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Years ago I lived on Spaulding Avenue in the Fairfax part of Los Angeles, and among the people I met there was an artist named Jack Zoltak.  Jack painted non-stop and had one room of a two bedroom apartment filled with canvases of all kinds of ideas that flowed out of his artistry.  My apartment was nothing but empty walls, so I asked him if I could take some of the paintings and hang them around the wall space.  He gave me about five huge paintings and I hung them up to fill up the huge empty spaces of my apartment.  He asked for a couple of the paintings back within a year of hanging them up in my place.  I managed to hold on to three of them for a few more years as I moved from Fairfax to Sherman Oaks to North Hollywood.  He asked for another of the canvases back within five years of giving them to me, but I managed to keep one with me throughout all my moves.  He designed the sets for a couple of plays I worked on at the Coronet Theatre in Hollywood and whenever I get out to Santa Monica I try to stop by his studio and see what he is working on.  Jack knew I had the painting, and still claimed ownership, but let me carry it around as long as I took care of it. 

We also remain friends.  

 Jack called me earlier this week that he had a gallery showing at the Dowmtown LA Artwalk on Thursday January 14 and invited me to the opening – hence the invitation card at the top of the post.  I made plans to go because I like the guy, and since we are no longer neighbors, don’t see each other regularly.  Whenever we do manage to get together, we laugh and talk about art and how much older we have gotten. 

Sam and Jack

The gallery is small walk up space in a new burgeoning art district in Downtown LA.  I was clearly not hip enough for the space.  Jack’s paintings and drawings were hanging all over the room, some in conventional frames and some hung in a more “guerilla art fashion” with just push pins. 

I have seen so much of his work at this point that I can clearly see trends, evolution, and growth in his painting and drawing.   The more I see his stuff, the more I like it.  I see him as a true artist – someone with an idea and definite style, who seems to soak up everything he sees and experiences and is able to incorporate it into his work. 

a sample of the art

We were able to spend a few moments chatting and laughing.  As always, I enjoyed seeing him and seeing how much he continues to expand as an artist.  He is in his element at an opening, when he can explain his ideas to people and where he draws his inspiration and on what new directions he is moving. 

And he GAVE me the painting he lent me years ago.  In front of witnesses, and he wasn’t drunk. 

So I can say I am the proud owner of an original painting by Jack Zoltak. 

my painting