Sunflowers in The Fall—One of a small series of sunflowers thru the seasons, based on photos and memories of a friends annual sunflower patch. Dyeing the bold sky first was an adventure! See the rest here.
Since I learned batik seven years ago, I’ve been striving toward mastery of the medium, discovering where I fit into the fine art world, and “finding my voice”. Mastery comes with practice, and my passion with the medium keeps me in the studio many many hours each week. The last two have been the more elusive. I’ve been trying to figure out answers for a couple of years now, and I seem to be in a perpetual state of unrest, pushing toward something that I don’t know, or haven’t figured out.
And I still don’t have answers. In 2019 I decided to batik for the simple pleasure of doing it. Not producing work for shows, or entering in many competitions. I’ve been a little reckless in my approach, which hasn’t resulted in any big insights. In fact, I’ve had more than my typical amount of ho hum rejects. Batik is not forgiving, there is no going back once the wax is down. But learning happens with each failure.
One of the successes I had being reckless, approaching the grasses in a rough almost sloppy way, I managed to communicate the textures I was drawn to.
Pink and orange together just captivate me, and our azaleas bloom while citrus is still hanging from our trees. citrus often appears in my still lifes.
So what have learned this year? Technically, working with indigo showed me how appealing to me strong contrasts are. I learned trying to be too subtle can be boring. I’m learning colors I don’t see can be the best way to get my point across. I did learn a lot about the properties of indigo, and the range of shades I could get with it. Even though I have returned to other colors in my batiks, Indigo is still lurking in the shadows of my thoughts, and has a big influence on how I approach color. The batiks here show a little of my shift. I will return to indigo again, its currently filling my sketch books. I just can’t share my studio with both color and indigo dyes.
I’m not sure how these observations will affect new batiks going forward, and that’s okay. I just need to to bury myself in the process of doing it. I’ve come to peace with being a process driven artist, pushing and pulling at my own limits with wax and dyes. There is no bold message I’m trying put out to the world, except maybe that beauty is everywhere. Welcome to 2020!
A few shows and exhibitions are lined up this year. I did miss the attention and praise that comes with having work out in the world! If you are in the area of any, stop by!
2020 UPCOMING EVENTS
February 7-29 Butterfield Garage Art Gallery St. Augustine FL, Midnight in the Garden of Indigo a collection of many of my “Batiks in Indigo”, newly framed. Opening Reception Feb 7, 5-9pm.
April Atruim Pop-UpShow, The Bascom Center for the Arts, Highlands, NC
May 21- June 20 Solo Show, Dryden Gallery, Providence, RI, opening reception May 21.
Fall 2020, tentative, Cork Art District Batik Class