Angel Fish-Yellow, Orange & Red on Aqua

Batik is a lengthy process of applying melted wax to cloth fabric made of natural fibers, and dying it multiple times. For this batik, the wax was first applied to the white cloth as an outline between shapes, making sure that all lines were connected.  Next the individual shapes were painted with a small brush dipped into the dye and carefully applied to the cloth. The wax prevented it from "bleeding" into the next color shape.  When all sections are painted, I painted the entire piece with melted wax, and dyed it navy blue.  when crinkled up to put into the dye, the wax cracks which allows the next dye color to seep through, creating the "cracks" or lines that you see.  Now it is time to remove the wax, so I iron it between layers of newsprint to absorb wax. To remove it completely, the fabric needs to be boiled in water. I don't always do that . . . only if the fabric will be used as clothing.  This Batik is unframed.