Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of teaching two vibrant batik workshops at Rugby Art Gallery & Museum, hosted in honour of The Batik Guild’s International Year of Batik. These sessions coincided with the closing days of our group exhibition (16 July – 10 August 2024), rounding off the event with a brilliant ‘hands-on’ of wax, colour, and creativity.
Open to the public, these mini taster sessions were incredibly inspiring – I was amazed at how participants, many of whom were trying batik for the first time, could create such alive pieces in just under two hours! I was happy to see a few youngsters taking part, as it’s important to introduce batik to the next generation to keep this beautiful craft alive, and I think everyone had a great time! We worked on cotton, and for those who time allowed, we also experimented with Japanese rice paper. We explored Batik Tulis (hand-drawn batik), stamping, and even some ‘scraffito’ techniques (scratching back into the wax to create channels beneath for the dye to penetrate).
There’s a magic that happens when people try batik for the first time. I love watching them move from tentative lines to confident expressive marks, almost as though the wax is guiding them, and they let go into the natural flow.
Thank you to everyone who came along, to The Batik Guild for their ongoing support, and to Rugby Art Gallery & Museum for hosting the exhibition and workshops with such generosity and enthusiasm.
P.S. The masterpiece I’m holding (bottom left) is not my own but belongs to the little girl beside me! 👏🏻👏🏻
