I fell in love with batik when friends brought one back from Thailand over 45 years ago. Edmonton Parks and Rec offered a course in about 1975 and I jumped at the chance to learn this ancient craft.
I started batiking in my home when my two oldest daughters were young, as an outlet for the “stay-at-home mom” blues, and soon began to sell my batiks at craft fairs and stores in Edmonton.
As my girls got older and I went back to work part time, I left it behind for quite a few years. Then in 2011, after a bout with cancer and a trip to Hawaii where the botanical gardens stirred my heart to create again, I picked up my brushes and wax and dye and got back to it!
I am inspired by nature, by God’s beautiful creation. I love the way the hot wax moves on the cloth and is slightly out of your control, and I love experimenting with different color combinations and trying to solve the problem of dying color upon color.
I was given a wonderful gift in the form of an old white cotton sheet, part of the left overs from the passing of a friend’s mom. I found the old, worn sheet was wonderful to work with and absorbed the dyes very well, much better than the unbleached cotton I was buying at the fabric store. I also decided to try to reuse old picture frames to stretch the finished batik over.
Batik has been a wonderful way for me to express my creative energy, and I am constantly amazed at the endless possibilities of form and style and subject. No two batiks are ever the same, and that is part of the enchantment that I just can not resist!!
