle to deal with the effects of Ruby’s illness as it threatens to push them apart.
Behind the camera, Seymour served as an executive producer on the documentary film “Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me”, which told the touching story of musician Glen Campbell’s farewell tour while dealing with the effects of Alzheimer’s disease.
Advice for hopefuls
For young and aspiring artists and actors, she said, “You need to have a passion for it and you just have to go for it. If it winds up being a private passion that no one else shares then so be it.”
“It’s who you are and what you want to say and how you feel. Then, you may be lucky and it speaks to someone and they might want it in their house, where that belongs on their sofa or waking up and going to sleep every night to that image. They say what you look at before you go to sleep and what you wake up every day in your bedroom is going to affect your mood and the way that you approach life,” she added.
On the title of the current chapter of her life, Seymour revealed, “Reinvention.” “Also, embracing my age and my opportunity to do something to make a difference on this beautiful planet,” she said.
The Open Hearts Foundation
In 2009, Seymour established The Open Hearts Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. The foundation is a social impact accelerator that is committed to empowering emerging and growing nonprofit organizations whose origins and mission are consistent with the precepts of the Open Hearts philosophy.
The foundation, through its grantmaking and volunteerism programs, provides funds, expertise, resources, and tools, enabling these nonprofits to not only raise their profile but also further their mission and objectives. To date, the Open Hearts Foundation has distributed more than one million dollars to assist various organizations in their work around the country.
“During COVID, we decided that we were going to help 23 different smaller organizations,” she said. “What they all had in common was that they were benefitting women and children.”
“The Open Hearts Foundation is a fundraiser but more than anything it’s showing people what is out there, who is doing good, and how you can support them. We are curating giving back whether it’s in volunteer experiences or financially,” she added.
If she were to have any superpower, she responded, “I tend to feel people’s emotions, I’m an empath and I also see a way to make things happen.”
Success
Seymour defined the word success simply by looking at her initials (J and S). “Success is joy and serenity, it’s a combination of the two,” she said.
To learn more about Jane Seymour, check out her official website.
