Tara Shelton    AAWGallery, Toronto

I have been painting in oils since 2003, and also am a jewellery designer, maker, and sculptor working in wax, clay, gemstones and metals. My specialty is micro sculpture, wearable sculptures.

In the beginning, it was a full-time gig just to find good boutiques that would take my unique products that featured nature. Working the craft shows was thrilling to meet my supporters, but tricky to make a living doing that.

For years I have wanted to run my own gallery that represented other artists that live in Toronto, especially the east end.

In November 2012 I opened Artisans At Work aka AAWGallery, the idea i have nutured since incorporating in 1999.

We have artist-run classes such as oil, encaustic, claybord, sketching, life drawing, jewellery making and more. Every First Friday is our opening reception party with live music and licensed booze, celebrating a new 2 week or month long art exhibition in our large back gallery/event/classroom. Open call themes for art can be seen on our website Free to submit, $35 hanging fee for 2 pieces. Great price for a month long show!

We also host Artist in Residence programs, and have work studios for rent, and a super duper front retail space representing over 80 makers of locally made gifts and art..

We specialised in custom made jewellery of all kinds: fashion to fine. We repair all jewellery from plastic to platinum, and facilitate all watch repairs.

www.aawgallery.com