Batik 2011

Workshops, Ateliers

Gaby's Indigo, natural dyes. Batiked in Montreal.

A glimpse at some of the natural Dyes, Shibori Indigo and Batik work I have been doing back in Canada, on my balcony.

My Batik Video

Atelier Batik Workshops 2011.

• Introduction •

I have been in love with Batik since I first visited Java many years ago. I was still young then and didn't want to be in a long distance relationship, so I tried to focus my attention elsewhere but true love never dies. So last year I went to go study batik in Bali, Indonesia.

Although I knew that Java is in fact the heartland and center of production of all forms of Batik, I decided to go study in neighboring Bali where I had never been. Here is a 1 minute stop motion animation of a procession in Bali which I made just to get you all in the mood.(notice all the batik sarongs!)

• Batik School •

I was delighted to find such a beautiful campus filled with sculptural details the likes I had never seen. There were however some student protests and renovations going on when we first arrived (which delayed the start of the batik classes) but soon enough we were melting wax and learning patterns.
They say that we cannot escape our fate so, as luck would have it one of my neighbors was a batik fanatic and so I was able to begin learning the basics of this craft even before starting classes at school. We formed a small group who would meet twice a week as a supplement to the more formal classroom setting, and so I was again reunited with my love as if no time had passed.

• Batik Group •

When I say that my neighbor was a Batik fanatic I mean that in the best sense of the term. Master Miki is so dedicated to propagating the art of Batik, that he not only produces many beautiful Batik paintings himself but is a avid teacher offering courses to anyone who is at all interested.

Miki became the guru for our Batik group which we named "Asing Sing Anai" which in Javanese means "strange foreigners" but in Balinese means "strange but not foreign"...they like word play a lot there so I felt very clever for coming up with a pun in two languages at once..

Although our courses were very informal our Guru (teacher) was very dedicated and encouraged us to continue with the plan of an exhibition to take place in a few months time. As you may know it is very hot in Indonesia and sitting next to a small gas burning stove dipping into the hot wax was not always an appealing thought. What I found was that, given that it was so hot - what better way to wile away the hours in the shade than by concentrating on drawing with liquid wax.