Jean Ann Fausser
Roots and Connections
East Gallery through November 15
Fausser's images echo the natural beauty found in the work of artists like painter Georgia O'Keefe and photographer Ansel Adams. But one must see Fausser's artwork up close and in person to appreciate the layering of textiles, embroidery, and hand-painted embellishments that make her works so unique.
Fausser began her career in the arts as a watercolor painter. She took a detour from the arts and earned a B.A. in English and continued with graduate study in English as well. While raising three children, she became the proprietor of a children's bookstore in Tulsa. In the 10 years she owned the bookstore, she found herself spending less time creating art and more time running a business. However, all the while, she says she observed and thought about art even though she wasn't creating it. When the bookstore closed in 1996, Fausser reconnected with her passion for the arts and enrolled in classes and workshops offered by The Handweavers League (now called Fiber Artists of Oklahoma). Fausser's talent as a painter has flourished in the fiber media as it seems she virtually 'paints' with fiber. She also enhances her skills with new techniques like fabric collages made with hand-dyed fabrics and embellished with oil pastels and watercolors.
Fausser has exhibited her work in various juried exhibits around the United States and Korea including Vision Makers, Edge Art Now, FiberWorks (Oklahoma), Fiber Focus (St. Louis, MO), Art Quilts at the Sedgwick (Philadelphia, PA), 5th Teapots Invitational Exhibition at the Morgan Contemporary Glass Gallery (Pittsburgh, PA), and Pojagi from American Friends in Korea as well as an exhibition at the Cheongju Craft Center in Korea. She has participated in a variety of group exhibits as well as solo exhibitions in Kansas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. Her work is in the collection of the Boy Scouts of America in the Tulsa, OK headquarters and the Kamm Teapot Collection as well as in various private collections in Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Oklahoma. Fausser has received several awards for her art including Juror's Choice Award for FiberWorks (2010) and Best Felted Work for FiberWorks (2011).