Batik with Wendy Tatter at The Studios Key West

Wendy Tatter is a truly hands-on teacher. She is so popular that she fills two back-to-back  day long classes at The Studios Key West.  Her style is easygoing and informative. She began by giving us a brief overview of the batik process. Batik is surprisingly easy to do with a good element of instant gratification. We use cold water dyes . . .

Other simple tools like brushes, bins, wax, iron and unprinted newsprint. At the end of this post, I’ll provide Wendy’s suggested list of supplies.

Within a few minutes of setting up we engrossed in the work. If you have worked in watercolor you will find this part of the process familiar. You need a good drawing on 100% cotton.

Wendy was involved throughout – this was a class that produced, learning as we went along.

Next we heat the wax (75% paraffin 25% beeswax) in an electric skillet until it reaches  250 degrees.

Apply wax wherever you want to save the white – generally where the light hits.

Then apply the first color.

My batik began with three fish.  I waxed the fins to keep them transparent then applied the first color  yellow/gold.

 

“Look what I did!” Something about making a big mess is freeing – brings out the inner happy kid. This piece is being held upside down to prevent the sky from bleeding into the house.

After applying the first color the piece is hung out to dry.

Then the next color is added . . .

keep building color. . .

and hang out to dry after each addition, always waxing over areas we want to keep.

If you look closely, you can see the wax covering the entire design to save it from . . . .

the dye bath!

Then back out to dry again.

My fish look somewhat abstract – I wonder why?

More work, still covered in wax but otherwise complete.

After the final color is on and dry, we place the piece between two sheets of newsprint, set the iron on high and dry and press until the paper becomes saturated with wax.

Keep going, discarding paper  . .

until the paper is dry. More wax will come off in the fullness of time – but 90something percent is good enough for me.

We all produced at least two good pieces of batik. It is something I will definitely do again –  much easier than I thought it would be. Here are some pictures of what was produced by first time batikers.

Diane Savicky’s amazing work. . .

Nude, reclining whodda thunk it – Wow Diane!

More work from our talented bunch. This is just so cheerful that I think it is my favorite.

Some of Wendy’s incredibly detailed work. Click on image below to go to her website

 

Thanks, Wendy, for a great class. We’ll see you next year!

Materials for Batik:  Pre-washed fabric (100% cotton, rayon, silk or muslin are best) * Beeswax * Paraffin wax *  (Wendy uses 3 parts beeswax to 1 part paraffin – the more paraffin, the more cracks) * Cold water dyes : Dylon, permanent airbrush inks, permanent silkscreen inks, procion dyes, or any fiber reactive dyes * Gloves * Iron * Newsprint paper

For washable color: Soda ash * Urea * Salt * Pre-wash synthrapol

Most of these items are available through Dharma Trading Company