ENTERTAINMENT

From Air
Force officer
to artist,
Dani Katsir
is flying
high in his
new career.

MIKE ROSENBAUM

Special to The Jewish. News

M

oving from the mili-
tary directly into
the art world would
seem like a difficult transi-
tion. But for Dani Katsir, the
transition was smooth as
glass. Stained glass, to be
precise.
Katsir, 43, left the Israeli
air force as a lieutenant col-
onel at age 38, already know-
ing what he would do in his
second career. That made the
transition easier.
"People coming out from
the (Israeli) military," Katsir
says in heavily accented
English, "have a problem
with the transition because
they have to prepare that not
many things are going to be
so interesting like in (the

military). Even if you have a
good profession or job, this can
be the same every day.
"In Israel, where there's so
many activities (in the
military), you really feel that
you're doing for your country.
Sitting at some job is much
less interesting.
"So I think my transition,
because I moved to art, and
knew what I was going to do,
was just to close a drawer;
this is behind, and that's the
future. I prepare myself that
I'm going to move 180 degrees
to the right and the left is
behind. And I really enjoyed
every minute I've been there.
But it's behind."
Katsir worked in air force
intelligence and, to this day,
cannot say exactly what he
did. But he says that the
Israeli military was not so
rigid that it could ever
dampen the artistic glow that
burned within him. _
Katsir, who lives in West
Bloomfield with his wife,
Michigan-born Daniella
Saltz, and their two children,
says he has always been close
to art. While in the air force,
he did some woodworking but
was not impressed by stained
glass, which seemed "cool" to
him, compared to wood,
which he considered "warm."
Shortly before his retire-
ment from the air force, Kat-
sir was in Chicago visiting a
friend who lived in a
100-year-old Victorian man-
sion with stained glass win-
dows. Suddenly, Katsir's feel-

ings for stained glass chang-
ed. "I saw the windows," Kat-
sir recalls, "and I knew im-
mediately that's what I am
going to do."
Katsir remained in Israel
for one year after his retire-
ment; then the fmaily moved
to Ann Arbor, where Daniella
entered the University of
Michigan law school. She has
since graduated and now
practices at a Detroit law
firm.
As an artist, Katsir says he
is "self-taught. But in places
that I felt that I need help, I
take a lesson here, a lesson
there."
Most of Katsir's stained
glass work involves pictures
of Jerusalem, past and pre-
sent, and of Judaica. He gains
inspiration from old maps or
various representations of
Jerusalem. One of his favorite
pictures was inspired by a
sixth-century map of the Mid-
dle East, which shows
Jerusalem 10 times larger
than scale.
Katsir works on, or, as he
says, "cooks," ideas in his
mind before transferring
them to paper. His cooking is
slow, "not like the
microwave." Next, he chooses
the proper colors, cuts the
glass and solders the pieces
together.
All his work is done in his
basement studio. At first
glance, it looks similar to a
do-it-yourselfer's home
workshop, with large wooden
tables, tools lying loose and

Dani Katsir holds one
of his creations.

I

GOING PLACES 1

WEEK OF
JAN.5-11

THEATER

DETROIT
REPERTORY
13103 Woodrow Wilson,
Detroit, Fences, Jan. 11
through March 18,
adinission, 868-1347.
. MEADOW BROOK
Oakland University,
Rochester, Dial M for
Murder, through Jan. 28,
admission, 370-3300.
SOUTHFIELD
PERFORMING ARTS
Days Hotel, 17017 W.
Nine Mile, I Do, I Do, Jan.
12-27, admission,
5574800.
BIRMINGHAM
211 S. Woodward, Oh
Kay!, through Feb. 4,
admission, 644-3533.
WAYNE STATE
UNIVERSITY
Detroit, Hilberry Theater,
Execution of Justice, Jan.
12 through Feb. 3; The
Winter's Tale, through
Feb. 17, admission,
577-2972.

MUSIC

DETROIT SYMPHONY
Ford Auditorium, Hans
Vonk, 10:45 a.m. Jan. 5;
Orchestra Hall, Salute to
the American Red Cross,
7 p.m. Jan. 6; Hans Vonk,
3:30 p.m. Jan. 7,
admission, 567-9000.
SOMERSET
The Mall, 2801 W. Big
Beaver, Troy, Bess
Bonnier, pianist, Paul
Keller, Bassist, 2 p.m.
Jan. 7., admission,
643-6360.

NIGHT CLUBS

MIRAMAR
8365 Cooley Lake, Union
Lake, Mark Moultrup,
pianist, 1940s to 1980s
music, 8 p.m. to midnight
Friday and Saturday; Don
Nadel, pianist, Tuesday,
Wednesday and
Thursday, through
January, free, 363-9469.

CHILDREN

SOUTHFIELD
CULTURAL ARTS
26000 Evergreen Road,
The Chautauqua Express,
1:30 p.m. Jan. 20, free,
354-4717.

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

57