Fine Furnishings Show features a Dartmouth artist, artisan

Nov 4, 2015

This weekend, two very different local crafters will be together under one roof.

Gary Adriance, owner of Adriance Furnituremakers, makes furniture that may look simple, but he says the amount of time that goes into each piece is anything but. Carol Way Wood is a painter who illustrates adventurous animals for children’s literature. The Fine Furnishings Show will feature both crafters. The expo will held on Nov. 6 to 8 at Pawtucket Armory Arts Center in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

Adriance will be at the show selling various Shaker-inspired furnishings, which is a style known for its simplicity and utility. Adriance said he has a showroom in Boston and in Connecticut, but the products are all produced at 288 Gulf Road.

“We’ve been in business since 1983,” said Adriance. “Our furniture is designed by me and is inspired by antiques from the Shaker era, which would be the late 1700s up to about 1850.”

Adriance said that the way his goods are created gives them intrinsic value, especially their hand-sawn dovetail joints. He currently employs four others in his shop.

“I watch each step very carefully. Nothing goes out of the shop without my observing it many, many times. I’ve had my hand on each piece. We’re small enough that I’m able to do the work, and I always have. I don’t want a big shop where I don’t have control over the work,” said Adriance.

“There’s a misconception that if you buy a handmade piece of furniture it’s going to be expensive. Because we make [furniture] and sell it direct, our quality is enormous. It’s not comparable to store-bought furniture,” he said.

While the Fine Furnishings Show will predominately feature furniture, there will be other artists selling other kinds of handcrafted goods. Carol Way Wood, a South Dartmouth resident, will be offering several paintings from her career as a fine artist and children’s book illustrator.

In addition to several prints from previous work, she will be selling original watercolor paintings she prepared for the book “What Do Cape Cod Colors Say?” The book, which was written by Linda Connelly, features 21 of Wood’s paintings. She estimates she spent 300 hours on the illustrations. Wood said she’s been painting for the past 53 years.

“Through the years, I’ve done a lot of drawings of animals. I have that experience so that I can work from my imagination a lot of the time,” said Wood. “When it comes to flowers, I prefer to work from reality. Very often, I’ll go and pick the particular flowers I want in a painting and draw them from life and work the animals or birds in.”

Karla Little, who manages the show, said she “created the show twenty years ago because there were a plethora of craft shows, but none that featured furniture makers.”

She said that, even though the focus of the show will be on furniture, there will be plenty of cash-and-carry items available. But for those looking to make a larger purchase, she offered this advice: “Handcrafted, custom furniture is more affordable than you might think.”

For more information on the show, visit finefurnishingsshows.com. For more on Adriance Furniture Makers, visit adriance.com. Carol Way Wood’s work can be seen at carolwaywood.com.