Manchester Newspapers Lakes Region "Our Town 2015" n Week of July 27, 2015 - 19
Kerry O. Furlani
Button
Using local slate to create art
Poultney gets clothing boutique
Kerry O. Furlani is known for her expressive slate carvings of incised and burgeoning forms. She began her career as a journalist at The Christian Science Monitor in Boston but discovered that her happiest hours were spent making sculptures after her formal work day had ended. In the late 1990s after a stint in Dublin, Ireland, she went to England to study at the Frink School of Figurative Sculpture. Introduced there to traditional hand-carving Kerry Furlani tools and techniques, she discovered a special affinity for carving forms using the timeless materials of stone and wood. In 2001, she came to Vermont to work with the local marble but found the beautiful colors and soft quality of slate held her interest most. “From roof tops to landscaped pathways, I was struck by this region’s abundance of slate,” she said. “I was also drawn to the durable quality of slate as a carving material in the exquisite examples of carved 16th and 17th century slate headstones I discovered in nearby cemeteries. This stone seemed an ultimate fit for my desire to develop my skills as a hand carver, experiment with relief carving, and work as a contemporary carver in a tradition and verve connected to colonial New England.” For over a decade, Furlani has shown a growing body of slate work (panels, benches, tables, sculpture, lettering work) at various galleries and museums throughout New England. She has had solo shows at The Visual Arts Gallery, SUNY-Queensbury and the Slate Valley Museum, in Granville, NY. Her studio is in the Journal Press in Poultney, near to the slate quarries that feed her muse. She makes her living on the sale of her art and commissions. In 2010, with the support of a Vermont Arts Council Grant, the sculptor traveled to Wales to study under John Neilson, a master letter carver. The three-month apprenticeship resulted in an exhibit, “Words to Stone: The Carved Lettering of Kerry O. Furlani,” which has been shown in Vermont galleries. Many of her lettering pieces are fragments she has retrieved from Vermont quarries and river beds, stone yards and backyards. She finds inspiration from the shapes of these slate remnants.
Furlani also finds inspiration in her instincts for play and her love of ancient carvings, poetry, music, and the natural world. “My hope is to make work that will stir the imagination and speak to the heart,” she said. Preservation and promotion of hand lettering design is also important to her practice. “Hand-drawn letter forms and spacing are judged by eye, not computers or rulers,” she said. “Central to good lettering design is rhythm, spacing, and balance.” Furlani spends as much work on the drawing of her lettering forms as she does on the carving. A beautiful carved letter is only as good as its design, she says. The sculptor favors a wide spectrum of custom work because she wishes to provide something beautiful for every budget. A range of commissions she offers from her slate pickings in her studio: Letters on pebbles, family name plaques and house numbers, dog markers and portraits. Larger commission work includes commemorative and architectural pieces for public and private spaces, cathedrals and cemeteries, and private collections. Recent projects have included a marble baptismal font for the cathedral at St. George’s School in Newport, RI and a public memorial plaque for Middlebury which can be viewed along the banks of the Otter Creek river in the historic Marble Works district. This past winter, with the help of the Poultney Historic Society, Furlani secured a Vermont Arts Council grant to bring her stone lettering to downtown Poultney. Her winning proposal, The Silent Friend Slate Project, wishes to breathe life into Vermont’s rich slate history and establish a Slate Sentinel Gateway at the top of Main Street that will bring greater visitation to Poultney’s business district. The sculptor offers summer slate carving workshops in her studio and public carving demonstrations at schools and in community events in and around Vermont. For more information, please contact Furlani at 802-855-7501 or kofsculptor@ gmail.com. Her work can be viewed at www.kerryofurlani.com. She welcomes studio visits by appointment.
Poultney area residents now have a new option for unique clothing and accessories at Button, located at 188 Main Street. The new shop offers women’s clothing, accessories and gifts, as well as some children’s items and men’s graphic tees. Owner Serena Gallagher said that she is focusing her inventory on new hand-made, fair trade and organic fabrics. “We hope to offer a fun, unique shopping experience,” said Gallagher. She plans to grow the inventory to provide items that people say they want or need. Items offered for sale include one-of-a-kind handmade pieces from sustainable fabric, purses from bottle caps, and hand-hammered copper jewelry. Gallagher said that she decided to open the business to offer something new Serena Gallagher, owner. and different to Poultney. grow and be a destination town in “There was nowhere to buy clothing Vermont for Vermonters and visitors.” in Poultney,” she said. “I thought openButton is open Monday through ing a clothing store that fit in with the Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 10 sustainability and local feel that this a.m. to 4 p.m. It is located at 188 Main community works hard to accomplish Street, Suite 1 in Poultney. Serena can be would be a huge asset to the communireached at 884-8166, at buttonvt.com, galty.” lagherserena12@yahoo.com or check the “Our town is small but special,” she shop’s Facebook page. commented. “I want to see Poultney
Wells Gallery Offers Local Art & Antiques Unique Items & Art • VT Maple Syrup Sculpture • Antiques • Slate Gifts Photography • Stained Glass • Pottery Exclusive Gallery for Robert Hamblin Oil Paintings
The Earth and Time Studio Gallery is open year-around Wednesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 5:00 p.m.
802-783-8025
www.earthandtimestudio.com info@earthandtimestudio.com
thestovery.com THE 245 MAIN ST., POULTNEY, VT
Calzones • Lasagna • Dinners Salads • Burgers • Subs Fried Foods • Appetizers
STOVERY stoves • fireplaces • inserts
518-638-8950