Artists: meeting Ferdinando and his family
- At July 08, 2013
- By Zia Lucy
- In Positano Art, Senza categoria
- 0
The first impression on entering his shop has been of a man who never wastes time: as soon as he saw me, Ferdinando showed his latest creations, a new line of menu holders, cutting boards and hang bags… if I had a restaurant, I would have bought it all!
Ferdinando is one of the few masters who survived the “IKEA AGE”. He learned the “art” from his father Crescenzo, artisan who instead of studying used to escape from school to the small family factory to help his father Ferdinando, and so on for about five generations that started from the master Giuseppe Parlato, who lived in the Nineteenth century. According to a research made by the same Ferdinando there are some traces of family members dedicated to woodworking since the Middle Ages.
Ferdinando’s curriculum vitae recalls the stories of those guys who, centuries ago, learned the craft in the workshops of master craftsmen: when he was 10, in fact, Ferdinando appeared in the shop to help his father Crescenzo, and then moved to Florence where he learned techniques of restoration,coating and gliding of wood. Back in Positano, he decided to break away from the family and begin a production of restoration and style decor with his wife Berenice: he took care of the practical side, she cared the aesthetic and commercial activities. Subsequently, Berenice separated from the wood craft to carry out another of her passions, the production of ceramics, while Ferdinando, who graduated in Interior Designer, developed projects for many shops on the Amalfi Coast.
Among the successes of Ferdinando we can highlight: the restoration of the vestry in Sant’Andrea delle Fratte in Rome in 2005 and the papal chair located in the diocese of Pompeii in 2008.
Another passion of Ferdinando is pyrography (a technique of engraving on wood by means of a heat source): “as a child,” he says, “I went to the beach with a magnifying glass to affect branches of wood found on the sand”. In addition, among its many resources, should be mentioned rehabilitation projects, exhibitions in Festival of Crafts and pyrography courses for those who want to dabble in this particular technique (worth a try).
In the family, however, Ferdinando and Berenice are not the only artists. Crescenzo and Giovanna, their children have followed the parents’ footsteps by adopting and adapting to new modern needs.
Crescenzo creates wood sunglasses while Giovanna works with her aunt Marina and Berenice in the ceramics workshop.
Well … a family of “full time” artists.
You can find Ferdinando here:
www.bottegadirestauro.com
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