The trip to Boston was amazing, and freezing cold! Definitely worth it, though. I learned so much at the sessions at the Canadian embassy in Boston. We had a great welcome by the Honorable Consul General there, Patrick Binns, who is a lovely fellow. What a wondefrul face!
The following two days were spent going from gallery to gallery to check them out, and maybe make contacts if it so happened. I like how serendipity could play its role here, like in the design of some of my work! I was very lucky to meet many gallery owners personally, which is far beyond what I had hoped for.
Here are my favourites, in order of my visits:
Don Muller in Northhampton has an amazing gallery. He designed the brilliant and playful display cases himself, and his passion for craft is evident in his selection and his smile. This was the first gallery I visited, and I left totally elated. http://www.donmullergallery.com/
I should also mention that Don Muller’s gallery won NICHE magazine’s top retailer for the past 4 years, and this year they snagged the INSTORE 1st place prize for “coolest small store”. Instore is a jewellery store trade magazine. They are also on JCK 9Jeweler’s Circular Keystone) Top 50 Design Retailers list. Impressive, and by the looks of it well earned!
Sienna Gallery, which was my farthest drive (almost 3 hours) was smaller and more bare than expected, but the work that is carried there is of course the best of the best.
I was surprised at Quadrum Gallery, which is in The Mall at Chestnut Hill, and upscale but eerily empty mall. “Mall??” I thought. But really: they carry beautiful work, are fantastically friendly and professional, and their displays and lighting are excellent. I was surprised and delighted.
While in the same mall, I also happened across a temporary store of the “Sign of the Dove” craft initiative. They said they were refugees from Cambridge, where the astronomically high rent drove them out. We had a lengthy chat. I was fondly thinking back to the days long ago, when the NSDCC had a shop in downtown Halifax. Or did I dream that? It was before I was involved with crafts, but I remember shopping there once or twice.
The next day I went to Mobilia in Cambridge MA, which is another one of those galleries that is just famous for carrying the best of the best. Anybody who reads Metalsmith Magazine would have seen their frequent and wonderful ads for amazing exhibitions. Wonderful work there. And for goodness sakes, they’ve been around since 1978! I had a wonderful time pouring over the work there. Many thanks to Sue Aygam Kowaski, a jewellery artist who works there, for taking the time to show me all around.
Lastly, I want to mention my visit at the delightul gallery of Michele Mercaldo in Boston proper. There, also, I was able to have a great exchange, and even meet Michele herself, which was unexpected and totally great. I like how she has the jeweller’s benches right in the back of the store, visible to the clients browsing her smaller but nice collections, including, of course, her own work.
Then, with suitcase in hand (I actually dragged my suitcase with me all that long day) I went to the Craft Boston Holiday Show, which had just opened that morning. I ran into Nova Scotia fiber artist Lesley Armstrong there!
Nice work at Craft Boston, but altogether I think our own NSDCC Christmas Craft Market in Halifax is better put together ;-)
Here is a photo of the Christmas tree which Nova Scotia donates every year to Boston in commemoration of Boston’s Support of Halifax after the Halifax explosion on Dec 6th 1917. I just about froze to death looking for that darn’ tree … we had come from a fancy reception at the New England Canada Business Council, and my skimpy outfit and high heels were definitely not the right thing to wear at those freezing temperatures!
Couldn’t have not gone, though, right?
