A Change of Venue

Knowing where to show your work, for how long, and when to move on are difficult decisions for an emerging artist. I had a show at Buccieri's GEMS & JEWELRY for about four months in Oak Ridge, NJ. I met the co-owner of the jewelry store, Kathy through ISBOG, a small business owner's group I'm a member of. Somehow we became friendly and she suggested I have an exhibition at their store, thinking that people who buy jewelry might also be interested in purchasing art.

We came up with a concept and work to show. I gathered drawings, prints, and paintings inspired by Italy and came up with the title, Jewels of Italy since it was an assorted body of work. An opening reception was held in October and a reporter from the Jefferson AIM, Oak Ridge's weekly paper, wrote an article on the event. The work looked spectacular in their store because of their sage green walls, a color threaded through my artwork, and their beautiful gallery lighting.

I sold a few pieces. Then it rolled into February and the work had been up for four months and I didn't see anything moving. In the meantime, a gallery in Hamburg, NJ was interested in showing my works of Italy. Judy and Carmine Prolizo of Tranquility Gallery & Frameworks met me at the Skylands Juried Show last June in Newton since they had been the donors for an award I received. Since meeting them, I had visited their gallery for some potential framing and since put them on my mailing list. To my surprise Judy phoned me in November after receiving my invitation for Buccieri's opening. They invited me to show work there. At the time nothing was available. We stayed in touch and by February I realized maybe it was time for a change.

Two weeks ago, I took the work from Buccieri's up to Tranquility. Tranquility is now representing my work through May 11th. It's a beautiful space filled with a variety of artwork, home decor, and frame mouldings. It was a difficult decision to remove the work, but in speaking with Buccieri's co-owner, Matt, he agreed with me that merchandise (jewelry or art) shouldn't sit too long and get stale. He affirmed my decision to move to a new space and reach out to new clientele.