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The College of Central Florida will host the work of fabric artist Virginia Stevenson at the Citrus Campus in April.

The exhibit opens Tuesday, April 5, and runs through April 28 in the upstairs exhibition hall in the Dorothea G. Jerome Building, 3800 S. Lecanto Highway in Lecanto. A reception will be held Thursday, April 7, from 5 to 7 p.m. with light refreshments and live music by classical guitarist Ben Medrano.

Stevenson’s work includes scarves, clothing, quilts, lamps and additional pieces that are created using a dyeing process.

“The process starts with white silk and a drawing on paper,” Stevenson said. “The drawing is traced onto the silk and the silk is stapled to a wood stretcher. Then hot wax is applied, dye is painted on, and this can be repeated with more wax and dye in layers. After drying for several days, the dye is heat set, excess dye is washed out and the wet silk is carefully dried, ironed and dry cleaned before it is done.”

Stevenson received her Bachelor of Arts from Douglas College, Rutgers University in 1970, and Master of Arts in Art Education from the University of South Florida in 1999. In the late 1980s, she learned to dye silk in Palm Harbor and became active in the Tampa Bay Surface Design Guild. She went on to teach art and mathematics courses at Dunnellon High School, in addition to teaching several silk dyeing workshops. Since 2008, she has served as a board member and liaison for the Cedar Key Arts Center.

“My earliest art medium was crayon,” Stevenson said. “As a teenager I started to paint in water color, oils and acrylic with the help of Betty Gallagher, my mother’s friend, and an elementary art teacher. In college, painting continued and photography was explored. Raising children I tended to paint walls more than canvas and did decorate my home with a few murals.”

For more information on the exhibit, contact CF Associate Professor of Visual Arts Michele Wirt at 352-746-6721, ext. 6131. To learn about other events at CF, visit www.CF.edu.