Today my friend September Kruger came to my studio at ACME to do a batiking demonstration. We had a great time experimenting with her new soy wax. This was my first time trying anything like this but I love my results. As for the process, I used a wooden batiking stamp and dipped it into hot wax, then stamped my organic cotton fabric. I also used another tool that I dipped into wax and made little dots where ever I wanted some. This gave me a design on the fabric. Then we mixed up several earth toned dyes and painted it onto the fabric. The wax resisted the dye. I dried the fabric using a hair dryer to speed up the process so I could go onto the next step. I added a second layer of wax to the fabric around the edges. When it dried I crumbled it up and broke the wax. Then I added a brown dye in those areas. The dye went into the cracks only. A very cool effect. Then I ironed the fabric between layers of newspaper and newsprint paper to lift the wax off. That was the most time consuming thing about the process. It took a lot of ironing to get all the wax off.
The first coat of wax
After adding the dye
The finished product
A detail showing the crackle effect
September will be giving a batiking workshop this summer. See the info below for more details.
Basic Batik Workshop at Wabi Sabi Warehouse!
Saturday, July 18, 2009
10:00am-4:00pm
$70 includes all supplies
Contact: Dixon Stetler
dixonstetler@gmail.com
Whether or not you consider yourself artistic, experimenting with batik will lead you to new discoveries about yourself and your creative process. With an understanding of the basic techniques of batik, you can explore a contemporary interpretation of this ancient medium. Layers of color will be created through successive steps of waxing and dyeing, using traditional tjanting tools, brushes and sponges. Prepare to play with the unpredictable, and work intensively on several pieces of batik. Students will complete either an apron or canvas tote.
Class size is limited to 12 adults
For registration and information: dixonstetler@gmail.com
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