EARLVILLE – Painting with fabric?  It seems impossible, but the Annual Contemporary Art Quilts Exhibits will display six adept and innovative quilters who will showcase their expertise in fabric portraits and art quilts at the Earlville Opera House from July 24 to Aug. 18.  Hailing from various regions of the nation and even Canada, this exhibit displays varying flavors of quilting techniques and artistic vision. 
The EOH West gallery will be devoted to the nationally known quilter Marilyn Belford with The Collected Works of Marilyn Belford.  Belford creates realistic fabric portraits, the most well known and awarded being “My Parents” and “Rundy.”  She has written two books and has been nominated Teacher of the Year by the magazine The Professional Quilter in 2004 and 2007.  Eighteen pieces will be on display, including portraits, Biblical portrayals, and representations of paintings by Picasso, Gauguin, and O’Keefe.  Her works have been shown at the American Quilters Society show in Paducah, Quilters’ Heritage Celebration in Lancaster, the International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas, the Schweinfurth Museum in Auburn, and other museums and shows nationally. 
In the EOH East gallery there will be pieces from six artists.  Bob Adams from Lafayette, IN will be showing two pieces that reflect the glories of spring and fall.  “Rhythms of Fall” and “Rhythms of Spring” are laden with punchy colors and angular objects, making the seasons melodic.  Pamela Allen of Kingston, Ontario, Canada will show two quilts that stray from the form of classic quilting by combining actual objects with fabric.  The pieces are covered with accoutrements and raised fabric that makes her quilts whimsical and decorative.  Mary Jo Bowers of Chicago, IL will feature two pieces distinctive because of their shapes and energetic colors.  “Circles III” is a mosaic of beautiful misshapen circles and “A Little Bit of Red” has a lot of red and is so well thought out and crafted that it seems to be three-dimensional.
 Tamar Drucker, a native of Ossining, throws a modern twist of interpretation on classic themes of poetry and Biblical stories.  Her quilts are traditional in texture and craft, but powerful in imagery.  Marcia Eygabroat of Wilmington, NC will bring her intricately created pictorial quilts.  One of these was requested by artist Ivey Hayes – he had painted “Planting Time 2” and wished for Eygabroat to recreate it with fabric as a wall hanging.  Her quilt was honored with a first place ribbon for pictorial quilts at Quilts=Art=Quilts at Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center in Auburn, New York.  Ann Fahl completes the lineup of quilts with her two pieces “Wow That’s Orange” and “September Coneflowers.”  The quilts are uplifting and bold through the graphic approach to nature.  The colors stun and capture. 
Whether a quilter or merely an appreciative art viewer, this exhibit will inspire each EOH visitor through the dedication and craft of these quilters and their art.  The public is invited to attend the opening receptions on Friday, July 27 from 6 to 7:30 p.m.  The exhibit runs from July 24-Aug. 18 in the galleries at the Earlville Opera House.  Concurrent to the EOH exhibits is Quilting By the Lake in Morrisville, from July 22-Aug. 4. On the website, the Earlville Opera House Contemporary Quilt Show is listed in our gallery events and Quilting By The Lake is in our community calendar.  For more information on these events visit www.earlvilleoperahouse.com or call (315) 691-3550.