The Art of Batik.

[Crocus]

I remember whilst in the Girl Guides, I did some batik for my art badge, believe it or not! I can't remember where I put this "artwork", somewhere very deep presumably! I think it's still packed away from when we moved here! :eek:

It's a bit time consuming, but very satisfying in the end. Have any of you done Batik or still doing it at the moment? :)

Here's a link of you want to have a look at this art form:
http://www.batikguild.org.uk/

[Crocus]

I've already mentioned this in the NTN section, but I saw some beautiful 'paintings' done on old doors yesterday. The assistant doing the wine tasting told us that it's done by wood burning. From a distance it looks exactly like paint, but on closer inspection and by what I could find on Google, it's called pyrography. Do any of you know anything about this unique art form?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_burning

http://www.pyroz.com.au/menu01.html

[Gentian]

I did batik years ago when I was in college, it is a bit messy and I only did a small sample. This week I have been doing tie and dye with woad (now have navy-blue finger nails). I'm quite excited with the result and can see a picture of a waterfall with some stitching and beading.

[Crocus]

Hi Gentian, yes it is a bit messy and also one needs a bit of patience. Tie and dye is something I haven't done yet. I actually want to do a bit of fabric painting again. I haven't done it for a while and I would like to do something new again. x

[dragonfly]

I have never had a go at batik but it looked interesting on the links. Might be something to do in the future.

At a craft fayre once I saw someone doing beautiful pictures with different coloured wax and a hot iron. It is called wax art and I hope this link works if you are interested.

http://home.freeuk.net/almostabstract/index.html

[Crocus]

It very much sounds like batik Dragonfly, because that's what it's about. Hot wax and ironing.

[Gentian]

It is called encaustic art and you have to buy special wax crayons and the colour is spread by the tip of the iron and stays there permanently.
Have you tried painting on silk Crocus, there is quite a technique to that. These sort of things l have a go at but not in depth.

[Crocus]

Hi Gentian, no I haven't. I can believe it's quite a technique - more of a steady hand perhaps or am I wrong? xx

[Gentian]

Not necessarily, you can chase the colour with a hair dryer and you never know what you will get. There is, of course, the fine painitng on silk, using a resist to prevent colours running together. l prefer the hair dryer method, it's much more fun.

[Crocus]

It really sounds like a nice art form Gentian. Thanks for explaining Gentian! xx