Born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1951, Gail Zeh’s family moved to Louisville, Kentucky
six months after her birth. She was raised in Louisville and at the tender age of four
years old, Zeh learned an important lesson in art. Using her mother’s newly purchased
red lipstick, the young artist “decorated” the neighbor’s sidewalk. This experience may
be the reason there is a lack of public art by Gail Zeh!

 

Gail attended public schools in Jefferson County, Kentucky, graduating from Waggener
High School in 1969. After one year at the University of Cincinnati, she transferred
to the University of Kentucky and in 1973, received a BA in Art Education from UK.
During Zeh’s senior year, she was the art editor for the literary publication,
Amanuensis.

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From 1973-79, Gail Zeh taught art in the Jefferson County public school system.
In 1979, she received a Masters of Arts in Painting from the Hite Art Institute at
the University of Louisville where she studied under Henry Chodkowski.

 

After marrying Steve Zeh, the couple moved to Augusta, Georgia in 1979 where her
husband taught at the Medical College of Georgia School of Dentistry. Gail was hired
by the University of South Carolina at Aiken, SC to teach Drawing, Painting and
Printmaking.

 

While living in Georgia, the artist began studying ceramics at Augusta
College. Albeit a painter of landscapes and portraiture, Zeh became enamored with
the process of working with clay; the tactile nature of the medium and the opportunity
to design and produce sculpture as well as functional tableware for everyday use.

 

Upon returning to Kentucky in the 1980’s, Gail Zeh’s artistic focus was two-fold:
landscape painting and ceramics. Though she continues to paint, increasingly,
Zeh’s Louisville studio reflects her growing interest in ceramics and 3D work.
Today, Zeh applies her painterly skills and experiences to the color and glazing
applications for sculptural work and utilitarian tabletop pieces.