I have been doing this type of Batik work since I returned from a month in Ghana during the winter of 2005. I was leading a trip with the Vermont Global Village Project where we spent time in the Volta region learning a variety of native craft and dance styles, as well as some travel around the country. I use a wooden stamping technique I learning there, and the flowers on the top of the page are from one of the stamps I brought back from Ghana.
I love the artistic and creative process, and seeing how the colors and patterns interplay and present themselves.
People often wonder where the name of my company came from. When I was living in Burlington, Vermont and had my studio in my friends’ basement, I came up with the name Burlington Basement Batiks. I got some feedback that having “basement” in the title implied a lower quality item- not the idea I was looking for with an artisan craft, so I remained nameless.
Then I moved to Boston, and set myself up to work in my Backyard. It wasn’t ideal and lasted just a few months, but in that time, we realized the carryover in initials and a name was born.
For a brief period I lived in Belmont (a suburb of Boston) and had a studio space in my apartment attic…. and basement. In December 2011 moved into The Studio B, on Brookside Ave in Jamaica Plain…. and it felt besheret (preordained/ a soul match).
B.B. stands for both where I’ve been and where I am currently.
Welcome, it’s going to be quite an adventure.                           Â
What is Batik anyway?
Batik is a wax-resist dyeing technique used on textile. Melted wax is applied to the cloth before being dipped in dye. It is common for people to use a mixture of bees wax and paraffin wax. The bee’s wax will hold to the fabric and the paraffin wax will allow cracking, which is a characteristic of batik. Wherever the wax has seeped through the fabric, the dye will not penetrate. Sometimes several colors are used, with a series of dyeing, drying and waxing steps.(from Wikipedia)