Textile artist Catherine Worthington of Brunswick, Maine owns Earth Tones and Fish Bones. She was one of 37 fine artists participating in the recent Gulfport Fine Arts Festival. For her wall art pieces, she first paints a variety of fabrics with a lot of color, texture and pattern then she uses them as her pallet to create collages featuring landscapes or animals like turtles or birds. During the sewing construction process, she quilts freehand with a machine to add dimension. Each wall piece is then hand finished with a custom border of binding with a fabric sleeve hanging system across the back. “Each piece is ready to hang; you don’t need to do any framing,” she said. In addition, she also creates greeting cards suitable for framing and small zippered and lined utility bags decorated with custom stenciled designs. Worthington has been doing her art for 20 years and is currently a full-time studio artist. For more information, visit CatherineWorthingtonArt.com.For the 4th-annual Gulfport Fine Arts Festival on February 9 and 10, the total number of fine artists increased to 37 this year with an emphasis on people from Gulfport.
In 2018, a total of 29 artists participated, said promoter Suzie King, owner of SIK Productions of Gulfport.
The festival is held in Veteran’s Park, 5350 31st Ave. S.
This year, “we have about 10 Gulfport fine artists participating and we’re thrilled,” said Barbara Bano, president of the Gulfport Merchants Chamber, the non-profit group sponsoring the festival. “I’m most excited that it’s bringing in our local fine artists.”
Last year, several local artists were included, said King.
For 2019, five artists from as far away as New Mexico, North Dakota and Maine were also present.
“I’d like for this to be an event known across the state,” said Banno.
