Monday 29 February 2016

Batik experiments

Local textile artist Andrew Wynne came to the EG this month to talk about Batik, his work and to demonstrate. A lively and informative evening Andrew introduced us to non hot wax techniques which would be so useful at home.
He showed us the use of lemon juice on potassium permanganate dyed fabrics using the metal stamps used in Asia for batik. It produced a delightful yellow where the lemon juice was applied.
The most revelatory moment was when he showed us how to use Transfer Crayons to create a gutta like resist! You draw your outlines onto silk with the crayons and with a heat source warm the crayon lines, they "pop" and become brighter. The silk can then be painted! 
Here is the sample I then did in a hurry the next day.



I then asked Andrew if one would get the same result with Neocolour wax crayons. He had not tried that. So....... I had to try!


It does work! I had drawn the lines while the silk was in the embroidery hoop so did not get as firm a line as I needed but where there was sufficient pressure the resist worked well. It's lovely when you have a tiny eureka moment.

It's been a bit quiet here in February as I have been working on pieces for an exhibition and have not wanted to put the work out on line until the show!