When it was raining the other day, I had the urge to create batik rain. And today I am doing some more eco wax batik. I have been doing natural batik for about a year now and love it.The bees are not such a problem when the weather is cooler.
In summer, the smell of the hot bees wax brings the bees from everywhere.
I have another blog specifically for ECO WAX BATIK. Have been thinking about a special place for batik for a while now. And decided it really needs its own place.
Batik is not new, it has been around for a long long time. Years ago it was made with natural bees wax and vegetation dyes. And more recently it has been created with synthetic dyes, and lots of chemicals. This blog is about reviving an ancient technique and bringing it into our more modern art.
Its a place to record information, ideas, and to network with others.
This ECO WAX BATIK blog is a place where we can share knowledge and ideas about natural batik. While also showing respect each others individual designs and techniques.
So this blog is a place to share stories and developments about bees wax, local vegetation dyes, scraps and fragments of materials, and designs.
I hope that you can join me here.
15 comments:
Hi T, I don't know where to find vegetation locally for dyes, but I'll educate myself. There are books around here. I'd like to try some of this technique, but I might be slow on the uptake since I have many artistic irons in the fire as they say. :) I'll keep checking in for inspiration. Thanks.
All that rain has flooded you with ideas as well...a new blog, how marvelous is that?! Following along here, T, with much interest...
hey maria thanks for joining in.
I agree that landscapes and vegetation has been altered in many ways over years of occupation, and that native vegetation may be difficult to identify. Any vegetation that is plentiful and local is OK, does not have to be indigenous or native to the area. It will be interesting to try all sorts of things.
And hey, there is no pressure here to produce anything. Just taking part is great, and one day when you feel inspired this blog will provide you with all the information you need to make eco batik.
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and hello to you christi, and thanks for joining in too.
Yes, it appears that it has rained ideas. A new blog for an interesting purpose.
xt
Teresa, I like to see what you do here but like Maria...I want to do so much, too much. But hey...I look every day..
knuffel
A big welcome to you yvette, thanks so much for joining us.
xt
Happy to join you T, and look forward to playing and sharing.
Love this idea and I'm going to throw out the first question....any hints on how to cut a big block of beeswax? I bought a big chunk at the farmer's market but haven't found a good way to break it up....
oh a great new focused blog, i like!
as jude said...focused. this is
GOOD and i want to try. Will
make a trip up to the mountains
soon for lichen.
thank you for this, T....
looking forward
I am taking Jude's Cloth to Cloth 2class. She directed me here. Oh, what fun you will teach me! I am newish to fabric art.
This blog is a good idea. I'll keep coming to visit. I am a wax batiker. Something new I want to try this year is soy wax. Have you ever used that? Also, when I took a batik workshop from some artists visiting from Indonesia, their wax was a combo of bee and pine tree resin. Smelled sooo good! A bit expensive for me to buy. How do you remove your bees wax from your finished art piece? Love, Julia
hi penny, deb g, jude, grace, sharon, and julia, thanks for joining us. I have a feeling that this blog is going to be a really good eco batik resource.
playing and sharing can only be good penny, sounds like fun.
deb g, thanks for the first question. By the way, anyone can provide feedback to questions if they have a better way of doing things. Anyway, the way I break down my big lumps of bees wax is to melt it down in an old dye pot, then tip it into old ice cream or other containers. I find that when you try to cut it with a knife or blade it is rock hard, does not cut well, and splits off into little fragments all over the place.
wow, jude so great to have you along, thanks.
hi grace, great to have you here. and yes a focus keeps things together, and all the information in one place, and is a good resource. Its good that you want to have a go at it, and hopefully this blog will be a help.
welcome to you sharon, and great to have you here. This blog is more of a sharing resource for eco batik artists at the moment. I may take an online workshop in the future if there is a demand. Could be fun.
thanks for joining in julia, and welcome. Good to have a batik artist along. No I have not tried soy wax. And yes in Indonesia they do mix tree resin with the bees wax. I remove the bees wax with bot water. But there will be more about this as we go along.
I think we should start with the basics. So I will be discussing the tools used for batik in the first post, that will be posted tomorrow hopefully.
xt
Deb i have used piano wire (or other fine steel wire) wrapped around small plug of timber at each end and by holding it very taut i drag it thru. Got to have strong wrists tho...T's idea is proably the best...k.
i will be reading. so inviting!
Hello again kaite, and a big hi to velma, thanks so much for joining us.
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