Events 2005-06
This is my tenth year of participating in the annual Hidden in the Hills Studio Tour (www.hiddeninthehills.org) sponsored by the Sonoran Arts League of Cave Creek, Arizona (www.sonoranartsleague.org). What makes this an unusual tour is that it provides an opportunity for the 
extremely talented member artists of the organization to showcase their art in their own studio settings and the share their creative process with the public. Tour dates for 2006 are the three day weekends of November 17 and 24. It has become a tradition to always hold this event the weekend before and the weekend after Thanksgiving.
Still on exhibit until December 3 is “Beneath the Sky”, a five person showing at Textures Gallery at artspace in Scottsdale, Arizona. Check out their website at www.artspaceaz.com. I am one of two exhibiting batik artists, the other is Brigitte Willach from Hanover, German (www.willach-atelier.de). Exhibiting rozome, is Dorothy Bunny Bowen from Placitas, New Mexico (www.db-bowen.com). The art of rozome is the Japanese technique of batiking. The best book on the subject is “The World of Rozome” written by Betsy Sterling Benjamin, an American artist who learned the technique while living in Japan for over 15 years. Her work can be viewed at www.betsysterlingbenjamin.com.
Ms. Benjamin was also instrumental in organizing the World Batik Conference held in June 2005 in Boston. I was quite fortunate to be able to attend the entire conference and participate in two three-day workshops, one given by Rita Trefois of Belgium (http://users.telenet.be/ritatrefois-batikart.be) and the other by Tony Dyer of Australia. Each workshop provided me with new batiking skills that I have employed in my new works.
Many exhibitions were held during the conference. Fritz Donart (www.fritzdonart.com) and Marilyn Salomon (www.batiksbymarilyn.com) are shown with his batiks.
In April of this year, Stone Avenue Gallery in Tucson, Arizona, launched a group showing of seven international batik artists “Submerging Threads.” Linda Kaun of Indonesia could not attend, but to the right are all of the other participants at the April 1, 2006 opening.
This summer, I participated in the Sonoran Art League’s special YOUTH ART Program, the Community Summer Arts Camp, teaching a four-day batik workshop. It was exciting working with young talents aged eleven through fourteen. On the last day we critiqued each others’ works.
In May of this year, I was in Europe and had the pleasure of visiting the Galerie Smend in Cologne, Germany (below). Owner Rudolf Smend has been involved with the world of batik since the late 60s and has a superb collection of museum quality historical Indonesian batiks (www.smend.de). His gallery also sells Deka Dyes and various silks and cottons from Indonesia.
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| Visiting the famous Galerie Smend in Cologne, Germany, summer 2006. Left to right: Jochen Willach, Katalin Ehling, Rudolf Smend, Mrs. Smend, Brigitte Willach |
