After 30 years of styling hair I wanted to work at my true love, Art, although working with hair is an art form. Experimenting with tie dye, I moved on to batik, a much more intricate and time consuming method of applying wax to garments before hand dyeing them. That was 10 years ago.
I have participated in shows that encourage demonstration where I have won 1st, (twice) 2nd, and 3rd (twice) prizes in fiber (different years) at the Norwich Colorscapes show for my wearable art.
As a wall artist I participated in the following:
*Studio Tour with the CBCG for 3 years 2003-05
*With 3 other artists collaborated in an exhibit called “The Room”, 2005 *CCC exhibit “Land”, 2005
*MVCA exhibit “Small Works”, 2005
*Demonstrated at MVCA Canal Days, 2005
*Christmas Show MVCA, 2005
*Artspace Invitational Show, Benton PA, 2006
*Artswalk Sept 30, Oct 1 and Oct 7 & 8 2006 “The Room” in the *Pocketbook Factory, the corner of 6th and Washington, Hudson NY
*Collaborated chair with Melissa Sarris for Artswalk 2006
*2007 one women show at the Trustco Bank, Valatie branch
Since working with world renowned abstract landscape Batik Artist Robin Paris in Cornwall UK and attended the 2005 World Batik Conference in Boston, the wall art has intrigued me and now I’m following my dream.
Inspiration for my art comes from my travels and from the wealth of the Columbia County countryside. Environmental themes and sense-of-place feature strongly, as do color, design, texture and pattern.
What is it about batik that makes it addictive? It is a multitude of things, brilliance or subtlety of color; working with and manipulating two mediums, wax and dye, to produce layers and textures; the necessity to plan and occasionally to adapt. Perhaps it is as much to do with the need for infinite patience - batik is certainly a slow process!
