Batar Guru presents people the art of batik

Long time ago in the hour of the afternoon Batar Guru has descended to the top of Alu-Alu mountain in Java island to rest after his Heavenly work. He found Earth submerged in dusk and dullness, its inhabitants joyless without bright colours of the sky.

Then Batar Guru vowed: " I will teach people the art that pleases the eye and rejuvenates the soul!" He spread his arm, and the vast rolls of the daintiest fabrics spread among the valleys — lo, he spread the other arm, and myriads of wild bees obediently swarmed from the deep forests, bringing him their wax. Batar Guru has melted the wax on the Heavenly fire and sprinkled it generously over the snow-white spreads — splat, splat, splat! And he struck his drum, and multicoloured clouds covered the sky; he started out a gaily dance over the silks, leaving behind an intricate trace of drawing, telling the tale of the past days and of the days to follow.

The Heaven has opened, and the bright colours has poured down in a fall - blue of a sky, green of the leaves, red of a sparkling fire burning in the middle of the ocean. Batar Guru rose to the top of the mountain and watched the fruits of his deeds, and rejoiced at the beauty of it.

And people came around, and were awestruck by the lovely colours and magical pictures — flying swift-winged birds, richly decorated palaces and parades, battling swords and heavenly beauties.

And when Batar Guru has descended from Heaven again he saw that this Art has took root among people, spreading from Pyramids to the realms of the Yellow Emperor, from the country of Rising Sun to the lands of Metal Machines ...

Batik and clothes

If «the day like any other day finds you blue» then, going to wander around the city, grab the handful of colours to accompany you on the way — your favourite scarf, your travel companion, the trusted friend of dreamers and poets — the reminder of ancient myths of bright faraway Java lands.

Or when getting ready for a party, looking for an original unusual accessory to accent your unique image you'll be happy to find this special colourful silk neck scarf or bandana.

Or maybe the psychedelic shirt, a-la hippy, suggesting a trip straight to Goa?

Or the dress with the pattern of constellations guarding over the body they encompass? The cool stream runs along the sleeves, delicate tangles of irises ripple in time with your steps, look — here comes the rainbow!

Become a dream, wrap yourself in a myth!

Batik and interior

My home is my castle, my harbour, the imprint of my soul. It looks into the world through its windows, and the world reveals itself in its eyes. Sometimes I lower the lids — draw the curtains.

What do you see then, what do the patterns on the inner side of you lids tell you, what colour they emit? Soothing for the soul green, blue, cooling the mind, crimson that burn the body? Or maybe the sun filters through the intricate pattern in the variety of colourful splashes — create it yourself!

Now its time to leave your castle and start the crusade on the banality — to attack everyday boredom smudging it stealthily with paints. All means are good to an end — the sweetness and seductiveness of eclectic style!

Painted Morocco cushions and spreads, intricate Art Nuevo screens, laconic Japanese sedzi, maybe the huge wall coverings decorated with the drawings of Australian aborigines — the whole world can become an allay in you fight with routine if your weapon is a brush and the pair of skilful hands.

And late at night, leaving the battle behind, wrapped in a blanket with the book in your lap you turn on the little light guiding you to the lands of cosiness and comfort.

Batik as a present

The memory of the Heavenly flowers disquiets my soul; the joy of the ancient myths prevents me from despair.

Again and again, trying to revive the old memories, to revoke sleeping sensations with the harmony of the lines, I cover the snow-white canvasses with wax and paint.

When you wrap yourself with the batik scarf you may unexpectedly strike the chord of the past emotion and suddenly recognise in the passer-by the same Tahiti girl that delighted the eye of Gauguin; the everyday view from your window will transform into Yellow Submarine landscape when you place a bright work of art next to it. The sounds of the ancient drums will resonance in the reality of the megapolice.

Sometimes you only have to stretch the arm and choose — and the choice is always yours.

There is colour for everyone!

Tools for batik

The first step to create any work of art can be achieved by means of a lead pencil. It is used to jot down the draft of the future masterpiece. Sometimes the work stops here. You may end up with the finished work that springs into the life of its own. After chewing your pencil for a while, you are ready to move further. But most of the time the draft is used for its consequent transfer to the fabric.

Brushes are used for applying paint to the canvas, and I believe it is the best job for them. Being fond of watercolours I often use canvas free-painting. Most frequently I combine free-painting at the start with the subsequent graphic drawing. These techniques can be combined in a very interesting ways.

Now it is time to stretch the fabric and to transfer the draft to it. Any technique will do — glass, plotter, etc. I simply use my eye.

Using glass tubes I apply resist to the fabric along the contour of the drawing. Resist composition can be found in the specialist sources. I want to mention that it can be coloured as well. Resist is used mainly to separate variously coloured areas of the fabric. If it is achieved — congratulate yourself! Let's move further.

I roll a small amount of cotton wool on a flat wooden stick and secure it with a string. It is useful for filling large areas of fabric with one colour.

Batik gallery

You can view batik in our virtual gallery
The gallery is opened for visitors 24 hours a day.
Comments are welcome!