Ludmilla Schicchi, Pam Riml and Elizabeth Stoyko are pleased to be selected by the Southport Memorial Library as Artists of the Month for January and February.

Schicchi, a watercolorist, has evolved into the medium of fiber art. Riml is a former weaver whose love of fiber has diversified into rug-hooking and felting. Schicchi and Riml share many felts projects under the name "Two Fiber Friends."

They draw inspiration from the countenance and colors of the sea and its coastline; sand, rocks, and surrounding flora, along with the colors of Maine's unparalleled sunsets and sunrises. Though their styles differ, they both share a passion for the many varied forms of fiber art.

These 'two fiber friends' incorporate their love of color, texture and form within the process of creating their art. Wool is first felted by both wet or dry processes, then hand-dyed. Movement, nuance, and other characteristics are integrated into the prices by the application of additional fiber types, such as roving, yarns and silk.

Both Schicchi and Riml are members of the Boothbay Region Art Foundation BRAF), Maine Fiberarts in Topsham, and River Arts in Damariscotta. Locally their work is at Sweet Bay and at Ae Home.

In Stoyko's youth, her primary focus was music. She trained in operatic singing at The Peabody Conservatory of Music followed by a brief career of singing. Stoyko always painted and sketched as a hobby, and painted many schoolhouse murals and stage sets while raising her two daughters.

As many others have done Stoyko happily discovered fiber arts in her senior years. After a three hour rug hooking class, she had found her passion! Linen was ordered, and Stoyko began sketching and hooking the family pets - many into pillows. She was soon selling her pillows in local galleries and at other venues, including BRAF's Art in the Park event in summer. Stoyko's pillows are now sold in shops from NYC to Kansas City, and have found homes as far away as Scotland to Australia.

Stoyko's website is designsinwools.com. She creates mostly custom requests of pets from photos, reproductions of classical portraits, and Maine scenery.

Find her work locally at Markings in Bath and in shows at Maine Fiberarts. Stoyko also teaches in her home studio in Phiippsburg and at Halcyon Yarn in Bath.

The Southport Memorial Library is located at 1032 Hendricks Hill Road, Southport. The library is open Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and from 7-9 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

For more information, call 207-633-2741.