Joanne Bast
"Fiber, Fabric, Felt, and Thread" will open on Sunday, November 6, with Pennsylvania artist Joanne Bast presenting an artist talk at 12:30 followed by a reception. Color and color transitions are the primary focus of her beautiful and carefully constructed pieces of hand or machine embroidery, felting and/or beadwork. She uses thread, beads and fabrics as if they were paint, overlaying and shading with hundreds of closely hued colors. Joanne often sees and expresses more colors than are technically existent in the actual subject and delights in moving from one color or shape to another. She has recently expanded into oil painting with or without encaustic, again focusing on color and texture.
Machine embroidery begins with her own digitally manipulated photography printed onto canvas backed cotton fabric which is then stitched with hundreds of colors of sewing threads. The scene takes on a life of its own deviating from the original photograph. The threads are used as a paint palette resulting in a scene entirely of stitching. Joanne's intricately detailed work is delightful and encourages close inspection by the viewer. New shapes and surprises appear as if by magic. This show runs through November 25.
The Blanche Ames Gallery is located in the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick, 4880 Elmer Derr Road, Frederick, MD 21703. Phone (301)473-7680 for gallery hours.
