Within the Kenai Art Center’s rear gallery this month is a visit to a “dream cottage in the woods” at springtime, a confident step out of the winter months.
That’s the feeling at the heart of “Secret Garden,” by Daisy Jeffords and Morgan Chamberlain.
“We wanted to resurrect ourselves out of wintertime and spend time making things for us,” Jeffords said.
The pair met in the Kenai Potters Guild, and their ceramic works make up most of the art on display. There are displays of ceramics large and small, a chess set, mugs, teacups and paintings of birds.
Jeffords said that her own garden often inspires her, and her work features flower imagery, nature and earth tones.
Chamberlain, too, said that she brings nature and wildlife into her work, like her paintings of birds displayed in the show. “Secret Garden” also depicts, she said, “bringing life into something forgotten.”
“I am a big lover of things that are vintage — old world or from a simpler time,” she said. “I wanted that to reflect in our show.
Chamberlain said she was out of state for much of the show’s preparation, but the art they both produced reflects similar ideas — “coordinated but not matching.” The “Secret Garden” is a space filled with things that they admire and love.
Jeffords said she and Chamberlain became friends while making pottery at the art center, and always knew that their work looked nice together. In their show she sees all of those things coalesce.
“I wanted to fill it with things that we love to do and things that are a reflection of ourselves,” she said. “I think those things look nice together at the end of the day.”
The exhibition will be available for viewing at the Kenai Art Center during business hours, noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday until March 28.
For more information about the Kenai Art Center, visit kenaiartcenter.org or find “Kenai Art Center” on Facebook.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
Artwork by Daisy Jeffords and Morgan Chamberlain is displayed as part of “Secret Garden” during an opening reception at the Kenai Art Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Friday, March 7, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Artwork by Daisy Jeffords and Morgan Chamberlain is displayed as part of “Secret Garden” during an opening reception at the Kenai Art Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Friday, March 7, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Artwork by Daisy Jeffords and Morgan Chamberlain is displayed as part of “Secret Garden” during an opening reception at the Kenai Art Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Friday, March 7, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
