Art in the Library

Artist Statement

While a student at the University of Washington, Seattle, WA, I was introduced to the art of Batik, and fell in love with the process. Batik is a process… drawing your design on white, natural fabric, securing the cloth (silk, cotton) using a painting tool or brush and applying wax. Using cold water dyes, working from light to dark, always protecting the layer underneath by waxing over again, until the entire piece is waxed over. Join certified Laughter Yoga teacher Dana Kaplan in this program focused on helping your body create feel-good hormones using a gentle form of exercise combining breathing techniques from yoga with laughter exercises. All is ironed out between layers of paper, then into the boiling pot for the remainder.

“In the last five years, I began another process which some call Batik and others call Silk Painting. Silk paintings are created on white silk. The dyes are painted onto the stretched surface of the silk using a paintbrush. The dyes flow into the into the fiber and bond with the proteins, becoming a part of the silk thread.” I used a variety of resists: wax, gutta, and sizing (a technique I learned from Karen Sistek) and then setting the dyes by steaming. This process allows for greater freedom in using many luscious colors!

I have always loved all the Arts: Visual and Performing Arts…while a student in Elementary School, I would be in charge of classroom murals…and I assisted classmates in projects.

Since I became an Art Educator and taught so many different media, I find I still like to do drawings, mixed media, paintings in watercolor and acrylics, and love photography which I am still taking classes in!

EXPERIENCE

I had the pleasure and honor of opening the eyes, hearts of many students in both Orange and Seminole counties in Visual Art and Gifted Education for over twenty-eight years.

I participated I many outdoor and gallery shows in Clearwater, Melbourne, College Park, Pinecastle Pioneer Days, Winter Park, Oviedo and University of Central Florida.

I conducted Batik workshops at Crealde when I had a studio; participated in many summer sessions at Penland School in North Carolina and Arrowmont in Tennessee.