Jane Seymour takes her art to Ohio mall next week

Jane Seymour has shared her art with the world for several years. But for three days this month, she’ll be sharing it and its message of healing with the people of Akron, Ohio.

Seymour — an actress, author, designer and artist — is scheduled to appear at Summit Mall in Ohio, USA, at events Dec. 17-19. The Art of Jane will feature original watercolors and other paintings, sculptures and limited editions from Seymour’s collection.

This is the second mall appearance for Seymour, who also designed a line of jewelry sold at Kay Jewelers, whose parent company is Akron-based Sterling Inc. She appeared at a Texas mall in October.

“This is just a wonderful opportunity for me to share my passion and my design pieces,” Seymour said in a phone interview from her home in Malibu, Calif.

Best known for her roles in the James Bond film “Live and Let Die” and as TV’s “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,” Seymour has become much more than an actress. She said she was always interested in art and had a knack for it, but never received any formal training and didn’t pursue it until her life was in crisis.

“I had lost everything,” she said of a period about 18 years ago. “I had lost my home and all my income. I thought I was quite wealthy at the time.”

A rocky divorce found her turning to sculpture and painting and ultimately helped her to get her life back on track, she said. She now realizes that period of challenge is what helped her eventually find success again.

“Art, my husband and ‘Dr. Quinn’ would not have happened” without that turbulent period, she said.

Seymour married actor and producer James Keach in 1993 and they have twin sons.

Much of Seymour’s art and her jewelry line feature the open double heart that she created. She came upon the design when she was commissioned to create art for the California Pistachio Association in its effort to promote the nuts as heart-healthy for women.

“Whenever I painted hearts, I always kept them open,” she said. “I was subconsciously thinking about my mom, who said when you close off your heart you can expect any relationship to be static, and that’s not what love is. When you love with an open heart, you can let go of things.”

While painting hearts one day she let the brush keep going and created the double open heart.

“I showed them in my art shows and people just loved them,” she said.

The jewelry came about after Seymour’s mother had a stroke that left her unable to speak. The only time she spoke — exclaiming “Yes!” — was when Seymour was chosen to compete on “Dancing With the Stars” in 2007.

To honor her mother, Seymour had a necklace with the double open heart created, and she wore it on the show. While at an event one evening, a group of people remarked how much they liked the piece and offered to create it to sell to the public. The people were with Kay Jewelers.

“How wonderful that a huge organization like that realizes you can make a huge difference in people’s lives by allowing me to express to people how they can weather storms in their lives,” Seymour said.

At the Summit Mall events, Seymour said she will speak for a short time and then be on hand to meet with visitors to the show. She added she enjoys talking with people and hearing their stories.

“I hear the most fantastic stories of people and the challenges they face,” she said.

She was so inspired that she recently launched a Web site, www.keepanopenheart.com, where people can post their stories.

“We’re sharing the stories so people can understand and say, maybe I can do this or that myself,” she said. “It inspires people to see what is possible and how adversity can turn into an opportunity.”

Seymour will be at Summit Mall Dec. 17 from 5 to 8 p.m., Dec. 18 from noon to 3 p.m. and Dec. 19 from noon to 5 p.m. On Dec. 19, children in classes at KidzArt will take part in an art activity with Seymour.

In addition to original pieces of art and prints, Seymour said there will be note cards and scarves available for purchase. She also will have some of her books on hand, including the inspirational “Open Hearts,” and will sign copies at the events.

Summit Mall is located at 3265 W. Market St.

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