ARTISANS: Spotlighting Makers of Handcrafted Goods : Ancient Art of Batik Is Used to Create Unique Fabrics to Dye for

Soft colors bend and swirl, forming a background of subtle shading from light to dark. Across this background are darker lines and painted images.

Artist Barbara Hyink combines the ancient art of batik with ink and paint to create an art form so unusual that she has patented the process.

Batik--which was used in China in the 8th Century and is seen today throughout Malaysia and Indonesia--creates designs on fabric through a technique known as wax resistance. Wax is applied to certain areas of a fabric, making them resist the color when the fabric is dyed.

Hyink developed her technique by adding a variety of bright-colored and pastel paints and inks, including “pearlescent” paints that shine in the dark, to the batik. Because she had never seen another artist use this combination, she sought a patent for the process and received one.

The artist dyes cotton fabric, covers it with melted wax, then freezes it so the wax hardens. “Not everyone who does batik freezes it,” she said. “I like to do it because it makes the lines sharper.

Then she “crinkles” the cloth to crack the wax, forming random lines. She applies a coat of paint or ink to the piece, allowing the ink to seep into the cracked crevices.

“With a true batik, you shouldn’t see the lines, but I like them,” she said. “That’s why you’ll not only see lines in my work, but many of them will be outlined as well to draw more attention to them.

“It’s kind of an abstract process. Some lines I’ll follow and others I won’t. It depends on how the wax cracks and what areas I want to highlight.

“That’s what’s challenging to me,” she said. “With an art form like this, I’m never certain of what I’ll get. Each piece is different.”

Once the ink has dried, she irons the material four or five times until the wax is soft enough to peel it off, then she paints on top of the batik.

Her designs range from abstract drawings to more realistic or impressionistic renderings of fish, trees or butterflies.

Her works--exhibited at Lu Martin Galleries in Laguna Beach--vary in size from small note cards to 7-by-6-foot murals. Prices range from $12 to more than $2,000, depending on the size and complexity of the piece.

“The technique is basically the same, whether I’m making a note card or a larger piece,” she said. “With the smaller pieces, I rip the fabric to the desired size and perform the same process I do with the larger works. A note card may take a couple of hours to complete, where the larger pieces take several days to finish. It tends to be a lengthy process.

“The largest and one of the most complex pieces I ever did was a commissioned piece for a customer who wanted a batik of a skyline with lots of buildings,” she said. “It was a triptych that took up almost an entire wall.”

How can a novice distinguish a “good” batik from a poor one?

“Look at them the same way you would judge any other piece of art,” Hyink said. “Look at the composition. Is it balanced? Does it appeal to you? Do you like more abstract pieces or more realistic images?

“And with batik, ask if the work is an original, not a print or copy of an existing piece.

“Many people seeing batiks for the first time don’t realize that the artwork is being done on fabric. That’s why I like to frame my pieces in clear plexiglass frames so you see the woven edges of the cloth.

“The more you learn about them, the more fascinating they become.”