Kermit Oswald grew up on Kutztown’s Main Street. He was an energetic kid, bursting with the desire to draw and paint. Growing up, he had one confidant in creativity –his neighbor and best friend, Keith Haring. Kermit and Keith would take sketchbooks to church. Their mothers watched with embarrasment as they sketched during services at the local UCC. Years later, Kermit met Lisa Marino, a young jewelry designer at Kutztown University, and they did what budding artists do best. Lisa and Kermit dreamt of a life together, spent creating and building as a team.
After university, Kermit moved to New York City. He immediately set out as an entrepreneur, creating a small frame shop in his Brooklyn loft. By the time Lisa graduated and joined Kermit in New York, they were surrounded by some of the most successful contemporary artists of the 1980s, including Keith Haring, Jean-Michele Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Kenny Scharf and Francesco Clemente.
While living in New York, the couple struggled to make ends meet; Lisa interned while Kermit framed art and hung gallery shows all around Manhattan. Lisa, ever on a budget, wanted to look chic and fabulous at the lavish parties they would attend. She started making statement jewelry to wear with her small collection of simple little black dresses. Often complimented by friends and party-goers, she felt flattered. When her boss, jewelry designer Deborah Yohai, asked to include Lisa’s pieces in her eponymous collection, she became determined to make a true living from her jewelry designs.
With Kermit’s support, Lisa began designing jewerly to sell on the streets of Manhattan. She had $400 unspent from her college loans, and invested it in brass materials, rubber mallets and faceted crystals. She would later hammer, bend and solder these parts right there on her kitchen table. After a few months of being a one-woman show, Lisa needed help. In 1983, she called upon her twin sisters to move to New York and help her launch her jewelry business. It was through the collaboration of the three sisters in the very early years that the name Sorrelli was born (an adaptation of the Italian word for sisters, sorrelle). Sorrelli Inc, the jewelry company that Lisa and Kermit still own today, will celebrate its 30-year anniversary in 2013.
Not long after Sorrelli was born, Lisa and Kermit married and had their first child. By 1987, with a second baby on the way, they were ready to move on from their life in New York City. The young parents were looking for a place with lots of space to accommodate their new family and business. A life in the Berks County countryside seemed ideal, and an old stone farmhouse built centuries before was the perfect find.
Building a home
Getting to the Oswald compound, as it is sometimes called, is an experience unto itself. Winding roads take visitors on narrow twists and turns until, finally, they arrive at the long, sloping driveway that weaves into the valley the family calls home.
The original stone farmhouse, with its thick walls, deep windows and narrow stairways, has been around for more than 200 years. Thanks to Lisa and Kermit, it is now part of a 21st century renovation, with an open floorplan that boasts airy spaces that flow from the living room to the dining area to the kitchen.
As you walk through Lisa and Kermit’s home, it’s clear that two artists live here.
The side porch entrance greets visitors with terra cotta-colored walls and mediterranean blue tiles, a nod to Lisa’s Italian heritage and the warm palette of southern Italy. The first sight beyond the entrance is the generously sized kitchen, with custom cabinetry built by local craftsman Mike Campanelli of Sawhorse Woodworking. The one-of-a-kind cabinetry incorporates reclaimed antique glass with bubbles and imperfections. The unique glass panes tie the new addition to the 18th century roots of the original home.
The side porch is adjacent to an extraordinary plant room, which houses Lisa’s collection of rare and wonderful flora. Deep purple orchids bloom happily amidst fat succulents and lush hibiscus trees. Lisa has always had a love of gardening. Her plant room serves as a treasure trove of inspiration and imagination for her work in the Sorrelli jewelry design studio. She painstakingly gathers each and every one of her outdoor potted plants each fall, migrating them to this indoor plant heaven. Here, they thrive and flourish until they can be outside again the following summer.
Modern Marvels meet Turn of the Century
Nature’s beauties mix with man-made works of art in the inspiring Oswald home. Paintings and drawings dominate the walls in this household of two contemporary art lovers. The kitchen cheekily displays a charcoal drawing by Pittsburgh native Andy Warhol (advising the viewer to “Be Somebody with a Body”).
The drawing is mounted atop 19th century American stoneware from the acclaimed Harrisburg pottery studio Cowden & Wilcox. Mixing turn-of-the-century wares with contemporary works has become the signature aesthetic of the Oswald home.
Around the corner, a Keith Haring wood carving is mounted above a rustic turn-of-the-century wooden dry sink. The antique dry sink was crafted in Pennsylvania around 1850. Haring’s wood carving dates from the 1980s. The two works are divided by more than a century, yet they work together in visual harmony as part of the unique visual library of the Oswald home.
The living room, with its inviting leather couch and big toasty fireplace, is the mainstay of the house. It beckons guests to sit cozily and chat or curl up with a good book. Behind the seating area are three screenprinted works by the contemporary artist Ryan McGuiness. McGuiness, a family friend, lives and works in NYC today. He uses a visual library of graphic elements from the modern age (think street signage and corporate logos) to create beautifully layered works, all hand crafted with traditional silkscreening methods. His work builds upon the foundation that Warhol and Haring created in their bodies of work decades before.
Peek into the adjoining room and you’ll find the original stone farmhouse walls, offset by playful black and white tiles in the library. A pair of Eames Chairs from the husband and wife team Charles and Ray Eames are clustered comfortably together. A locally thrifted round table is framed by rows and rows of books on the corner bookshelf, showcasing the family’s many interests. From mushroom hunting to Picasso biographies, this library runs the gamut. A modern light fixture hangs like a web above the thrifted table, where a sculpture by daughter Ivy Oswald rests protected in a glass cloche. Ivy used brass components from Sorrelli jewelry parts to create this intricate bird, which won her a National Scholastic Art award as a young teen.
A Tibetan thangka, otherwise known as a scroll painting, hangs opposite the bookcase in an ornate gold frame. The thangka serves as a reminder of the Oswald family’s journey to the temples of Tibet in 2008. This one, like many Tibetan thangkas, portrays a Buddhist deity in prayer. Opposite the ancient Tibetan thangka is a massive photo print by contemporary photographer Edward Burtynsky. The print depicts the old steel manufacturing site outside Shanghai. Kermit spent countless days driving past this site on his many business trips to China. The work holds sentimental value as a reminder of Shanghai’s past and its booming future.
Work = Art = Life = Play
The Oswald home is filled with relics from worldwide travels and sentimental gifts from friends. The sculptural bird by Kermit and Lisa’s daughter co-mingles with the work of well-known contemporary artists. Antique furniture from skilled Pennsylvania artisans mixes with contemporary woodwork from local, modern craftsmen. The Oswald home is a Berks County gem, filled with life and eccentric pairings. It serves as a lesson in design ingenuity and a visual reflection of the path that two artists, lovers and entrepreneurs have travelled together. Stop by the Sorrelli store in Kutztown to experience the tradition and beauty of Sorrelli that Lisa and Kermit have created. You’ll find the same aesthetic of contemporary mixed with antiquity, 21st century modern heirlooms with a decidedly vintage flare. This is how the Oswalds like it: one foot in our time, and the other paying homage to the past.
BY LILY OSWALD | PHOTOS BY JOHN SECOGES
