A Book of Batik
by Beth and Jonathan Evans
“In 2002 I had just gotten my first computer, and little did I know how it would change my life. I was searching online for batik and came across Jonathan’s website. I couldn’t believe he was doing such fabulous portraits using the batik medium. At that time, I didn’t know of very many batik artists doing representational work and didn’t personally know any batikers. I had a couple of books and some old Southwest Art magazine clippings about batik that someone had given me, but other than that, I’d been experimenting and working it out on my own for years. I emailed Jonathan to tell him how impressed and inspired I was by his work, and I got a long email back. He was in India at the time, and we corresponded now and then when he could get to town to use the unreliable Internet there. Our email conversations started out about batik and then moved on to favorite books and movies. … I arrived for our big blind date at Heathrow and had to laugh when I saw him holding a sign with my email address on it.”
Beth and Jonathan Evans are internationally known batik artists who have created, shown, and taught their art all over the world. With combined experience of more than ninety years working in the batik medium, they both have led dedicated and adventurous lives in art.
They own and run Shalawalla Gallery, housed in an old train boxcar in La Veta, Colorado, USA.