Yesterday I brought a suitcase full of apparel for the boutique at Mind Set Apothecary in Vashon Island, WA! Yay! This is the first time Pomegranate Batik is in a brick and mortar shop! I also dropped off several Tarot of the Pomegranate decks. (I now have five left). While I was there the Pom Eye Purple Blacklight Overalls sold and a tarot deck. I left a lot of Tarot of the Pomegranate business cards there but I am out of Pomegranate Batik cards - need to get on it and order some more.
The Tarot Series: Queen of Wands 2XL and the Ace of Cups Cami tank are there too. My latest Blue Mirage City of the 3 Moons Overalls are there, and the Etheric Ocean and the Purple Dreamtime. I admit now that I finally just took the Armenian tribal for myself - well I have to wear the art too! It was up on my site for a couple weeks I think - so it's not like people didn't have a chance to buy them! So all these items are not available off my website anymore - you'll have to go to Vashon Island, it's a nice ferry ride. Of course, it rained like crazy during class at the Apothecary (class is outside) but we were under a collapsable tent so it was perfect. We sure need the rain around here.
I love having the clothes on display - art needs to be seen! And it's so much nicer to see and touch them in person - see the deep colors and intricate design, and feel the fabric. The photos just don't do the clothes justice. You cannot capture the intricate color nuances and the batik details in photos. Plus each piece has its own energy. It's like seeing an original painting in person - the real energy of the piece is only felt in real life and you really only see the painting's true colors in real life.
Mind Set Apothecary is a really special place. Marty the owner is so cool and is a master herbalist. Herbalism is something I am so interested in, and it's perfect they have classes and events there nearly every week. There is also a spa area at the Apothecary with infra red saunas and outdoor tubs!! They also carry Sea Witch Botanicals products in their shop too, which I love!!
I took an herbal first aid kit class there yesterday - my dear friend Diana was teaching it. I loved hearing Diana and Marty talk herbalism between them, there's so much to learn! She also taught the natural Indigo dying class I took the week before. (BTW the two cami tanks I put in the Indigo dye are gorgeous - they just need to be boiled out). I will keep one for myself but not sure which - the pomegranate or the bird? Well I will try my hand at Indigo on my own sometime because the color is gorgeous.
With most of my apparel in the shop now I need to start churning out some more batik! I have a lot of pieces to do - camis and crop tops. Summers not over yet! Then these tops are great for layering and work out wear.
I want to begin making batik art pieces again too. Tarot inspired perhaps. I've been doing a lot of sketches. In the meantime I will make a Batik Art section on my web page here, and post the three pieces I made two years ago. I'm kind of appalled I have not done that yet. I mean, batik is batik! Why did I neglect the batik fine art hang on the wall stuff? That is my specialty - making paintings that hang on the wall. I guess I am currently caught up in the commercial art aspect - apparel and tarot decks.
Perhaps someone wants to buy some Batik art? It's not far-fetched.
I've been told a few times and recently with the Queen of Wands and Ace of Cups - that they are like fine art and should be hung on the wall! Someone who purchased the hat covered in big eyes says it looks like "cracked paint" which is super cool description of batik! He has it on display in his house, the hat!
WEARABLE ART - so people don't have to come to your house to see it because you are the walking art gallery. But then we like to decorate our homes too - so why not hang Batik on the wall? And I mean batik art that is stretched on a frame, not some hanging tapestry as is often the assumption with batik. No - a real work of art like a painting only in the medium of batik.
Those three pieces I did two years ago turned out amazing - I need to keep going with it. It's thrilling just even thinking about it - the suprise finale at the end is the most satisfying. Because up until the boil out you really have no clue how your piece is going to turn out - especially a piece of art you've never done before. And all my batik is one of a kind - I can't think of having repeated anything exactly on the same piece of clothing. To me every piece is an experiment and the dye baths is a big part of it - envisioning the blending of colors and how they will look together. How to achieve a certain effect - It's all very alchemical.
I have painted the Phoenix bird design many times and the Queen of Wands twice - but even so each piece is unique. You cannot completely repeat the same design, like I tell my art students - "We are not copy machines!"