Crowe exhibits in April
An opening reception for fiber artist Melissa Crowe will be held on Friday, April 1, from 7-9 p.m. at the Wintergreen Arts Center. The public is invited to celebrate her opening party and other First Friday Art Walk events held that evening.
Photo courtesy Wintergreen Art Center
USING FELT and other craft materials, Melissa Crowe creates one-of-a-kind art. Pictured is an example of her work that will be on exhibit at the Wintergreen Art Center in Presque Isle through the first week of May.
Her work will be on display in the Barresi Financial Gallery at the Wintergreen Arts Center at 149 State Street in Presque Isle from April 1 through May 4. Twenty percent of all sales of work from this exhibit will be donated to the Wintergreen Arts Center.
Crowe was born and raised in Presque Isle, where she worked as an English professor and Honors Program director from 2004-08. Having relocated to Portland with her husband, Mark, and their daughter, Annabelle, she home schools and continues to teach creative writing and American literature online for UMPI. With every spare second, she makes images from fabric.
She describes her work as “fiber illustration” and her favorite medium is wool felt, which she combines with cotton and linen fabrics to create colorful vignettes, accented by hand-embroidery and acrylic painting. Wool felt is a cozy, dimensional, versatile fiber that lends itself well to the warm and lovingly-imagined scenes Crowe makes. Her pieces often feature houses, trees, animals, birds and children; she experiments with her materials to create effects of depth, gesture and detail that evoke emotion and suggest narrative. At bottom, Crowe is a writer, and she wants her visual art, too, to tell stories that engage, delight and move the viewer.
Crowe sells her work (which includes custom portraits) via her online shop at www.littlepinkhouse.etsy.com, and her appliqué tutorials have been featured on a number of websites and in craft books and
SewMamaSew.com, “Sew Liberated,” by Meg McElroy, and Living Crafts Magazine. She writes a popular craft blog at www.checkoutgirlcrafts.blogspot.com.
Wintergreen Arts is hosting her opening reception as part of the First Friday Art Walk — which is a new cultural opportunity in downtown Presque Isle. Downtown businesses and organizations invite visitors to take a self-guided stroll through the downtown and University galleries to hear live music, meet local authors and artists, and experience the heart of our community. Participating organizations include the Turner Memorial Library Gallery, Wintergreen Arts Center, Sorpreso, Morning Star Arts and Framing, Oasis Salon, the Downtown Revitalization Committee, Freddy P’s, the Presque Isle Chamber of Commerce and the University of Maine in Presque Isle.
First Friday Art Walk is an event where people can meet, unwind, and enjoy the arts on the first Friday of each month between 5-9 p.m.
For more information visit the “First Friday Art Walk” Facebook page or e-mail Renee Felini at renee.felini@umpi.edu.
