10-year journey ends in little Red Bank shop
Jewelry designer
opens small store in
Victorian Courtyard
JEFF HUNTLEY Carolyn Roche sets up shop in her new Red Bank store next to That Hot Dog Place and the Dublin House on Monmouth Street.
Trying to make a living as a jewelry designer while making your own jewelry and supporting yourself with part-time work is difficult, but it is rewarding when it finally comes together.
Jewelry designer Carolyn Roche has been selling her one-of-a-kind jewelry and wind chimes at arts-and-craft shows for 10 years now. And for many of those years, she worked nights as a waitress at the Dublin House in Red Bank as well as other local establishments.
"By working nights, I was able to work on my jewelry during the day and sit at craft shows on the weekends," she explained.
Eventually Roche built up her following to the point were she was able to give up the waitressing job and focus all of her time and attention on making jewelry. She was supporting herself by attending more than 25 arts-and-craft shows a year.
"I have quite a large following now," she said.
Last week, Roche took a leap of faith in herself and opened a small jewelry store, Carolyn Roche Designs, 30 Monmouth St., in the Victorian Courtyard in the corner space formerly occupied by Bizarre Bazaar, a retro clothing store. Only about 16 feet by 16 feet, the space is perfect for her fledgling business, and Roche has been told that it is a lucky spot because every business that goes in there grows and moves to a larger location. Bizarre Bazaar moved to a larger space on Monmouth Street under a new name, Uranus.
"I’m not a nomad any longer. This will allow me more freedom to be creative. I’ll know my customers and what they like," Roche said.
Roche, 32, uses found objects to make her distinctive silver jewelry and copper wind chimes.
"The wind chimes are made with copper wire that I find at junk yards. They tell me that it’s stripped coaxial cable," she said.
Roche also uses old silver goblets that she coats with a chemical that reacts with the silver to create a blue patina.
She hangs silver utensils and other bits and pieces from the goblets to create the chimes.
"My friend owns a machine shop. Sometimes they punch out a shape that’s wrong and doesn’t work for their purposes, so I barter for them," she explained, pointing to a cross shape hanging from one of the wind chimes as a case in point.
Roche, who lives in Red Bank, grew up in a large Colts Neck family. The youngest of eight children, she became interested in jewelry making while still at Marlboro High School. She then entered the associate’s degree program in art at Brookdale Community College, Lincroft, where she was able to develop her skills as a jewelry designer.
"There’s a great jewelry-making studio at Brookdale," Roche said. "I’ll bet most of the jewelry designers from this area have gone through this studio."
Roche also teaches at Thompson Park, Middletown.
"I teach hobby-oriented jewelry-making classes at the park," she said. "People who take my class don’t need to buy expensive equipment; all they need is wires, pliers and beads."
Roche said her artist friends kid around and say, "Don’t throw anything out; just give it to Carolyn."
For instance, she explained, "There’s a huge pottery studio at Thompson Park. A pot may not have come out well, but there are beautiful parts that can be used, like a beautiful glaze or color."
These beautiful shards are then wrapped in silver strands hanging from her original necklaces, pins, rings, earrings or bracelets. Besides these shards, she uses sea glass that she finds locally, and glass beads that she buys through companies that she has met at bead shows.
"I’m too busy now to go to the bead shows. They are held mostly in Pennsylvania and New York," the artist said.
Roche said she planned to go to the School of Arts and Crafts in Portland, Ore., in 1994, but her hand was severely damaged when she was attacked by a dog.
"Over the next two years, I had four surgeries and could not work on my jewelry," she said. "There was no way I could live in Oregon. My hand was worse in cold, damp weather.
"I was worried," she added. "I didn’t know if my hand would ever work. [The dog] got me in a bad spot."
After a while, Roche gave up on the idea of continuing her education. Her hand improved, and she began to focus on her jewelry design business.
Part of Roche’s following comes from the many years that she has participated in Red Bank’s RiverFest.
"I’ve had a booth there for eight years," she said. "People know me as the jewelry lady at RiverFest."
Roche said she is counting on those loyal customers shopping in her store for the holidays.
"I wasn’t actively looking for a place to have a store," she explained. "I found out only seven weeks ago that Bizarre Bazaar was moving out, and I was offered the opportunity to take over the space."
Roche said that at first she wasn’t sure that she had enough merchandise, so she has offered two local potters space on one wall. As it turns out, she has sufficient merchandise, but she is going to remodel the space and make room for her friends Kathy Dorsey Lucas and Mary Leather.
"They do beautiful work," Roche said. "Mary’s work is more sculptural, and Kathy is more painterly with her glazes."
Roche wasn’t able to make renovations because she had such a short time to move in, so she is planning to close in the middle of January to change the carpeting and remodel the wall space.
She said she plans to have a grand opening with a meet-the-artists reception sometime in March.
Roche is excited because now, instead of attending about 25 shows a year, she can pick and choose which ones she wants to be a part of.
"Maybe I’ll do a handful," she said.
Last week her phone service was installed.
"Now I feel as though I’m in business," she said.
Roche’s phone number is (732) 741-5865.