blue heritage

When I was young, I would only wear blue. I would stretch blueness to blue-green or blue-purple to deflect attention from my bias. It was only when I went to art school I felt I should get adventurous with other colours so as not to be always the same (I was too naive to realise the paradox: I was already making a personal statement and instead ended dressing the same as everyone else!). I have often wondered if my Celtic forebears were indigo (or rather woad) dyers and the blue fondness is inherited.

I couldn't believe how much blue got around the bathroom (where I washed out the dyed pieces). It's just as well Vivien Prideaux advised that it would get absolutely everywhere but would come off easily - with Ecover cleaner. Unfortunately mine had run out and it would be a few more days before I could get into town to buy some. Every time I walked into the bathroom I emerged with blue soles – despite several washes and wipes of all surfaces and the floor. The bath tub had blue smudged footprints under the shower for days – so much so that I doubted it would shift. Ever. Even today, a week after getting the Ecover to it, my feet have taken on a slight bluish tinge!

indigo and organic cotton

Last week I went on Vivien Prideaux's two-day indigo workshop in Plymouth, part of the inspiring touring show 'Indigo' currently at Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery. And last Tuesday I had a truly wonderful indigo dyeing day working alongside friend and fellow batikker Isabella Whitworth. I feel I have come on in leaps, bounds and confidence since my first few forays into indigo dyeing with Abi Evans some years ago, which is great because that's what workshops are for!

The experience making up and working with my own vat yesterday was elating, also disturbing as I realise I don't have space for ongoing indigo dyeing here. The mess! Vivien meant it when she said indigo would get everywhere. Isabella and I worked in her double garage with tarpaulins on the floor to catch drips and hold puddles. Abi also worked in a garage sized space and outdoors. When I move, if I don't acquire a garage I will certainly need space for a garage sized shed just for dyeing. For now I had pondered doing it in the kitchen near the back door, and close to the drying line outside... but not now I've remembered what a messy person I am! Small scale my tiny bathroom could be OK, but as I don't really work small scale it won't. Why not in the studio itself? Easy! Don't want a wet floor - it's carpeted (in a fashion). Nor do I need stray indigo powder/granules/streaks/smears popping up all over...


Vivien and Isabella worked their vats in different ways to reduce the indigo (to a soluble state suitable for dyeing, by de-oxygenating the water). Vivien used lime and zinc dust, and Isabella hydrosulphite and caustic soda (as did Abi). "Zinc lime" is, I think, the traditional way still practised by some village craftsmen/women but commercially has been replaced by the "hydros" technique. Vivien indicated that hydros is more reliable but by using fierce chemicals is less environmentally friendly. Both need more research on my part to understand the sustainability issues.

Vivien had two vats already on the go which needed re-activating (that is, re-de-oxygenating) and Isabella made hers up fresh that day (though as mine wasn't "exhausted" by the time I finished will re-activate it another time). Vivien had one natural and one synthetic vat, Isabella's were synthetic though she also uses natural indigo. So, I've been lucky to have experienced both within a short space of time. Vivien's explanation of the difference between natural and synthetic starts in its mode of production – natural indigo is derived from the indigofera species of plants, extracted from its leaves and stems; synthetic is pure chemistry – nothing more or less than the exact chemical formula that is pure indigo – petro-chemically derived. Natural indigo isn't pure - its impurities are what gives it its character... such as colour varying slightly. With synthetic you get digital perfection each time, predictable and measurable.

My inclination is that production of synthetically-produced indigo is probably no better and may be worse environmentally than fibre-reactive dyes; on the other hand only a finite amount of natural indigo can be produced each year (without encroaching on food crop land), and although at a low price in the west because of being imported from lower cost countries, its relative scarcity should be recognised by being used only in dyeing "things" that carry a value of their own - not a financial value but a respect or spiritual value, a value for community and future generations. I am not sure where my work fits into that yet but I know what I shouldn't be doing! Ideal would be a vat that can be replenished/re-activated over and over rather than making up a new one each time, that is if I convert completely to indigo-dyed batik. Having to take regular care of a vat would ensure a good relationship with it, one that wouldn't treat the dye as commodity. To contrast, it's hard to not view synthetically-produced, market-quantified dyes as commodities, and with that attitude how could I really put 'mana' into my work?

Most of the first day of Vivien's workshop was taken up with shibori – aaagh... sewing! Needle, thread and I do not good companions make, but I worked diligently throughout the day only getting narked at going-home time when finding the thread used wasn't adequate for puckering up the cloth. I unpicked all my samples at home that evening and by 1 am had re-made them all with proper-puckering embroidery thread. Although the shibori part of the workshop didn't particularly interest me I do believe in making the most of opportunities to learn new skills, they can open new ways of thinking or approaches (eg, I see now how it's possible with thread and puckering to make cloth three-dimensional, even though that wasn't the intention here). The second day was dyeing day. And my sewing worked – brilliantly in some cases, I humbly thought! Big mistake though was to not sketch, photograph or otherwise note down the technique used in each for future reference. Too much in a rush to get to the vat, I think.

As well as dyeing the shibori pieces I tested small samples of the organic cottons with mixed success. With so many others using the vats it was impossible to do a controlled kind of testing. They were getting exhausted too quickly (they=vats not participants!), and although all took the dye some are far paler than others. So I carried out this testing again at Isabella's, with 2 five min dips on each. These samples were boiled first in soda ash water to scour them. Additional sample pieces that had only been washed in warm water with soda were also tested.

At Isabella's I also dyed a 2 x 1.2 metre length of prima, to get a grasp of vat size. The tub began with about ten litres of dye, which had reduced a bit by the time of the first dip, and a bit more by the third. Dry, the cloth shows uneven dyeing streaks at one end. Although all the cloth was below the surface, the cloth/dye/tub ratio wasn't high enough to ensure all was opened out and able to absorb dye. A deeper vessel containing twenty litres dye would be my next aim, along with a contraption to hold the cloth open top and bottom as it goes in – research and design cap needed!

Today is washing out day... more to follow.

top pic - shibori and indigo dyed pieces drying at Vivien Prideaux's workshop. Mine are just right of centre stage, hanging on the looped railings.
middle pic - Isabella Whitworth amongst her batikked and dipped indigo scarves (pre-dyed in annatto). The vat I worked with is under the blanket inside on the right.
bottom pic - My organic cotton tests drying at Vivien Prideaux's workshop

organic cotton testing 2

Today I painted the organic cottons with basic Procion colours (cyan, magenta, yellow, black, as I call them, showing my graphics background). As a reminder, the test fabrics have been only soaked for 30 mins in water, rinsed twice then drip dried. None were heavily creased from this, in fact, while painting I wondered if I was working on straight from the roll fabric!

There were a few surprises, which weren't so surprising after I'd thought about them... the white eco-bleached percale took dye very close to acceptably but the natural percale didn't. Something in the eco-bleaching must have made the fibres more receptive to dye – though the final analysis won't come until after boiling out the wax. Both percales were gorgeously smooth to wax on, just like prima, and despite their expense which I daren't check back on at the moment are currently top of the list. The two handlooms took dye easily, which doesn't surprise me, but what I can't figure out is whether they have been prepared for dyeing or not – instinct suggests not, because the weave is so haphazard and price low. It warrants investigation, because if the chemical treatment given to other cotton to make it super regular also prevents dyeing then... well something to ponder once known!


1 Greenfibres soft voile
waxing – smooth enough to work on but waxing lines look pixelated because of looseness of weave. Meaning some lines may not be thick enough to withhold dye.
soda ash fix application – very slow and unspreading, may not be consistent.
hand-painting dye – no spreading at all, but seems to have absorbed through.

2 Greenfibres natural percale
waxing – beautifully smooth and even lines.
soda ash fix solution – slow, eventually soaking through.
hand-painting dye – virtually no spreading and not completely through at once or when dry.

3 Greenfibres eco-bleached white percale
waxing – very smooth! fantastic for waxing.
soda ash fix application – just about OK, soaked through but not immediately.
hand-painting dye – spreads slowly, and slowly through.


4 Bishopston handloom
waxing – penetrates cloth fantastically but the uneven texture was apparent, drawing the canting was a little rough.
soda ash fix application – fine, no problem.
hand-painting dye – easily spreads and penetrates.

5 Fabrics Ltd powerloom
waxing – it wasn't too bad for waxing as regards smoothness of surface but penetration problems came once the wax started cooling.
soda ash fix application – a joke! No penetration!
hand-painting dye – seemingly no absorption at all, dye not penetrating at all. Cloth is definitely coated with something that needs removing.

6 Fabrics Ltd handloom
waxing – penetrates well, seems a little smoother for drawing than Bishopston's handloom.
soda ash fix solution application – fine, no problem.
hand-painting dye – easily spreads and is absorbed.

7 Textile Techniques prima
waxing – absolutely lovely to work on but seemingly not quite as smooth as percale!
soda ash fix solution application – fine
hand-painting dye – smooth, very fast absorption and spread.

Summary: Dye was absorbed fine on prima, white percale, and seemingly Bishopston handloom. Dye wasn't fully absorbed to the reverse side on Fabrics handloom, voile and natural percale, though it was marginal on the handloom. On powerloom it had hardly penetrated to the reverse side.

Hence powerloom requires a serious attempt at scouring. To compare results I will do equivalent tests on all other fabrics. I see two levels of scouring – boiling in water with soda ash and soaking in warm water with soda ash. The powerloom is so heavily opposed to receiving dye my inclination is to start with boiling and if that works try again with warm water. If boiling doesn't work... well, I'll decide then!

The other reason for starting with boiling is that I need to boil out the wax to test fastness of dye on tests already done, so can boil other cloth at same time (not ideal to do it in waxy/dyey water but good enough!).

organic cottons - testing begins

Finally! I have started testing the range of organic cottons, six in total plus prima as a control (also nettle mix fabric, but I have such a small sample that testing will be limited). The cottons include some I consider too loose or tight a weave for good waxing (specific waxing tests coming later), and others that might be perfect but have many inconsistencies in the weaving.

In fact, were it not for their organic, fair trade status I would reject them for poor quality – this is far more a reflection on me and western society than on the cottons! We have been groomed to expect and demand perfection. But one of the defining characteristics or quirkiness of batik is its non-perfection – however accomplished the artist there will be variations in their waxing of line widths, starts and endings. These may not always be discernible to the naked eye, but if the design was instead computer-generated to total perfection, of the two works of art the human-created one would resonate better, more naturally. I once heard a similar comparison from a musician comparing human drumming to that of a drum machine – it's the slight imperfections and variations that give a more pleasing and natural rhythm.

So, while I practise batikking with these cottons I also will have to ponder the nature of the fabrics and the effect any weaving irregularities might have on a final piece of art. Or other end purpose - soft furnishing, clothing etc.

The first round will have three separate sessions: painting base Procion dyes with soda ash fix already in the cloth; dip-dyeing a single colour of Procion; dip-dyeing into indigo.

Today is prelim day - soaking a sample of each cloth in cool water for 30 minutes, rinsing twice then hanging to dry. This may or may not be enough pre-treatment before starting waxing and dyeing but ideally it'll be the minimum necessary. It all depends on how and with what each fabric has been treated during process, and if these need removing before dyeing and how. Certainly organic standards require far less chemical treatment than mainstream textiles, which is a good thing but not always helpful for dyeing! See here and here for more info.

So this first stage may be a failure... or a part-failure. The second round isn't yet planned, no running before walking etc!

In case you haven't already spotted I'm not a connoisseur of textiles, I don't know the speak, so here's a batik lay person's initial impressions of the different fabrics:



1 Greenfibres soft voile
organic certified, fair trade

Smooth surface and minimal irregularities, but such a loose weave that I think finely-detailed batik wouldn't be possible. It's also very see-through, which could work well for hangings in some circumstances but not so good for framed work. Off-white natural colour.









2 Greenfibres natural percale
organic certified, fair trade

Beautifully smooth surface – is it treated? Very fine dense and regular weave – might it be too dense for waxing? Several dark flecks in the weave, say 10 per 10 cm square, some of which can be scratched out. They are small enough that they might not be too distracting... An off-white natural colour.









3 Greenfibres white eco-bleached percale
organic certified, fair trade

As the natural percale above, also a gorgeously smooth surface and dense fine consistent weave. The eco-bleaching presumably has taken care of the dark flecks. It is whiter than all the other fabrics but not as brilliantly white as the prima. More a natural white shall we say?










4 Bishopston handloom (calico)
fair trade certified, organic

Right from the beginning my highest hopes were with this hand woven calico – quite possibly because Bishopston's website gives more information on its origins than other companies, and I have bought clothes from them with which I have been mightily pleased. But... the weave is sooooo uneven: the piece I am looking at now shows a sudden change in weaving like a new person had taken over whose technique gave a different weight and texture. One moment it is so, then from the next line on the weave is finer, looser. Probably it is just a switch in yarn to a finer one, but the difference is striking. But as it's more consistent either side then presumably the cloth could be cut along the "join" with each side separately worked on. Except it's not then that consistent – the wave density and opaqueness varies a lot. But this certainly gives the cloth a character of its own, though I feel it could distract from or even destroy certain designs or imagery. It also contains a few obvious dark flecks within the weave and some loose ends of thread both of which are rough and raised compared to the rest of the cloth which is smooth with a good weave density for waxing. Off-white natural colour.






5 Fabrics Ltd powerloom unbleached calico
fair trade certified, organic

A very even weave but probably too dense for good waxing, and maybe hand-painted dye penetration. Pleasantly smooth but many dark flecks, about 8 small and 8 very small per 10 cm square, though some can be scratched out. Enough flecks to be a feature of the fabric. Off-white, natural colour.









6 Fabrics Ltd handloom calico
fair trade certified, organic

Somewhat like the other handloom, this fabric has sudden major inconsistencies. This time though they are in both the warp and the weft, and being singular thicker lines would seriously disrupt any design. Other than these the weave varies consistently enough to be an acceptable feature, if that makes sense! There are a few darker thicker woven-in stretches of thread, and a few white bobbly ones, which if in the wrong place could detract from a design, as could the odd few loose thread ends. The cloth is smooth enough for waxing, with a good density of weave for fine work. Off-white natural colour.






7 Textile Techniques prima
neither organic nor fair trade, though in their favour the suppliers have a good attitude

After primissima, prima is reputedly the next finest cotton for batik work. It has a very smooth, even surface and should take wax beautifully. The weave isn't 100 per cent perfect but the density varies only slightly though regularly enough for it to be an acceptable feature. There is though one 2 cm long thicker thread
that is prominent and might detract, also a handful of very small white bobbles. The weave weight and density is similar to the two handlooms. The cotton is bleached very white. Apparently prima needs no pre-treatment – it is ready to be worked on. It does feel like the smooth-smooth surface has gone after soaking!






8 Greenfibres nettle mix
organic certified, fair trade

sun and mud

I've been playing with solar power. Five or so years after first pondering it I have bought a Freeplay Ranger solar-powered and wind-up radio, and also a Freeloader portable solar charger for mobile and camera. I love them both!

Proof that "objects" are anything but... an hour after ordering the new radio I turned on the kitchen radio: hissssssssss.... Hmm. It was working at breakfast. Only a few hours later it had died. Over twenty years old I think, it worked brilliantly for most of that. And presumably held on faithfully until the last moment, right until knowing the next generation was safely on its way. Something like old and ill people who "hang on" until an occasion, a particular moment has been reached and then they die, presumably more at peace than before.

Unfortunately I had earmarked the new radio for the studio, but couldn't transfer the existing studio radio to kitchen because I play (music) tapes on it (especially while the CD player is out of action). I thought a second new radio would be needed but you know what's so great: having a portable radio again! I take it round with me to whichever room I'm in, and it's no effort! I hadn't realised just how lazy and consumerist wired appliances can make us, well, me anyway.

So far it's stayed playing just by being on window sills (after an initial 24 hour electric charge) but I am spending a lot of time maximising direct sun dose of both toys. Ideally they need to be outside in direct sunlight but unless I also am outside that's not so easy. They are trickle charging through the windows but several days of daylight and some sun-through-the-window didn't re-charge the Freeloader enough to fully charge the mobile; it took another 10 minutes on electric.

But what about charging a wax pot by solar, or rather charging a battery to provide power for the wax pot? It doesn't seem feasible at the moment – not just financially but also in terms of creating enough juice to fire the thing! None of the solar panels I've read about online will do more than run laptops, electric lawnmowers, TVs, lamps etc, certainly nothing hotter than a toaster. So definitely not wax pots or Burcos (I use the Burco to boil wax out). But solar thermal collectors for heating hot water (for boiling out) might work, though personally I use little hot water during our warmer months. Then there is the question of Cornwall's sunniness... plenty hot water in summer, warmish only in winter.

Carbon reduction through lower power consumption is the main reason for me investigating renewable-powered tools. But I also believe within a few years electricity will start being rationed, either by a number of off-hours per day or through personal allowance. There's a few studio-based essentials I feel handy to have around – radio for news, wind-up torch and an ability to charge the mobile and camera. But if I have to seriously curtail waxing time I need to find either an alternative way to heat wax (and water to remove it) or find a non-heat-requiring resist.

In Malaysia (where I first made batik) wax was heated in a wok over a naked flame, either from a gas stove or charcoal fire. In my current studio set-up with its low ceiling, neither sounds desirable especially in winter when window-opening is minimised. But I need to find out how carbon intensive these methods are – if they are carbon-practical alternatives then my workspace may need to change from an indoor one to... hmmm. Outdoor working is great but the cold, draughts, damp and everything else about the Great British Outdoors are not conducive to wax resist working.

I've been fascinated by mud resist since first hearing this is how Mali people decorate cloth. But their batik doesn't use mud to resist dye in the conventional sense, instead mud is applied to yellow-dyed cotton, with something (iron?) in the mud turning the yellow brown. Un-mudded areas are discharged with a caustic solution returning them to white. It would be great if china clay could be used in some way – but again I stumble with my lack of chemical knowledge. I do want to experiment with china clay, local river muds and natural dyes, but the potential size of the experiment seems overwhelming! Either I spend aeons on trial and error, or I seek help!

By chance a few weeks ago while visiting an artist/gardener in the next village she produced some decorative batik she'd made as a student. Which led into discussion of various techniques... as she had used mud resist! And then she produced her notebook full of recipes and samples – which I have on loan... It's a start!

ashes to soda ash

Bang goes my hypothetical reed bed plans... soda ash is toxic to aquatic life! Pretty obvious really, considering its multiple uses as cleaner. According to the Fine Chem Trading's MSDS the toxicity comes from "a damaging action due to shift in pH". So all dye rinse water that contains soda ash fix must go down the mains drain for treatment and not be used for watering the garden (OK, mine isn't an aquatic garden but it does rain-a-lot in Cornwall and, well, it might eventually filter through to the village stream.) Also, here on Bodmin Moor the soil is acidic - Ansac's MSDS indicates that soda ash can react violently with strong acids with, uh oh, none other than carbon dioxide (and heat) evolving. Maybe the moor isn't acidic enough for that, but I'll stick to the mains!

Na2CO3. Sodium carbonate. It was the chemistry that got me into researching soda ash. More specifically the carbon aspect. What does happen to it – errr, it doesn't go into the atmosphere hopefully? And, well, where does soda ash come from? Is it natural-ish or entirely man-made?

Before soda ash, potash (potassium carbonate) was the alkali equivalent. It was extracted from wood fire ash with water; later soda ash was found in the ashes of certain salt marsh plants, also in kelp ashes. This is really exciting news - I could make my own soda ash, maybe with strandline kelp! Ashes from a beach barbie kelp fire!

But, as it seems with everything, more questions emerge. Would producing my own kelp-derived (soda) ashes release more carbon into the environment than the commercially produced ones? Would the amount of strandline kelp I'd need deplete this mini-marine ecosystem faster than it could be replenished? Would the amount of calorific energy I'd need to get to (probably) Crackington Haven to gather kelp and stoke a fire outweigh the oil-based energy required to bulk manufacture and ship the soda ash from factory to my house via the supplier?

I'm not going to try to answer these! Just keep in mind that soda ash can be derived from kelp ashes. As an aside, I was once told Procion dyes' chemical structure is derived from kelp's.

Anyway plant-ash derived soda ash soon couldn't keep up with C17 European demand (or plant "replacement" couldn't?), and physicists began researching artificial production. Frenchman Fresnel discovered in 1811 that carbon dioxide bubbled through brine containing ammonia created sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) and from this sodium carbonate is derived. The process was commercialised in 1864 by Belgian Solvay. Using ammonia doesn't sound too pleasant but most is recovered and recycled. Carbon dioxide and water are also are recoverable and re-used. Calcium chloride, the main by-product, is sold as road salt (hold on... I thought mined rock salt provided that), and the only raw inputs are salt, limestone and some form of thermal energy.

The process involved:

CaCO3 goes to CO2 + CaO
calcium carbonate goes to carbon dioxide + calcium oxide

NaCl + CO2 + NH3 + H2O goes to NaHCO3 + NH4Cl
sodium chloride + carbon dioxide + ammonia + water goes to sodium bicarbonate plus ammonium chloride

2 NaHCO3 goes to Na2CO3 + H2O +CO2
2 sodium bicarbonate goes to sodium carbonate + water + carbon dioxide

2 NH4Cl + CaO goes to 2 NH3 + CaCl2 + H2O
2 ammonium chloride + calcium oxide goes to 2 ammonia + calcium chloride + water

The Solvay Process Wiki explains this chemistry more fully, and Solvay SA's soda ash website informs about all stages in the process. For instance, their salt is extracted from underground salt mines through solution mining; coke is used to fire the kilns that decompose mined limestone into lime and carbon dioxide; ammonia and carbon dioxide are recovered for re-use in a distillation process...

The Solvay process predominates production worldwide, except in North America where trona-derived production has replaced it - mainly because the production process is cheaper. Trona is a naturally-occurring mineral found in non-marine evaporated deposits. The US has the world's largest resource in Wyoming, with enough trona to supply the world for 1300 years. Apparently. A batik artist wouldn't use much of that but it's still a finite global resource if mined faster than replaced. The Wyoming trona was laid down 50 million years ago as a large lake in the Green River Basin evaporated.

Trona is Na3HCO3CO3.2H2O and needs a bit of work to bring it down to Na2CO3. The Solvay SA website explains the trona process well, clearly demonstrating the simpler procedure compared to the Solvay process.

I have to admit to being a bit bamboozled by all this chemistry... and what it means for me as a simple artist so am going to post this now and come back when I've dug and thought deeper.

candles for the well

Getting back to practical matters (and away from philosophising), my boiled-out wax remnants and "well-cooked"-in-the-waxpot wax have been given a new purpose in life: candles! Vanda Inman is making and selling them to raise funds for St Clether's Holy Well and Chapel, and has incorporated my accumulated leftovers in some, saying it's worked a treat!

One of the earliest Celtic saints St Clether came to Cornwall from Wales in the fifth century, settling in the still beautiful and peaceful Inny Valley. His chapel and well has been restored a few times since then, but an aura remains leaving visitors with a wonderful feeling of wellbeing and calm. It really is a special place and I'm glad I can contribute, even in a small way, to its upkeep.

I've never attempted to re-use boiled-out wax... having heard water is trapped in it and might spit when heated (and yes, I did warn Vanda and apparently there was no problem). Now I feel I should try re-using it. It might be no good for fine canting work but may work with brushwork or stamping. Or it may work fine with cantings. Perhaps using 10% old in with the new... I will play around and see, soon. I do foresee problems remembering what's in the waxpot at any time – new, re-used or even multiple re-used!

Well-cooked wax I used to save and use again for crackle effect finding it cracked more easily and sharply than "fresh" wax, having lost its malleability. But as I rarely use crackle effect now in work I will continue giving old wax away.