SCOTTSDALE – Scottsdale artist Jeff Low has designed acclaimed nightclubs in Philadelphia, West Hollywood, Kansas City and Scottsdale.

He has his own line of greeting cards and wrote and illustrated a manuscript called Confessions of a Naked Escape Artist.

But for all his varied projects, lately all Low’s friends are calling him up to ask the same question: “You know Jenna Jameson?”

Yes, he does.

Jameson, the adult-film star who recently entered into a partnership to purchase Babe’s Cabaret in south Scottsdale, hired Low in June to redesign the strip club.

And while a topless bar may seem like an unlikely project for a renowned designer, Low said the Babe’s makeover is just another step on a long artistic journey marked by a passion for trying new things.

“I never even had a second thought. It’s an aspect of life,” Low said of his decision to design Club Jenna. “As a doctor of design, I don’t turn down a client that comes to me that’s legitimate. I like new challenges.”

Since Jameson’s involvement became public last month, Low has been dismayed by the strong negative reaction from Scottsdale officials, many of whom would rather see the club shut down.

“I think it would be healthy for the city, or anyone who criticizes, to have all the facts before they criticize,” said Low, who promises a design that will be sophisticated and discreet.

“It’s classy. It fits in,” he said. “It is what it is, but it’s done in good taste. That’s (Jameson’s) hallmark.”

Low’s work with Jameson doesn’t surprise Duncan Robertson, who hired Low to design his new salon and medical spa in Ahwatukee Foothills.

“It’s just another level of his art,” Robertson said. “He’s designed a salon before. He’s designed a nightclub before. But he’s never designed a strip club before.”

The son of Austrian immigrants, Low grew up in Binghamton, N.Y., in a house that was filled with music.

His father was a concert pianist before coming to America, and as a child, Low developed an appreciation for opera and classical music.

In his early teens, he won several flower arranging contests. In his later teens, Low released a handful of pop records and shared an agent with Sammy Davis Jr.

At Syracuse University, he turned his attention to fine arts, and after earning his bachelor’s degree, he went to the Netherlands to do graduate work in sculpture.

Low got married, had two children and divorced.

In 1977 he moved with his children to Scottsdale, hoping the dry climate would ease his arthritis. It did, and Low built his career here in the 1980s, focusing on painting and sculpture.

From there he turned his attention to graphic arts, making T-shirts and artwork for charity that raised thousands of dollars for UNICEF, arts in education, cystic fibrosis and other causes.

“I don’t think you can define Jeff Low’s style with a cliche word like ‘eclectic,’ ” said Robertson, the salon owner. “It’s intuitive. It’s beautiful and it’s functional. His love of creating and just being alive really just transforms into what he does.”

So how will that style transform Babe’s?

Low, 64, is tight-lipped on the specifics, citing a desire by his client to keep the details under wraps until the refurbished club debuts.

“When it opens, everyone can see for themselves,” he said.

Low will say that it took him about five weeks, and he had a lot of fun doing it. He isn’t sure he would do another strip club, he said, but he’s proud of the work he’s done at Babe’s.

Jameson did not respond to a request for comment on the club’s design. She has said it is scheduled to relaunch in October.

Low’s designs for clubs elsewhere in Scottsdale give a few big hints about his likely approach: subtle on the outside, theatrical on the inside.

At 6 in Scottsdale, perhaps Low’s signature nightclub, the lounge’s presence is denoted on the outside with a simple 12-inch numeral 6.

But inside the club at 7316 E. Stetson Drive, visitors find real leather couches, expensive velvets and unique triangular tables that light up with colored patterns.

The even more theatrical Pussycat Lounge, marked only by the letters “p.c.l.” on its Saddlebag Trail entrance, features a well-worn stripper pole on the dance floor and a large chrome-and-fur swing dangling from the ceiling.

“What he does a good job at is bringing a contemporary look and making it warm and comfortable,” said Ryan Jocque, who owns the Pussycat and has worked with Low on projects across the country. “A lot of his design is focused on how people interact, whether it a be in the living room of your house or in a club. The layout and the design really promote conversation and interaction.”

Low said his subdued exteriors and lively interiors are a reflection of himself.

His personal style is simple, favoring blue jeans and one of the 50 or so black T-shirts he keeps organized by age in his closet.

Inside, he’s constantly dreaming and inventing, he said. His current project, a boutique hotel set in the Costa Rican jungle, has led him on a quest to design furniture that can repel mosquitoes.

“I’m pretty exciting inside,” he said inside his exquisitely decorated Scottsdale home, which features art from throughout his career. “I’m never at a loss for ideas. And I don’t know where they come from.”

Although materials are still being ordered for Club Jenna, Low has already moved on to other projects. The boutique hotel is taking up much of his time, and he has also had discussions with city officials about creating public art at the Scottsdale Waterfront.

It’s about what one would expect for a man whose Acura TL bears a license plate that says simply, CREE8IT.

“I try to make my life match my dreams, and to turn my dreams into reality,” Low said.

Walking through his home, he paused at a small abstract self-portrait. The drawing showed a figure that appeared to be struggling to escape, as if from his own skin.

“I always feel like I’m shedding another skin,” Low said, “and growing.”