Batik in Thailand; Be An Artist
Batik in Thailand
While in Thailand, I discovered Backstreet Academy. They have many affordable classes in arts like glass-blowing, batik making, jewelry making, etc. They offer classes in many Asian cities, not just Chiang Mai. So check them out if you are in any major city in SEA.
I signed up for both a batik class (covered here) and a lampworking class (in another post).
The Batik class is held in the Chiang Mai surrounds. When you arrive, you get to choose a pattern from a book to follow (or you can draw your own pattern by hand if you want), which you trace onto your piece of fabric. I took many different flowers from the book and arranged them around the square.
After that, you duplicate those lines with wax using a little wax dripper pen. Finally, you paint in the areas with the colors you want. You can even mix them or make an ombre effect with different colors in different areas.
Your artwork is then set in the sun to dry (and you can go out and get some tasty Thai food while you wait a short distance from the studio). Finally, the project is placed in a very hot bath to remove the wax and then ironed dry.
And just like that, you have a memorable experience with a tangible object you can frame or make into a pillow.
While what I made was pretty, and the experience was fun, I would have done better had the teacher spoken English. Most of the process was just me following what she showed herself doing, but some more specific points about how to set up the batik were lost because I didn’t know what the process was and little things about how she did things escaped my notice. So if you do go to a class, try to read up on the steps and how to make the border particularly and where the pattern should be so that you’ll have a nicer result than I did.
Happy travels!