After Three-and-a-Half Years, Why Did We Change Our Family Business Name?

The decision to change the name from KMJ Cooney Gallery to THE KMJ Stoneworks did not come lightly, but Kris and I felt that the time had come to realign exactly what the KMJ is these days, compared to what it was when we set out on this journey way back in the spring of 2017. May Day, to be precise.

With a tight budget – but a great deal of energy, enthusiasm, grit and determination, this former plumbing shop seemed to us as the perfect platform on which to launch our stone-centric business. Just what sort of commercial outlet? That was to be had yet to be decided. In fact we didn’t even have a name, except for The KMJ of course…. as in Kris, Martin and our son, Joseph.

We finally decided upon a fine art gallery approach in order to focus attention on my 67-piece Colorado Yule Marble COLLECTION SERIES sculpture – which you can view by clicking here, or upon the tab in the menu at the top of the page.

Recently however, and now that well over half of the collection has sold, THE KMJ has seen quite an overhaul in that a brand-new body of work is rapidly emerging that wasn’t carved in Woody Creek, just five miles down the road, but right here upon the THE KMJ banker itself.

And so, now that THE KMJ Banker Workshop is gearing up into full swing, we though it a timely and appropriate name change; from a purely retail Gallery to a StoneWorks that actually produces most of the work that it sells.

Of course, with the sheer volume of stone that I carved in Woody Creek over a period of a decade and-a-half we will be no doubt selling some of this stonework for several years to come.

i n t r o d u c i n g

KMJ STONE FLIGHTS

“Flowers and Candlelight” – what a delightful and romantic pairing! And now, with the arrival of my new tabletop/window Stone Flights, you can display magnificent rows of colorful flowers both short and tall – all beautifully arrayed. You can add intermittent candles between the floral displays, or set up your Flight as a long ribbon of trailing lights. It is my belief that once you acquire a set of these sleek and versatile hand carved stone display vessels you will wonder how you ever managed without them.

Please bear in mind however that what you see below are merely the prototypes. Soon I will be back with a full account of how the new commercial series of Flights will seamlessly fit together in several ways allowing for an array of display options.

Just what exactly will manifest itself in stone over this new and rapidly developing stage of our three-and-a-half-year-old venture is anyone’s guess, as we intend to let this situation develop into whatever it is destined to become. Consequently we thought that now is the time to recognize and accommodate such an exciting new development with a business sign that more accurately reflected the activities contained within.

The above photos were taken on or around our first day open to the public in July of 2017 and as you can see, such was the sheer volume of THE COLLECTION SERIES sculpture that there was very little room for anything else.

As THE COLLECTION SERIES gradually dwindled down in number, more and more non-Colorado Yule Marble carvings began to make their way into the gallery, all of which I carved (as mentioned above) during my 15-year-spell in what I now think of as The Woody Creek Years. Until at last my mind turned to just what I could carve right here in the admittedly far more restrictive surroundings of the Aspen Airport Business Center.

Gone, at least for the moment, are the heady days of Woody Creek, when I carved so mightily that I need not curtail whatever measures I felt were required in order to meet my objectives. For such was the industrial nature of my workshop that it could easily accommodate projects of practically any realistic size.

This time around, right here at the ABC – plumb amid a busy business park – I cannot reproduce those heady days carving away so care-free in the backwoods of Woody Creek, but, given a little advanced preparation, I am actually quite encouraged with just what I have been able to achieve so far; and even more excited about just what will eventually materialize over time from this newly revived cozy little space.

These are early days in THE KMJ’s Banker Workshop era, for although I built this raised carving platform as one of the first features of our new gallery it has lain mostly unused for its stated purpose aside from the odd project now and then just to keep my hands useful, and simply dabble at a carving or two from to time.

Just what will emerge is impossible to imagine to be honest, but in founding our new line of STONE FLIGHTS I feel as though I am off to a promising start.

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THE KMJ Name Change: Why “STONEWORKS”?

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thanks for visiting martincooney.com

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Martin