Batik

Yesterday the girls went to the batik factory to paint our own cloth. Batik painting is quite a process. First they either stamp a wax pattern on to the cloth or handpaint the wax onto an original design. After the wax dries, the paint is applied to smaller portions of the design like flowers, fish, leaves, etc. When that dries, the whole background is painted one color with a larger brush. The wax lines keep the painting from running together. When the whole thing is dried, the cloth is washed in very hot water to stay the color and to remove the wax, which is then recycled for another painting. We discovered that batik painting has a definite technique to it but since its all handpainted, its OK to have flaws or drops of paint or even small runs of color (if you are like me!!). Annie and I both want to go again now that we understand the process.