This 41st annual exhibit provides Oklahoma fiber artisans an opportunity to showcase their work from traditional crafts to innovative art. This eclectic show honors quality workmanship and original design. The exhibit also educates the public about the many facets of fiber artistry by presenting a wide range of media, techniques, and traditions.
About Fiber Artists of Oklahoma
Fiber Artists of Oklahoma (FAO) is made up of individuals interested in sharing knowledge and promoting appreciation of all aspects of fiber art, including weaving, spinning, embroidery, knitting, crochet, knotting, basketry, felting, quilting, papermaking, dyeing, rug hooking, lace-making, and mixed media collage. Skill levels of members range from novice to expert, with some members experimenting as hobbyists, and others working as professionals. The organization sponsors and produces Fiberworks, a major annual juried fiber art show featuring Oklahoma artists. Members of FAO also participate in various activities during the year to encourage, support, and inform persons interested in fiber art.
About the Juror
After graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design with a ceramics major, Betty Busby founded a custom ceramic tile manufacturing firm in Los Angeles. After nearly 20 years of running the firm, she sold the business in 1994 (it is still in operation to this day). Upon relocating to New Mexico, she changed the focus of her artwork to fiber, taking it full time in 2004.
Her manufacturing background has lead to constant experimentation with new materials and techniques that fuel her work. The classic fractal structures of the sub-microscopic world are a constant inspiration, as are natural processes, such as oxidation, replication, and growth.
Fiberworks Awards
Juror Betty Busby conferred the following awards on behalf of the Fiber Artists of Oklahoma:
Best in Show: Battle Jacket, Emily Chase
Juror’s Choice: Summer Stories 2, Peggy Fry
B Sew’N Award: Colorplay 2, Brenda Esslinger
Best Quilt: Inked! Or The Quadriga of Quilting, Agnes Stadler
Best Not-for-Sale Work: Knotty Girl XII: Nandi, Zulu Queen, Julie Marks Blackstone
Award of Merit: Interrupted, Stephanie Grubbs; Glow, Barbara Morrison; The Rise and Fall of Sherwin Williams, Susan Sparks Michael; Nude in Velvet, Sean Tyler
Detail image courtesy Betty Busby.
