ERIC NELSON WASN'T AIMING to be perhaps Washington's top chocolate entrepreneur. He just wanted a place to sell his art.

The owner of several sweet businesses in Alexandria and the District spent 15 years with the Telecommunications Industry Association, lobbying Congress and moving up to become vice president for international affairs. Overseeing a staff of half a dozen, he traveled to Beijing, Prague, Brussels, Moscow and Sao Paolo to help American companies. Eventually, the constant travel, and resulting back problems and stunted social life, wore him down.

What brought him up was working in glass. Three blocks from the office was a design studio called Mosaic Makers. "It reminded me of classical Greek and Roman art," Nelson says. Imagining ancient friezes, he crafted 3-D, 2-foot-square wall hangings.

"It was time-consuming and messy," Nelson says with a grin. After the studio closed, he tried working at home — but papier-mache, clay and grout were tough to handle, and "there were shards of glass all over the house." At $2,000 to $4,000 each, too, sales were few. Galleries were difficult to deal with even before they kept half the proceeds. What was a newfound artist to do?

Change materials and venues, to start. He found a much lighter painting surface in Mylar, the stuff of fancy balloons. "One objective of starting as an artist later in life is wanting to do something unique," explains Nelson, now 51. "The light goes through the translucent paint and bounces out, so it's bright and bold and colorful."

After a year or so of consulting, Nelson left office work altogether. To save time, profit and aggravation, he sought his own venue to sell art. "But you have to get people to come," he notes. And what better way to do that than with chocolate? In July 2006, Nelson opened Artfully Chocolate in Alexandria's Del Ray neighborhood. The high-end candy shop was an instant hit, and he sold about 50 pieces of art in its first year.

Last October, came Artfully Paper nearby, selling stationery, greeting cards and art. Meanwhile, Nelson had been talking with Rob Kingsbury of Old Town's Kingsbury Chocolates. Both wanted to expand their businesses. They teamed up to open a new store, Artfully Chocolate, Featuring Kingsbury Confections — popularly known as ACKC Cocoa Bar — four months ago near Logan Circle.

Modeled after coffeehouse-type cocoa bars in New York and elsewhere, the place offers hot chocolate drinks with such flavorings as lavender, pistachio and chipotle peppers, plus Kingsbury's candies and Nelson's art (he even created the tabletops). It's received good reviews, and at least as important to Nelson, it's been selling about one translucent acrylic and mosaic per week.

He and Kingsbury plan to open more shops, perhaps on Capitol Hill and in Silver Spring, Bethesda, Annapolis and Reston. But isn't running a business getting in the way of artistic integrity?

With a master's in economics, Nelson's always has been of a business mind; now he's just added art to it. The main problem is not being able to create enough artwork to fill all the spaces. "It's great fun to be so successful," Nelson says. "I've never felt so energetic. I have more ideas in my head than I possibly have time to do."

If you are still able to support children or fulfill other obligations, he advises, follow your passion in life: "If not, you'll regret it."

Does he still have a taste for chocolate after being around it for years? Nelson laughs. "The funny thing is, I've never been a chocolate fanatic," he confides. "That's fine, because my business partner is, and his excitement about it rubs off on me."

GIVE GLASS A TRY

» Art League of Alexandria: Many classes and workshops in mosaics, tiles and mirrors, one day to nine weeks. 105 N. Union St. (in the Torpedo Factory), Alexandria, 703-683-2323, Theartleague.org.

» Corcoran College of Art + Design: Fall class information will be posted at Corcoran.edu/ce in June. Most classes are once per week for 3 1/4 hours for 14 weeks, but there may be a seven-session ceramic-tile course. The next ceramic open house is May 22, 6-8 pm. 500 17th St. NW; 202-298-2542; Corcoran.edu/ce.

» Art Glass Center at Glen Echo: Art glass studio offers 60 classes in kiln-formed glass, mosaics and stained glass. 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo; 301-634-2226; Glenechopottery.com

Written by Express contributor Ellen Ryan
Photos by Chris Combs/Express

Posted by Express at 12:00 AM on April 9, 2008
Tagged in Alexandria , Getting Ahead , Lifestyles , Top Stories , Virginia