Featured Artist : Gloria Sharp

My name is Gloria Sharp, I am a batik artist. I grew up with the loving support of my parents, who observed my excited energy for drawing and painting. They kept me well-supplied with crayons and paint as well as special Saturday art classes at my elementary school. Oh, happiness!

Growing up even more and after college, I became an art teacher and found great inspiration in the company of my enthusiastic young students. Their joy was contagious! When summer arrived and school was on pause, I was busy with my own art, taking classes in the printmaking techniques of etching, silkscreen, and lithography.

During one of my summers of exploration, I became interested in painting on fabric, and so began my lifelong love affair with batik. I took my early inspiration from Ukrainian Easter eggs, the richly colored and beautifully crafted eggs that were a vivid part of my ethnic heritage. I was eager to take the wax resist and dye process used with the eggs and try it on cotton fabric, applying the wax and dye in gradual stages, beginning with light colors and ending with the darks.

These days, with all of my supplies—dyes, resists, chemicals and the best fabric—provided by Dharma Trading Company, I have become a dedicated batik artist with many years of becoming deeply involved in its possibilities. I color my fabric with a loose, painterly approach. As I work, the interplay of the different areas is a constant delight, as colors and shapes meet and mix in unexpected ways into surprising relationships.

Every day in my studio is a new adventure for me and I remain addicted to this exciting, satisfying, and unpredictable medium.