Poseidon - interpreted in batik - a fascinating medium that like watercolor, requires planning to control the lights and darks, because although you can usually paint or dye over a light color, you can’t do the same with a dark one.I enlarged the photograph of the Poseidon sculpture below and traced it onto fabric. The process involves waxing out the white areas first and then building up the color by painting on dye with a brush, allowing it to dry, and then painting over it with warm, melted wax. The wax dries immediately and isolates that color from further dye incursion, except for any color that creeps into the cracks in the wax or missed spots - (which can actually add to the spontaneity of the finished work).
I'm not going to sit here and try to act like I know what I'm talking about...I have Wendy Tatter to thank for the inspiration to attempt a batik in the first place, and for the guidance, instruction, and encouragement to go step by step to a completed work. You can see some of Wendy's work and more detail about the batik process and classes at http://www.wbtatter.com/
This is the sculpture that I copied – it’s at the Port of Copenhagen. I couldn't find the name of the sculptor. It’s a different experience to create an almost literal interpretation of another artist’s work. There's an element of creativity missing, but there's a huge advantage for success. The power and grace of this sculpture are formidable - it was joy to follow the lines of it in my own interpretation.
