ART AT THE HALL

A Local Art Series

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Rebecca Yeomans

Fiber Artist

Rebecca Yeomans has lived her entire life centered around making. She learned to knit at eight years old and was considered the “class artist” in school. She studied studio art at UNC-Chapel Hill, receiving a BFA in 1974. After earning an MFA from Auburn University in 1979 she taught there for several years. Rebecca and her husband Tom moved to Wilmington, NC in 1984 and she worked as a scenic artist in the film industry. She was a founding board member for DREAMS of Wilmington and later taught classes. After she and Tom raised two artsy daughters, Rebecca quickly moved into full time artist mode. Her current work combines botanical printing, knitting, and stitching with a painterly feel.
 
Artist Statement
The pieces in this show represent over a year of gathering leaves and materials and making art on almost a daily basis. I explored new things, learned a great deal, and delighted in all the swirling ideas this process stirred up. Each creation has a story – from finding inspiration in the Barbie movie, to picking tobacco, to using ink derived from guns. The piece titled ‘Keep Looking Up’ has a featured role in the short documentary that was recently filmed about my creative process of contact botanical printing. The phrase carries a double meaning: when foraging, I “keep looking up”and all around for leaves; when making, I keep an optimistic outlook by striving to add beauty, joy, and wonder to our world through art.
 
About Her Process
The botanical printmaking process is almost always the inspiration and starting point for my work. Eco or botanical printing is the art of transferring color from natural plant material on to fabric or paper using pressure, moisture, and heat. Beautiful contact plant portraits are captured by bundling vegetation and fabric, either by rolling around a pipe or stacking in layers and binding tightly. The bundle is then steamed or immersed in simmering natural dye coaxing the pigment out of the leaves and on to the cloth. Results depend on many variables: type of fabric, water source, plant species, season, climate, and type of vessel used to name a few. Thus each piece is unique and always a surprise. The process involves many steps: scouring, mordanting, pre dyeing, printing with plant material, post dyeing, rinsing, and perhaps printing again. I enjoy the relationship with the natural world inherent in the process: foraging walks, growing my own dye plants, the aroma of cooking eucalyptus, and the opening of a bundle to reveal what gift Mother Nature has given. When a piece of printed paper or cloth excites me, I begin the slow process of embellishing. This involves tearing fabric, arranging and rearranging, pinning, basting, and deciding on a place to start. I approach this process intuitively, reacting playfully, exploring this or that, asking what if? The piece evolves and its story unfolds. Hopefully a lovely whole is created by the intricate details. In a nutshell, the beauty of the materials and the process of making are what my artwork is about. I am co-creating with Mother Nature and collaborating with the fabric, yarn, and thread.

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Art in Bloom Gallery

970 Inspiration Drive

in Mayfaire Town Center

Wilmington, NC 28405

910-679-4257 or 484-885-3037

aibgallery.com

Monday- Thursday 10am-5p, Friday-Saturday 10am-6pm & Sunday 12-5pm (and by appointment)

Our Website is Always Open for Shopping!

aibgallery.com

Call to Artists:

Local artists and/or galleries may submit a request to participate in the quarterly rotation by filling out the “Art Exhibit Request” Form below. Artists and/or galleries chosen will display art of their choice for a 3-month period designated by the Thalian Hall Center for the Performing Arts (THCPA) art exhibit coordinator. If selected, applicants must be willing to sign an Artist’s Agreement.

Works of art chosen for these temporary exhibits are lent to THCPA by the artists and/or galleries; THCPA is not the purchaser for the works of art. THCPA will allow the sale of art at a 20% commission. Display of contact information for the artists or galleries, web addresses and/or QR codes may be displayed on the art labels and/or artists’ biographies at the discretion of THCPA.

Submission Guidelines:

· If selected, all art must be “Gallery Ready” for THCPA staff to install. Acceptable materials on the back of the artwork include metal D-rings, hooks, and wires. No sawtooth hangers are accepted.

· A tag for each work of art must be provided with the Artist’s name, title of art, medium, and size on the back of the art. This information will be used to create labels for placement on the wall by THCPA staff. An inventory list with the Artist’s name, title of art, medium, and size must be provided prior to the art exhibit.

While THCPA will provide reasonable security for such art exhibits, security is not guaranteed, and insurance is not provided to the artists and/or galleries by THCPA or the City of Wilmington.

Exhibition space:

Spaces available for art exhibits are currently on the 2nd Floor Lobby of Thalian Hall and the Ruth and Bucky Stein Theatre.

*For questions, contact Amy Grant, grantamyn@gmail.com, Art at the Hall coordinator.