Christine’s Home Furnishings on Tyler Street in Pittsfield is a showcase for local artists

By STEPHEN DRAVIS

Posted: 02/09/2011 12:28:08 PM EST

At Pittsfield’s Christine’s Home Furnishings, furniture is only part of the picture.

The rest might be, well, a picture ... or some jewelry or a floral design or dozens of original works of art by local artists and artisans.

Christine and Gerard Natale, who started the Pittsfield furniture store in 2006, have teamed with eight local artists to fill their store with artwork that complements the new and antique furnishings that are the heart of Christine’s Home Furnishings.

"I think it’s wonderful," photographer Barbara Arpante said. "Artwork ends up in the home eventually. Christine has great furniture with Martha Stewart and all kinds of lines. It shows the art in its proper place."

Arpante’s photographs and those of fellow Berkshires native Susan Geller are joined by paintings from Scott Taylor, Marguerite Bride and Carol Lew, jewelry by Marian Raser and floral arrangements by Dan Pytko.

The store also features works from an eighth artist, Gerard Natale, who took some time away from the easel last week to discuss the use of art at the Tyler Street shop.

"Being an artist myself, I have my paintings all around the store," Natale said. "My stuff is pretty traditional and goes with antiques around the store.

"But we also have a lot of contemporary (furniture). We kind of wanted more contemporary pieces to go with that."

The first artist the couple approached was Taylor, a painter who works in acrylics and is known for depictions of landscapes, barns and lighthouses from throughout New England.

Taylor recommended the Natales visit North Street’s Art on No, where they met another member of the gallery, Bride.

"This came about because of 3rd Thursdays," Bride said, referring to Pittsfield’s monthly street fair. "Every 3rd Thursday this past year, we decided at Art on No that we were going to have open studios. One day, Gerard and Christine came in and met with some of us.

"They looked at my work and said. ‘Gee, would you be interested in displaying with us?’ I thought it was a pretty unique opportunity. I felt lucky and honored that they asked us."

Bride has 16 watercolor pieces at Christine’s Home Furnishings -- all scenes from the Berkshires. She said a furniture store is a natural setting to display works of art for sale.

"People will come into galleries, and it’s hard to visualize a place in your own home for the art," she said. "This is in a home setting."

Most of Bride’s work is in traditional gallery settings, but nontraditional venues like Christine’s Home Furnishings have a value for artists like herself, she said.

"It’s a really good opportunity for visibility in coffee shops and places like that," Bride said. "I can’t say it’s good for sales in that type of place, but it’s good to get your name out there."

Arpante said she has had good luck in nongallery venues.

"I’ve (exhibited) in restaurants and sold in restaurants," she said. "Coffeehouses are great for that.

"(Christine) has high-end furniture but also estate furniture. You start to browse and you might find some art that interests you. It’s good for her and good for us."

Gerard Natale said the layout of Christine’s Home Furnishing is conducive to finding art and/or furniture that works in the home as well as it does in the store.

"One of the things about our business is there are all these different rooms," he said. "A lot of times you go into a furniture store, and it’s like a warehouse. It’s kind of like getting a Christmas tree in the woods, and you bring it home and it’s way too big for your house.

"Our rooms are average sized living rooms or bedrooms. ... We hear every day from our customers, ‘I want to live here’ or ‘You should live here.’ ... Artwork was kind of a finishing touch to bring it all together."

In all, Christine’s Home Furnishings has 5,000 square feet of display area with two large rooms at street level, 10 rooms on the second floor and a "bargain basement."

Pairing the art with fine furnishings on the first and second floors makes the display areas feel "homier" while providing context for the art. It also has the potential to expose art to furniture shoppers and furniture to art patrons.

"There are new sets of eyes that will come and look at our store," Gerard Natale said. "Different artists have different followings. If they come to see a certain artist, they’ll say, ‘Oh, I didn’t realize this store was here.’

"It’s a way of getting new people. Maybe they don’t think they need furniture. Maybe they just want to see the artwork."

Christine’s Home Furnishings at 300 Tyler St. in Pittsfield will host an art opening/open house from 4 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 26, featuring the opportunity to meet eight local artists whose work is exhibited at the store. For more information, call 413-236-5600 or visit christineshomefurnishings.com.