Viewfinder: Clearwater Main Library Displays "Surveying Paradise" in Their Winter 2010-2011 Art Exhibition

"Art Cloth and Fiber" by Sarah Butz and Bonnie Bowman highlights their talent in textile art. Their collaborative and invididual pieces are on exhibit at the Clearwater Main Library. Cloth hangings, wall decor, baskets, jewelry and framed art line the walls at the library's Osecola and Carnegie Galleries.

Butz and Bowman started their art collaboration in 2006 after realizing they share contrasting but related styles. Their textile art meshes cotton, silk, thread, fabric paint, common objects, beads, paint, stenciling and ceramics.

Their collaborative art, "Surveying Paradise" is a screen printed, cotton mural, printed with stamps and found objects.

Other wall art included:

• "Monet's Garden", 2008, Sarah Butz, cotton and fabric painted stencils
• "Wavelength", 2007, Sarah Butz, hand-dyed fabric panel with thread and  yarn
• "Two Shirts and a Belt", 2008, Sarah Butz, silk shirts, silk and lizard belt pieces with foil
• "Hundreds and Thousands Full Color", 2010, Sarah Butz, hand-dyed linen and cotton, screen printed and machine stiched
• "Sewn Back Together", 2007, Sarah Butz, machine-sewn paper, thread and yarn sewn into panel, framed
• "Octopus' Garden Quilt", 2008, Sarah Butz, brown paper, twine, plastic bags, fabric
• "Her Message", 2010, Sarah Butz, hand-dyed cotton and silk, machine stiched, from poem by Emily Dickinson
• "Her Hands", undated, Bonnie Bowman, glazed hand earthenware with Shibori dyed silk scarves
• "Kaboom", 2010, Bonnie Bowman, hand-dyed silk, with soy wax resist, screen printed, painted and stamped with found objects
• "Bazooka!", 2010, Bonnie Bowman, hand-dyed linen, screen printed, hand stitched
• "Stormy Blue", undated, Bonnie Bowman, dye painted silk and rayon
• "Infinite Tranquility", undated, Bonnie Bowman, stained hand procelain, Shibori dyed silk
• "Siren's Veil", undated, Bonnie Bowman, hand woven, natural and synthetic fibers, dye painted silk and rayon

Their beaded jewelry and baskets are elaborate pieces of beads, threads and natural materials. Their displayed art is also available for sale.

The Clearwater Main Library's Winter Exhibition is open until Feb. 25. If you decide to go, remember the library will be closed for Presidents Day Monday (Feb. 21).