So happy to introduce you to Jaclyn Perrone! This episode was delayed because I can’t correctly spell Jaclyn’s name with a gun to my head. AOC Easter Egg! Can you find where I forgot to correctly spell Jaclyn’s name?
I met Jaclyn at Somerville Open Studios this past year. I fell in love with her intricate, dizzying cityscapes, but I also overheard her detailing how she had worked to make high-end prints of her work. I suspected she might have some business savvy up her sleeve and I was not wrong.
Jaclyn moved from New York to Somerville just in time for 2018’s Open Studios, where she sold many of her pieces. The experience inspired her to finally open her own Etsy shop, years after opening the account. She spent five months researching every detail before finally launching the shop last December. As a software developer, she has an eye for detail in design as well as process. She put those strengths to good work.
Our discussion was not all business. As an artist coming from New York, I wanted to hear her thoughts about how Somerville’s more racially homogenous scene has affected her. I often talk about how my experience with the Boston writing and art scenes have been very white, and so different from my personal community here. This lack of diversity has been challenging and limiting as a writer living here. Jaclyn was generous. I was not.
Announcement! I will be at ART Beat in Davis Square THIS Saturday (July 13th)! Unless it rains. But then I’ll be there on Sunday! Stop by my booth for magnets, chalk and bubbles for the kids, and a good time.
Follow Jaclyn on Instagram