Lotsa, Lotsa Fun With Wax.

YESTERDAY was the long awaited batik painting class with Lark Brandt. Her mother originated the process of using this particular daphne paper when she was in Nepal and didn't have many art materials.
The daphne paper came in three weights - from very light and thin to a thicker, heavier, coarser paper.
For inspiration Lark had flowers, fruit and vegetables set out. I pretty much stuck to my "lady face" theme. We took the paper, "saved" some areas of it by painting it with melted wax - using a paintbrush or janting tool, whichever we preferred - and then used watercolors to gently put down color. There was a lot of discussion on how to begin and what to draw, but soon we just all began to have fun and the art took care of itself. (Lark is in the first photo showing an example. Remember: You can click on the photos to view them larger.)
Here's my lady face after I waxed an outline, painted it with watercolors and let it dry and then "saved" the areas I did not want to be black - because that's the next step: We paint the image all over with India ink. So goodbye lady face. Ack! What have I done?
We'll see what happens when the wax is ironed out. This is the part where you cross your fingers. Leaving the edges unwaxed was a nice way to get a "frame" around your image. The ideal way to hang these is under glass or maybe between two panes of glass. Either side can be interesting in its own way.

Here she is after being ironed. (By the way: Lark used telephone book pages and then she uses those waxed sticks for starting back yard bonfires. She lives in the country.) Sorry the photo isn't rotated. Maybe I will come back later and do that.

Another couple of images and then I have to leave and turn the water off outside!

I almost have my art journal filled up - right at the end of September. So the next journal will begin in October. I can't wait to begin another one!

It's A Dizzy Day ... But It Will End.

VERTIGO, thy name is "Irritating"!
Eye Candy (Candace) had a good question: Where am I going with those last two pages I posted? I didn't know until I came home from work today with an episode of vertigo. (The vertigo began at work around 2 p.m. I don't know what brought it on. I was fine earlier, but then I almost ran into a door frame. I was walking fairly straight, but it felt as if my body was veering left - a very odd sensation to walk in one direction but feel as if you're moving in another!)
So I came home and got out my altered book journal. Those little blobs of paint on my two gooped-up journal pages gave me something to concentrate on so as to ignore the whirling sensations.
As I started catching up on my journal entries and then came to the two pages of blobs, I just let doodling take over. Now I know how Eric Carle got his inspiration for "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." My little blobs looked more like space men - and a few bugs.
The next page I kept on with the free association wondering what would happen - what would come out of my brain.
Turned out if was pretty empty, so I wrote that down. (Grasping at straws here.)

The next pages I got more ambitious, but I didn't take photos of those. I first wanted to post something today before I forget and also let anyone who'd like to join me know that I'm taking a Nepalese batik painting workshop from Lark Brandt on Saturday, Sept. 27. We will use handmade Nepalese daphne paper and use wax, water-based paints and ink for "vivid effects." These works can be framed under glass or encased in fiberglass to make transparent weatherproof garden and window hangings or privacy screens. The workshop is 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and costs $60 for Valley Art members; $75 non-members. You get most supplies. For beginning or advanced students - over 17 (that's me).
Here is an example of Lark's technique (painted by Sue Orlaske, a La Grande, Ore., artist).. It sounds like fun and it looks like the kind of art where mistakes can be part of the greatness of the work. Please let me know if you can join our class in Forest Grove - femminismo