TOPSHAM — “Current and Coming: Elizabeth Busch Art Quilts” is on view at Maine Fiberarts through Aug. 15.
A reception to meet the artist will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, July 22, and the public is invited to attend free of charge.
Also on view are handmade paper books and journals by the papermaker Richard Lee (1933-2008). Elizabeth will be on hand to discuss her process in making these stunning, colorful quilts and the artist is a generous teacher.
Busch has worked as a designer for architectural firms for 18 years, started the Percent for Art Program for the Maine Arts Commission, worked for a period of time at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and has been an artist her entire life. She has also been involved in art and craft in Maine for many years, and now shows her work and teaches all over the country.
About her work, Busch writes, “Having been an artist all my life and an ‘art quilter’ since 1983, I’ve come to realize that my art work is all about process. Whether I am airbrushing, spreading Textile Paint on canvas taped to my table top, hand quilting or weaving painted acetate strips through plastic netting for one of my large kinetic sculptures, I am responding to that voice within that tells me today it’s time to make art.”
Although she has been a painter, she prefers the process of quilting. About this, the artists adds, “Why Art Quilts? Why not simply paintings? For me, it would be like having a meal without the dessert. I could do it, but sewing together a composition and hand quilting the three layers (backing, batting, a painted composition top) is definitely the final, very satisfying part of my process. I’ve put the whole aesthetic story together. My passion for each of these processes leads me to the next work, and I never know when that will be, but I do know that I can trust the process, that I will be notified.”
Lee was well-known throughout Maine for making handmade paper with kozo fiber in schools, museums and his studio. His bindings and designs were always artful and inventive, and this exhibit offers a chance to see many of his works together. Since 2003, Maine Fiberarts has hosted exhibits of Maine artists’ work at its Topsham gallery.
The group hosts an extensive website about Maine fiber work at www.mainefiberarts.org and is working on a publication, “Learning Fiber Art: A Guide to Maine Teaching Resources” that will be available by the end of the year both online and in print. To learn more, visit www.mainefiberarts.org; check the group’s Facebook page; email: christine@mainefiberarts.org; or call 207-721-0678.
