Part tribute, part tail-wagging whimsy

Artist creates dog lovers' haven

Vermont folk artist Stephen Huneck, with a group of dog pals in his dog chapel in St. Johnsbury, Vt. Huneck creates dog-themed furniture, woodcut paintings, and children's books. (toby talbot/associated press)

ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt. - For Stephen Huneck, inspiration comes on four legs - its teeth dug into a stick, or tugging on a piece of rope, or playing on a beach.

The eclectic Vermont folk artist, who started out whittling wooden sculptures of dogs and now specializes in dog-themed furniture, woodcut paintings, and children's books, has carved out a unique niche with his whimsical reproductions of Labrador retrievers and other dogs.

And his Dog Mountain studio and dog chapel - on a picturesque 175-acre hillside farm in rural northern Vermont - have evolved into a kind of doggy Disneyland, drawing animal lovers and their pets from all over, and some to mourn.

To Huneck, dogs are more than man's best friend.

"I really believe they're the great spirit's special gift to mankind," said Huneck, 59, and a native of Sudbury, Mass. "Dogs teach us more than we teach them."

A longtime antique collector, he turned to art professionally in the early 1980s, using old-fashioned chisels, saws, and planes to hand-carve his first canine creations.

His woodcuts - dogs with halos, dogs peaking out from under bedcovers, dogs sniffing each other - brim with the playfulness of a 6-week-old puppy. His sculptures and furniture, meanwhile, range from his Angel Dog statues - a black lab with golden wings - to coffee tables with sculpted dog-likeness legs.

Dog lovers hound him for commissioned works.

His client list includes actress Sandra Bullock, Dr. Phil McGraw of TV talk-show fame, and US Senator Patrick Leahy, whose Washington office is decorated with Huneck art.

"I think, to describe his work to someone who has never seen it, you simply say, 'You have to see it, I can't describe it to give it the credit it deserves,' " said R. Scudder Smith, publisher of Antiques and The Arts Weekly, in Newtown, Conn. "It is too full of fun, imagination, and talent to put into words."

Huneck's books, including "Sally Goes to the Beach," "Sally Goes to the Farm," and the new "Sally Gets a Job," feature woodcut prints accompanied by simple, pithy captions that celebrate people's unique relationship with dogs.

"Like a dog, he has no inhibitions," said Rob Hunter, gallery manager for Frog Hollow Vermont State Craft Center. "He goes all over the place with his work. He has tapped into that playfulness you get with a dog."

The dog chapel grew out of a bit of inspiration after his 1994 hospitalization with Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome, which nearly killed him. When he came out of it, he says, he had a vision.

"I kept thinking what a great thing it could be, for people not only to mourn the loss of a dog but to celebrate nature and their relationships with their dogs," he said.

The chapel, which is unheated and never closes, is busy and full of life in summer and fall, but quiet, empty, and solemn on most winter days.

"It's just so unique," said Jennifer Goodman, 29, of Boston, who made the three-hour drive to it last month, accompanied by her boyfriend and her 7-year-old basset hound, Beans.

"My friends were like, 'You're going to Vermont? Are you going to go skiing?' I'm like, 'No, we're going to a dog mountain,' and no one quite understands it. We literally just got here, checked into a hotel."

Twice a year, Huneck and his wife throw outdoor barbecues - with food for everyone, two legs or four.

"When dogs pull up in here, they may never have been here before, but it's like they saw the 'Disneyland' sign. They just get so excited, so happy," he said.