The word “precious” can have some negative connotations, but here I mean it to mean “beloved” and “dear.” I met artist Tracey St.Peter on 10/21/2011 at the opening of her exhibition entitled “Quiet Monkeys, memory objects” at Eric Schindler Gallery.

37 artworks of all sizes and various media that featured monkeys and had titles such as, “Drunken Monkey Alcohol,” “Pink Monkey Friend,” “Dream Monkey Horse,” “Nesting Monkey, Little Man,” and “The Monkey, the Snake, the Teacup, and the Moon Gathering Fruit.” One I’d like to own is “Quiet Monkey Totem” – a five-foot-tall white ceramic totem of stacked monkeys with a snake on top and with a few shells imbedded along the way.