Louise MacIntosh-Watson

For twenty years I have been fascinated by colour; the interaction between colours; how a hue is reliant upon those around it for its validity; the emotion of colour and getting the colour balance right.

In my current work, I have combined this passion for colour with my experimental use of the batik wax resist technique. When shading with a pencil, I scribble - I create rapid, fluid movements and I believe these translate beautifully using wax. Layering colours using inks, dyes and wax has provided me with some very exciting opportunities for contemporary portraits. As well as using batik, I have also created portraits using acrylics on canvas. It is this series of work that I fondly refer to as “my girls”.

Born in Liverpool in the 1970s, I more recently moved to Derby where I have been teaching Art in high schools for 15 years. This has given me the opportunity to research and develop my own style whilst simultaneously introducing young people to the fascinating art of Batik.

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Louise is one of the most interesting batik artists I have found. Most batik artists I have found just like to draw pretty pictures, like Jenn Adamson, of things and patterns. Louise has a lot more contemporary style, with the colours she uses and scribbley style.

Illustration

Looking back at this artist it reminds me of the mark making I have done. Also this artist uses a scribbley style in her work.

Irina Minaeva

I was born in 1975 and spent my childhood in Uzbekistan, Russia, Germany and finally Ukraine, where I still live, in Odessa.

I first encountered batik at art school, but became fully engaged with batik when I graduated from the South Ukrainian Pedagogical University in Odessa in 1997.

Since then, I have worked with children, teaching batik and still take a great interest in drawing, painting, and

Notes about Regina Benson Research

Regina's batik pieces look a lot more interesting than other artists styles I have seen. I love the earthy colours that come into her work, with the technique. She uses a different materials from the traditional batiking method.

mark-making on silk, rayon, cotton and industrial polyesters. Her work frequently starts with a solid black cloth, from which she discharges the dye, utilizing soy wax and starch

paste resists; then she overdyes with natural, disperse and acid dyes and rusts the surface further with found objects and harvested iron oxide.  These markings are then over sewn,

Regina Benson

Born in Lithuania and currently living in Golden, Colorado, USA, Regina Benson's textile creations emanate from the manipulation of and intentional mark-making on silk, rayon, cotton and industrial polyesters. Her work frequently starts with a solid black cloth, from which she discharges the dye, utilizing soy wax and starch

Jenn Adamson

Jenn has been a teacher and artist for over thirty years and was until recently Chairman of The Batik Guild, a post she held for nearly ten years. She was joint Curator of The Batik Guild's very successful touring

Batik

Batik is both an art and a craft, which is becoming more popular and well known in the West as a wonderfully creative medium. The art of decorating cloth in this way, using wax and dye, has been practised for centuries. In Java, Indonesia, batik is part of an ancient tradition, and some of the finest batik cloth in the world is still made there. The word batik originates from the Javanese tik and means to dot.

To make a batik, selected areas of the cloth are blocked out by brushing or drawing hot wax over them, and the cloth is then dyed. The parts covered in wax resist the dye and remain the original colour. This process of waxing and dyeing can be repeated to create more elaborate and colourful designs. After the final dyeing the wax is removed and the cloth is ready for wearing or showing.