JAMESBURG – Fiddleheads Restaurant in Jamesburg is more than just a New American bistro; it is a gallery for local artists to share their talents.
Tom Myers of
Bundle of Paws Photography, specializes in pet-family photography, natural landscapes and wild animals. He and his wife, Ree, live in Robbinsville with their rescue dog, Mattie, who inspired his company name and logo.
“After nearly 20 years in higher education, the last 14 at Princeton University I concurrently moonlighted as a ‘very active amateur’ photographer. After leaving Princeton, I found myself volunteering with a local animal rescue group and found the work of volunteering to help adoptables find their forever homes with the help of my portraits was extremely rewarding. Thinking about how I could pursue this passion, our now 16-year-old rescue dog Mattie provided the inspiration. My company logo is designed after a photo of Mattie comfortably curled up in the couch, and when my wife saw that image, exclaimed how much she loved seeing Mattie ‘curled up in her bundle of paws,’” Myers said before the grand opening reception, held Oct. 20 at the restaurant on E. Railroad Avenue in Jamesburg.
Myers said he was contacted by Exit Zero magazine in Cape May and sold his first image to them: a photo of the wreck of the USS Atlantus at sunset on Sunset Beach in Cape May.
“Finding that people enjoyed the images I made, I took every opportunity to find time to find beauty wherever I was able to travel and began accumulating a collection of landscape images from around the continental United States. I sought mentors in the photography field where I could to advance my technical skill and studied animal behavior and body language to ensure I could deliver a safe, enjoyable and fun experience to both pets and humans during our sessions,” he said.
Exhibiting for the second time at Fiddleheads, Myers said he got to know General Manager Brian P. Blatz and Executive Chef Lionel D. (Dan) Davis through a colleague in a networking group in Princeton in 2016.
“[I] discovered what so many already know, what a gem Fiddleheads is in Jamesburg. Brian and Dan made the process of exhibiting so easy and were so supportive that when they contacted me again about a second show this fall that would accompany their re-launch and new gastro-bistro menu, it was a no-brainer for me to say yes.
Also a portrait photographer for “Our Robbinsville” magazine, Myers said he hopes visitors enjoy his artwork.
“I hope those who visit the exhibit who see what appear as two disparate sets of work – the fine art landscape and the work with pets – see what I see: that in actuality each image captures beauty in the moment, either natural beauty as I experience it in the field, or the raw beauty and celebration of a caring relationship between a pet and her human family. Each to me is precious and deserving of being memorialized for a lifetime in print,” he said.
Also exhibiting artwork is photographer Jennifer Wiessner, the house artist at Fiddleheads. A former East Brunswick resident, she now lives in Maine with her husband and two sons. She focuses on serene nature, such as plant life, animals and rays of life in the north country, from Maine to Canada.
In addition, Barbara Friedman, an associate professor at the Parsons School of Design in New York, paints mostly in oil on wood or canvas panels. The Freehold resident is inspired by light and color, and creates her paintings as recreations from memory. This is her second exhibition at Fiddleheads.
All artwork is for sale. For more information, call Fiddleheads at 732-521-0878.
