Botanical Batik
Dates: n/a (sat - sun)
Location: Elphin by Ullapool
Course Places n/a
Price : n/a
This two-day course is designed to introduce you to the wonderful world of batik, using deliberately low-tech and easy to source equipment and materials. We start the weekend with a 'warm up' session, with an experimental approach to the tradition of tie-dyeing, thereby creating diverse patterns that will form the basis for some very unusual batiks. Then, taking a bundle of un-dyed cotton, linen and mixed fibre fabric, we will take each surface on a journey through the various methods used for applying batik, gradually building upon the colours and marks made through each stage of the process, working towards intricate surfaces that are either subtle or vibrant, depending on the choices you make along the way.
Our theme for the weekend is the flora to be found in my large and semi-wild garden and so you will create some surfaces which are a direct representation of these flowers and plants. But we will end the weekend by also using the plants themseves to mono-print on top of some of the batiks, using my trusty old mangle, which has been adapted to be a printing press, creating surprising and dramatic images which are a sophisticated development of the theme By the end of the weekend, you will have built up a significant bank of unique nature-inspired cloths, designed by you, and suitable for a whole range of future textile projects.
All materials and equipment are supplied. The cost of the course includes refreshments and a cooked vegetarian lunch each day.
Please click on an image to see the full picture.
Much of the attraction of this area of the country is the wildness it has retained as a result of the limited impact of human habitation. Of course, this means that there are fewer choices of accommodation for the intrepid visitor, but there are still a wide number of options, many of which can be found on the Accommodation links page.
To read about an innovative community partnership approach to preserving and improving this landscape for the benefit of all, have a look at Coigach and Assynt Living Landscapes. To find out about the fascinating geology of this area go to North West Highland Geopark.
