Artist Biography

Sheryl Gottesman - Bio

I am a retired full-time resident of Lake Havasu City and a member of the Havasu Art Center and Havasu Art Guild.  For the first 32 years of my career, I worked in the Aerospace industry in Southern California in an Engineering discipline. Along the way, while working full time, I earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science.  After 32 years and always looking for a new opportunity, I decided it was time for an adventure so I left SoCal and took a civilian job working on a very remote US Army base in the Republic of the Marshall Islands named Kwajalein (East of Guam, North of New Zealand).  I about had heart failure when the plane taking me to my new job dipped its wing and I saw my new home, Kwajalein.  It was so small (3 miles long, ½ mile wide and nothing but the deep blue sea as far as one can see), I thought the plane would run out of runway when landing and fall into the ocean!  Once on the ground, I breathed a sigh of relief and embraced my new opportunity.  Eventually, I loved it!  I worked on Kwajalein for a civilian company for a total of 9 years and was responsible for managing the island’s budget. I spent an additional three years with the same company in Anchorage, AK working as a Contract/Finance Manager followed by retirement, which is fantastic! 

This brings me to my interest in and love of batik art.   While on Kwajalein, I took an introductory batik making class offered at the base hobby shop.  Well, I fell in love with the batik process instantly!  Something about taking plain white cotton fabric and creating colorful artwork is fun!  I never thought of myself as an artist but something inspired me during that batik class and the rest is history!  I have been designing and creating batik art for 6 years now.  Who knew a senior citizen with no previous art experience/history/interest would find a love for creating batik art!

Artwork Gallery