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June Issue 2009
Artists' Guild
of Spartanburg in Spartanburg, SC, Features Works by Barbara M.
Thomas
Metamorphosis, an exhibit of the paintings of Barbara McComb Thomas, will be on view from June 1 - 27, 2009, at the Artists' Guild Gallery in Spartanburg, SC's Chapman Cultural Center.
Thomas' vibrant dye paintings on silk are the result of her extensive background in textile dyeing, oriental brush painting and interior and graphic design. Her flowing abstractions are textured with hand and machine stitching, sometimes embellished with natural stones and beads, adding depth and definition to the pieces.
Works in the exhibit include ethereal, space-like rice paper collage pieces mixed with more graphic metal and wood elements. Each of the pieces in this exhibit is an original design, hand painted on silk using French dyes.
"I called this exhibit Metamorphosis because it expresses the process of the changes that inevitably form the paths our lives take," the artist explains. "How we adjust to those changes and how they ultimately cause us to find new ways of adapting is the focus of this collection of work. Although we all share in the ebb and flow of our existence, we experience and respond to it in highly individual way."
Thomas says that she hopes her pieces will, "inspire others to use their experiences as springboards for moving ahead in life as well as keyholes into the emotional doors that sometimes block us from moving forward."
A passionate fabric painter, Thomas has worked in mixed media with all types of fibers for more than 25 years. Since relocating from New Jersey to Columbus, NC, six years ago, she says that she has "continued her painting with more intensity," inspired by the natural beauty of the mountains.
"Seven years of study in Sumi-E with Japanese artists, Ann Kobayashi, greatly influenced my work. I had always been drawn to the simplicity of the oriental brush painting, but it was not until an art instructor encouraged me to experiment with natural and synthetic fiber dyeing that I began integrating my love of flowing color in fabric with brush painting techniques. Immediately, silk painting became my favorite and most challenging medium," Thomas says, adding that as she develops new techniques she is continually amazed by the enormous range of possibilities presented by fabric painting.
Thomas has an extensive and varied background of experiences, including study at the Parsons School of Design, New York School of Visual Design and the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She also worked as a freelance graphic designer and with the Films for the Humanities and Sciences in Princeton, NJ. She owned and operated the Dancing Brush Gallery in Allentown, NJ, and was the assistant operations manager of the Upstairs Artspace in Tryon, NC.
"At an early age, it was natural for me to become interested and encouraged in art since both of my parents were artists," Thomas says, noting the influence of her mother, an award-winning Sumi-E artist, and her father, a professional draftsman who rendered commissioned pen and ink drawing of the New Jersey coast fishing vessels.
For further information
check our SC Institutional Gallery listings or call Laura Pinkley
at 864/764-9568.
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