JULY 22 • 2021 | 37
ARTS&LIFE
ART
at California Polytechnic
State University in San Luis
Obisbo.
“I saw batik artwork, felt
connected to the warmth of
the fabric and taught myself
how to work with it. I kept
doing art shows while I was
studying, and art took over.”
Amit uses white cloth
as his sketching base for
designs completed in pencil.
On the designs, he moves
from light to dark colors by
separately dying the fabric
in layers and covering each
layer of color with hot wax
to maintain a particular hue.
After each layer of wax dries,
he is able to move on to the
next color.
Amit, who traveled
his work to about 25 art
shows annually before the
pandemic, is making his
second visit to the Orchard
Lake Fine Art Fair, but his
ties to Michigan are much
deeper. Daughter Shawni
Strzelecki studied special
education at Michigan
State University, and his
grandson, Eli, summers at
Camp Tamarack.
His other daughter, Karen,
has followed through with
her dad’s original career
direction by becoming a
floral designer, while his
wife of 48 years, Linda,
handles the business side of
the artwork.
“My studio is at the
back of my house near the
clothesline where the waxing
dries,” Amit said. “I always
bring new projects to the art
fairs and have begun adding
collage to some pieces by
using archival papers. I
love seeing the reactions of
people going to art fairs as
I keep doing what I love to
do.”
MULTI-MEDIA ART
For Nidy, artistry became
a way of supporting herself
through college before it
transitioned into a career.
She made jewelry and
stained-glass designs and
moved into multi-media
processed into wall pieces.
“I have pictures in my
head of the way each
piece will look when it’s
finished,” said Nidy, 52, a
single mother of two grown
children. “For one group of
work, I take a thin sheet of
clay, draw on top of it and
Details
The Orchard Lake Fine Art
Show runs Saturday-Sunday,
July 24-25, along Powers and
Daly roads, west of Orchard
Lake Road and south of
Maple. $5. hotworks.org.
continued on page 38
AMOS AMIT
AMOS AMIT
BELOW: Amos Amit’s Noah’s Ark and a colorful floral piece.
FACING PAGE, TOP TO BOTTOM: Kari Nidy’s Tree of Life. Amos
Amit’s Tree of Life.