TOPSHAM

Maine Fiberarts, 13 Main St., will host a reception and gallery talk from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday for its current show “ The Art of the Needle,” an exhibition of innovative needlepoint tapestries by West Newfield artist Jill Vendituoli.

The artist will speak about her work from 2:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. and will be available for questions informally afterward.

A Maine Fiberarts release describes the exhibit, which will run through April 28, as follows:

For nearly 25 years, Vendituoli has been hand-stitching tapestries that have spanned the ages from Byzantine mosaics to medieval stained glass and Renaissance paintings to 21st century nature pieces.

The medium of needlepoint, according to the artist, “feels alive with its vibrant color blending potential, its physical flexibility and the endless possibilities of needlepoint interpretation.”

Vendituoli works full time in her studio/gallery, Sunnyfield Studio, on the western border of Maine, where she maintains an 18th century farmhouse, perennial flower gardens, heritage geese, a gallery that often shows work by other artists, and her studio.

She claims to have “fallen in love” with needlepoint from her very first stitch and ended her job of offering piano lessons years ago to devote herself to her artwork full time.

With the exception of her adaptation of Breton’s “The Gleaners,” the artist only stitches her own original designs, and she completed a new work, “The Thread that Connects,” specifically for the Topsham exhibition. With this piece, she is also pushing the medium of needlepoint by taking work off the flat plane of a wall and to add dimensionality.

In her self- portrait, “A Tapiter’s Life,” Vendituoli created a collage to reflect components of her life, including images of music, trees, a Celtic cross, a goose, books and a dragonfly — the symbol of transformation.

“I have ceased to view my art as limited to a two-dimensional plane and now envision it overhead, incorporating found objects from nature and in shapes and forms that re-define needlepoint as we know it,” Vendituoli said in a release.

Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

To learn more, visit www.mainefiberarts.org or call 721-0678.