October Meeting of the Des Plaines Art Guild/Park Ridge Art League

The next general meeting of members from two local art organizations, the Des Plaines Art Guild and Park Ridge Art League, will meet on Tuesday, October 11th at 7:00 pm at Prairie Lakes Community Center, 515 E. Thacker Street, in Des Plaines. The public is invited to attend and refreshments will be served.

The featured guest artist for the evening is Betty Burian Kirk, who will demonstrate how to marble on paper. This is an old art that is done by floating inks or paints on a "heavy water." The paints are manipulated and then a prepared piece of paper is laid on the floating pattern. The paper is carefully lifted off of the paints and rinsed to complete this intriguing process. Betty will give a lecture covering the history, supplies and different techniques and then some hands on marbling by participants will be done. (Please note: Inks and paints used for this process will not wash out of clothes.)

Betty loved art as a child. Besides drawing, she learned how to embroider from her mother and her sister taught her how to crochet. In college, she studied multiple disciplines in art as an art education major. Her favorite medium was fiber and she studied weaving for her MA Ed at Northern Illinois University, doing a one woman show. Her talents also include weaving, spinning (often dog hair yarn for clients), kumihimo (Japanese braiding), Japanese book binding, tassels, flower making and felting - sculptural hats and flat scarves.

Kirk taught elementary school art for 13 years and taught weaving at Joliet Junior College for three semesters. She has been a speaker and workshop leader at local guilds, as well as at regional and national fiber conferences. Betty has taught at Handweavers Guild of America's national conference, Convergence, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this year. She has won awards for and sells her fiber art at art fairs in the Chicago area.

To join the Des Plaines Art Guild, with a reciprocal membership in the Park Ridge Art League, please download a membership form at dpag.org.