Batik Workshop with Widya
  
1st day with Karen and Emily from SF
And Sharon and Joan. 
2nd day with Margo from Belgium

Learning Batik - http://widyabatik.baliklik.com/

 
Widya's webite says: The term batik generally refers to cloth that has been decorated by a wax resist technique. A pattern is applied in hot wax onto a piece of cloth, usually cotton. When the cloth is later dyed, those parts which have been treated with wax will not take up the dye: when the wax is removed a pattern of white lines will be left. This process can be repeated with a number of subsequent waxings and dye baths leaving a complex pattern of motifs in a variety of colors.

Day-One   
 
Widya gives batik classes at a studio in his family's village in Tegallantang 1.5 km north of Ubud center. Most people who take the one day class complete a 1 meter long banner. And our vision for "small" bandana project turned into "hey, why not make sarongs, we're both due for new ones". So sarong it was going to be. We wanted something useful to our traveling lifestyle and had asked Wadya to have 2-meter long sarong-size pieces of cotton ready for us. Wadya warned us our bigger pieces would be difficult if not impossible to complete in one day. So we used the day before the class to draw our own designs on paper which we could begin tracing onto the cotton immediately upon our arrival at the workshop.


We drove over there on our trusty scooter about 15 minutes early. Widya's friendly dog greeted us at the ornate gate. Widya and two assistants were on hand to show us the ropes and guide us throughout the process. 

I decided to choose a paper pattern from one of the many patterns on hand. Then, the one detailed embossed corner became two complex borders and soon we were tracing and and drawing on the plain white cotton fabric. My project expanded to a two day one when I decided on two color baths. I will need drying time after the first bath at the end of the day.
 
Dave had given his design a lot of thought the day before. He was going big, bold and beautiful. I was soo impressed by his creative vision and eye for color.

Chickens, roosters and chicks provided the background noise. After pencil tracing our patterns, we moved to the waxing area and were shown the next step, the application of wax outline of our patterns. The other students, a group of four ladies from the US, arrived. They were on a yoga retreat in Seminyak and decided to do this class as a day trip. Karen and her daughter Emily from the San Francisco area and Sharon and Joan. Soon they were choosing their patterns and busy tracing. We were completely engrossed in our jobs at hand, dipping the "chanting" (the waxing tool) in the hot wax, filling the small reservoir half way and then applying the wax outline on our fabric being careful not to tilt it too far so that we spill hot wax on our hands. Not one of us escaped at least one of those painful mishaps. Wiyda called 'em 'happy accidents' We learned that the ail processes are very time consuming and, had it not been for the help we got from the instructors, we'd probably still be there. 
 
My project became more advanced by layering more wax patterns once color dipped. I loved the color pre final dip in indigo. The wax gave it a lovely earth tone... But of course that only serves the purpose to prevent color from penetrating below. 

We were happy with the end result and new appreciation for this fascinating art. Dave gets my stars for most original and gorgeous project. He totally amazed me with his creativity and color-sense. 

This was a great way to end our Ubud stay.