Prescott - Batik - the ancient art of dyeing intricate designs onto fabrics worn by Indonesian royalty - is now a contemporary art form that hangs in galleries and on living room walls.
"Batik is created by using hot wax as resist-to-dye on fabric," batik artist Marjorie Claus said. "That means that wherever you drip wax, the dye will not soak into the fabric. So, you create your design by ‘painting‘ with hot wax. The wax blocks the dye.
"That is why contemporary batik is so multi-colored and the designs can be so intricate."
The exact origin of batik is unknown, but most historical references credit Indonesia - specifically Jogyakarta - as its origin. Traditional batik artists use a single color for dyeing clothing such as sarongs, shirts and scarves. Contemporary batik is usually multicolored.
Claus discovered batik in 1969 while studying art at East Carolina University in North Carolina.
"I saw this guy in the art department wearing the most outrageous shirt I had ever seen," she said recently from her Prescott studio.
That "outrageous shirt" was tie-dyed - popular in the 1960s and ‘70s - but tie-dyed shirts are not batik, Claus said.
She was so enamored with batik that after graduating in 1974, she moved to Jogyakarta and apprenticed under a master contemporary batik artist. She ended up living in Indonesia and Singapore for the next eight years and then Hawaii for six years.
The first step in batik painting is to stretch fabric over a wooden frame in the way an oil painter stretches a canvas.
The relationship between fabric and dye is an integral part of batik.
"The best fabric is tightly woven 100 percent cotton," she said. "Most natural fiber fabrics will work, but not synthetic. Rayon and silk are excellent alternatives."
Claus melts her wax in an electric skillet in order to control its temperature and texture. She uses a canting tool (pronounced "chunting") to drip or paint the wax onto the fabric.
"Mastering the canting tool is one of the harder things in learning batik," Claus said.
A canting comprises a small brass or copper bowl attached to a short wood or bamboo handle. Wax drips or pours through a tiny spout extending from the bowl.
"The wax starts flowing out as soon as you scoop it up," she said. "There‘s no way to stop it."
Other methods used to apply wax include brushes, wooden stamps or by simply splashing it on the fabric. Dyes are applied after the wax dries.
"Once you are finished, you throw the fabric into boiling water and the wax melts away leaving the dye," she said.
Public and private collectors own Claus‘ batiks. Her work hangs in several galleries in Prescott including the gift shop at the Prescott Fine Arts Association.
Claus‘ subjects range from horses to abstracts. Nature is her love and orchids are her passion.
"I developed a love for orchids from living so long in the tropics," she said.
In addition to selling her art, Claus makes custom frames at Michael‘s Art Supply in Prescott and teaches batik classes at Yavapai College. (Bruce Colbert)
Source: www.dcourier.com (May 30, 2008)
