MARYA LOWE jumped into the contemporary fiber art world in 2007, after more than 3 decades as both a
traditional quilter and a professional quilt restorer. A single magazine picture of Venetian
glassware sparked the transition. Something about the glassware's design embedded itself in her
mind and would not let go. Having reached the auspicious benchmark of "60 years old", she began
to reassess her life, her attitudes, her goals, and to reinvent herself accordingly. Delving into textile
art took front and center stage.
Marya has explored many different ways to create fiber art, following paths
that often seemed divergent and unrelated. Gradually, however, recurring
themes and overlapping processes began to emerge as the bedrock of her work.
Although realism still makes an occasional appearance in her output,
her primary delight now is to give color and texture free reign on a
purely abstract canvas, and then to contain that riotous interplay within
a calm and quiet background.
"Whimsical sophistication" is an apt description of her fiberworks, which may
be machine pieced or fused, or both. Working in series allows her to explore
different faces of the same topic. Commercially printed cottons, silks,
hand-dyed fabrics, second-hand clothing, vintage fabrics, beads, decorative
threads and yarns, and paint all appear in her work.
Marya's work has been shown at local and national shows,
and in solo and special exhibits. Some of her pieces,
including commissioned work, are already in private collections.
She is a member of a local quilt guild, Studio Art Quilt Associates,
the New England Quilt Museum, and Surface Design Association.
Professional Quilt Restorer, 1994-2010
Group and Special Exhibits / Presentations
- "Serenity", Jericho Town Hall, Jericho, VT, 2023
- "Transformation: Material, Environment, Us", Studio Place Arts, Barre, VT, 2023
- "Scattered Cohesion", solo exhibit at Minema Gallery, Johnson, VT, 2022-3, including an
Artist Talk
- "Vibrantsee/d", solo exhibit at Minema Gallery, Johnson, VT, 2021
- "Transitions", jointly sponsored by VT Surface Design Association and Axel's Gallery and
Frame Shop, Waterbury, VT, 2022
- "Birds of a Fiber", Pacific Northwest Quilts and Fiber Art Museum, La Connor, WA, 2022
- "Hidden Messages: Old and New", VT Surface Design Association, Chandler Center for the
Arts, Randolph, VT, 2021
- "The Parade is Coming!", Studio Place Arts, Barre, VT, 2021
- Surface Design Association Premium Member Gallery
- Represented by ArtHound Gallery, Essex Junction, VT
- "My Journey from Traditional to Art Quilts: Little Did I Know!", Featured Art Quilter
at The Vermont Quilt Festival, Essex Junction, VT, 2019
(click here for the show.)
- "Explorations: Journeys in Creativity", SAQA Juried Exhibit, NEQM, Lowell, MA, 2019
- Bryan Memorial Gallery "Gems and Giants" exhibit, Jeffersonville, VT, 2018
- SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) Online Auction Quilts, 2018
- Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival Art Exhibit, Colchester, VT, 2018
- Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival Art Exhibit, Colchester, VT, 2017
- "My Journey to Art Quilting", Milk and Honey Guild, Middlebury, VT, 2017
- "Members' Art Show", Helen Day Art Center, Stowe, VT, 2016
- "Surface Expressions", SDA Exhibit, Chaffee Art Center, Rutland, VT, 2016
- Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival Art Exhibit, Colchester, VT, 2016
- "Visionary Conspiracy", SDA Exhibit, Studio Place Arts, Barre, VT, 2016
- Area Artists Exhibit, Chandler Art Gallery, Randolph, VT, 2016
- "Material Matters", SDA Exhibit, Frog Hollow, Burlington, VT, 2016
- SDA Exhibit, Bridges Resort Gallery, Warren, VT, 2016
- Essex Junction Senior Center, Essex Junction, VT, 2016
- Charlotte Senior Center, Charlotte, VT, 2015-16
- Shelburne Pierson Library, Shelburne, VT, 2015
- "New England Stitches" Special Exhibit, Vermont Quilt Festival, 2015
- "Birds of a Fiber", Birds of Vermont Museum, Huntington, VT, 2015
- Solo exhibit of Mochaware Quilts, Champlain Valley Quilt Guild Show, 2014
- "I Love New England" SAQA Exhibit, World Quilt Show, Manchester, VT, 2014
- "Vermont Members", Gruppe Gallery, Jericho, VT, 2014
- "Best Little Quilt Show in Vermont", Jamaica, VT, 2012