Interview with the Artists: Neil & Kerry Stavely

It all started with a photography display – and as they say, the rest is history. Former owners of the Winchester Book Gallery, Andy and Jen Gyurisin, knew exactly how to leave their legacy on our neighborhood book store—with a beautifully painted tribute to their favorite scribes by Neil and Kerry Stavely.

“The Stavely’s did more than that, they created pieces that make the bookstore unique and unlike any anything else on the mall,” said Andy.

“They created art that has become a destination spot for Winchester, VA.”

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‘chester: How did this project happen – what was the reason behind it?
Kerry & Neil:  Andy and Jen, the previous owners of the bookstore, contacted us about decorating the wall. They were familiar with our work and I (Kerry) had had a photography show there last Fall. Unbeknownst to us at the time, Andy and Jen were thinking about selling the business, so I think it was their way of leaving their mark on the place.

‘chester: What was your vision for the mural – how did you come up with the design and the different authors to include in it?
Kerry & Neil: We knew we didn’t really want to do a typical painted mural. We consider this more of an art installation or display. After quite a bit of brainstorming, we settled on block printed author portraits. Part of the appeal of this medium is its reference to the origins of book making. We also knew that we didn’t want to just have the pictures hung up on a barren wall. At first we thought about incorporating sculptural or three dimensional elements and then later Kerry came up with the idea of using chalkboard paint and then drawing and writing on the wall.

‘chester: Describe to us your painting style.
Kerry & Neil: The wall consists of nine author portraits which are enlarged digital prints originating from small linoleum block prints. A relief block print is basically like a stamp. Each image is hand carved out of a linoleum block then inked and hand pressed. From the beginning we knew we wanted a bit of stylistic variety between the images. We didn’t want everything to look the same. Neil’s prints focused more on color by using 2-3 blocks whereas Kerry’s use only black in single block compositions.

‘chester: What was your favorite part of working on the mural? What part of the mural is your favorite part?
Kerry & Neil: Finishing it! Basically the culmination of it all. We worked on this for six months so to see it all come together was really exciting. We were really pleased with how the prints stand out from the wall and interact with the chalk drawings. We had a few ideas of what we were going to draw or write on the wall but some of it was done off the cuff so that was fun.

‘chester: Have you ever done a mural before? Or a similar project?
Kerry & Neil: We’ve both had experience with linocut printing and painting but never have done a project like this where we had so much creative freedom and on such a grand scale. In terms of large scale public works though, Neil used to work as a mural painter; working on several murals at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN.

‘chester: Your work will be there forever – how does that make you feel? What do you hope that future generations will think when they view this mural?
Kerry & Neil: We have a hard time believing it will be up forever but we hope people enjoy it as long as it is. Hopefully it will encourage people to investigate authors/artists they might not have heard of and inspire others to utilize local artists.

‘chester: Do you have any thoughts about the local literary scene? I believe you had said some of the authors were from Virginia?
Kerry & Neil: It was great to learn more about Winchester-native Joe Bageant. His writings are thick with love for the area while at the same time mercilessly criticizing it’s shortcomings. To know that a man like him walked the same streets (and frequented the same bookstore) as we do enriches our experience of living in Winchester. Unfortunately we didn’t get to meet him; he passed away earlier this year, but we hope he would have liked the portrait.

Note from Andy & Jen Gyurisin:
The authors are Jen and I’s favorites. Joe Bageant was a huge supporter of the store when his first book came out, giving us the first talk and signing of his tour. Since then, he was always a fixture whenever he was in town. Sallie Mann is a photographer based in Lexington, VA, and considered the best photographer in the US (by several reputable sources), Lee Smith & Annie Dillard were graduates of Jen’s alma mater Hollins University, and we have always carried their books. Lee did a signing with us during our time there as well. Richard Scarry, well, who doesn’t remember him from our childhood past. The Sterns are our go-to food people. Always smiling and enjoying slices of Americana. Mark Twain & Flannery O’Conner are staples of southern literature and heavy influences on our reading habits. David Foster Wallace re-invented the difficult novel. His “Infinite Jest” is an amazing read (one of my favorites) as well as the most difficult book to read. A cult classic in its own right.

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