"From River to Ocean": Textile Art by Anne Bellas

“I live in Nantes, a city of half a million inhabitants in the west of France, at the mouth of the Loire river, the longest in France. I have been influenced by both the river and the Atlantic Ocean: waters and tides, winds, ships and shipyards, salt marshes are for me daily influencing elements which nourish my imagination. I try to convey these into my paintings in an abstract way.”  Anne is a self-taught art quilter who lives in Nantes, France. Her art is mostly abstract, sometimes hinting at landscapes but never really representational. She mostly pieces and machine quilts, using fabrics inherited from her great grandmother’s dowry- white cotton and linen sheets and tablecloths that she dyes and prints. Her colors are bold and bright and indeed, her focus is light and colors : she is well aware that the use of colors has a therapeutic effect on people and she rejoices when visitors tell her that looking at one of her quilts makes them feel good. Several of her textile paintings have been juried in the US and in Europe in the last couple of years.  Venue: Rehoboth Art League.