LOWER LAKE, Calif. – After an initial delay, the annual Quilt and Fiber Art Exhibition at Lower Lake Historic Schoolhouse Museum will open on Saturday afternoon.
The exhibition opens with an artists' reception from noon to 2 p.m. in the Weaver Auditorium.
The show, which was postponed a week as result of the Rocky fire, will run through Sept. 5.
“I'm excited to see the different techniques the artists themselves will be demonstrating during the opening reception,” said Tony Pierucci, the museum's curator.
This year's exhibition has been expanded to include a number of fiber artists as well as Alana Tanner, whose works are designed in felt.
“This year, we've added several new artists and expanded the scope of the show and guests will see a wider variety of artwork, from felting to basket making, and quilting and weaving,” Pierucci said, recognizing the use of natural fibers used by the artists.
“It's amazing. You'll see traditional quilting and on the other side of the spectrum, you'll see sculptural form felting. All of it, from one end to the other, they use similar materials and in some cases similar techniques,” Pierucci said.
To create her pieces, 40-year basket maker Sherry Harris said she uses local plant material, such as yucca leaves, dracaena leaves and mulberry branches.
“I like to use locally found plant materials because the materials are beautiful and children are fascinated by the materials they find. Most people who take my class” – at The Art House Gallery in Clearlake – “are interested in nature,” she said.
Harris and her students, as well as other fiber artists from throughout Lake County, will be participating in this year's exhibition.
Sheila O'Hara and her weaving students also will be displaying their works.
Among the works being shown by O'Hara is a piece resurrected from 2000, entitled, “Brainstorm.”
The three-dimensional exhibit is a tribute to her mother, who died of a brain tumor four years prior. The pieces features clouds illustrated in MRI film and rain to represent the tears she cried for her mother.
“The idea is that as the colors lighten, so does the sorrow,” O'Hara said.
The exhibition also will feature antique quilts, an 1807 spinning wheel and textiles from Peru and Guatemala including the works of Rachel Wolynicc, who learned the art of backstrap weaving living in the latter.
The Lower Lake Historic Schoolhouse Museum is located at 16435 Main St.
Regular hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday.
Email reporter Denise Rockenstein at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Annual Quilt and Fiber Art Exhibition opens Saturday
- Elizabeth Larson
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