Fiber art event draws crowds to library Attendance expected to surpass 1,300

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BANGOR – Artisans displaying various handicrafts, from intricately beaded historic doll clothes to braided rugs and carefully crocheted hats, were scattered Saturday throughout three floors of the Bangor Public Library for the second annual Fiber Art Exhibition.

More than 1,300 people attended last year’s event, and it appeared Saturday as if this year’s numbers would surpass that.

“It seems as good as last year,” said the event’s organizer and reference librarian, Christy Coombs.

Coombs, who modestly says she has “dabbled” in a little bit of everything, from embroidery to crocheting, first got the idea for the fiber art exhibition while participating at an exhibit in Castine. She learned that the coastal organizers weren’t going to hold the event the next year.

“I thought it would be great for the library,” Coombs said.

This year’s event featured about 30 artists, with nine or 10 who hadn’t participated the previous year.

“It’s inspiring to see what other people do with the fiber arts,” Coombs said. “I hope people leave with a desire to start a new hobby and take out some craft books.”

People of all ages – men and women who have been crafting for years, couples, and fathers with their young daughters – attended Saturday’s exhibit.

The artists, including weaver Janice Jones of Bradford, were just as excited to share their talent as those who came to the event to look and learn.

Jones’ love of weaving started soon after high school in 1969.

While at college in New Jersey, she was drawn to a loom in the arts studio and her passion grew from there.

“It was really hot in the ’60s and ’70s,” Jones, 55, said. She added that the popularity of fiber arts seems to go in cycles.

“With older people having more time for it, younger people are getting interested in it,” Jones said.

Sitting behind a new wooden loom she recently purchased for its portability, Jones explained that it’s nice to have a way to demonstrate weaving at events.

“Fiber’s a lot of fun,” Jones said. “You usually wind up with something functional.”

She makes mostly clothing and accessories, generally using silk and rayon.

“Weaving is just so basic to me,” Jones said. “I know your jeans are woven and I know your sweater’s knit.”

Jones, who was participating in the exhibit for the first time, said she would like to come back again.

“I would come back because I think it’s important that people are introduced to other opportunities,” she said.

To her right, tucked in the corner of the library’s lecture hall, Bob Nichols of Jackson sat poking a small sculpture with a needle.

His work fascinated those who walked by, and very few could resist picking up one of the light, fuzzy felt sculptures Nichols had on display.

Starting with a simple clump of wool and a felting needle – with Band-Aids on hand for the occasional stabbing of his hand – Nichols has the ability to create something enchanting.

His lifelike sculptures have expression, color and personality. And his two-dimensional pieces, made using the same materials, are as vibrant as anything painted on a canvas.

The felting needle is used to poke the fibers, causing them to interlock with the repetitive jabbing motion.

“I think it’s more common in Europe,” Nichols, 57, said.

The idea for dry, or needle, felting is kind of a backwards art that started in the industrial world and was transferred to crafters.

“It was like reversing the Industrial Revolution, which I like,” Nichols said.

Several years ago, Nichols took a class in the art at Cityside Yarn Co. in Bangor.

“It just struck my fancy because I’ve always done sculpture of different kinds, mostly wood,” Nichols said.

As he’s gotten older, large wood sculptures are more physically demanding, and needle felting is a way he can combine his love of sculpture and add color.

“It gets the color and the form together,” Nichols said.

He also likes the fact that he can make both two- and three-dimensional art using the same skills.

As for the time devoted to making individual pieces, Nichols said he’s not good at keeping track. Pointing to an approximately 1-foot-tall felt man, Nichols estimated that such a piece takes about two working days.

“It’s fairly time-consuming,” he said.

Nichols admits that while sometimes he has a preconceived notion of what he wants to make, there’s no science to his process.

“Mostly, I like making the faces, so I start with the head,” he said. “When I finish the head, I wait for it to tell me what kind of person it is, and the body follows.”

Nichols said that although the Bangor event isn’t a place to sell his wares, he would come back.

“Things are not for sale here, but I’m getting a lot of interest,” he said. “It comes in waves a little bit, but for the most part I haven’t been able to get away.”