A Summer Place History
A love for Long Beach Island, New Jersey was the motivating force which launched a successful art career for self-taught, watercolor artist, Nancy Chiesa.
Nancy attended Saint Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkhill, New York where she received a Bachelor of Psychology Degree and specialized in Art Therapy. After graduation, she began exhibiting her work in art galleries which lead to being represented in numerous shows in the New York metropolitan area.
In the summer of 1975, Nancy and her family opened an art gallery and gift shop called "A Summer Place," located at the Jersey Shore in the heart of Beach Haven. At the store they specialized in the display of nautical art and gifts as well as collectibles.
Their original "A Summer Place" t-shirts designed by Nancy became best sellers on the island generating online buzz still to this day!
Nancy's watercolors are on postcards, stationary, limited-edition prints and Christmas cards. After thirteen successful years, the art gallery sold. Nancy now currently resides in Holladay, Utah with her husband Gordon. She is now the owner of Watercolor Works Company, a wholesale-retail stationary art company. In addition she sells clothes and outdoor apparel items to local shops in Utah.
Primarily a landscape artist, Nancy finds her most popular subjects to be tall birch trees, icy ponds, snow-covered cabins, majestic lighthouses, and soft windswept dunes. In realistic style, her paintings capture the mood of Long Beach Island, New Jersey and Utah. Her art depicts snowy mountains or deep blue skies over white sandy beaches. Visitors enjoy bringing home the warm memories she captures to enjoy all winter.
