I’ve always been impressed by the mission of Studio 7 Fine Art Gallery in Bernardsville. It was founded about 12 years ago as a place for New Jersey artists to exhibit and sell their creations. (Drop in to browse and you might catch some of the artists at work inside the friendly, sunny gallery.)
Over the years, director Kathleen Palmer has expanded her offerings from watercolor, pastel and oil paintings into art glass, bronze and glass works, bronze sculptures, painted glass lighting and Murano glass jewelry.
Studio 7 represents more than 30 artists and, still true to its original mission, most of them hail from New Jersey. I’ve included several stunning works here by Garden State painters Gerry Heydt, Mark de Mos and Stephanie Amato.
The 2,500-square-foot Studio 7 gallery occupies the entire second floor of an historic Bernardsville building that was the quaint town’s dance hall in the 1870’s. That party continues on most first Fridays of each month with the popular BernARTsville Art Walk and Artist Reception. The Elements of Nature exhibit runs through April 30 and features oil paintings by James McGinley. Then May brings us Techniques & Traditions in Blown Glass by Gladstone artist, Jake Pfeifer. (He’s one of my favorites. In fact, one of Jake’s gorgeous vases resides in my home.)
The gallery is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 to 4 pm at 5 Morristown Road, Bernardsville, NJ, 07924. You can reach super-helpful and knowledgeable director Kathleen Palmer at 908-963-0365.