Artists form new cooperative Sar.Z gallery
BY MARY LANCASTER INDEPENDENT WRITER
She is inspired by nature. His muse is what life doles out. Sarah Hutton and Buzz Williams have followed their dreams and on May 16 opened Sar.Z gallery adjacent to Orange Street Video as a cooperative venture. The gallery features their work and that of painter and native Kate Pelletier, who also does house drawings, and sculptor Randy Goldberger.

ROB BENCHLEY/The Independent Jeweler Sarah Hutton and artist Buzz Williams recently opened their own gallery called Sar.Z, next to Orange Street Video.

Hutton, who summered on Nantucket during her childhood, moved here in 1984. Her original jewelry designs, primarily of silver, gem stones, lava stones, amber, turquoise and pearls, are feminine and delicate, and based on inspiration she obtains by walking the beaches and reflecting on the contours and colors she sees.

"Nantucket has literally always been a part of my life and a huge influence on me," said Hutton, who is a certified massage therapist. "For me, there is a strong influence from nature and a strong sea form influence. I use a lot of wave shapes. I'm constantly walking the beaches and I'm influenced by the shapes of shells and waves."

Hutton began learning about jewelry making in high school in New Jersey, then apprenticed first as a potter and next as a jeweler at Peter's Valley Craftsmen in Layton, N.J. Hutton furthered her studies over a two-year period at Boston University and when she moved here, began working with Karen Topal at Nantucket Goldsmiths. When Topal left the island, Hutton worked with Jim O'Leary at Nantucket Silver and Leather, now called Jeweler's Gallery, and taught ceramics and jewelry making at the Artists Association of Nantucket. While employed at Stephen Swift's custom furniture for four years she had a case of her work on display at the shop, but this new gallery is her first opportunity to present her talent on her own.

Hutton, who shares a home with Williams and where they both have studios, said she never tires of being in her workshop.

"I could spend every day, all day, in that studio very happily," she said. "It is the time when I connect with my sense of spirit."

Williams, who moved to the island in January 1978, is an author, musician and registered polarity therapist besides being an artist. He said there is no name for his style because he essentially invented it, and it took 20 years to develop what he creates to the point where he is satisfied with what he does. Though it is a practice discouraged in museums and art galleries, Williams' works tempt onlookers to reach out and touch them - to feel the textured surfaces and perhaps gain insight into the personal feelings that caused him to do what he did in each individual piece.

Williams begins with a wood panel base, then applies a layer of paint. Over that layer, he may apply gesso or other paints and uses scrapers and blades, such as putty knives, rather than brushes to manipulate the mediums.

"I like the way it feels," he said. "It's a very tactile thing; I can get my hands in it. It's almost like an extreme version of finger painting. I feel the wood - I feel everything. It's almost like sculpting."

Williams said while his work is not classical realism it is also not abstract. He strives to incorporate an element, maybe a suggestion of a figure, eyes or a face, with which people can identify. Some subjects have provided a real challenge, such as his "Song Child," a painting in which he tries to depict music through art.

"I try to catch pages in my life, actually," he said of his muse. "Life presents itself on a daily basis. If I can catch a slice of experience I can look back at that. It's self-involved. It's like a pictorial diary. I am inspired by what is falling out of the sky - catch it, and that's good. I like to let the images speak for themselves while I'm working on them. It develops on the table."

Sar.Z will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Art displays will change every several days or as the cooperative's members

choose to add different items. I