Soy Wax Batik Class

Yesterday I taught a class on Soy Wax Batik to some members of the Almond Country Quilt Guild.  Nineteen people had signed up, but only 16 were actually able to make it, which turned out to be a more manageable number after all.  They made some wonderful pieces of art.  I think some of them were surprised to find out what they were capable of creating.  Here's some pictures of their work.

I think this piece was Lisa's, but it could also be Judilyn's. It's so exciting

 when you put a second color over the first waxing and see the design emerge. 

 Above is Lynne working on her project.  Her fabric

 had an overall print of circles to begin with.  

Wish I had a picture of her finished piece.  It was really great.

 This is Linda H.'s piece in process.  It also turned out to be very lovely. 

 Here's Dora working on hers.  Wonderful mark making and color choices.

 Here's Kathy putting on the final dark paint after crackling the wax.

 Here's Elizabeth's underwater scene.

 A lovely bubble piece hanging outside to dry. Not quite sure who's this was.

  I'm thinking it was Judilyn's.

Lovely swirls and other circular designs with great colors.

 Not quite sure who created this piece.

It was a very hot day and we did have some issues with drying the wax and the painted pieces outside. At home, I allow the wax to set up in my studio.  After applying a layer of paint, I hang it outside on a line to dry. The church hall, although very nice, did not have the facilities to accommodate these methods.  It seemed as though the wax was remelting due to the sun and some gals even had the misfortune of having their waxed designs disappear, which was very disappointing.  The melting temperature of soy wax is supposedly about 140 to 180 degrees so it was surprising that it re-melted in the 95 degree heat.  I think there was a negative reaction of the plastic between the fabric and foam core board that possibly caused it.  We worked around it as best as we could and students produced some wonderful pieces.

Thanks to Dora, Linda and Cyndi who arrived early to help set up tables, extension cords, paints, etc. I brought tons of stuff for this workshop, most of my studio, it seemed.  Thanks to everyone for their great positive attitudes as we worked out some weather related issued I had not experienced in doing soy wax batik previously.  Thanks for all the help in cleaning up at the end and repacking all my junk.  It was great fun!  Hope everyone brings their ironed out pieces to Monday's meeting.  Would love to get some pics of the finished masterpieces.