Blue Moon Gallery hosts first fiber artist
Submitted by Blue Moon Gallery
The Blue Moon Gallery is presenting "Painting in Fiber" by guest artist Maureen Ivy Fisher of Grayslake. Fisher is the gallery's first fiber artist.
Influenced by her professional artist father, Fisher has been a painter, illustrator, and art educator most of her life. She studied in Illinois, California and France and has a BA in Fine Art/Illustration from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, and an MA in Art Education from Chicago's North Park University.
Fisher is showing 15 "fiber paintings" at the gallery through Jan. 7.
"The process I use to create my fiber work is called needle felting," Fisher said. "Dyed sheep's wool is the paint on my palette. A sheet of felted wool is the canvas. Special needles that adhere the colored wool to the felt sheet are my paint brushes. I blend and layer the colored wool to achieve desired hues, tones, and gradations, just as I would with paint. Simultaneously, I build with the wool fiber to add a sculptural element."
Organic shapes and forms, rather than straight-edged geometric ones, are the components of Fisher's compositions. They are her interpretation of the many landscapes she has hiked or traveled.
The images she creates are her embrace of the natural world and, for her, are a refuge from the digital and man-made spaces in which we live and work today.
Fisher's fiber works are immersive, offering meditative, contemplative and comforting engagement. Favoring the tactile nature of working with fiber, Fisher's hands are right in the material along with the needle as she adds, subtracts and layers the colors, pulls, and then shapes the materials.
Patrons can also experience both "Metamorphosis," an exhibition of 25 collage art paintings by Gurnee artist Crystal Marie, as well as "Small Wonders," which is an exhibition of over 35 encaustic artworks - all under 20-inches in size - created by the FUSEDChicago network of encaustic artists. Both exhibitions are on display through Dec. 3.
In addition, the gallery's five collective artists who show year-round in the gallery - Kathleen Heitmann of Buffalo Grove, John Kirkpatrick of Libertyville, Kendra Kett of Gurnee, Michael Litewski of Zion, and Juli Janovicz of Kenosha, Wisconsin - will be displaying recent works, including paintings, drawings and wall sculptures.
The gallery is at 18620 Belvidere Road in Grayslake and is open 1-4 p.m. weekends. For more information and to check holiday hours, visit thebluemoongallery.com or call Gallery Director Kendra Kett at (224) 388-7948.
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