Gretchen Graft Batz
Photography
Nature photographer, Gretchen Graft Batz, grew up on a small farm near Nauvoo, Illinois. The outdoors is her favorite workplace; maintaining a childlike "sense of wonder" is her goal as an artist.
She completed her Master's Degree in Elementary Education at Western Illinois University in Macomb, where she met her husband, Roger. Kindred spirits, they camped for eight weeks in Europe on their honeymoon. Over the years, they've backpacked in Norway, Finland, Germany, the former Yugoslavia, Greece, and most recently, in New Zealand, Australia, and Fiji, always seeking in-depth cultural experiences.
In addition to photography, Gretchen enjoys writing (especially haiku), and she occasionally teaches creative writing and multicultural arts for children's afterschool learning programs.
Both her written works and photographs have appeared in: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch Sunday Magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, Farm Women, Illinois Magazine, Illinois Audubon, Frogpond, and Mayfly. Her photography is sold at the Springfield State Museum Shop, the Rend Lake Illinois Artisan's Shop, and Componere Gallery, University City, Missouri.She has been working at her art of photography for over 20 years. In 2000 she exhibited photographs with haiku poet, Lee Gurga, at the Global Haiku Conference hosted by Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. See the resulting online collection, Long Walk Alone, published as a Brooks Books online edition. She recently conducted a photography workshop at the Nature Institute in Godfrey, Illinois.
Photography
Nature photographer, Gretchen Graft Batz, grew up on a small farm near Nauvoo, Illinois. The outdoors is her favorite workplace; maintaining a childlike "sense of wonder" is her goal as an artist.
She completed her Master's Degree in Elementary Education at Western Illinois University in Macomb, where she met her husband, Roger. Kindred spirits, they camped for eight weeks in Europe on their honeymoon. Over the years, they've backpacked in Norway, Finland, Germany, the former Yugoslavia, Greece, and most recently, in New Zealand, Australia, and Fiji, always seeking in-depth cultural experiences.
In addition to photography, Gretchen enjoys writing (especially haiku), and she occasionally teaches creative writing and multicultural arts for children's afterschool learning programs.
Both her written works and photographs have appeared in: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch Sunday Magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, Farm Women, Illinois Magazine, Illinois Audubon, Frogpond, and Mayfly. Her photography is sold at the Springfield State Museum Shop, the Rend Lake Illinois Artisan's Shop, and Componere Gallery, University City, Missouri.She has been working at her art of photography for over 20 years. In 2000 she exhibited photographs with haiku poet, Lee Gurga, at the Global Haiku Conference hosted by Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. See the resulting online collection, Long Walk Alone, published as a Brooks Books online edition. She recently conducted a photography workshop at the Nature Institute in Godfrey, Illinois.