Ann Frye will be the Guest Artist at the Alliance Art Gallery for the month of November, exhibiting her hand woven decorative pieces and apparel. Fry began weaving in 1956, while on a co-op job from Anitoch College, as a designer's assistant, at the prestigious Einiger Mills in New York City, weaving samples of new fabric designs for salesmen to present to their clients. Once an original design was sold to a manufacturer the design was closed and unavailable to others but perhaps more importantly, Frye's love of weaving was established.
Frye's diverse background in both art and math have led her on a lifelong journey, discovering how to marry texture and design into her weavings. Always interested in creating pictures on a loom, Frye says she found playing with loom controlled patterns allowed her to express her love of both disciplines. Using an 8 shaft Mighty Wolf loom, Ann designs her patterns and using a point twill threading to create small pictures of animals and landscapes. For other work she uses a two shaft Union loom using other knotting and weaving techniques, such as soumak, to employ her love of texture in her decorative and apparel pieces.
Ann relocated to Hannibal in 2011, to be midway between her hometown of Chillicothe, Il and Kanas City, MO so she could more easily visit with friends and family. She states her work is more readily appreciated in this area and she has enjoyed finding like minded people among her new acquaintances. Frye holds BA and MA degrees from the University of Illinois, Springfield in environmental management. She studied art at the West Sussex School of Art and Design, Worthing, Sussex, Uk; Antioch College, Yellow Springs, OH; and Eureka College, IL. She studied math at both Antioch College and Johns Hopkins University. Before moving to Hannibal she demonstrated weaving at the Steeple Building in Bishop Hill, IL and sold her weavings at the Prairie Arts Center in Bishop Hill. She was a volunteer for Nature Conservancy Stewards for the Peoria Park District and managed a dedicated Illinois Nature Preserve in northern Peoria County for 20 years. She has also worked as a technical writer for t University of Illinois School of Medicine in Peoria.
An exhibit of Frye's work will open on Saturday, November 14, with a reception beginning from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and will continue through December11. The opening coincides with the Second Saturday Gallery night, a monthly gathering to meet local Gallery members and see their new work. A piece of jewelry from Kim Shinn will be given away at a 6 p.m. drawing.
