Topsham, ME — “Teapots & Textiles,” ceramic teapots and art quilts by Cumberland resident Meryl Ruth, is on view at Maine Fiberarts, 13 Main Street, Topsham through December 17. A Reception will be held on Sunday, November 13, from 2-5 p.m. and the event is free and open to the public. Ruth will be on hand at that time to talk about the many processes involved in her work.

Meryl Ruth is know both nationally and internationally for her whimsical ceramic teapots and enjoys emulating the look and feel of fabric in her ceramic work. Says Ruth, “My mother’s passing a few years ago jumpstarted in me a shift in perspective regarding fabric. It dawned on me that my first love—fabric—was a medium I wanted to work with more directly, through sewing, quilting, fabric paint, silkscreening, airbrushing and hand painting. This passion for the fiber arts derives from my fondest childhood memories of my grandmother. I spent hours watching and learning from her as she sewed on her treadle sewing machine. This very vivid memory eliciting love, grace, peacefulness, and warmth is recreated each time I work in the medium.”

Ruth worked as an art teacher for twenty-eight years, many of those at Deering High School where she taught techniques that she uses in her work. These include: photography, silkscreening, appliqué, airbrushing, weaving, free motion stitching, and quilting. 

Maine Fiberarts’ show includes over nineteen ceramic teapots and one made of fiber. The teapots are inventive and humorous sculptures that have won Smithsonian, Niche, Viewers’ Choice, and other awards and have been exhibited both nationally and internationally. Spotted leopards, detailed pugs, French horns, and a curvaceous Marilyn Monroe, are all rendered in clay. The show also includes sixteen quilts. Finally, a few of Ruth’s sketchbooks and drawings mark the progression of work from inception through to final form.

Founded in 2000, statewide nonprofit Maine Fiberarts promotes the work of Maine fiber artists, craftspeople, farmers, and entrepreneurs. Gallery hours are Wednesday-Friday, 11-4; Saturday, 11-2. Along with revolving exhibitions, the group just published a photo book about “Fiber Art Masters: A Visual Tour to Maine Artists’ Work and Studios,” and is currently producing a printed Fiber Arts Midcoast Mini Tour. To learn more about the current show, visit www.mainefiberarts.org, call 207-721-0678, or visit the Topsham gallery.