Journal

Tuesday March 22 - today i drew some sunsets in my art journal with watercolor, im trying to get some inspiration for my batik, and am very anxious and excited to start working on it.

March 26th-27th.

Over the weekend, i began the very exciting process of starting my batik, I had to get new supplies because the crock pot that I was planning on using to melt my wax, was not working very well. The wax needs to be very hot in order for it to go directly through the cloth in order for it to hold dye in, and the crock pot was not melting it. I went to the store and bought a portable stove, a small little black coil that you simply just plug in, and some coffee cans, (metal). Instead of wasting all the coffee, i put it in a bag. Over time I found that the best way to melt the wax is to just put it in a empty coffee can over the stove. I also had to buy several giant fans that I had to put in the windows of my bedroom, and around my room. You need fans in order to melt the wax because the fumes that come off of the wax are very toxic. The next step I took was to look around for some new cloths, I am still very unsure as to weather I want to use my original muslin cloth, or silk. My mentor uses silk, but for my project I think I will stick to my original ways, only because I feel like the muslin is very raw looking and more my art style.

March 28th

Today I researched photos for my organizer, added a lot more information to it as well. I also researched a lot more on the impressionist artists so that I could easily find more information on how they could influence more modern arts. I learned that they infact can. The impressionist era seemed to have a huge imput on American civilization. Americans collected the artwork and had auctions to sell their paintings. Other painters would look to the work as a guide for their own. I also go in touch with my mentor this week and talked to her about our next meeting which will be sometime next week. I plan on watching her work.

April 11, 2011 This past last wweek, I got a lot more done than I expected to. I have recently been researching impressionist artwork every day that I can get free time and have decided on my batik. I used a giant piece of sketch paper to start drawling out my plan for my batik. Usually when I do my own batiks I dont really seem to have a big plan for color, so i decided to create a color scheeme because I want to make sure that I will be able to complete my project in time. So i decided to sketch out two modles of my batik one a large sketch with no color, and a smaller version of my sketch with color. In batiking we tend to mix colors and blend colors together which is one of the beautys of batiking, so if that happens it will most likley make my batik look more natural. On friday of the past week, I went to my mentors studio and she showed me her batiks, which are absolutley beautiful works of art. She showed me some tips and tricks and helped me get started on learning how to batik on silk which is somethign I have never done before. I found it to be a lot different not only in texture but the way the paint turns out looking on the fabric itself. She had me start off by getting a wooden frame and measuring the silk to the frame, afterwards stapling the silk to the frame so there is no bumps or wrinkles and that the silk canvass is completley flat against the frame. The next step that I learend is to use a woolite spray on the silk to wash it, we do this so that the special dye sticks to the silk and doesnt just run off. This step is a little different then they way I batik because i usuallly wash my canvass in a washer and dryer, my mentor taught me that this way is a lot easier and prevents wrinkles and fraying. The next step we did was to let it dry completley and then wax down all of the sides. This was the last part of my lesson because of time, but i still feel like I learned a lot more this week than I expected to,

April 27, 2011 Within the past few weeks I have gotten a lot completed. I have been going to my mentor at least once a week, and in those sessions i learn a lot more than i would have ever thought i would. batiking in my eyes is very simple, but thanks to my mentor I learned a lot more hands on techniques, that I was not aware was even possible with this form of artwork. I also found out how to make my work a lot easier on myself. For example when batiking in the past I had a lot of trouble keeping the painting down. Thanks to my mentor I learned that I can make a simple wooden frame, and staple my cloth to it, that way it never gets out of shape or disfigured, and I can easily mount it to a wall instead of have my work hang like a curtain up against a wall. Thanks to the frame it will save me a lot of time as well as problems that I would of had in the past. Because I am using a wooden frame to keep my piece taught and together, it also elevates the piece, because of this, the paint that goes through my cloth onto my news paper now wont leek back through the other side. I think that it will make my piece look a lot cleaner and less messy that my past works of art. Due to the weather, I have been a little behind on batiking at home because I no longer have the space that I need to work on my piece. Because of this I usually work outside by the continuing rain has been somewhat troublesome. This upcoming week I plan to roll up the carpets in my den and work in their on my piece. I feel like the more time I spend on it the better the finished product will be.

May 4, 2011

I have been working on my Impressionist batik everyday this week, since I have last seen my mentor. I took a lot of muslin cloth home and I also went to the store to buy a hot plate. Its not the offical name of the device but it is simply like a portable stove, all you really have to do is just plug it in and it heats up. And then I also bought a small pot, and a small bowl that fits in there easily. This simply allows me to melt my wax right next to me, so that I can easily work outside on my table. For my artwork Im working outside and painting what i see in my backyard from several different angles. My project may vary and change from my original idea as the process continues. I learned that you can paint the wax on with a paintbrush which is what I plan on using for the more detailed parts of my piece. The tanjent tools are very quick moving and are sometimes difficult to drawl with. Batiking itself is a very fast pace moving form of art.

Friday May 20th Today is the last journal entry! Things are finally coming to a close, I have worked hard almost every day working on different mini batiks that i will put together as one large piece for my "Hands On" project. I have recently been working with my mentor almost every day that I am available to. Last weekend I spent three entire days volunteering 6 hours of my time per day teaching young children how to batik. This was an eye opening experience for me because I have never actually been able to teach my own passion and I found it quite thrilling. My presentation is due this upcoming tuesday and I plan on doing the same demonstration that I did with the children, to my senior sem class. Hopefully they will get the same experience that I had!