Batik Escapes

We got up and took a short walk around to Mesari Warung for a yummy breakfast. Lots of artwork and a lovely outlook over some of the many villas in the area. We then met our driver Leping who took myself, Michelle & Haydn off to Five Arts Studio for our Batik painting class. We met 3 lovely young men - the teacher & his assistants. We put on our aprons then picked out a stencil that we wanted to trace onto some white material. Haydn decided to create his own original artwork. The next step was one of the trickiest - applying wax to the design. It was a little stressful actually. Next step was to apply the beautiful coloured dyes to the different sections. I found this step the best and think we were all able to bring out our creative sides. Time for the dyes to dry and set in the sun. The material was dipped into a sodium silicate mix, then into hot water, finally into a cold water bath for the final setting. We were all very impressed with what we had created. Almost 5 hours in total. What an amazing experience. We then went back to meet Tony at the villa-he had been on a grocery shopping trip, mixed with some exploring. We decided to have a late lunch/early dinner so found another small warung that had a top floor with lovely views. The weather seemed to be closing in so we hurried back to the villa, had a quick swim then settled in for a games afternoon. It rained a little but the weather is still so warm here. Tony and I decided to go for a short walk before heading off to bed.Read more