Albuquerque artist Vel Saddington hangs her work in Step Up Gallery at Mesa Public Library in advance of “The Quilt as Art” exhibit, now open to the public with a reception for the artists 2-3:30 p.m., Sunday, May 11. Courtesy photo

Members of the New Mexico Quilt Guild’s art quilt and surface design and contemporary groups hang quilts in Step Up Gallery prior to Thursday’s opening to the public. Courtesy photo

STEP UP GALLERY NEWS RELEASE

Spectacular vision, innovative fabric design, and devoted work are the hallmarks of the artworks shown in the new exhibit in Step Up Gallery at Mesa Public Library. “The Quilt as Art” opened to the public May 8, with a reception for the artists 2-3:30 p.m., May 11. The public is invited to the reception and to the gallery talk by artist Mary Jo Stipe at 2:30 p.m.

Stipe is a mixed-media textile artist who dyes, prints and paints fabric, creates art quilts and collages, and loves improvisation. She is currently enamored with cyanotype printing and rust dyeing and maintains a regular drawing practice, something begun as an art major in college. Nature is a constant theme in her work, especially trees, leaves, flowers and weeds and, of course, the enchanting New Mexican landscape.

Stitching, quilting, embroidery, and beadwork are familiar to most viewers, while shibori, cyanotype, and rust dyeing might be new. Shibori is a Japanese style of dyeing fabric similar to tie-dying, while cyanotype uses a UV sensitive solution to create a print on fabric. With rust-dyeing, the artist wraps iron in dampened cloth and the iron makes permanent rust stains on the fabric.

Viewers will see a wide array of traditional and non-traditional techniques in this show, but nothing that looks like the standard version of a quilt. These artists use a definition that relates more closely to “a creative visual work that is layered and stitched or that references this form of stitched layered structure.” Twenty-two artists are represented, all of whom are members of the New Mexico Quilt Guild.

Step Up Gallery (https://stepupgallery.org) is on the top level of Mesa Public Library in Los Alamos, at 2400 Central Ave. The gallery is open the same hours as the library: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Thursday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday and 1-5 p.m., Sunday.