Batik'n Love

When I first signed up for classes with SRISA, I originally wanted Jewelry Making. For some reason I didn't get in and I got placed in Batik Making instead. And now, I am so happy jewelry didn't work out! Not only was the lab fee less expensive, but who ever gets the opportunity to take a batik class?! A little hesitant still, I went into the class, which ended up being only me. There was another school taking classes at the same studio at the same time as us, but they were there every other day from morning to night, so I wasn't all alone, there just weren't any other batik students from SRISA.

While learning about all the different possibilities for batik, it dawned on me that I had been batiking my whole life! And I was already a natural :). Tie dye is just a really generic form of batik, that doesn't take all that much skill or equipment. And if you ask just about anyone who knows me pretty well, they know that I have at least two drawers full of tie dye shirts, shorts, scarves, underwear, and even a dress.

Yes, that is the underwear! And yes, I was blonde once.

So after this ah-ha moment, I was good to go.

I've posted pictures of my sunflower and first batik before, but here's a refresher, and also a little bit about the process:

First, you traced the image you wanted onto the piece of silk, and traced over your pencil lines with a little wax-filled pen-like object. Once you're done tracing everything, you start painting. It was a little like watercolors since you would paint onto the fabric and it would spread, but since there were wax outlines, it would stay in the area you wanted. It was cool because with the spreading you could give it a really neat effect.

Done! It takes a few layers to build up the color. Unlike the dyes, once the paints are dry they're very light, so you have to keep going over them until it's the color you want.

I was super excited about how it came out! It looks really nice, but after staring at it for so long all you begin to notice are the imperfections. Oh well. I think I might turn it into a pillow? I don't know yet. You can wear it as a little scarf, but I don't wear scarves that way very often... or ever. So we'll see what happens with it.

The next scarf was the one that took up the most time and it nearly drove me crazy! I wanted to do a paisley design on either end of a long scarf, but I think I bit off more than I could chew. This scarf was going to be done by dipping it into different baths of dye. Again, the color builds up, but after each dip, you wax over the areas that you want to stay that color. And with all of the intricate little parts of the paisley, it was so hard and took so long.

The tracing... which took about three days

After the first dip into a light yellow,
then wax over the areas I wanted to stay that color

2nd dip into a gold color

After gold had been waxed, it went into a red
which turned it orange. After the orange it
went into another red so there was a darker
red, as you can see in this picture.

After all of the dips are done and it's finished, you have to iron out all of the wax then take it to the dry cleaners.

Ta-Da! A few missing steps in there, but finally finished!

Lots of little details

The third one was my favorite, maybe because of the colors I used, and because it wasn't as detailed as the last.

I didn't take any pictures of the process, but at first, you dye it in like colors, whether they're cool or warm. I started with the cool colors, whiting out the parts for the warm colors, dipping it in a light turquoise first, then a darker turquoise, and finally a cobalt blue.

Since I wanted green, I did different shades of blue then after all of the blues were done and it had been sent to the dry cleaners, I waxed out what I wanted to stay blue and dipped it in yellow, letting the blue spots that were uncovered turn to green (above picture). After the yellow, I dipped it in a red, giving it some orange spots.

The final result!

I love how this one turned out. And it was finished just in time for our school art show!

All three of my pieces

I have another one started but wasn't able to finish it before the show. My teacher said I could come in and keep doing batiks for an hourly fee. I have a few more ideas in mind and I'm excited about! And I really want to find all of the tools and dye when I get back home and continue to make scarves. Some people did amazing art work on theirs, with shading and landscapes. I thought about trying that, but figured I'd make things that I'd like to wear instead!

As for life, Tara left this morning and Alicia moved in last night. Change is always weird, but I'm excited for the next month and to get to know Alicia. I know it will be a lot of fun! 

We have a little time off from class now, but the first day is on Wednesday. I then go to London on Thursday. I'm very excited for that trip since I will be seeing three friends from home and school! It's also much cooler there, so I'm definitely looking forward to a break from the heat!

And lastly, I just wanted to say Hi to my dad and brother. While I've been here I have missed both Father's Day and my dad's birthday. My mom got to come visit, and it was so good to see her! But I really wish that the rest of my family could have come as well. It's weird to see everyone packing up and hear them talking about going home, but I'm still here for another month. I'm not at all sad about staying, but it makes me a little homesick. Plus, when you have one of the best families ever, they're kind of hard not to miss! I love it here so much and I know it will be hard to leave, but I can't wait to see them!

Ciao!